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Japan Times
CULTURE / Books
Apr 19, 2014

Yamato

In postwar Japan, a U.S. Army intelligence officer is found dead in his Tokyo apartment with a bullet in his skull. Military policemen declare it to be a suicide but CIA agent Ralph Carnaby and his Japanese-American sidekick, Dan Morita, uncover evidence that suggests something far more sinister is behind it. Before they know it, the pair is inadvertently drawn into a fast-paced conspiracy involving the U.S., China and the Soviet Union that threatens to change the course of Japan's history forever.
BUSINESS / Economy
Apr 17, 2014

Tokyo downgrades economy as consumer confidence slumps

Consumer confidence fell in March to the lowest level since August 2011, and the government cut its economic assessment for the first time in 17 months, as the April 1 consumption tax hike sapped the public's spending power.
BUSINESS
Apr 14, 2014

Seibu prices IPO at ¥1,600 per share

Seibu Holdings Inc., operator of Japan's biggest hotel chain, priced a ¥44.5 billion initial public offering at the bottom of its planned range after two IPOs flopped last month.
Japan Times
BASKETBALL / NBL NOTEBOOK
Apr 10, 2014

Healthy Tabuse enjoying stellar all-around season for Link Tochigi Brex

Yuta Tabuse was the last man to arrive to speak to reporters on this particular day. But it probably wasn't the first time and won't be the last time.
Japan Times
BASEBALL / Japanese Baseball / NPB NOTEBOOK
Apr 10, 2014

Seguignol says being flexible key to success in NPB

Fernando Seguignol towered over a group of people huddled near one of the batting cages on the field at Tokyo Dome, where the Yomiuri Giants' Leslie Anderson was getting his work in prior to a game against the Hiroshima Carp earlier this week.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Apr 10, 2014

'The World's End'

"The World's End" seems a lot like director Edgar Wright's attempt to repeat the success of his 2004 cult hit "Shaun of the Dead." Where "Shaun" was basically a comfortably numb stoner dropped into a very British version of "Night of the Living Dead," "The World's End" stars an immature alcoholic dropped...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Apr 10, 2014

Geki×Cine marks 10 years of screen-stage marriage

You wouldn't know it to look at our poker faces, but deep down every Japanese is a drama queen.
BUSINESS / Companies
Apr 9, 2014

Toyota glitches prompt its second-largest recall ever

Toyota Motor Corp. is recalling 6.39 million vehicles globally for faults affecting various parts ranging from steering to seats in the company's second-largest recall to date.
Japan Times
WORLD / Politics / ANALYSIS
Apr 9, 2014

Poll success puts Afghans on track — for now

In a nation more associated with calamity than consensus, the initial results of Saturday's Afghan presidential election are startling.
EDITORIALS
Apr 9, 2014

Aim for lasting peace in Africa

Sadly, 20 years after the start of the genocide in Rwanda, in some African countries conflict and suppression of human rights are all too commonplace.
Japan Times
BASEBALL / Japanese Baseball
Apr 7, 2014

NPB season too young to accurately identify trends

The NPB season is less than two weeks old, so it's too early to know if anything we've seen so far really has staying power.
Japan Times
WORLD
Apr 7, 2014

Hummingbirds' family tree traced

Researchers have constructed the complicated family tree of hummingbirds using genetic information from most of the world's 338 hummingbird species and their closest relatives. They said hummingbirds can be divided into nine groups, with differences in size, habitat, feeding strategy and body shape....
Japan Times
WORLD / Politics
Apr 7, 2014

Smooth Afghan election raises questions about Taliban's strength

A bigger-than-expected turnout in Afghanistan's presidential election and the Taliban's failure to significantly disrupt the vote have raised questions about the capacity of the insurgents to tip the country back into chaos as foreign troops head home.
Japan Times
WORLD / Politics
Apr 6, 2014

Finnish PM to step down, seek new EU post

Finnish Prime Minister Jyrki Katainen announced Saturday he was stepping down in June with a view to taking a senior European Union post, a move that could further unsettle a coalition government that last month lost one of its parties.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Media / BIG IN JAPAN
Apr 5, 2014

Taking a walk down felony lane

As part of the commemoration of the 140th anniversary of the Metropolitan Police Department, monthly magazine Bungei Shunju polled some 50,000 active-duty policemen on the 100 most significant crimes, incidents and disasters since 1874. The magazine received approximately 45,000 responses, and published...
JAPAN
Apr 5, 2014

Host clubs: a hotbed of human trafficking

The Japanese host. You can see them on the streets of Tokyo's Kabukicho: the dapper thin men with colored, blown-dry hair, fake suntans, snazzy suits and charming smiles, chatting up passing females and trying to get them to come and have drinks. They've been the subject of documentaries, television...
Japan Times
WORLD / Society
Apr 4, 2014

Caracas poor find haven in 'skyscraper slum'

It boasts a helicopter landing pad, glorious views of the Avila mountain range, and large balconies for weekend barbecues.
Japan Times
BASKETBALL
Apr 4, 2014

Foreign coaches making impact in revamped NBL

While the National Basketball League of Japan is essentially the rebranded Japan Basketball League, there's one distinguishing aspect that is different from before — it's a foreign coach-filled league.
MORE SPORTS
Apr 4, 2014

Japan launches national marathon teams

Call it "Running Samurai" or "Nadeshiko Runners."
COMMENTARY / World
Apr 1, 2014

The Affordable Care Act isn't Obama's 'Iraq'

The new signup numbers — 6 million and counting — on the U.S. Affordable Care Act exchanges make it clear that the roll-out of the bungled federal website didn't destroy the law and probably didn't cost President Barack Obama much in lasting public opinion.
Japan Times
WORLD / Politics
Mar 30, 2014

Afghanistan at crossroads as Karzai era ends

Amid the dust and traffic of today's Kabul, three things remain almost as they were a decade or so ago. In winter, and when the wind clears the smog that is a side effect of years of economic boom, the blue sky above the snowcapped peaks that ring the city is as impressive as ever. Then there is the...
Japan Times
WORLD / Politics
Mar 30, 2014

Erdogan dominates Turkey election conversation

Turkey may be in turmoil and the vast city of Istanbul in ferment, bridling at the antics of a government struggling to cope with scandal and sleaze, but in Kasimpasa quarter, the prime minister's troubles raise barely a shrug.
COMMENTARY / COUNTERPOINT
Mar 29, 2014

Unpersuasive logic for death penalty in Japan

The death penalty in Japan is imposed in cases of murder, and robbery and/or rape leading to death. In such cases, capital punishment is not mandatory and is usually only imposed in cases of multiple killings, though since 2006 this criteria has not been strictly observed.
COMMENTARY / World
Mar 28, 2014

What does the West now want?

The U.S. has acquired a dangerous militarist outlook on world affairs in which problems are defined primarily in military terms. In the case of Ukraine, such a view could lead to catastrophe.

Longform

Totopa in Tokyo’s Shinjuku Ward was picked by consultants TTNE as the best sauna of the year.
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