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Japan Times
JAPAN
Jun 15, 2017

Tattoo artist goes to court to legally shed shady image ahead of 2020 Games

Tattoo artists in Japan lobbied Tuesday for better legal protection of a profession that has long been associated with organized crime, seeking to end a decades-old prejudice as the nation braces for an influx of tourists and athletes sporting body art ahead of the 2020 Tokyo Olympics and Paralympics....
Japan Times
JAPAN / Science & Health / NATURAL SELECTIONS
May 27, 2017

Waking up to the mechanics of sleep

Feeling tired? Wish you had more time in your life? Got too much to do? I answer all three questions in the affirmative, and I am far from alone — in fact, almost everyone I know feels the same. The problem may be a lack of sleep, and, counterintuitively, it may also be a lack of play. But let's start...
Japan Times
WORLD / Politics / ANALYSIS
May 23, 2017

Trump sets out Mideast vision: backing Arab strongmen against Iran

The images from the same night broadcast around the Middle East speak as loudly as the words. On the one hand: the young people of Iran, dancing in the streets to mark the re-election of a pragmatist, men and women together.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / JAPANESE KITCHEN
May 20, 2017

First-harvest green tea goes best with traditional ‘karinto’ sweets

Hachijū-hachi-ya, the 88th day after risshun, the first day of spring, falls on May 2 in most years. It's the day that marks the beginning of the new tea harvest season, according to tradition.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Apr 19, 2017

Roger Pulvers challenges the idea of a hero in directorial debut, 'Star Sand'

Roger Pulvers has had the sort of free-ranging, multifaceted career that seems like a dream in this specialized age, when academics labor in their narrow professional silos.
BUSINESS
Apr 13, 2017

New rules to make spinoffs tax free may unlock potential of Japan's firms

Hedge fund manager Jamie Rosenwald is excited about tax reform, but it has nothing to do with Trump trades.
JAPAN
Apr 11, 2017

Imperial Rescript on Education making slow, contentious comeback

Once declared incompatible with Japan's postwar transformation into a democracy, a 19th-century Imperial edict on patriotism is slowly making its way back into the nation's education. Spearheading its resurgence is none other than the government of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Society
Mar 4, 2017

Learning to stand up to domestic violence in Japan

Satoru Tanaka tentatively pulls from his briefcase a well-thumbed sheet of plain paper, onto which has been sketched three smiling faces along with a simple but astute message: "Daddy's promise," it begins. "Always smile, and if you feel the urge to fight, take a deep breath."
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Mar 2, 2017

Life here, there and everywhere in the universe

Maybe only one planet in a million has intelligent life, you say? Okay, then there are at least 140 million planets with intelligent life in this galaxy alone.
Japan Times
WORLD / Politics / ANALYSIS
Jan 25, 2017

Merkel's bid for fourth term is complicated by coalition partner SPD's choice of popular Schulz as leader

Angela Merkel's path to a fourth term as Germany's chancellor just got more complicated.
JAPAN / EXPLAINER
Dec 19, 2016

New law to fight bias against 'burakumin' seen falling short

Overshadowed by the 11th-hour furor over casino legalization and other legislation forced through the Diet by the ruling bloc last week was the enactment of a lesser-known law that has significant implications for Japan's minority burakumin.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Society
Dec 13, 2016

Japan's bosozoku bikers: a vanishing rebel breed

Shotaro Nagasawa knows about living on the edge.
BASKETBALL / B. League / B. LEAGUE NOTEBOOK
Dec 8, 2016

Teamwork has Tochigi flourishing

Camaraderie pays off for successful teams.
JAPAN / History
Dec 3, 2016

Memories of 1941 Pearl Harbor attack continue to affect U.S., Japan in Asia

On Dec. 7, 1941, Japan bombed Pearl Harbor, bringing the United States into World War II. The attack, carried out at dawn by Japanese fighter planes launched from aircraft carriers, was a then relatively new form of naval warfare that shocked the American public.
COMMENTARY / World
Nov 27, 2016

Economic and political risks of India's demonetization

Has the Indian government burned down its economic house in order to eradicate the pest of corruption?
Japan Times
CULTURE / Books
Nov 26, 2016

