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ASIA PACIFIC
Jan 30, 2016

Chinese police break silence over missing Hong Kong bookseller

Chinese police have made their first statement on the fate of one of five missing Hong Kong booksellers, believed by many to have been abducted by mainland agents, acknowledging widespread concerns but offering no fresh information.
Japan Times
WORLD / Crime & Legal
Jan 30, 2016

Canada's Trudeau visits aboriginal town after deadly shooting

Residents of the remote Canadian town of La Loche, having softened frozen cemetery ground with bonfires, prepared to bury their loved ones as Prime Minister Justin Trudeau arrived on Friday at the site of Canada's worst mass shooting in a decade.
Japan Times
BASKETBALL
Jan 29, 2016

Tochigi's Brenton a multitalented player

In Japanese basketball, teams usually ask import players to provide size and scoring ability. But what Tommy Brenton supplies is much more than that.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / Japan / THE VIEW FROM NEW YORK
Jan 29, 2016

American legal principles and the Magna Carta

Henry Mittwer was a man of Japanese and American descent who stood up to the U.S. internment during World War II but in the end bore no rancor for that nation.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink
Jan 29, 2016

The future of rice farming in Japan

Rice has been at the center of Japan's economy and culture for centuries. But changes are afoot. There is growing concern among Japanese farmers that the country's rice-producing capabilities are diminishing in the face of international trade pacts such as the Trans-Pacific Partnership. In fact, all...
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Markets
Jan 29, 2016

What negative rates mean for Japan's savers and borrowers

The Bank of Japan stunned financial markets by adopting an unprecedented negative interest rate on Friday, and as the news sank in analysts began to digest the risks and possible benefits of the move.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Economy
Jan 29, 2016

Japan's 'quiet property bubble' faces end as transactions slide

The number of property transactions in the nation has tumbled, rents have been muted and inflation expectations have waned — all of which has prompted a growing number of analysts and economists to turn bearish on property prices, which have been recovering since Prime Minister Shinzo Abe came to power...
Japan Times
LIFE / Travel / AEC SPECIAL
Jan 29, 2016

Tourism on the rise across ASEAN region

ASEAN is enriched with attractive tourism destinations that include renowned resorts in breathtaking natural surroundings and historical places that are designated as World Heritage sites.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Jan 28, 2016

Opera Theater Konnyakuza perfects a union of stage and song

The world of opera has always found inspiration in the works of William Shakespeare, but adapting them for the stage requires flexibility.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Jan 28, 2016

Malaysia's top lawyer rejected advice to charge Najib: source

Malaysia's anti-graft agency had recommended that Prime Minister Najib Razak be charged with criminal misappropriation, a source said, amid growing outrage after the premier was cleared of any offenses in a multimillion-dollar scandal.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Entertainment news
Jan 28, 2016

Black or white? Actor Fiennes cast to play singer Michael Jackson

British actor Joseph Fiennes has been cast as pop star Michael Jackson in an upcoming TV comedy, provoking scorn on social media on Wednesday and fueling a controversy in the entertainment industry over opportunities for black artists.
JAPAN
Jan 27, 2016

Obokata breaks silence, suggests colleague bears blame for STAP debacle

A former star scientist with the Riken research institute who was accused of fraud in 2014 tells her side of the story.
EDITORIALS
Jan 27, 2016

Troubling TV confessions in China

China's recent televised confessions are a troubling indication of how far the government will go to silence any opposition.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / THE FOREIGN ELEMENT
Jan 27, 2016

Simulated patients pitch Japan's medical students cultural curve balls

An innovative program matches foreign volunteer 'patients' with Japanese medical students for role-play.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Jan 27, 2016

'The Actor' gets inside the mind of a struggling Japanese actor

How do Japanese actors do it? I don't mean the stars of mainstream films — those "multi-talents" that are busy 24/7 with TV, stage and advertising gigs — I'm talking about the legions of supporting actors who may have only a single scene or line in a film, or play a body floating in a river. How...
MORE SPORTS / MAN ABOUT SPORTS
Jan 26, 2016

'Concussion' adds more fuel to the fire in controversial CTE debate

Perhaps the NFL thought the furor over head injuries would go away after it awarded $765 million to over a thousand concussed ex-players.
COMMENTARY / World
Jan 26, 2016

Europe's problem: location, location, location

Europe is in the wrong place at the wrong time. And the consequences may rip it apart.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Stage
Jan 26, 2016

Theater academy pulls no punches

In a rehearsal studio at the Za-Koenji theater in west-central Tokyo's Koenji district, trainee actress Yuuhi Suenobu was striving to act the role of a frightened young woman wandering aimlessly in a chaotic wasteland with her injured mother.
WORLD / ANALYSIS
Jan 26, 2016

In fight against Islamic State on Internet, social media, key battle is to retake virtual ground

A year before Islamic State established its extremist caliphate in Syria and Iraq, Abdulmunam Almushawah noticed a disturbing development from more than 1,000 miles (1,600 km) away in Saudi Arabia.
EDITORIALS
Jan 25, 2016

How far will Putin go?

Russian President Vladimir Putin appears to prefer a 19th-century mindset in which Russia is a great power, a status that gives it license to act as it pleases.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Jan 25, 2016

Ousted Australian leader Abbott announces he will seek another term in parliament

Ousted Prime Minister Tony Abbott said he'll seek another parliamentary term in this year's elections — creating a potential rallying point for conservative lawmakers in the ruling Liberal Party and a headache for his successor, Malcolm Turnbull.
Japan Times
WORLD
Jan 25, 2016

N.Y. show goes on but 'Snowzilla' freezes D.C.; over 20 dead; transport snarled

Following a day of hunkering down, New Yorkers and Washingtonians surged back into the streets on Sunday after a massive blizzard brought much of the U.S. East Coast to a standstill, bringing a festive mood to both cities.
CULTURE / Music
Jan 24, 2016

Kyu Won Han's advice to new opera fans: immerse yourself

Baritone Kyu Won Han says the best piece of advice he can give to opera newcomers is: read up.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / LABOR PAINS
Jan 24, 2016

Graduates needn't be hostages to advance contracts

For university seniors who have pledged to work for a firm after graduation, although there is no legal compulsion, there is social and ethical pressure not to back out of the deal.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives
Jan 24, 2016

Eating crow on the issue of the clever critters we consume

The controversies surrounding the eating of various animals in our modern world are numerous: the hunting of bluefin tuna to near-extinction; eating shark fin soup (in which only the fin is used and the rest of the shark is often discarded); the consumption of dogs in various Asian countries; the use...
CULTURE / Music / STRANGE BOUTIQUE
Jan 24, 2016

Afrirampo reunion may save 2016

While 2016 kicked off for most of the music world with David Bowie tricking hundreds of thousands of people into buying a jazz-prog concept album about death, the message from the heart of J-pop was loud and clear: "DO NOT WORRY, NOTHING WILL EVER CHANGE."
ASIA PACIFIC / Crime & Legal
Jan 24, 2016

Wife of missing Hong Kong bookseller says was reunited with husband in China

The wife of one of five missing Hong Kong booksellers said she met with her husband in China, according to a statement released by the Hong Kong police on Sunday amid growing diplomatic pressure on Chinese authorities to clarify the fate of the men.
Japan Times
WORLD / Crime & Legal
Jan 24, 2016

Canadian town reels after shooting left four dead

The remote, northern Canadian community where a shooter killed four people and injured seven on Friday has long struggled under the weight of poverty, high suicide rates and disadvantages that most of the country can hardly imagine.

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