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Reader Mail
Aug 7, 2013

The 'blackface' political shtick

Deputy Prime Minister Taro Aso's recent suggestion that Japan's politicians take a play from the National Socialist German Workers' Party and quietly try to slip constitutional revisions under the public radar have sparked a storm of international indignation.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Aug 7, 2013

Gaffe-prone leaders are doing Japan no favors

It is in Japan's long-term interest for its politicians to avoid remarks that could exacerbate ill will toward Japan and thus detract from its goal of economic revival.
EDITORIALS
Aug 6, 2013

Take a stand against nuclear weapons

Sixty-eight years since atomic bombs were used against people for the first time, U.S. President Barack Obama's call for further cuts in nuclear arsenals is up in the air.
COMMUNITY / Voices / HOTLINE TO NAGATACHO
Aug 5, 2013

For the sake of Japan's future, stop glorifying past crimes at Yasukuni

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, it hurts the victims of the Imperial Japanese military's war of terror that ministers of your government and members of parliament continue to visit Yasukuni Shrine.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Voices / OUR MAN IN TOKYO
Aug 5, 2013

Young Ethiopia envoy brings new ideas, energy

Ethiopian Ambassador Markos Tekle Rike, 34, says he has always felt a special connection between his country and Japan, although he did not have any personal interest in this country before he arrived here 2½ years ago.
Japan Times
WORLD / Science & Health
Aug 2, 2013

Curiosity rover's descent to Mars — the story so far

Nestled below the foothills of the San Gabriel mountains, the Jet Propulsion Laboratory outside Pasadena has a surprisingly low-tech feel. For more than 40 years, space missions to the planets have been controlled from its operations rooms, yet the place is still striking for its bucolic charm. Mule...
EDITORIALS
Aug 1, 2013

A return to the Mideast table

The announcement that Israel and Palestine will resume long-stalled peace talks is a step forward, and deserves the support of all who seek a permanent peace.
COMMENTARY / World
Aug 1, 2013

Beautiful but wasted Earth

Most people are too preoccupied with the business of keeping a job and remaining healthy even to think about the grand problems of the survival of planet Earth.
Reader Mail
Jul 31, 2013

Language policy hurts children

Hiroshi Noro hits the proverbial nail on the head by pointing out in his July 18 letter, "Battling the language in Japan," that people at present are studying Japanese harder than ever right here in Japan.
ENVIRONMENT
Jul 31, 2013

Shark attacks on humans are rare but not unheard of

With beach season in full swing, the question inevitably arises: What are the chances of getting attacked by a shark?
MORE SPORTS
Jul 31, 2013

Gymnastics coach Tomita fondly remembers legendary Aihara

The late Nobuyuki Aihara, a gymnastics legend, left a great impression on many individuals he met or influenced during his many decades in the sport, including Yoichi Tomita.
COMMENTARY / World
Jul 30, 2013

China should return to the natural birth model

China has one of the highest Ceasarian birthrates in the world. The consequences should make Chinese women think twice before requesting this procedure.
WORLD / Society
Jul 30, 2013

Pope's accepting comments on gays mark change in tone

In another act of the kind of humble outreach that has marked the early months of his papacy, Pope Francis called on Monday for the integration of gays into society, remarking that even as leader of the world's 1.2 billion Catholics, he has no right to "judge" gay people.
EDITORIALS
Jul 29, 2013

Back flows of funds causing trouble

The flag raised at the Moscow Group of 20 summit signaled that money is leaving emerging economies as the U.S. hints at less quantitative monetary easing.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Jul 28, 2013

Fukushima: evolving fear into fact

Misinformation and flawed reporting about Fukushima radiation levels and reactor stability persisted even when scientific data had become readily available.
Japan Times
LIFE / Travel / BACKSTREET STORIES
Jul 27, 2013

Log-jamming in Shin Kiba

Last month, readers of this column found me frolicking in the sawdust and lumberyards of Shin Kiba — meaning "New Wood Place" — which arose on reclaimed land in Tokyo Bay in the 1970s when the city's timber businesses were moved there from their traditional home in nearby Kiba to make way for rapid...
Reader Mail
Jul 27, 2013

Excellent animated story line

Regarding Mark Schilling's July 18 review of the animation film, "Kaze Tachinu (The Wind Rises)": It's an excellent movie, although I felt the end was slightly abrupt and hurried. It provides a sweeping view of history leading up to the Second World War.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Jul 25, 2013

'Akaboshi'

I used to attract proselytizers, usually some variety of Christian, when I was thumbing around the United States in the early 1970s. Unlike most drivers who offered me rides, they didn't want a captive ear for their personal confessions or rants. Instead they relentlessly quizzed me on the state of...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Jul 24, 2013

The Pushkin's masterpieces cannot fail to inspire

There are a lot of people who wish that art had simply stopped around 1911 or so. If it had, we would have been spared many of the monstrosities that modern art then proceeded to unleash — urinals in art galleries, randomly distributed paint, pickled animals, cans of the artist's excrement, etc. Of...
COMMENTARY / World
Jul 23, 2013

U.N. norm setters vs. takers

How long will the United Nations division of labor last in which Westerners are the norm setters and enforcers while the rest are norm takers
COMMENTARY / World
Jul 23, 2013

An invitation to combat today's killer diseases

Noncommunicable diseases like cancer and diabetes lead to 63 percent of annual deaths worldwide. The good news is that they are largely preventable.
BUSINESS / BALANCING INTERESTS
Jul 22, 2013

Japan may be latecomer but TPP trade party has just begun

Japan only has three days in Malaysia for the TPP negotiations, but experts say it has a solid chance to lead the revamp of trade in the Asia-Pacific region.
COMMENTARY / World
Jul 22, 2013

Indonesia's cautious confidence

How does Indonesia leverage its newly acquired strength to confront the challenges facing it and its regional partners, while avoiding foreign policy recklessness
Japan Times
ENVIRONMENT / WEEK 3
Jul 20, 2013

Fuji meet wrestles with issues common to commons worldwide

Last month, just before the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization announced Mount Fuji's designation as a World Cultural Heritage Site for its religious and artistic significance, 430 learned visitors descended on its lower northern slopes.
Japan Times
ENVIRONMENT / WEEK 3
Jul 20, 2013

On the trail of bear hunters' heritage

Takashi Yoshikawa is no easy man to figure out. Trim and well tanned, the 63-year-old owns a small ryokan (traditional inn) nestled in the foothills of the beautiful Shirakami Mountains which straddle 130,000 hectares of Aomori and Akita prefectures, and whose 17,000 hectares of beech forests were listed...
Japan Times
ENVIRONMENT / WILD WATCH
Jul 20, 2013

Building a case for birds

Many people would consider Stonehenge in southwest England or the Great Pyramid of Giza in Egypt — which both date from around 4,600 years ago — among the crowning glories of human achievement.

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