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Reader Mail
Jun 7, 2014

Brazil big enough for the World Cup

After reading Chikako Nakayama's May 29 article, "World Cup without succor," I would like to make a few observations, as the writer failed to grasp two basic aspects of Brazil's current political and economic state.
Japan Times
LIFE / Digital
Jun 6, 2014

PS3 game predicts success for Japan in early soccer stage

Right now, soccer fans across the globe are wondering how their nation will fare at the upcoming World Cup in Brazil. Usually some company finds a psychic animal to "predict" the results: Paul the Octopus for the 2010 World Cup, an Indian elephant for Euro 2012, and this time a panda.
Japan Times
CULTURE
Jun 5, 2014

Cheer on the Samurai Blue at events across the country

It may be nicknamed the "beautiful game," but these days it can sometimes be hard to see soccer as anything but ugly.
Japan Times
LIFE / Travel / HOTELS & RESTAURANTS
Jun 5, 2014

Celebrating kaiseki cuisine; world foods for the World Cup; original cocktails mark 20 years

Celebrating kaiseki cuisine The Ritz-Carlton, Tokyo in Roppongi will hold a special kaiseki dinner titled "Sake Journey," at the Hinokizaka Japanese restaurant on the hotel's 45th floor, on June 27.
COMMENTARY / World
Jun 2, 2014

The call to raise tobacco taxes and save lives

If the government of Japan increased the amount of excise tax on cigarette packs by 50 percent (to 68 percent of the final retail price), there would be 1.5 million fewer smokers and 330,000 smoking-attributable deaths would be averted.
Japan Times
LIFE / Language / BILINGUAL
Jun 1, 2014

Warming up for the Soccer W-Cup

For real soccer fans, the upcoming World Cup in Brazil will be the highlight of the past four years. On top of that, many lukewarm supporters will surely soon discover that they are, in fact, true sports fans. But even those who consider it entirely pointless to watch 22 people running after a ball for...
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / KANPAI CULTURE
May 13, 2014

Let's not forget the sake at world food events

On the afternoon of April 28, at an intimate gathering in London's Ametsa restaurant, a cluster of admirers with champagne flutes in hand fluttered around chef Helena Rizzo. The Brazilian Rizzo, who helms the acclaimed restaurant Mani in Sao Paulo, had recently been named the World's Best Female Chef,...
JAPAN / EXPLAINER
May 5, 2014

Silk mill took Japan to global level

The historic Tomioka Silk Mill in Gunma Prefecture and its related facilities are expected to become UNESCO World Heritage sites next month.
Japan Times
LIFE / Lifestyle
May 5, 2014

Does it matter how we choose The World's 50 Best Restaurants?

The World's 50 Best Restaurants is a quirky list and no one claims it is definitive. Avant-garde restaurants tend to place higher than traditional establishments whose gastronomy has stood the test of time.
WORLD / Science & Health
May 4, 2014

In your wildest lucid dreams: scientists' interest in sleep world grows

One of our most mysterious and intriguing states of consciousness is the dream. We lose consciousness when we enter the deep waters of sleep, only to regain it as we emerge into a series of uncanny private realities.
Japan Times
LIFE / Travel
Apr 19, 2014

Dresden cashes in on German unification

American novelist Kurt Vonnegut, a prisoner of war in Dresden during World War II, has a scene in "Slaughterhouse Five" where time-traveling hero Billy Pilgrim sees the city's firebombing in reverse, with phosphorous bombs sucked back into warplanes.
MORE SPORTS
Apr 6, 2014

Light flyweight Inoue captures world title in sixth pro bout

Phenom Naoya Inoue, nicknamed "the Monster" for his unparalleled talent and considered the next big thing in Japanese professional boxing, took his first step toward greatness on Sunday night.
Japan Times
ENVIRONMENT
Apr 5, 2014

World 'ill-prepared to face climate risks'

Global warming is depleting fresh water and crops, destroying coral reefs and melting the Arctic, the United Nations said Monday in a report that concludes the world is ill-prepared to face many new threats.
Japan Times
Figure Skating
Mar 27, 2014

Flawless Mao sets new world record after short program

Mao Asada set a new world record of 78.66 points with a superb short program at the world championships on Thursday night.
Japan Times
WORLD
Mar 23, 2014

Germans finally start poking fun at the Fuhrer

If Hitler were alive today, would he become a standup comic? Incredible though that may sound to anyone who lived through World War II, that is the scenario sketched out in "Look Who's Back," a satirical novel by Timur Vermes, which topped the best-seller lists in Germany after its publication in 2012...
COMMENTARY / World
Mar 11, 2014

Ukraine batters a broken world

Surely the prize for the most cynical news item of the month should go to the announcement from Oslo that Russian President Vladimir Putin has been nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize 2014.
Japan Times
WORLD
Feb 9, 2014

Water shortages leaving world high and dry

On Jan. 17, scientists downloaded fresh data from a pair of NASA satellites and distributed the findings among the small group of researchers who track the world's water reserves. At the University of California, Irvine, hydrologist James Famiglietti looked over the data from the gravity-sensing Grace...
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives
Feb 8, 2014

Yuichiro Miura: on top of the world

Ever wondered what it feels like to stand on top of the world? Eighty-one-year-old alpinist Yuichiro Miura should know: He's done it three times since turning 70. He became the oldest person to scale the world's tallest peak, Mount Everest, in May last year, a remarkable feat that spurred the government...
COMMENTARY / World
Jan 7, 2014

Meet the emerging world's vaccine pioneers

More must be done to target the 22 million children, mainly in the poorest countries, who do not have access to lifesaving vaccines that protect against diseases such as measles, pneumonia and rotavirus, writes Microsoft cofounder Bill Gates.
COMMENTARY / World
Jan 3, 2014

Has the world hit the end of the end of history?

Almost 25 years after the intellectual and political collapse of communism, another — and by far grander — narrative of promised progress is unraveling: that of liberal capitalism.
SPORTS / YEAR IN REVIEW 2013
Dec 25, 2013

A look back at the year's top 10 Japan sports stories

Japan Times editors selected these domestic sports stories as the most important of 2013.
SOCCER
Nov 7, 2013

Zaccheroni comes out swinging ahead of Low Countries trip

Under-fire national team manager Alberto Zaccheroni has defended his record ahead of this month's friendlies against the Netherlands and Belgium, pointing to the medals he has won during his three years in charge as evidence.
Japan Times
WORLD / Politics
Oct 1, 2013

World perplexed by U.S. shutdown

As the U.S. government creaked toward a shutdown Monday, the world looked on with a little anxiety and a lot of dismay, and some people had trouble suppressing smirks.
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / JAPAN LITE
Sep 27, 2013

FYI: Agricultural World Heritage status

After our 3,776-meter-tall friend Fuji-san won the coveted UNESCO World Heritage status this year, many people are wondering what site will win the status next? Only one Japanese site per year can be nominated for the award, and recent reports have said the government is considering a steel works, a...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Sep 11, 2013

Real-world validations of our digital realm

"We are now living in a super, hyper-extended information society," says curator Masafumi Fukugawa, "and that idea was the starting point for our new exhibition."

Longform

Tetsuzo Shiraishi, speaking at The Center of the Tokyo Raids and War Damage, uses a thermos to explain how he experienced the U.S. firebombing of March 1945, when he was just 7 years old.
From ashes to high-rises: A survivor’s account of Tokyo’s postwar past