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Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Dec 31, 2013

Tokyo prepares to get schooled in the art of beats

Although the major spectacle looming on Tokyo's horizon is undoubtedly the 2020 Olympics, there is one event this year that will be eagerly anticipated by anyone who spends longer on their gym playlist than their workout: The Red Bull Music Academy (RBMA) is set to take place here in October.
EDITORIALS
Dec 31, 2013

A year to become politically active

In 2014 the Japanese people risk having their rights to freedoms of the press, thought expression curtailed as a result of the state secrets protection bill that the Abe administration rushed through the Diet in December.
Japan Times
WORLD / Politics
Dec 29, 2013

British fears of migrant influx mirrored in Sofia

There are no anti-immigrant militia forces roaming the streets of Britain, but Bulgarian President Rosen Plevneliev sees clear parallels with the U.K. — indeed, in states across Europe — and he is deeply worried.
Japan Times
WORLD
Dec 25, 2013

Snowden declares his mission accomplished

In a candid interview, NSA leaker Edward Snowden breaks his silence on surveillance, democracy and the meaning of the top-secret documents he exposed, and says his mission is 'already accomplished.'
Japan Times
WORLD / Politics / ANALYSIS
Dec 24, 2013

Why world's newest country is nearing civil war

It was considered one of the world's great successes when South Sudan became an independent nation on July 9, 2011. After many unhappy years as a region of Sudan, the new country declared its independence with crucial support from the outside world, particularly the United States.
JAPAN
Dec 19, 2013

Is wife Abe's main opposition rival?

Akie Abe is Japan's first lady of conviction and action, describing herself as an 'opposition force at home' who doesn't shy away from speaking out in public against the policies of her husband, Shinzo.
COMMUNITY / Issues
Dec 18, 2013

A secrets law for whom? Look who gets a free pass

Ancient Confucian scholars regarded law as a necessary evil, something used on lower orders of people who lacked the moral refinement to act righteously without prompting. Yet this just states a basic truth about law: It is something we do to other people. You and I know how to act properly, right? It's...
EDITORIALS
Dec 6, 2013

Government without oversight

Even if the state secrets bill becomes a law, it will be important for people to continue grass-roots movements to oppose it and to prevent from being used to curb their right to know and to express their thought and opinions.
EDITORIALS
Dec 2, 2013

The politics of secrets

Flip-flops in government explanations of the contentious bill for protecting state secrets — now under deliberation in the Upper House — suggest that the government itself does not have a clear idea of how it plans to prevent the arbitrary designation of information as a special secret.
Japan Times
JAPAN / GENERATIONAL CHANGE
Dec 1, 2013

Crusader for social activism brings Change.org to Japan

The woman who brought Change.org to Japan says the online petition platform is just the ticket to get the normally reticent Japanese to become more active in achieving social change.
Japan Times
LIFE / Lifestyle
Nov 30, 2013

HIV: 'The fire across the river'

When 44-year-old Tokyo resident Isao was struck down by chronic diarrhea in June earlier this year, AIDS was the furthest thought from his mind. "I just thought I had a regular illness," said Isao, who asked for his surname to be withheld.
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / JAPAN LITE
Nov 29, 2013

Islanders must think bigger to thrive, not just survive

As a resident, may I be so bold as to suggest that we don't need an NPO to save our island from aging and depopulation. What we need is for an NPO, or anyone, to save our island from itself!
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Nov 29, 2013

Pro-democracy protest plan splits Hong Kong

After a decade of negotiations, sociology professor Chan Kin-man realized the Chinese government was not going to grant Hong Kong genuine democracy — not without a struggle, anyway.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Stage
Nov 20, 2013

Yoji Sakate celebrates in style

To celebrate its 30th anniversary this year, the Tokyo-based Rinkogun theater company determined to present four original plays by its founder, the renowned playwright and director Yoji Sakate.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / TELLING LIVES
Nov 15, 2013

TELL vet helps cast net wider to reach kids, stop suicides

The Tokyo English Life Line has been providing support and counseling services to Japan's international community for 40 years. Vickie Skorji, the new director of the Lifeline hot line service, has played a pivotal role in its activities.
Japan Times
WORLD
Nov 12, 2013

