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Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues
Jan 6, 2016

For Japan's English teachers, rays of hope amid the race to the bottom

The major economic engines of Japan Inc. — car manufacturers, appliance giants and the like — have often been caught price-fixing: colluding to keep an even market share, squeeze competitors out and maintain "harmony." Similarly, the commercial English-teaching business could be accused of wage-fixing:...
Japan Times
JAPAN
Jan 6, 2016

Protesters in Tokyo denounce 'comfort women' deal

Activists fighting for women coerced into work at Japanese wartime military brothels urge Tokyo to scrap its deal with Seoul.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / ANALYSIS
Jan 6, 2016

South Korean economy seen to shrug off North's nuclear test

As officials from South Korea's Finance Ministry and central bank rushed into a strategy meeting to consider the implications of North Korea's latest nuclear test, early indications suggest that Asia's fourth-largest economy is likely to shrug it off.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Jan 6, 2016

Wrestling with Japan's physically challenged, literally

In 1994, I reviewed "Invincible Handicap" ("Muteki no Handicap"), a documentary by scriptwriter and filmmaker Daisuke Tengan about a professional wrestling group called Doglegs whose members were both physically challenged men and able-bodied volunteers. Started in 1991, the Doglegs hardly fit the template...
JAPAN / Society / DEMOGRAPHIC CHALLENGES
Jan 6, 2016

Government weighs immigration to maintain population, boost workforce

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe in September announced administrative measures seeking to maintain a population of at least 100 million people over the next 50 years with a target of significantly raising the fertility rate to 1.8.
Japan Times
WORLD / Politics
Jan 6, 2016

Sanders attacks Wall Street's business model of fraud, 'too big to fail' banks, Clinton

U.S. Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders warned on Tuesday that financial-sector greed was "destroying the fabric of our nation" and said the starting point of any Wall Street reform effort is breaking up "too big to fail" banks.
Japan Times
WORLD / Society
Jan 6, 2016

34 migrants, including seven children, found dead on Turkish coast; at least 12 rescued

The bodies of 34 migrants, at least seven of them children, were found at two sites along Turkey's Aegean coast on Tuesday after they apparently tried to cross to the nearby Greek island of Lesbos.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Jan 5, 2016

U.S. cops are too crazy to be trusted with guns

Cop lives shouldn't matter more than civilian lives, and cops shouldn't enjoy the benefit of the doubt more than ordinary citizens.
COMMENTARY / World
Jan 5, 2016

Shadow of Saddam looms large in Iraq

Saddam Hussein's legacy will continue to haunt Iraq as long as Sunni grievances are unresolved.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Jan 5, 2016

The Islamic State group learns from the past

The Iraqi government's fight with Islamic State is just getting started.
COMMENTARY / World
Jan 5, 2016

Social engineering backfires on graying China

China's powerful bureaucrats are finding that human behavior cannot be fully controlled or predicted.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Jan 5, 2016

'Position 2016: An Intimate Relationship of Art and Craft'

Jan. 5-Feb. 21
Figure Skating / ICE TIME
Jan 5, 2016

Higuchi in elite class with Mao after result at nationals

Lost in the glare of the spotlight that shone on Olympic champion Yuzuru Hanyu and his record run and the return of three-time world champ Mao Asada at the recent Japan nationals was the second-place finish of junior sensation Wakaba Higuchi.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Jan 5, 2016

From longer hours to all-you-can drink offers, Japan's restaurants evolve in battle for customers

Change is in the air — you can smell it.
WORLD / Crime & Legal
Jan 5, 2016

Oregon protesters find support and scorn on social media

A group of self-styled militiamen occupying the headquarters of a U.S. national wildlife refuge in eastern Oregon to protest the imminent imprisonment of two ranchers took to social media on Monday to drum up support for their cause.
BUSINESS / Tech
Jan 4, 2016

After winning at Japanese chess, this computer may help decide loans

Having defeated a human shogi (Japanese chess) expert, this computer program's next task is to figure out whether you can make the payments on a new mortgage.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Jan 3, 2016

Woman leads sex education drive to enlighten clueless youths

Asuka Someya discovered she was pregnant at the age of 20 when she was a university student.
COMMUNITY / Issues / JUST BE CAUSE
Jan 3, 2016

Battles over history, the media and the message scar 2015

A rundown of the top 10 human rights issues of the past year as they affected non-Japanese residents.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Jan 3, 2016

New Denki Groove documentary uncovers two decades of strange techno

Way back in the 1990s, when the "Cool Japan" campaign was but a faint, distant blip on the nation's radar, a synth-pop group called Denki Groove was doing its best to represent Japanese "cool."
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC
Jan 3, 2016

As water crisis deepens, India seeks mystical Saraswati river

Gagandeep Singh stands at the edge of a trench cutting through a sugarcane field in rural India. He looks down at a dozen or so men toiling in the mud in plastic flip-flops and bellows: "Dig!"
Japan Times
JAPAN / Society / DEMOGRAPHIC CHALLENGES
Jan 3, 2016

Options available to mitigate dangers of living alone with dementia

At first glance, it's hard to tell what's wrong with Keiko Sawada. As casual exchanges continue, however, it becomes increasingly clear the former bar hostess has serious memory problems.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / How-tos / HOME TRUTHS
Jan 2, 2016

Getting a high rise out of dodging taxes

About a year ago, we talked about using real estate purchases to lower inheritance and gift taxes. Obviously, people who are able to take advantage of these schemes are already well off — the average person doesn't have to worry about paying inheritance taxes when his or her parents die because for...
COMMUNITY / Voices / OVERHEARD
Jan 2, 2016

Is Santa the real deal?

Do you believe in Santa Claus?
Japan Times
JAPAN / Media / DARK SIDE OF THE RISING SUN
Jan 2, 2016

Looking for a bit of light in the fight against crime

Do you ever get the feeling that you're trapped in Harold Ramis' 1993 movie "Groundhog Day," except that you're an investigative journalist, not a weatherman, and the nemesis that keeps popping up isn't a rodent but a crime syndicate boss? Maybe it's just me.
Japan Times
BASKETBALL / BJ-LEAGUE NOTEBOOK
Jan 2, 2016

Golden Kings continue winning tradition

The Ryukyu Golden Kings have been so good for so long that they've maintained a winning formula for nearly a decade.
CULTURE / TV & Streaming / CHANNEL SURF
Jan 2, 2016

New adaptation of Natsume Soseki's classic novel; scaling Mount Everest; CM of the week: Parco

Natsume Soseki's novel, "Botchan," has been adapted many times over the years, but it has been 20 years since it was last done for television. To celebrate the 100th year since the writer died, Fuji TV is presenting a brand new production of the classic story (Sunday, 9 p.m.) starring Arashi's Kazuya...
COMMENTARY / World
Jan 2, 2016

Africa suffering under a yoke of corruption

The book 'The Looting Machine' by Tom Burgis explains why a continent blessed with one-third of the world's hydrocarbon and mineral wealth remains mired in poverty and dysfunction.
Reader Mail
Jan 2, 2016

Remembering St. Luis Ibaraki

The Living Past column titled "Japan's 'Christian century' failed to blossom" in the Dec. 20 edition made me ponder one aspect of our history in Japan. The writer of the article says that for the Japanese "... there is no 'beyond' (transcending man and nature)."
Japan Times
WORLD
Jan 1, 2016

Syrian, Iraqi militants said to have been plotting New Year's attack in Germany

Germany received a tip hours before midnight that named militants from Iraq and Syria were planning attacks in Munich but police have been unable to find the suspects and are not even sure if they exist or are in the country, the Munich police chief said Friday.

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