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Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC
Jul 21, 2014

China ship spies on U.S.-led naval drills

China sent a surveillance vessel to waters off Hawaii even as the country participated for the first time in the world's largest international naval exercise led by the U.S.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Science & Health / NATURAL SELECTIONS
Jul 19, 2014

If chimps inherit their intelligence, does that prove humans do, too?

Some people are smarter than others. And though animal intelligence is far less well studied, it turns out that within a particular population, say of chimpanzees, some animals are smarter than others, too — and these differences are heritable. To put it another way, some chimps' mothers are smarter...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Books
Jul 19, 2014

Umami: the taste we love but can't describe

The word "umami" is, in many ways, literally a mouthful. First coined in 1909 by Japanese chemist Kikunae Ikeda, the term translates roughly as "deliciousness." With its satisfying, round consonants and open vowel sounds, the word approaches onomatopoeia — a phonetic approximation of the gustatory...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Jul 17, 2014

Ryuichi Sakamoto delves into cities and nature at Sapporo International Art Festival

Sapporo is generally known for three things: snow, ramen and beer. These things, and festivals such as the Snow Festival or City Jazz, are what draw more than 14 million tourists to the city every year.
WORLD / Politics
Jul 15, 2014

BRICS neutrality on Ukraine a victory for Putin

A summit of the BRICS group of emerging market countries will abstain from criticizing Russia's recent actions in Ukraine, Brazilian officials said, a diplomatic victory for President Vladimir Putin.
COMMENTARY / World
Jul 14, 2014

A caliph in his own mind

The recent declaration of a caliphate by the militant group the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria is an unprecedented event in modern times, showing that violent jihadism is now an entrenched feature of the Arab political landscape.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Jul 10, 2014

Shale oil to push U.S. past Russia, Saudi Arabia

Four years into the shale revolution, the U.S. is on track to pass Russia and Saudi Arabia as the world's largest producer of crude oil, most analysts agree. When that happens and by how much, though, has produced disparate estimates that depend on uncertain factors ranging from progress in drilling...
WORLD / Politics
Jul 10, 2014

Obama-Perry Texas talks fraught over migrant children crisis

As a measure of how politically fraught President Barack Obama's Texas trip is Wednesday, Republican Gov. Rick Perry reluctantly agreed to a ritual public greeting of the nation's chief executive.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Jul 8, 2014

Daymare puts its bands through a hardcore filter for Leave Them All Behind event

"There are people who like aggressive music the way they like sports, but I think 'hardcore' is about being self-aware of what you're doing, about how to create your own space," says Tadashi Hamada, manager of independent music label Daymare Recordings. "That's my first requirement for bands. So hardcore...
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / THE FOREIGN ELEMENT
Jul 7, 2014

Foreign women also face 'maternity harassment'

Non-Japanese women discuss their experiences of mata-hara, or 'maternity harassment' — discrimination in the workplace against women who are pregnant, on child-care leave or have returned to work after giving birth.
Japan Times
BASEBALL / MLB
Jul 7, 2014

Tanaka chosen for MLB All-Star Game

The $175 million the New Yankees spent to acquire Masahiro Tanaka is looking more and more like a bargain with each passing day.
Japan Times
LIFE / Travel
Jul 5, 2014

Off the beaten path on Japan's paper trail

At a little roadside store in rural Nagano, a foreign tourist is miming a rice bowl with her cupped left hand. Firm in the belief that Japanese washi (paper — wa meaning Japanese and shi meaning paper) was made from rice, she waves her flattened right hand across the "bowl," miming her desire for "sheets"...
ASIA PACIFIC
Jul 4, 2014

With one eye on Washington, China plots its own Asia 'pivot'

The Silk Road, an obscure Kazakh-inspired security forum and a $50 billion Asian infrastructure bank are just some of the disparate elements in an evolving Chinese strategy to try to counter Washington's "pivot" to the region.
Japan Times
WORLD
Jul 2, 2014

Palestinian teen killed in possible revenge attack

The discovery of a body in a Jerusalem forest on Wednesday raised suspicions that a missing Palestinian youth had been killed by Israelis avenging the deaths of three abducted Jewish teens.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Jul 2, 2014

'Nanpu (Riding the Breeze)'

Movies about women who fly off to foreign climes to reboot their lives are a thriving subgenre, though the heroines are mostly from well-off countries, Japan included. Women from the more troubled parts of the world may also cross borders to start new lives, but their motives are less often self-discovery...
Japan Times
WORLD / Society / FOCUS
Jul 1, 2014

Beijing quietly tightening grip on Hong Kong

Since Britain handed back colonial Hong Kong in 1997, retired primary school teacher and Falun Gong devotee Lau Wai-hing has fully exercised the freedoms China promised this city of 7.2 million.
Japan Times
SOCCER / World cup
Jun 29, 2014

Rodriguez fires Colombia by Uruguay, into last eight

A sensational display from James Rodriguez fired Colombia into the World Cup quarter-finals for the first time on Saturday with the attacking midfielder scoring twice in a 2-0 victory over Uruguay including a contender for goal of the tournament.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Politics
Jun 24, 2014

Abe and Aquino pledge stronger security ties

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and Philippine President Benigno Aquino III pledged Tuesday to deepen security cooperation, at a time when their countries are facing growing military assertiveness from China.
Japan Times
WORLD
Jun 22, 2014

Pope blasts mobsters for their 'adoration of evil'

Pope Francis on Saturday issued the strongest attack on organized crime groups by a pontiff in two decades, accusing them of practicing "the adoration of evil" and saying mafiosi are excommunicated.
Japan Times
WORLD / Science & Health / FOCUS
Jun 20, 2014

Insurers balk at cost as gene tests unlock medical mysteries

Aimee Robeson just wants an answer.
COMMENTARY / World
Jun 16, 2014

Corruption rumors sideline Beautiful Game's rewards

New squalid facts, claims and rumors are emerging every week suggesting that the game of soccer may be beautiful but some of its leading figures are too close to dark and shadowy criminal forces.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Science & Health / NATURAL SELECTIONS
Jun 14, 2014

The hormone behind man's best friend

The other day I saw a picture of a dead dog on Twitter. Gross, right? Not at all, for this wasn't just any old dog: This was Hachiko, perhaps the most famous dog in the world, and certainly the most famous in Japan.
Japan Times
WORLD
Jun 13, 2014

Brazil wins, comes alive for World Cup despite protests

Brazil exploded with street parties as its soccer team won the opening game of the World Cup on Thursday, but scattered violent protests were a reminder that many locals remain angry over the billions spent to host the tournament.
Japan Times
WORLD / Politics
Jun 9, 2014

Le Pen hits dad for Holocaust pun

Marine Le Pen, leader of France's far-right National Front (FN), rebuked her father and former party head on Sunday for remarks reviving allegations of anti-Semitism after a major poll victory.
Japan Times
WORLD
Jun 3, 2014

Abbas swears in Palestinian unity government

President Mahmoud Abbas swore in a Palestinian unity government Monday in a reconciliation deal with Hamas Islamists that set Israel on a collision course with Washington over U.S. pledges to work with the new administration while Israel shunned it.

Longform

Totopa in Tokyo’s Shinjuku Ward was picked by consultants TTNE as the best sauna of the year.
Japan’s sauna movement: Relax, refresh, repeat