About 40,000 Americans have reportedly signed up for plans on HealthCare.gov

Roughly 40,000 Americans have signed up for private insurance through the flawed federal online insurance marketplace since it opened six weeks ago, according to two people with access to the figures.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Media / BIG IN JAPAN
Nov 9, 2013

Learning to revel in the odd with the Ig Nobel

"I noticed there was a suspicious-looking email in my in box with the subject 'Ig Nobel' and 'Congratulations.' At first I thought it was some kind of spam. I was going to disregard it, but then I recalled the famous Ig Nobel awards," relates Dr. Masanori Niimi of Teikyo University in Shukan Shincho...
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / TELLING LIVES
Nov 8, 2013

Capturing the life and lives of Tokyo, one day at a time

Every day we presumably walk past about 2,000 or 3,000 people we don't know anything about,' French photographer Cedric Riveau says. 'But everyone has his or her story to tell.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Voices
Nov 4, 2013

No safe country for foreign women: the debate

Holly Lanasolyluna's article published Oct. 23 attracted an unprecedented number of online comments. More than 5,000 people also answered the accompanying poll about safety in Japan. Here are just some of the mails and comments.
WORLD / Society / FOCUS
Oct 25, 2013

Americans' debt growing faster than retirement savings, report warns

A majority of Americans with 401(k)-type savings accounts are accumulating debt faster than they are setting aside money for retirement, further undermining the nation's troubled system for old age saving, a new report has found.
Japan Times
WORLD / Crime & Legal
Oct 11, 2013

Illegal taps on oil pipeline wreaking havoc on Nigeria

The flames roared 20 meters above the Niger delta swamp for 48 hours; 6,000 barrels of crude oil spilled into the creeks and waterways around the village of Bodo and several people died.
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / JAPAN LITE
Oct 4, 2013

How enlightened are you? — it doesn't have to be religion

We've all heard of enlightenment: awakening to the ultimate truth of life, usually achieved by relief from suffering. With the stresses of modern life — careers, love, family, Facebook — all that mental and physical pain, who wouldn't want to suffer a little less? Who wouldn't want enlightenment?...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Stage
Oct 3, 2013

Ebizo rethinks kabuki's strategy

In the glitzy and gossipy world of Japanese celebrity, hardly a week goes by without revelations being made about — or made by — Ichikawa Ebizo XI.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Oct 2, 2013

Melt-Banana: Being 'stupid' isn't so bad when it comes to touring

For Melt-Banana, the flip side of popularity overseas is that it is often regarded as a band who has never really lived up to its potential at home.
BUSINESS / YEN FOR LIVING
Oct 2, 2013

Where there's a will: Attitudes toward inheritance change

Japanese baby boomers are facing up to the responsibilities of dying.
Japan Times
WORLD
Oct 1, 2013

11 pieces of not-so-conventional wisdom on Obamacare

As we approach the Great Unveiling of Obamacare, Americans are going to see a lot of these talking points repeated as if they're facts. Most of the talking points are not dead wrong — they could be true. But they're considerably more uncertain than most pundits seem to think.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Economy
Sep 29, 2013

American Dream fading for many in wake of financial crisis

Four years into an economic recovery in which most of the benefits have flowed to the top earners, a majority believes that the American Dream is becoming markedly more elusive, according to the results of a Washington Post-Miller Center poll exploring Americans' changing definition of success and their...
Japan Times
LIFE
Sep 28, 2013

Camera artist casts new light on Jomon millennia

The Jomon Period of Japanese history is so shrouded in the mists of time that any bid to fathom its secrets stretches even the usual bounds of prehistoric archeology. Yet as amateurs and experts alike have continued unearthing examples of Jomon pottery and stone tools for more than a century, the pieces of the puzzle are gradually coming together.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Sep 24, 2013

Japan losing competitive edge due to poor practical training, expert warns

There may be many unemployed young people in Japan, but there are also a lot of companies that can't fill their vacancies due to a shortage of talented applicants, Darryl Green, president of major staffing and workforce solution service company ManpowerGroup, said in a recent interview.

Longform

Tetsuzo Shiraishi, speaking at The Center of the Tokyo Raids and War Damage, uses a thermos to explain how he experienced the U.S. firebombing of March 1945, when he was just 7 years old.
From ashes to high-rises: A survivor’s account of Tokyo’s postwar past