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Japan Times
BUSINESS / Tech
Mar 23, 2013

The digital pioneer who became a Web rebel

Jaron Lanier is that rarest of rare birds — an uber-geek who is highly critical of the world created by the technology he helped to create. Now 52, he first came to prominence in the 1980s as a pioneer in the field of "virtual reality" — the development of computer-generated environments in which...
WORLD
Mar 14, 2013

Al-Qaida-Iran bond beginning to fracture

With the expulsion of a senior al-Qaida official, Iran appears to be signaling a crackdown on the terrorist group that has long sought refuge within its borders, even as Tehran allows al-Qaida operatives safe transit to Afghanistan, U.S. officials say.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Mar 13, 2013

Tokyo doctor adds disaster zone to practice

Ever since the 9-magnitude earthquake rocked the Tohoku region two years ago, Tokyo doctor Naoko Ishii and her husband, Hajime, have been quasi-residents of the Ogatsu district of Ishinomaki, Miyagi Prefecture.
Japan Times
LIFE / Travel
Mar 10, 2013

If you do like to be beside the seaside, try Kamogawa

Chiba is a large prefecture, something you notice while traveling from Tokyo to the southern seaside resort of Kamogawa. The journey takes a good two hours — and this by express train.
CULTURE / Music
Mar 7, 2013

Recochoku brings Japan further into the stream

Recochoku, a digital content aggregator owned by major Japanese labels, debuted a smartphone-based streaming service called RecoChoku Best on Tuesday. It's due to become available on PCs this summer.
Japan Times
WORLD / Crime & Legal
Feb 23, 2013

The stalking cure: rehabilitating an all too common menace

When forensic psychiatrist Frank Farnham first meets a stalker, he doesn't judge. Some of his clients have done awful things. They have intimidated, pursued and terrified their victims.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Feb 1, 2013

'R-18 Bungakusho Vol. 1: Jijojibaku no Watashi'

Sex is universal, but kinks can be local. Japanese S&M, at least the varieties I've seen in films over the years, is less about black leather and fishnet stockings, more about candle wax and artfully elaborate knots designed to display the flesh of the (inevitably female) subject in enticing ways.
COMMENTARY / World
Jan 28, 2013

The Little Englanders are gaining

The real problem is continental drift: Brussels, the capital of the European Union, is getting further and further away from England. Or at least that is British Prime Minister David Cameron's line.
EDITORIALS
Jan 23, 2013

Manipulation of a key index

Even during Japan's bubble economy of the late '80s, average annual inflation was 0.7 percentage point shy of the just-adopted 2 percent target.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Jan 20, 2013

China may prevent Korean unification: U.S. report

A recent report by Republican staff members in the U.S. Senate warns that China, because of its deepening economic ties with North Korea as well as its ancient claims on Korean land, could attempt to "manage, and conceivably block," the eventual unification of the two Koreas, if ever the Kim family falls...
COMMENTARY / World
Jan 10, 2013

At last, Russia wins the seal of French approval

President Vladimir Putin has finally done it. Russia has been vying for the West's esteem for centuries, with approval by the French — a sought-after prize since the time of Peter the Great — coveted the most. But, despite the defeat of Napoleon and the World War I alliance, Russia could never get...
EDITORIALS
Jan 5, 2013

A call for courage in 2013

There may be a temptation to coast through 2013. After all, we survived the end of the world last month, and if we can get through that, many people would like to believe that we have earned a respite. That do-nothing approach is probably the worst possible option. In truth, we have coasted for too long....
COMMENTARY / World
Dec 26, 2012

A time to reflect on pressing economic challenges

Sir John Templeton was a legend in his own lifetime who made billions of dollars from the sensible and wise way he invested money. In these difficult times it is apposite to quote Rule No. 12 of Templeton's legendary golden rules for investment success: "Begin with a prayer," he advised.
COMMENTARY / World
Nov 28, 2012

Making the most of Russia's European prospects

In 1966, French President Charles de Gaulle's vision of a Europe "that stretched from the Atlantic to the Urals" was provocative. Today, Russian President Vladimir Putin has advanced an even more ambitious goal: "a common market stretching from the Atlantic to the Pacific."
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives
Nov 17, 2012

Ink artist pushes the boundaries of tattooing

The skin as canvas, inks and needles replacing the palette: tattoos by Khan transcend mere decorations. Whether he is depicting eye crinkles in a portrait of the Dalai Lama or the leer of a supernatural ghoul, his rich color and technical realism redefines the boundaries of art and pop culture.
Japan Times
LIFE / Style & Design / ON: FASHION
Nov 13, 2012

