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Reader Mail
Nov 24, 2017

Remembering the nine murder victims in Zama

The news of the murders in Zama, Kanagawa Prefecture, is so shocking that I cannot find the words to describe the unspeakable cruelty of the murderer or my unbearable grief for the nine victims.
Japan Times
WORLD / Politics
Nov 24, 2017

Mugabe is granted immunity and assured of safety in Zimbabwe, sources say

Zimbabwe's former President Robert Mugabe was granted immunity from prosecution and assured that his safety will be protected in his home country under a deal that led to his resignation, sources close to the negotiations said on Thursday.
Japan Times
WORLD / Society
Nov 24, 2017

At service for Africa, pope decries murder of women and children as 'horrid face' of war

Pope Francis on Thursday denounced the murder of innocent women and children as the "horrid face" of war as he presided at a special prayer service for peace in South Sudan and the Democratic Republic of Congo.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Society
Nov 23, 2017

'Boys' for rent in Tokyo: Sex, lies and vulnerable young lives

Ignorance about STDs, exploitation and camaraderie found in the sex-worker bars of Shinjuku's Ni-chome gay district.
Japan Times
LIFE / EVENTS AND INFORMATION
Nov 23, 2017

Microfinancing offers hope to those in need

"If there is no financial injection, there is no hope," said Peter Fanconi, chairman of Swiss impact investment managers BlueOrchard Finance Ltd. "Today, about 2.3 billion people have no access to credit or financial services. So microfinance is bridging this gap."
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film / Wide Angle
Nov 23, 2017

Sun, sand and the silver screen

Launched in 1981 by Jeannette Paulson Hereniko, the Hawaii International Film Festival (HIFF) was the first film festival in the United States to focus on films from the Asia-Pacific region. Being a bridge between East and West is still its mission, but HIFF now has plenty of company around the world....
EDITORIALS
Nov 23, 2017

Kenya buckles under pressure

A political standoff in Kenya increasingly appears to be a genuine political crisis. What once was proclaimed as a victory for the rule of law now looks to have been only a moment of hope for democrats. The consequences for Kenya could be severe; some even speak of the breakup of the state. Such ambitions...
Japan Times
WORLD / Society
Nov 23, 2017

Famine forcing besieged Syrians to eat trash or go days without food: WFP

Syrians in the besieged enclave of Eastern Ghouta are so short of food that they are eating trash, fainting from hunger and forcing their children to eat on alternate days, the U.N. World Food Program said in a report on Wednesday.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Nov 22, 2017

The Yoshida Brothers get in on Kubo's big adventure

Speaking as a Japanese person, I can't help but feel a short burst of national pride when Hollywood gives my country any kind of attention, like with the animated film "Kubo and the Two Strings."
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC
Nov 22, 2017

North Korean defector's dramatic escape to the South caught on video

North Korean border guards were only steps behind a fellow North Korean soldier when they opened fire and one briefly crossed the border pursuing the wounded defector as he dashed to the South Korean side, a video released Wednesday by the U.N. Command (UNC) in Seoul showed.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Nov 22, 2017

Founder of South Korea's top love hotel app aims to make business family-friendly

Lee Su-jin used to work at a love hotel in South Korea, changing sheets and cleaning up after couples who had paid for a few hours of privacy. Sixteen years on, he is using the knowledge he gained to transform the industry.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / Japan
Nov 21, 2017

Japan and the Indo-Pacific geopolitical calculus

History warns us against writing off Japan too hastily. It may not be a traditional great power on conventional criteria but it remains a consequential power in the Indo-Pacific.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Nov 21, 2017

China gives flying cars a real boost

A Chinese automotive firm's acquisition of a U.S. flying car startup marks an important advance for a technology that could reshape the 21st-century city.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Stage
Nov 21, 2017

Junpei Mizobata plunges headfirst into the absurdist world of Harold Pinter

As the saying goes, "You can't judge a book by its cover." In the same way, if you thought the 28-year-old ikemen (drop-dead gorgeous) actor Junpei Mizobata had just been cast to fill seats for the upcoming staging of one of the world's most well-known but challenging modern plays, you'd be doing a great...
Japan Times
PRESS / Services
Nov 21, 2017

