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WORLD
May 13, 2013

Cursive handwriting disappearing from schools

The curlicue letters of cursive handwriting, once considered a mainstay of American elementary education, have been slowly disappearing from classrooms for years. Now, with most states adopting new national standards that don't require such instruction, cursive could soon be eliminated at most public...
EDITORIALS
May 13, 2013

Renewable energy policy

The nuclear power plant problems at Fukushima remind us that one potentially positive effect of the Tohoku disaster was a rethink of Japan's energy policy.
COMMENTARY / Japan
May 13, 2013

Shift the focus, Mr. Prime Minister

An American former prisoner of war asks Prime Minister Shinzo Abe to shift his focus from arguing about who was the 'aggressor' in World War II to an apology.
Reference / Q&A
May 10, 2013

How signs of a 'lost continent' came into JAMSTEC's underwater view

The Japan Agency for Marine-Earth Science and Technology and the Brazilian government announced Tuesday the discovery of a large mass of granite on the seafloor near Rio de Janero — a landmark finding that suggests a continent may have once existed there.
Japan Times
LIFE / Lifestyle
May 10, 2013

Ideas to trump names on TEDxTokyo stage

TEDxTokyo is set to kick off its fifth annual event on May 11 at Hikarie Hall in Shibuya Ward, featuring a bevy of talented speakers, among whom are many you've likely never heard of.
COMMENTARY / World
May 10, 2013

Vicissitudes of health care

We sometimes forget how lucky we are to have access to today's health care, compared to that of even a century ago, but there is still so much room for improvement.
Japan Times
WORLD / EU SPECIAL 2013
May 9, 2013

Japan, EU look to trade pact as way to lift up economies

Japan and the European Union have taken an important step toward deepening their relationship by starting formal negotiations on a free trade agreement in April, seeking to boost their faltering economies by creating one of the world's largest free-trade accords that will account for about 30 percent...
Japan Times
WORLD / EU SPECIAL 2013
May 9, 2013

The past, present, future of the EU; bloc's bilateral relations with Japan

The first seeds of the idea of the European Union were sown on May 9, 1950, by then French Foreign Minister Robert Schuman. Hence, the date is now celebrated as Europe Day.
Japan Times
JAPAN
May 9, 2013

TICAD to redefine Japan aid to Africa

When the first Tokyo International Conference on African Development was held 20 years ago, circumstances in Japan and Africa were vastly different than they are today.
JAPAN / Media / BIG IN JAPAN
May 5, 2013

The first kiss of death for a single society

Let us pause for a moment to consider ... the kiss.
EDITORIALS
May 5, 2013

Mr. Inose does not understand

The Tokyo governor's remarks about Olympic Games rival Istanbul shows that he is not yet quite ready to participate in international society, let alone host the games.
COMMENTARY / COUNTERPOINT
May 5, 2013

The right to die: letting individuals make the choice themselves

It was not the most elegant way to launch a national conversation about the right to die, but this past January Deputy Prime Minister Taro Aso, 72, certainly drew attention to the issue of terminal patients. Unfortunately he did so by saying that old people should "hurry up and die" to unburden the nation's...
Japan Times
BUSINESS
May 4, 2013

Hedge fund guru John Paulson fleeced by gold

Gold and its beguiling promise of assured riches have lured clever men into making bad decisions for millennia. The latest to have fallen under its alchemical spell is apparently John Paulson, hedge fund billionaire and the man who made his name — and a $5 billion profit — betting against that other...
COMMENTARY / Japan
May 1, 2013

Please, no more Yasukuni visits

For the White House to welcome Japan to the TPP talks and to tell China to back off on the Senkakus, while Japan's top leaders visit Yasukuni Shrine, is ridiculous.
EDITORIALS
Apr 29, 2013

24-hour transportation in Tokyo

Tokyo Gov. Naoki Inose is thinking of allowing some bus routes to run 24 hours a day and extending subway operating hours to avoid the nightly shutdown.
COMMENTARY / World
Apr 26, 2013

Cost of the American dream

The U.S. Fed policy of low interest rates and easy money is criticized for creating a 'bubble machine' from which asset prices could rise without growing jobs.
COMMENTARY / World
Apr 26, 2013

Somalia comes back enough to receive arms

Somalia was a failed state for more than 20 years. But now it has come back enough for the U.N. Security Council to partially lift the embargo on arms sales.
Japan Times
ENVIRONMENT
Apr 23, 2013

Little bird on the prairie could help save entire ecosystem

Under an indigo predawn sky, as a frigid wind whipped across the plains, a half-dozen brown-and-white birds emerged from tufts of dry grass. They emitted a low cooing sound, akin to the hooting of an owl.
COMMENTARY / Japan / SENTAKU MAGAZINE
Apr 22, 2013

ASEAN looking a bit like '97

Amid the economic boom in many ASEAN countries, there is also a feeling of deja vu that current conditions resemble those on the eve of the '97 financial crisis.
COMMENTARY / World
Apr 22, 2013

A thousand days to keep Millennium promise

This month the world reached a benchmark in history's largest anti-poverty push — 1,000 days before the target to achieve the Millennium Development Goals.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Media
Apr 21, 2013

In 'Tsukuru Tazaki,' Murakami once again shifts his point of view

Two thousand and nine was a good year to be a Haruki Murakami fan. Seven years after writing his last epic novel, "Kafka on the Shore," with only the bite-sized 2004 "afterdark" to tide over his readership, the author published the massive two-volume "1Q84." Looking back now, it's also clear that Murakami...
COMMENTARY / World
Apr 21, 2013

Obama budget recognizes economic tradeoffs

President Barack Obama's proposed U.S. budget addresses a range of hard political and social choices/tradeoffs for the first time in the postcrisis period.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives
Apr 20, 2013

New Zealand instructor empowered by Pilates

Candace Adachi is one of those people who can turn heads without even trying as she walks by. With a spring in her step and a dazzling smile to match, she radiates self-confidence and well-being, and it comes as no surprise to learn that she is a professional fitness instructor. She says, however, that...
WORLD
Apr 20, 2013

The unintended paradoxical legacy of the lady in blue

Two former prime ministers were buried this week. One was a gloriously battling heroine of freedom, Boadicea in pearls, who put the Great back into Great Britain and won the Cold War with a little assistance from U.S. President Ronald Reagan. The other was the empress of evil, Cruella de Vil in a twinset,...

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