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Japan Times
CULTURE / Books
Feb 13, 2016

Art Place Japan: The Echigo-Tsumari Art Triennale and the Vision to Reconnect Art and Nature

In an era of relentless urbanization, global travel and weightless images, the Echigo-Tsumari Art Triennale has pioneered a ground-breaking model of place-based art curation that aims to cast a little edifying rural grit into the oyster of contemporary urban affluence. Centred on a declining, depopulating...
CULTURE / Books / ESSENTIAL READING FOR JAPANOPHILES
Feb 13, 2016

After the Banquet

Considering Yukio Mishima's reputation, it seems odd that a book as innocuous as "After the Banquet" could have had such an impact. The novel tells the story of Kazu, the owner of a restaurant frequented by the rich and powerful of Tokyo society, and Noguchi, a semi-retired politician. They marry, but...
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / 20 QUESTIONS
Feb 13, 2016

Lisako Fukuda-NiChionnaith: 'What you play reflects your real personality'

Japanese musician on the relationship between Irish music and communication
Japan Times
BASEBALL / BASEBALL BULLET-IN
Feb 13, 2016

Kiyohara's troubles concern, sadden former teammates

Much has been written and reported since the Feb. 2 arrest of former Seibu Lions, Yomiuri Giants and Orix Buffaloes superstar slugger Kazuhiro Kiyohara for possession and use of illegal drugs. "It's a shame," "What a waste" and "I can't believe it" are typical words of reaction expressed by ex-teammates...
JAPAN / Politics
Feb 12, 2016

Paternity leave trailblazer Miyazaki quits over affair

LDP lawmaker and paternity leave pioneer Kensuke Miyazaki quits his seat after admitting to an extramarital affair.
BUSINESS / Economy
Feb 12, 2016

Japan's economic roller coaster is headed for another dip

After three years of Abenomics and record monetary stimulus from the central bank, the economy still cannot escape a roller-coaster cycle of expansion and contraction.
COMMENTARY / World
Feb 11, 2016

Why Sanders can triumph

In a troubling time for America, Bernie Sanders offers a clear and passionate vision that could propell him to the White House.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Voices / FOREIGN AGENDA
Feb 10, 2016

Japan and its birth rate: the beginning of the end or just a new beginning?

Despite demographic doomsayers, Japan could be ripe for a gender revolution that boosts its birth rate.
COMMENTARY / World
Feb 10, 2016

The eight deadly nuclear sins

Nearly 46 years after the Non-Proliferation Treaty went into effect, the international community is no closer to the goal of eliminating nuclear weapons.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Feb 10, 2016

Hillary doesn't get what campaigns are about

Hillary Clinton's biggest flaw as a candidate is her failure to project an optimistic vision for the future.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Feb 10, 2016

Grim universe of horror manga 'Litchi Hikari Club'

When I was 13, I belonged to a neighborhood gang called, ironically, "The Hoods." We committed minor acts of vandalism as a sort of game and talked about invading the turf of a rival gang a few blocks over (but never got around to it). We were, to put it plainly, idiots.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Feb 10, 2016

'Carol' shows women trapped in the moral confines of 1950's America

'Carol" is a wondrously beautiful piece of filmmaking by American director Todd Haynes. Set in New York during the 1950s — when homosexuality was viewed as a disease on par with leprosy — the film reminds us of the incredible freedom allowed in romantic relationships these days.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Feb 10, 2016

Kochi cops probed Kiyohara for drugs decade ago but lacked evidence to arrest

Former professional baseball player Kazuhiro Kiyohara, who was arrested last week for alleged drug possession, became the target of a drug investigation by police in Kochi Prefecture 10 years ago, media reports said Tuesday.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Feb 9, 2016

Japan should seek a society upholding human values

Japan can embrace its most positive characteristics and build on them to ensure an innovation-rich future.
COMMENTARY / World
Feb 9, 2016

When drama undercut diplomacy

If the Modi government wants history to stop repeating itself, it must develop a credible counterterrorism strategy vis-a-vis Pakistan.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Feb 9, 2016

Documents indicate chemical leaks at U.S. base have polluted Okinawa water supply

U.S. documents released under the Freedom of Information Act reveal that lax safety standards at Kadena Air Base in Okinawa may be to blame for the recent contamination of local drinking water sources.
JAPAN / Society
Feb 8, 2016

U.N. rapporteur urges Japan to consider law banning hate speech

Japan should enact a law banning hate speech to protect the nation's ethnic minorities, according to a United Nations expert who said such a change would not impact freedom of speech.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Feb 8, 2016

Japan takes aim at ballooning drug prices as costs strain health budget

When two of the world's biggest pharmaceutical companies announced a tie-up in Japan, its $78 billion drug industry took note.
Japan Times
WORLD / Politics
Feb 8, 2016

Rubio may find 'reasonable' Republican Kasich a New Hampshire spoiler

U.S. Republican presidential candidate John Kasich is polling in the low single digits nationally but may be poised to play the role of spoiler in Tuesday's New Hampshire primary by cutting into the support of higher-profile rivals such as Marco Rubio.
WORLD
Feb 6, 2016

Australian state premier offers 267 asylum seekers refuge

The premier of an Australian state offered on Saturday to look after a group of asylum seekers facing repatriation to a camp on a remote Pacific island, adding to opposition to the federal government's policy of offshore detention.
COMMENTARY / World
Feb 6, 2016

The predators behind the TPP

Twelve Pacific Rim countries representing around 40 percent of the global economy signed the u2028Trans-Pacific Partnership free trade accord on Thursday. Dutch author Karel van Wolferen u2028examines the corporate ramifications of the divisive deal
COMMENTARY / COUNTERPOINT
Feb 6, 2016

A Tohoku father seeks accountability for his daughter's death

As the fifth anniversary of the March 11, 2011, earthquake and tsunami approaches, the tragic story of 74 schoolchildren and 10 teachers who drowned near Okawa Elementary School in Ishinomaki, Miyagi Prefecture, continues to resonate painfully.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / How-tos / HOME TRUTHS
Feb 6, 2016

The ups and downs of apartment elevators

In the 2014 American movie, "5 Flights Up," Morgan Freeman and Diane Keaton play an elderly couple who think about selling their two-bedroom Brooklyn apartment. Since they have lived in the unit all their married life, the decision is a difficult one, and the premise of the plot hinges on the reason...
CULTURE / Books / ESSENTIAL READING FOR JAPANOPHILES
Feb 6, 2016

A Cat, a Man, and Two Women

It took the wise Junichiro Tanizaki, partial to hanky-panky of all shades, to see that a perfect love triangle (oops — make that a square) involves a cat. True to form, in "A Cat, a Man, and Two Women" Tanizaki flips master and servant, and one of the charms of this light-hearted work, first published...

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