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Japan Times
COMMENTARY / Japan
Oct 21, 2014

The battle to boost universities

The government should consider the latest lackluster global rankings for Japanese universities and undertake a fundamental review of its university education policies.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Oct 21, 2014

Future of Chinese democracy

The Chinese government's insistence that candidates for election to the post of Hong Kong chief executive first be approved by Beijing makes a mockery of its undertaking to introduce universal suffrage.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Oct 21, 2014

Female civil servant sues over 'institutional sexism' in her ministry

In what may be a legal first, a female civil servant sues the government over what she calls institutional sexism at the ministry she works for, citing almost two decades of blocked promotions and pay raises.
COMMENTARY / World
Oct 20, 2014

Do some citations rank academic stupidity?

The admonition 'cite your sources' rings in the ear of every slapdash undergraduate and corner-cutting postdoc. But have we taken the emphasis on citation so far that we've ended up ranking academic stupidity?
Japan Times
LIFE / Language / BILINGUAL
Oct 20, 2014

Subtle humor of haiku's cousin senryū is on a roll

"Therefore, since brevity is the soul of wit," philosophizes the long-winded Polonius in Shakespeare's "Hamlet." That's also a fitting description of senryū — a form of short poetry defined by the Merriam-Webster dictionary as "a three-line unrhymed Japanese poem structurally similar to haiku, but...
JAPAN / Politics
Oct 20, 2014

Ministers' resignations recall the instability of other Cabinets in recent times

Monday's resignations by Cabinet ministers Yuko Obuchi and Midori Matsushima after only six weeks in office recalls the volatility of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's first Cabinet, but financial scandals are not the preserve of the Liberal Democratic Party alone.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / ADOPT ME!
Oct 19, 2014

Love at first sight as poodle Gran finds home in Nagoya

First featured here in May, spectacular specimen of a poodle Gran has now found a home.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Media
Oct 17, 2014

BIFF 2014 plays down unavoidable controversies

The biggest event of the year for South Korea's film industry is the opening night of the Busan International Film Festival (BIFF), which marked its 19th year Oct. 2 to 11. Whether or not they have films screening at the festival, almost all the major Korean movie stars show up and strut the red carpet...
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Companies
Oct 17, 2014

Japan Display reportedly expects loss on delayed shipments to Apple

Japan Display Inc. forecasted a surprise annual loss because of delayed shipments to Apple Inc. and reduced sales to Sony Corp., a source said
Japan Times
JAPAN / CHUBU CONNECTION
Oct 17, 2014

Survivor looks to save images of deadliest typhoon to hit Japan

After Typhoon Vera, also known as the Isewan Typhoon, struck Japan in September 1959, local history researcher Kaneo Ogawa dedicated the next few months of his life to photographing the aftermath in his hometown.
WORLD / Science & Health
Oct 17, 2014

Feuding sexologists thrash it out over vaginal orgasms, female penises

Hapless lovers are not the only ones who get lost down there: Even sexologists cannot agree on what is what, and where, among women's female parts, according to a father-daughter team of researchers in Italy, Drs. Vincenzo and Giulia Puppo.
WORLD / Science & Health
Oct 17, 2014

WHO to test Ebola preparedness in Coite d'Ivoire and Mali

The World Health Organization will send experts to test the Ebola-preparedness measures in Cote d'Ivoire and Mali, the two countries at greatest risk of being the next to be affected by the epidemic, WHO's health security response chief, Isabelle Nuttall, said on Thursday.
BASKETBALL / BJ-LEAGUE NOTEBOOK
Oct 16, 2014

Okada making impact for unbeaten Shiga

Yu Okada has spent nearly a decade now knocking down jump shots for a paycheck.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Tech
Oct 16, 2014

At Japan Robot Week, mechanical barista treats visitors to coffee

If people visit Kawada Industries Inc.'s booth at the Japan Robot Week exhibition, the firm will serve them a cup of coffee — not from a human barista, but from a robot.
JAPAN / History
Oct 16, 2014

Government requests revision of 1996 U.N. sex slave report

The Abe administration asks the author of a U.N. report that accused Japan of wartime military sexual slavery to amend the 1996 document.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Oct 16, 2014

Tokyo International Film Festival contender 'Pale Moon' gets to the root of all evil

The bad news? Japan has only one entry in the Competition section at this year's Tokyo International Film Festival. The good news? The submission, Daihachi Yoshida's "Pale Moon," is a major contender for the $50,000 Tokyo Grand Prix.
CULTURE / Music
Oct 16, 2014

Music showcase brings out anison acts, J-rock heavyweights for three days of gigs

With the Tokyo International Film Festival (TIFF) set to shine a light on movies in the capital, other art forms see an opportunity to siphon off some of the media glare.
BUSINESS / Tech
Oct 15, 2014

Visitors get served by next-generation barista at Japan Robot Week

If people visit Kawada Industries Inc.'s booth at Japan Robot Week, which kicked off Wednesday, the firm will serve them a cup of coffee — not from a human barista but from a robot.
EDITORIALS
Oct 15, 2014

Flaws in the family registry system

The government should consider making fundamental changes to the family registration system, including making it based on individuals rather than families.
Japan Times
WORLD / Science & Health
Oct 15, 2014

Ebola.com domain name is for sale, for $150,000

Amid the world's worst Ebola outbreak a Las Vegas company hopes to cash in by offering the domain name Ebola.com for sale for $150,000, a partner with the firm said on Tuesday.
WORLD
Oct 15, 2014

Suspected Russian hackers exploit Windows vulnerability to attack targets such as NATO, Ukraine

Hackers, probably Russian, have exploited a bug in Microsoft Windows and other software to spy on computers used by NATO, the European Union, Ukraine and companies in the energy and telecommunications sectors, according to cyber-intelligence firm iSight Partners.
COMMENTARY / World
Oct 14, 2014

Ebola threatens Africa's development

The World Health Organization's dramatic warning that the Ebola epidemic threatens the 'very survival' of societies has a public health consultant wondering where all the millions of dollars in aid to African countries to improve their health systems have gone.
COMMENTARY / World
Oct 14, 2014

Saudi Arabia's oil enigma

Saudi Arabia is sometimes likened to a central bank managing the global oil market, adding or withdrawing supplies to control prices. But that vastly overstates the degree of influence, let alone control, that the kingdom exercises over the market.

Longform

Once smoky, male-dominated spaces, today's net cafes, like Kaikatsu Club, are working to make their operations more attractive to women customers.
The second life of Japan's net cafes