A dark, bittersweet childhood becomes a manga masterpiece

"Sunny" is a manga masterpiece. Page by page, it quietly transcends similar slice-of-life comics in its depiction of children in a foster home, their caregivers and estranged parents. Written and illustrated by renowned manga artist Taiyo Matsumoto, this six-volume collection, which won the prestigious...
JAPAN / EXPLAINER
Nov 7, 2016

From Operation Tomodachi to Hiroshima visit, exiting Obama viewed favorably in Japan

On Tuesday, the whole world will be watching as Americans choose their next president.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Voices / FOREIGN AGENDA
Nov 6, 2016

On the trail of team Trump in Tokyo

A reporter stalks that elusive breed of American in Japan: the Trump supporter.
Japan Times
LIFE / Lifestyle
Nov 5, 2016

Washed up? Tokyo's iconic communal bath houses face an uncertain future

Walking around Tokyo, you may have noticed a number of tall, narrow chimneys rising above the skyline every so often. Such stacks are a good indication that you've stumbled across a sento, or communal bath house.
Japan Times
SPORTS / MAN ABOUT SPORTS
Nov 1, 2016

San Diego, Chargers hold special place in writer's heart

San Diego may lose its NFL Chargers. And because MAS considers himself an honorary San Diegan, he is despondent over that possibility. Why? Well, it's a long but — MAS hopes — interesting story. So, here goes.
Japan Times
LIFE / Style & Design
Oct 29, 2016

Mina Perhonen: a natural-born style

Be it a dress, a teacup or a chair, there is something instantly recognizable about a Mina Perhonen creation. Perhaps it's the natural motifs, exquisite textiles and unexpected color combinations. Or maybe it's the nostalgia-tinged atmosphere paired with clean-lined contemporary silhouettes.
EDITORIALS
Oct 17, 2016

The times they are a-changin'

Throughout his career, Bob Dylan's songs have struck a chord with the young and young at heart around the world. It is hard to imagine a 'purer' or more deserving form of literature.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC / Society
Sep 12, 2016

Rehab trumped by crackdowns as war on drugs seen failing in Asia

The Philippines has launched a bloody "war on drugs" that has killed at least 2,400 people in just two months, while neighboring Indonesia has declared a "narcotics emergency" and resumed executing drug convicts after a long hiatus.
JAPAN / Society
Sep 10, 2016

Is Japan waking up to the menace of stalking?

Health professionals are trying to be more proactive in rehabilitating stalkers before their actions escalate to something more sinister.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Aug 26, 2016

How Pakistan betrayed its founding father's vision

Until Pakistan decides whether it wishes to operate as a Muslim theocracy or as the liberal and progressive state that its founder intended, it will remain gripped in a battle between competing forces.
Japan Times
JAPAN / View from Osaka
Aug 20, 2016

The content of culture: In Osaka, who should pay?

A report released by a Kansai business group earlier this month notes the amounts for the art and culture budgets of Osaka prefecture and Osaka city are well below national averages on a per person level, and has a lot of tongues wagging about Osaka being run by a bunch of philistines.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Aug 16, 2016

Salvador Dali: a life less ordinary

The early literary surrealists of the mid-1920s were skeptical of any visual possibility. Their aim — to fuse art with life, reality and dreams — was to be realized through the immediacy of writing. Painting, by contrast, was a laborious, indirect expression mediated by style and technique. Andre...
JAPAN / Politics / DECISION 2016
Jul 8, 2016

Teachers say Japan's young voters need to have political awareness nurtured in schools

Three 18-year-old high school students at Shinagawa Joshi Gakuin in Tokyo said they were excited to cast their ballots in Sunday's Upper House election, being among the nation's first teenagers to join the electorate.

Longform

A small shrine perched atop rocks braves the waves hitting the shoreline during a storm in Shimoda, Shizuoka Prefecture. The area is under threat of a possible 31-meter-high tsunami if an earthquake strikes the nearby Nankai Trough.
If the 'Big One' hits, this city could face a 31-meter-high tsunami