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COMMENTARY / World
Aug 12, 2015

Give Beijing's currency devaluation a chance

By devaluating the yuan, Beiing might be buying some economic stability so it can accelerate its reform process.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Aug 11, 2015

There's a residual energy to Cai Guo-Qiang's explosive works

Japanese artist Taro Okamoto once said, "Art is an explosion." This was despite the fact that his own works were carefully planned and developed, as the exhibition "Taro Okamoto's Paintings: From Impulse to Realization" at the Taro Okamoto Museum of Art made clear back in 2006. Okamoto's famous dictum,...
LIFE / Language / MORNING ENGLISH
Aug 10, 2015

Let's discuss 'Star Wars ' floats at the Aomori Nebuta festival

Organizers of the Aomori Nebuta Matsuri will not allow much-awaited floats based on 'Star Wars' characters to parade on the city's streets.
Japan Times
WORLD / Politics
Aug 9, 2015

Republicans pile on Trump following controversial debate comments

Rival Republican presidential candidates piled on Donald Trump Saturday for his caustic remarks about a female debate moderator, and the billionaire celebrity candidate backpedaled in an effort to keep his campaign from unraveling.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Aug 7, 2015

Achieving true reconciliation

It takes two to tango, and to achieve reconciliation.
JAPAN / Politics
Aug 6, 2015

Abe advisory panel cites wartime 'aggression' but fails to address recent revisionism

A key advisory panel to Shinzo Abe published its report Thursday on Japan's modern history and postwar reconciliation, strongly criticizing the wartime "aggression" against other Asian countries but touching little on recent controversies over what is widely regarded as the prime minister's revisionist...
Japan Times
JAPAN / Politics
Aug 3, 2015

Abe, Renzi agree to beef up security, economic ties

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and his visiting Italian counterpart, Matteo Renzi, agreed Monday to strengthen bilateral security and economic ties, and cooperate further on a wide range of global issues.
LIFE / Language / MORNING ENGLISH
Aug 3, 2015

Let's discuss rice and the TPP

Japan is proposing to set a 70,000-ton tariff-free import quota for U.S. rice in bilateral talks for a Pacific free trade agreement, in return for maintaining a high tariff on the country's staple food.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Jul 29, 2015

'Obon no Ototo' is one director's attempt to portray his real life through a fictional self

'Life imitates art far more than art imitates life," quipped Oscar Wilde, but in the film world mining one's own life for the sake of art — or rather, a script — is an ancient and hallowed practice. The resulting film, however, may have only a tenuous relationship with the filmmaker's actual biography....
Japan Times
LIFE / Language / BILINGUAL
Jul 27, 2015

A crash course in wartime Japanese terminology for foreign demons

Ahead of the 70th anniversary of the end of World War II, here's a look at the words, phrases and concepts that found wide usage in the fateful years leading up to 1945.
LIFE / Language / MORNING ENGLISH
Jul 27, 2015

Let's discuss scorching weather in Japan

At least three elderly people died and hundreds were taken to the hospital as Japan continued to bake under scorching temperatures.
EDITORIALS
Jul 26, 2015

Alarmist defense white paper

By highlighting the threat posed by China, the government appears to be using the white paper to drum up public support for the Abe administration's controversial security legislation.
JAPAN / Politics / KANSAI PERSPECTIVE
Jul 26, 2015

Hashimoto's proposed Kansai-centric party no easy sell in region, where rivalries limit appeal

No stranger to making headlines and raising eyebrows in politics, the fiery Toru Hashimoto did it again on July 4.
LIFE / Language / MORNING ENGLISH
Jul 20, 2015

Let's discuss the plan for a new National Stadium in Tokyo

The complicated design of Tokyo's new National Stadium meant only a limited number of contractors could tackle the project and was the biggest cause of its budget blowout.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Jul 20, 2015