Trial of The Japan Times on Sony’s Digital Paper

Tokyo, November 21, 2017 - The Japan Times (Minato Ward, Tokyo; representative: Takeharu Tsutsumi) will conduct a trial of a new digital newspaper delivery service with the Sony’s Digital Paper (DPT-RP1).
Nov 21, 2017

Trial of The Japan Times on Sony’s Digital Paper

The Japan Times (Minato Ward, Tokyo; representative: Takeharu Tsutsumi) will conduct a trial of a new digital newspaper delivery service with the Sony’s Digital Paper (DPT-RP1).
Japan Times
CULTURE / Entertainment news
Nov 21, 2017

Gospel singer, actress of 'Touched By An Angel' fame Della Reese dead at 86

Actress and gospel singer Della Reese, who appeared for years in the "Touched By An Angel" television series, has died at the age of 86 at her home in California, her family said on Monday.
Japan Times
LIFE / Language / BILINGUAL
Nov 20, 2017

The Japanese love to play number games

How would you read the name of a person whose kanji is written u4e00 u4e09u516bu5b50?
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Nov 20, 2017

U.S. military restricts travel and bans drinking after fatal Okinawa traffic accident

All U.S. service members in Okinawa have been restricted to their bases and residences and banned from drinking alcohol in response to a fatal traffic accident.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Nov 20, 2017

China's Chongqing renews attacks on former disgraced leaders: 'Redouble efforts to root out poison'

The government of the southwestern Chinese city of Chongqing renewed its attacks on two of its disgraced former leaders on Monday, saying one had set up an "independent kingdom" while the other was a lazy deceiver.
Japan Times
LIFE / Lifestyle / CHILD'S PLAY
Nov 19, 2017

Slip back in time and into a kimono

One of our family's favorite ways to learn is through hands-on experiences. Sometimes it's cooking classes. Other times it may take the form of historical reenactments or clever interactive museum exhibits. Whatever the experience, we enjoy being immersed in it rather than just reading about it.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Nov 19, 2017

1968: The year Japan truly raised its voice

During a recent conversation with a student in his sixth year at a university renowned to be an incubator for Japanese politicians, 23-year-old Atsugi Fukuhara tells me that he wants to stay a student forever.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / Japan
Nov 19, 2017

Want to increase workplace productivity?

Companies are not investing enough in strategic employee communications to produce an engaged workforce.
Japan Times
WORLD / Politics
Nov 19, 2017

Zimbabwe's ruling party ousts Robert Mugabe

The leaders of Zimbabwe's ruling ZANU-PF party met Sunday and agreed to dismiss President Robert Mugabe, the only leader the southern African nation has known since independence 37 years ago.
Japan Times
WORLD / Politics
Nov 19, 2017

Gerry Adams to step down in end of an era for Irish nationalism

Sinn Fein's Gerry Adams, a pivotal figure in the political life of Ireland for almost 50 years, said on Saturday he will step down as party leader and complete a generational shift in the former political wing of the Irish Republican Army (IRA).
CULTURE / Books / ESSENTIAL READING FOR JAPANOPHILES
Nov 18, 2017

'The Broken Commandment': Toson Shimazaki's humanist bildungsroman of a 'burakumin'

A classic from 1906, Toson Shimazaki's "The Broken Commandment" follows the ideological struggles of a young teacher, Ushimatsu Segawa.
JAPAN / History / THE LIVING PAST
Nov 18, 2017

Japan's shifting attitudes toward prostitution

Sex is a necessity and a pleasure; it's also a problem. It exalts some, degrades others. It generates offspring. It's dynamite. Taboos concerning it are as old as humanity. Laws regulating it predate civilization. Nowhere is the human libido absolutely unfettered. Incest is nowhere tolerated, marriage...
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / Japan
Nov 17, 2017

Why Japan's low birth rate makes economic sense

Japan's shrinking population may present a hidden advantage to navigating this century's artificial intelligence revolution.

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