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Japan Times
COMMENTARY / COUNTERPOINT
Mar 5, 2016

Japan's counterterrorism efforts falling short

The Foreign Ministry invited ridicule toward the end of 2015 after it advertised job openings for part-time counterterrorism analysts. While the expansion of the exploited precariat of non-regular workers to nearly 40 percent of the workforce is lamentable in itself, who would have thought some of them...
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / OBJECT-ORIENTED
Mar 4, 2016

Slippery history of an English dish in Tokyo

There is a 19th-century English roasting dish that has lived in the Mingeikan (The Japan Folk Crafts Museum) since this venerable institution opened its doors to the public in 1936. How this piece of slipware (pottery decorated with a mixture of clay and mineral, known as "slip") got there is something...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Mar 2, 2016

'The Big Short' explains the 2008 financial meltdown with strippers, guns and shouting

When I was in junior high school, my English teacher walked into the classroom one day, placed a pencil on his desk and pointed at it, saying, "All right, give me at least a page about this before the bell rings — and it had better be interesting." We thought he was nuts, but the lesson was a valuable...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Mar 1, 2016

The dyeing art of Japan's traditional everyday kimono

Weaver and dyer Fukumi Shimura's (b.1924) inherited an interest in craft from her mother, Toyo Ono, who made inroads through the early 20th-century mingei (folk crafts) movement led by philosopher Muneyoshi Yanagi. Introduced to the lacquer artistan Tatsuaki Kuroda in 1956, Shimura began to hone her...
Japan Times
LIFE / Travel / BACKSTREET STORIES
Feb 27, 2016

Sewing stitches of creativity in the streets of Kuramae

I'm knocking about Taito Ward's Kuramae area one chilly February morning, visiting an artisan friend, when he mentions a brand new chocolate shop has opened nearby. My ears perk up. Any good? "People are lining up," he says. I dash off to check it out, because it sounds like news. Never mind that I'm...
Japan Times
WORLD / Science & Health
Feb 25, 2016

Dodos were not so dumb after all

The dodo is an extinct flightless bird whose name has become synonymous with stupidity. But it turns out that the dodo was no birdbrain, but instead a reasonably brainy bird.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / TELLING LIVES
Feb 24, 2016

NGO's Japanese founder foments organic revolution in Vietnam

Seed to Table helps locals rediscover lost agricultural wisdom and pull themselves out of poverty with duck and cow 'banks.'
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC
Feb 21, 2016

Site of missing MH370 may be lost forever

The man leading the search for Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370 is showing the strain after almost two years of fruitless toil.
ASIA PACIFIC
Feb 21, 2016

By the numbers: The hunt for MH370

The disappearance of Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370 in March 2014 sparked a search mission that has spanned thousands of square kilometers of seabed and absorbed millions of dollars. But the team hunting for the missing aircraft and its 239 passengers and crew has come up with few clues as to what happened....
Japan Times
LIFE / Lifestyle
Feb 20, 2016

Growing chorus of experts is raising ethical questions about the future of robotics

Crowds filter through a darkened corner of Tokyo's National Museum of Emerging Science and Innovation on a recent Saturday, seeking to catch a glimpse of what the future may be like.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Books
Feb 20, 2016

'Japan: The Precarious Future' is a sobering summary of looming disasters

Ominous demographic trends, ineffective governance, the not-if-but-when prospect of another devastating earthquake ... the litany of topics addressed by "Japan: The Precarious Future" will already be familiar to readers of this newspaper. A collection of essays from specialists in relevant fields, the...
Japan Times
JAPAN / View from Osaka
Feb 20, 2016

Kansai is in need of some youthful innovation

In its latest report, released Feb. 12, the Kansai Economic Federation presented mixed news about the local economy. Looking at monthly sentiment in eight different areas ranging from industrial production to housing purchases to sentiment toward China, the report showed that, on the whole, 2015 was...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Feb 19, 2016

Crunch's 'Blue Blue Blue' embraces melancholy in true indie-pop style

Pairing skippy music with relatively sad-sack lyrics has always been one of indie-pop's favorite tricks, a clever way to ring out bad feelings in song without sounding like a total mope. Sometimes, however, just giving in and embracing your gloom can be OK. Nagoya trio Crunch has created plenty of up-tempo...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Feb 17, 2016

'The Shell Collector' wields a healing kind of poison

In English, you usually don't want to be compared to marine life. "Cold fish," "shark" and "whale" are not often intended as compliments, and "come out of your shell" is commonly addressed to the anti-social.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Feb 16, 2016

What do you know about the flowers that grow in an English royal garden?

There is a fascinating story to be found at the "English Garden" exhibition now on at the Panasonic Shiodome Museum — that is if you look closely. That tale is of botanical imperialism, namely the desire by the expansionary spirit of the British Empire to send artists and botanists to far-flung, exotic...
COMMENTARY / World
Feb 15, 2016

Making the most of Obama's awkward ASEAN summit

The U.S. president needs to prod Southeast Asian leaders to get their act together on trade and security.
Japan Times
LIFE / Style & Design / ON: FASHION
Feb 13, 2016

Winning looks: Sacai, Mr. Gentlemen and AllSaints

Sacai wins Mainichi Fashion Grand Prix
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Feb 9, 2016

Dutch painters cut from the same canvas

The first noticeable thing about the exhibition "Vermeer and Rembrandt: the Masters of the 17th Century Dutch Golden Age" at the Mori Arts Center Gallery is the juxtaposition of the names. Vermeer's name comes before that of Rembrandt, marking him as the leading Dutch artist as far as the modern art...
Japan Times
LIFE / Travel / HOTELS & RESTAURANTS
Feb 4, 2016

Experience luxury spa treatment; good news for chocoholics; enjoying sweet valentine dreams

Experience luxury spa treatment
WORLD / Science & Health
Feb 4, 2016

Zika mosquitoes' habits may foil U.S. elimination efforts

Health experts are bracing for Zika virus to spread to the United States by April or May, borne by a mosquito that craves human blood, feeds during the day and lives under beds and inside closets.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Feb 2, 2016

Japan's picture ID before World War II

Last year, the number of tourists coming into Japan outnumbered those going out for the first time in 45 years. In absolute terms, it may be the first time that tourism has properly taken off for this country, despite numerous attempts by various ministries and semi-official agencies over the years to...
Japan Times
LIFE / Language / BILINGUAL
Feb 1, 2016

Look to 'senpai' to help take your Japanese reading to the next level

If not for the generosity of several brave and patient souls, I would never have developed the foundation necessary to read on my own.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC / Science & Health
Jan 31, 2016

'Humans caused extinction' of huge bird 50,000 years ago

The mystery behind the extinction of a huge flightless bird called Genyornis that flourished in the grasslands and woodlands of prehistoric Australia may have been solved, with burned eggshells as the clue and people as the culprits.
Japan Times
LIFE / Lifestyle
Jan 30, 2016

Bringing Japanese folk dance into focus

As with many cultures, before modernization the Japanese people relied heavily on agriculture, holding a spiritual affinity with and respecting the power of nature. Bountiful harvests were celebrated in festivities that played a significant role in community activities, and the distinctive folk rituals...
Japan Times
LIFE / Travel / HOTELS & RESTAURANTS
Jan 28, 2016

Celebrating Valentine's Day in style

The Westin Tokyo hotel is offering a sophisticated lineup of elegant promotions for couples seeking to have a romantic and memorable Valentine's Day celebration.

Longform

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