Netanyahu reaping a bitter harvest

The bad blood between Netanyahu and the West is exposing Israel to a risk no less significant than that posed by Iran: the danger of international isolation.
Japan Times
CULTURE
Jul 16, 2015

Museums are the place to be this summer thanks to new dinosaur discoveries

Whether you live with a 4-year-old expert in dinosaurs, or were once one yourself, this summer offers some exciting opportunities for further discovery about the giant animals that long ago roamed the Earth. And best of all, they're all right here in Japan.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Jul 16, 2015

Student group's pandemics study wins Japan Times award

A student group addressing the growing threat of pandemic diseases in the age of globalization received the grand prize for this summer's presentations in The Japan Times Youth Project.
LIFE / Language / MORNING ENGLISH
Jul 13, 2015

Let's discuss safety on trains

There were calls for security checks to be instituted on users of bullet trains nationwide after a self-immolation on Tuesday left the perpetrator and one other passenger dead, and two people seriously injured.
JAPAN / Society
Jul 7, 2015

Japan LGBT group files human rights complaint in bid for same-sex marriages

Hundreds of members of the gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender community file an unprecedented human rights request with the Japan Federation of Bar Associations in a bid to legalize same-sex marriages.
LIFE / Language / MORNING ENGLISH
Jul 6, 2015

Let's discuss changing child care laws

This week's featured article
Japan Times
JAPAN / Politics
Jul 4, 2015

Japan, Mekong ink new ¥750 billion aid deal

Japan reveals a new three-year aid plan at the Japan-Mekong Summit to promote stability in the region and counter China's growing clout in Southeast Asia.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink
Jul 3, 2015

Rice organization uses fried food and folklore to revive a Shinto purification ritual

Traditions are just innovations that happened to catch on. Culinary traditions are no different. Some self-organize out of circumstance, such as yakisoba (literally "fried noodles"), which triumphantly emerged as the iconic food of summer festivals in large part thanks to a particular combination of...
LIFE / Language / MORNING ENGLISH
Jun 29, 2015

Let's discuss NHK in the news

This week's featured article
Japan Times
WORLD / Society / FOCUS
Jun 27, 2015

Legal battles remain for U.S. gay rights despite momentous ruling

The U.S. Supreme Court's declaration on Friday of a right to same-sex marriage resolved a momentous question, yet the ruling left many others unanswered and is likely to spark future legal battles over gay rights.
Japan Times
WORLD / Society
Jun 27, 2015

Obama calls for racial harmony, gun control at funeral of slain pastor in Charleston

An impassioned President Barack Obama led thousands of mourners in singing "Amazing Grace" on Friday at the funeral of a slain pastor in Charleston and urged Americans to eliminate symbols of oppression and racism, including the Confederate battle flag.
EDITORIALS
Jun 26, 2015

Pope Francis as environmentalist

Pope Francis has issued a powerful call on mankind to protect the environment, achieving an important alignment of science and religion.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Jun 24, 2015

Turkey's master of slow-boil cinema keeps his characters simmering with tension in 'Winter Sleep'

This may seem an odd form of praise, but Nuri Bilge Ceylan does boredom awfully well. The Turkish director's last film, "Once Upon a Time in Anatolia" (2011), was a police procedural that had been denuded of the drama you'd normally expect from the genre. Yet as its protagonists trudged fruitlessly from...
Japan Times
LIFE / Language / MORNING ENGLISH
Jun 22, 2015

Let's discuss Japanese sake in the news

To differentiate it from foreign-brewed fare, the National Tax Agency is considering defining 'Japanese sake' as a home-brewed alcoholic drink made from Japanese-grown rice.
WORLD / Crime & Legal
Jun 22, 2015

Banks did too little to police FIFA transactions, says global body

A global group of government anti-money-laundering agencies said that financial institutions have not done enough to police suspicious financial activity by officials at soccer's global governing body FIFA, and cautioned banks to step up scrutiny.

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