Designer Cynthia Rowley hits the double digits

New York-based designer Cynthia Rowley celebrated her brand's 10th year in Japan with a special talk show and cocktail dinner for VIP guests during Tokyo Fashion Week. The Barrington, Illinois, native's name has long been on the lips of American sportswear fans with her bright and feminine takes on casual-to-cocktail-style...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Oct 26, 2012

Festival/Tokyo theater event to give Asia a starring role

Japan has been on a bit of a losing streak for a while now. In 2010, it was overtaken as the world's second-largest economy by China, and in 2011 the nation was rocked by the Great East Japan Earthquake and the ensuing tsunami and nuclear crisis.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Stage
Sep 20, 2012

A principal of noh performance

The upcoming "Sakurama Kinki no Kai" is the 19th noh event in a series of performances by Sakurama Kinki of the Komparu School. Of the five noh schools still active today, the Komparu School is the most traditional, though it has, interestingly, taken the progressive step of accepting women. The school...
Japan Times
LIFE / WEEK 3
Sep 16, 2012

Sex samaritan keeps walking the walk

Self-styled "sex helper" Shingo Sakatsume has lost count of the abuses he claims the media and the authorities have heaped on him.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Media / BIG IN JAPAN
Sep 16, 2012

Getting food on tables is increasingly difficult

The cover of Nikkei Business of Aug. 27 carried a photograph of a sirloin steak atop a sizzling platter. The meat was artfully trimmed to form the shape of the Japanese archipelago.
BUSINESS / YEN FOR LIVING
Sep 5, 2012

Buy now to beat the consumption tax increase ... or don't

The pros and cons of making big-ticket purchases before the consumption tax increase.
Japan Times
LIFE
Aug 26, 2012

Material girls: Japan's preteen model boom

AKB48 has reshaped the landscape of youth culture in modern Japan. The pop-idol group's rapid rise to stardom across a wide array of formats has provided the country's children with a fairly straightforward path to commercial success: fame is ultimately achieved by attracting a broad fan base via popular...
COMMENTARY / World
Jul 18, 2012

Turning swords into plowshares, and back again

How long does it take for enemies to become allies, and allies to become enemies?
COMMENTARY / World
Jul 11, 2012

Can Obama avoid losing like Jimmy Carter?

At this point in 1980, U.S. President Jimmy Carter was on the path to oblivion but didn't know it. President Barack Obama may share Carter's fate if he doesn't change course soon. The 1980 presidential race was neck and neck until the end. It finally broke for Ronald Reagan when voters concluded that...
Japan Times
JAPAN / History
Jun 10, 2012

The Marshall Islands: Tropical idylls scarred like Tohoku

With all its American, European and Asian cultural influences, it's easy to forget that Japan is also an island nation in the Pacific.
COMMENTARY
Jun 7, 2012

U.S.-India ties lose momentum

Was the U.S.-India strategic partnership oversold to the extent that it has failed to yield tangible benefits for the United States? Even as Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has just held detailed discussions in New Delhi, an increasing number of analysts in Washington have already concluded that the...
Japan Times
BUSINESS
May 20, 2012

Economic woes, political volatility may creep into U.S. foreign affairs

No matter who wins the presidential election in November, the United States appears headed for a prolonged period of political volatility as leaders do not seem to have good answers to voters' anxieties about their economic future. This threatens to spill over into U.S. relations with the rest of the...
LIFE
May 13, 2012

What awaits Okinawa 40 years after reversion?

On May 15, 1972, Okinawa became a prefecture of Japan once again. Up until then, for 27 years since World War II — when the islands endured some of the most intense fighting of the entire brutal conflict — Okinawa had been under U.S. military administration, so reversion to Japanese rule should have...
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / TOKYO FOOD FILE
May 4, 2012

Nirvanam: Savor the subtle spice of South Indian cuisine

What's the best season for eating Indian food? Summer, when all the spices help you sweat out Tokyo's clammy heat? Or in the chill of winter, to put fire in your belly? The answer: Any time at all, if the cooking is as consistently good as it is at Nirvanam.
Japan Times
LIFE
Apr 29, 2012

Otosan, Japan's top dog

Upper House election night, 2010. All over the country people are watching television and waiting to see if there will be an upset as the results from polling stations slowly trickle in.

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