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Japan Times
CULTURE / Books
Jun 25, 2016

Gary Snyder: Asia's heavy toll on nature

Enter the mind of American poet and scholar Gary Snyder and watch as time pulls back, perspectives shift and an epoch passes in a single blink. His newest book of prose, "The Great Clod," is a series of essays on Asia's ecological history, combining culture and politics in a way that is, unsurprisingly,...
Japan Times
LIFE / Digital / JAPAN TIMES BLOGROLL
May 24, 2016

OkanoTV

In a light-hearted yet informative way, YouTuber Chris Okano (known online as OkanoTV) gives viewers insight into many aspects of Japanese society and culture — from the usual guide videos to humorous takes on the more more left-field aspects of this country.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Books
Apr 30, 2016

Black Illumination: the abyss of Keiji Nishitani

I've always felt there are basically two kinds of philosophers: those who begin in wonder and those who begin in despair. Though the philosopher Keiji Nishitani (1900-90) was arguably the latter kind, he struggled throughout his life to see the world with wonder.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Voices / FOREIGN AGENDA
Apr 6, 2016

'No One's Perfect' writer Ototake couldn't live up to the 'Supercrip' media ideal

Hirotada Otatake's 'inappropriate relationships' are indefensible. But even more disappointing was the way the media presented Ototake and the story.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Mar 21, 2016

Ise Jingu: telling Japan's story to the rest of the world

Ise Shrine can offer world leaders a valuable message when they gather there in May.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Society
Mar 6, 2016

Aging, indebted Japan debates right to 'die with dignity'

Retired airline employee Tarou Tanzawa said he hadn't thought much about his own death until his 84-year-old mother was diagnosed with malignant lymphoma and decided against costly and invasive life-prolonging treatment.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Voices / FOREIGN AGENDA
Mar 6, 2016

Immigration: the missing piece in the Tohoku recovery puzzle?

Entrepreneurship, reconstruction and tourism still may not be enough to save rapidly depopulating Onagawa.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Media / BIG IN JAPAN
Feb 13, 2016

One slip can sink a salaryman's career

'I've always been shy," says Kazuo. "Face-to-face communication never came easily to me." At 48, he's been out of work five years. He lives with his mother, who's close to 80 — mostly off her pension. A typical day — typical not only of him, says the weekly Spa!, but of an increasing number of middle-aged...
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / BLACK EYE
Jan 17, 2016

'Being black can be more fun than being gay'

A look at the experience of two black men in the LGBT community in Tokyo, a 'minority of a minority of a minority.'
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music / David Bowie in Japan
Jan 14, 2016

Like some cat from Japan: A tribute to David Bowie

The late David Bowie's appreciation of Japan and its culture was strong. Following his recent death, The Japan Times asked five people who share that connection with the country, and who witnessed the decade-spanning trajectory of this starman, to recall what his sound and vision meant to them.
Japan Times
BASEBALL / Japanese Baseball
Dec 30, 2015

Fortuitous move to bullpen led Barnette to majors

The last game pitcher Tony Barnette ever started for the Tokyo Yakult Swallows came against the Chunichi Dragons on March 8, 2011, during spring training. Barnette had already had one life-altering moment that spring — he'd proposed to now-wife Hillary before leaving Arizona for Japan — and, though...
COMMUNITY / Voices / FOREIGN AGENDA
Dec 23, 2015

On a Christmas visit, expat thoughts turn to 'going home'

Reconnecting with home can be a cause for reflection: Where have I been, and where am I going? Is there another life to return to?
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Dec 14, 2015

Putting a price tag on U.S. gun violence

Would the economic benefit of stricter gun control in the U.S. outweigh the economic cost?
Japan Times
LIFE / Lifestyle
Nov 7, 2015

Heart of darkness: Nostalgic Tokyo disappearing amid construction boom

The Shinagawa neighborhood of Musashi-Koyama — a vibrant maze of tiny alleyways that once housed dozens of small eateries, tapas restaurants and bars — is now a virtual ghost town.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Science & Health / NATURAL SELECTIONS
Sep 19, 2015

How grandma drives human evolution

Speak to professionals from various disciplines and you will notice something funny: Even when they are off duty, they tend to view the world through the lens of their professional background. For example, a psychiatrist at a dinner party might pause to think a bit about the possible neuroses of the...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Sep 12, 2015

Isao Takahata's stark world of reality

Having survived a devastating U.S. air raid on his hometown in World War II, film director Isao Takahata has firsthand experience of the horrors of war. It's perhaps not surprising, therefore, that he staunchly opposes Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's attempt to push controversial security bills through the...
Japan Times
JAPAN / Media / BIG IN JAPAN
Aug 29, 2015

Only a teenager, yet an expert on war

'The last war was the worst."
Japan Times
OLYMPICS / OLYMPIC NOTEBOOK
Jun 20, 2015

Clarke’s legendary records still resonate 50 years later

Nearly three weeks after American sprinter Henry Carr's passing, another iconic runner from the 1964 Tokyo Games has passed away.
COMMENTARY / World
Jun 11, 2015

Algorithms give us what we want, but little else

Algorithms may take the guesswork out of marketing, crime prevention and even romance. But they also take the guesswork out of life itself, making it predictably dull.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Stage
May 26, 2015

Queens' tale speaks to now

Though it's 40 years since Italian playwright Dacia Maraini wrote "Mary Stuart," this story of two queens — Elizabeth I of England and Ireland and Mary Stuart, Queen of Scots — remains as relevant now as ever in its portrayal of two women burning with anger about their exploitation by men despite...
Japan Times
JAPAN / History
Mar 14, 2015

Cult attraction: Aum Shinrikyo's power of persuasion

Ahead of the 20th anniversary of Aum Shinrikyo's deadly sarin attack in Tokyo, we talk to three people with intimate knowledge of the cult in a bid to find out how it was able to exert so much influence over its followers.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Mar 10, 2015

Former Supergrass front man Gaz Coombes is bullish on 'Matador'

Gaz Coombes has grown up, but he hasn't grown old. The carefree effervescence that characterized his band Supergrass, Britpop's cheeky monkeys, has vanished, but five years into a solo career the band's erstwhile frontman refuses to settle into the traditional post-split career trajectory.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Media / BIG IN JAPAN
Feb 21, 2015

Goto's stories put Japan woes in perspective

"More than diamonds, I want peace."
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Feb 4, 2015

Growing younger in a super-aged society

Old age. It used to be a subject people tried to avoid, but now, as Japan hurtles toward a super-aged society where almost 15 percent of the populace is over 75 years old, the general feeling is that we had better deal with it.
EDITORIALS
Jan 24, 2015

Kepler still studying the skies

NASA's Kepler spacecraft, launched in 2009, continues to troll for planets in the Milky Way galaxy. Early this month, scientists announced it had made its 1,000th find.
WORLD / Science & Health
Dec 18, 2014

Global population living six years longer than in 1990: study

Global life expectancy has risen by more than six years since 1990 thanks to falling death rates from cancer and heart disease in rich countries and better survival in poor countries from diarrhoea, tuberculosis and malaria.

Longform

Construction takes place on the Takanawa Gateway Convention Center in Tokyo, slated to open in 2025.
A boom for business tourism in Japan?