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COMMENTARY / World / THE VIEW FROM NEW YORK
Sep 29, 2014

Condemnation attributed to 'utter nonsense'

Were 'comfort women' sex slaves for Japanese soldiers in World War II? If you recognize that prostitution is largely a form of physical bondage, they were. But forcibly rounding up women for the work would be a different matter. Recently the testimony of a man who claimed to have helped with the roundups was judged to be false, after causing Japan consternation for three decades.
JAPAN / EXPLAINER
Sep 29, 2014

Mount Fuji finds mixed success with tolls

As the Mount Fuji climbing season drew to a close earlier this month, authorities were assessing the success of a new ¥1,000 voluntary climbing fee, which almost half of hikers skipped paying. It was introduced this year following a trial in 2013.
WORLD
Sep 29, 2014

Obama says U.S. underestimated Islamic State gains in Syria

President Barack Obama said U.S. intelligence officials failed to appreciate the gains made by Islamic State extremists in Syria during the last few years of that country's civil war.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Sep 27, 2014

Scotland's independence referendum inspires an Okinawan discussion

As sometimes happens when a news story that has nothing to do with Japan becomes topical worldwide, the Japanese media tried to find a local angle for the Sept. 18 Scottish referendum. The coverage fell into two categories: greater autonomy for Okinawa, and the use of referendums.
Japan Times
WORLD
Sep 27, 2014

No breakthrough in Iran nuclear negotiations, but sides agree to keep talking

Iran and six world powers made little progress in overcoming significant disagreements in the most recent round of nuclear talks, including on uranium enrichment, Iranian and Western diplomats close to the negotiations said Friday.
BUSINESS
Sep 26, 2014

Famed bedroom trader Takashi Kotegawa reveals his wealth secrets as he guns for $1 billion

It was six minutes after the opening bell on Feb. 4, and dozens of big-name stocks were still untraded in Tokyo. Telecommunications giant SoftBank Corp. was among those that hadn't budged. The offer price fell 5 percent, then more, and still there were no takers.
WORLD
Sep 26, 2014

French, U.S. planes strike Islamic State; Britain to join coalition

French fighter jets struck Islamic State targets in Iraq on Thursday, and the United States hit them in Syria, as a U.S.-led coalition to fight the militants gained momentum with an announcement that Britain would join.
Japan Times
LIFE / Travel / HOTELS & RESTAURANTS
Sep 25, 2014

Getting a taste of design, fashion; burritos for the working woman

Getting a taste of design, fashion
Japan Times
CULTURE / Stage
Sep 24, 2014

As festival's renown goes global, director hails its local role

Since its launch in 2010, Kyoto Experiment has steadily come to rival, if not even surpass, Festival/Tokyo as the nation's leading annual showcase for cutting-edge performances.
Japan Times
JAPAN / EMBASSY AVENUE
Sep 22, 2014

In commemoration of Lithuanian Jews

Sept. 23 is Lithuania's Holocaust Memorial Day that pays tribute to the victims of the destruction of Vilnius ghetto in 1943.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / THE FOREIGN ELEMENT
Sep 22, 2014

Kaikoura and Taiji: a tale of two whaling towns

The success of a New Zealand whale-watching eco-tourist destination could hold lessons for the ailing Wakayama port tarred by association with the 'Cove' dolphin hunt.
LIFE / Language / COMMUNICATION CUES
Sep 22, 2014

Melbourne found most livable city

Melbourne tops the ranking as the world's most pleasant city to live in for the fourth year running, according to an Economist Intelligence Unit poll.
Japan Times
MORE SPORTS / ASIAN GAMES
Sep 21, 2014

Om grabs Asian Games gold with record lift

North Korean pocket rocket Om Yun Chol broke his own weightlifting world record at the Asian Games on Saturday, while host South Korea matched powerhouse China's gold medal haul with five on the first day of competition.
COMMENTARY / Japan / SENTAKU MAGAZINE
Sep 21, 2014

Rather than boon for Japan, U.S. shale oil is still rip-off

Japan's national wealth is draining away as its trading companies keeping paying premium prices for the oil on offer from the U.S. and the Middle East.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Sep 21, 2014

Is China going down the same road as Japan?

What are the geopolitical implications of China entering a long-term period of Japan-like stagnation but without Japan-like wealth?
EDITORIALS
Sep 20, 2014

Half century on the shinkansen

Oct. 1 will be the 50th anniversary of the inauguration of the Shinkansen super-express trains. Their effects on Japan's GDP and the environment have been enormous.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / BLACK EYE
Sep 17, 2014

Ex-NYC graffitist scratches the surface in Osaka and declares it 'dope'

Father of three Roler Miles, who grew up defacing walls and subways in New York, now runs a thriving spray-paint business, teaches Japanese students art and leads a team of artists at Universal Studios Japan in Osaka.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Voices / VIEWS FROM THE STREET
Sep 17, 2014

Tokyo and Saitama: How would you vote on the issue of independence for Scotland?

Britons in Kanto explain why they are backing a 'yes' in the referendum for Scottish independence or a 'no' for the status quo.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Media
Sep 17, 2014

No use fighting the tide of online journalism, experts say

Major news organizations in Japan have been somewhat insulated from the seismic shift taking place in online journalism around the world. Helped by their still strong, if waning, presence in print, Japan's five national newspaper companies, each boasting millions of copies in daily circulation, have...
COMMENTARY / World
Sep 16, 2014

Obama is getting 'trolled' by the Islamic State

U.S. President Barack Obama's over-reaction to the videos of two American journalists getting beheaded gives one the uncomfortable feeling that the war-weary American people are again getting the bum's rush into playing the bad guy in the Mideast.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Sep 12, 2014

Artists, athletes will get to shine at Sports Culture Davos in 2016

As Japan gears up to host the 2020 Summer Olympics, the government will jointly hold Sports Culture Davos in fall 2016 in Tokyo and in the Kansai region with the Geneva-based World Economic Forum, education minister Hakubun Shimomura said.
WORLD / Science & Health
Sep 12, 2014

Microsoft co-founder Allen to give $9 million for Ebola fight

Microsoft Corp. co-founder Paul Allen's charitable foundation on Thursday will announce it is donating $9 million to support U.S. efforts to fight the Ebola outbreak in West Africa, a source said.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Sep 11, 2014

Tomoo Gokita's painterly coup

In a 2000, Gokita likened the relationship between fine artists and illustrators to that of martial artists and professional wrestlers. 'These days, though, wrestlers beat martial artists in MMA matches,' he noted. 'If I could do that in art, then I'm fine being an illustrator.
Japan Times
BASKETBALL
Sep 10, 2014

Anatomy of a scam: Aomori targeted by fake agents

A trail of deceit has produced fake 2014-15 contracts for several American basketball players for the Aomori Wat's, The Japan Times learned during a one-month investigation of alleged fraudulent agents.

Longform

Members of the nonprofit group Japan Youth Memorial Association search for the remains of dead soldiers in a cave in Okinawa Prefecture in February.
The long search for Japan’s lost soldiers