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Japan Times
WORLD / Politics
Mar 9, 2014

Are nation's oligarchs a necessary evil in the quest for stability?

After losing control of Crimea, the embattled new Ukrainian government in Kiev has turned to the nation's oligarchs in a bid to calm secessionist sentiment in the pro-Russian east. But the appointment of oligarchs to positions of political power has not been welcomed in all quarters, and certainly not...
COMMENTARY / World
Mar 7, 2014

What happens now in Ukraine?

The Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe sounds precisely like the organization to sort out the Ukraine crisis and underwrite an impartial solution — if U.S. President Barack Obama is willing to accept its mediation.
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / JAPAN LITE
Mar 7, 2014

Barely-a-bear Kumamon could be the next faker to shock Japan

Japan's "deaf composer," Mamoru Samuragochi, has turned out to be an imposter. Wow, who's next? Well, I'll tell you.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Mar 6, 2014

Live-action Ghibli remake delivers a new Kiki

When is a remake not a remake? Arguably, Takashi Shimizu's "Majo no Takkyubin (Kiki's Delivery Service)" is less a reworking of the Hayao Miyazaki animation classic (which this reviewer praised on this page in 1989) than his own interpretation of the 1985 Eiko Kadono fantasy novel on which the Miyazaki...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Mar 5, 2014

Centre Pompidou picks the fruits of its curatorial success

Fruits of Passion' displays contemporary works that were acquired during the last decade by the Musu00e9e National d'Art Moderne (MNAM), Centre Pompidou. The exhibition begins, though, with the final threads of modernism.
Japan Times
WORLD / Politics
Mar 4, 2014

Amid Ukraine turmoil, ghosts of Cold War return to haunt Eastern Europe

Alzbeta Ehrnhofer was a 13-year-old Slovak schoolgirl when the Soviet Army poured into Czechoslovakia to "restore order" after the 1968 Prague Spring promised some freedoms to the Warsaw Pact nation.
BASKETBALL / NBA / NBA REPORT
Mar 4, 2014

Dumars the likely fall guy for Detroit's recent failures

Can someone get that dumb that fast?
COMMENTARY / Japan
Mar 3, 2014

Repairing the tripartite ties

Japan's relations with China and South Korea are at their lowest ebb since Japan normalized its diplomatic relations with them. One way to break the jogjam could be a tripartite free trade agreement.
COMMENTARY / World
Mar 3, 2014

Obama complicates policy, playing good cop, bad cop

The Obama government has taken a Cold War stand on the crisis in Ukraine, which is a questionable tack given his disposition of combining threat with accommodation.
BUSINESS
Mar 3, 2014

Detroit bankruptcy prods other cities to target pensions

Local officials in at least 10 states are trying to cut pensions of municipal workers, or eliminate defined-benefit plans, pointing to Detroit as a symbol of the peril of growing retirement costs.
Japan Times
JAPAN / GENERATIONAL CHANGE
Mar 2, 2014

Composer Shibuya tests limits of music

One November evening in Paris, Theatre du Chatelet was packed with people who came to see the French premiere of a new opera by a Japanese composer.
Japan Times
BASEBALL / BASEBALL BULLET-IN
Mar 1, 2014

Many have fallen victim to NPB's 'false spring'

As a high school student back in the early 1960s, I can recall reading a book titled, "A False Spring." It was authored by Pat Jordan, a Connecticut native and a superb teenage baseball pitcher who, according to Wikipedia, was pursued by more than 15 major league organizations in 1959. Interesting, as...
COMMENTARY / World
Feb 28, 2014

Ukrainian coup is not a revolution

In a real revolution, the core mission and organizational structure of a country's military are radically altered. The leadership changes in Ukraine and Egypt don't signify revolutions.
Japan Times
WORLD / Politics
Feb 28, 2014

U.S. strategy on Russia under fire

Days after his ally Viktor Yanukovych was ousted as Ukraine's leader, Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered a 150,000-troop Russian military exercise on Ukraine's border. The fall of Yanukovych — and Putin's potential response to it — has reignited a debate in Washington on how to respond to the...
COMMENTARY / World
Feb 27, 2014

The Ukrainian revolution and Russian reaction

From Ukrainians' point of view, the priority is not to throw away the revolution as they did 10 years ago. From everybody else's point of view, the priority is to avoid an irreparable breach with Russia. One Cold War was enough.
COMMENTARY / World
Feb 24, 2014

Future looks dull from Washington

Absent an event that upends the country, Washington seems likely to be a lot less important over the next few years than it was over the past few years.
Japan Times
JAPAN / EXPLAINER
Feb 24, 2014

Should young criminals face harsher penalties?

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's Cabinet approved a bill this month to bolster punishments issued under the juvenile law. This is partly in response to growing calls by people victimized by juvenile offenders to reduce their apparent impunity.
Japan Times
WORLD / Politics
Feb 23, 2014

Ukraine at crossroads as Moscow's man in Kiev exits

Seen from the point of view of President Vladimir Putin, Russia's foreign policy of late had been enjoying something of a purple patch.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / LEARNING CURVE
Feb 23, 2014

Lado’s victory and demise weren’t without their lessons

With decreasing salaries and eroding job security, it may seem as if little has improved for instructors working in Japan's eikaiwa (English conversation) industry.
Japan Times
OLYMPICS / ICE TIME
Feb 21, 2014

Scandalous outcome: Skating judges steal Kim's title, hand it to Sotnikova

Yuna Kim got robbed on Thursday night. Plain and simple.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Feb 20, 2014

McConaughey, Leto transform for roles in 'Dallas Buyers Club'

Acadamy Award nominee Jared Leto, who plays a transgender person with AIDS in the film "Dallas Buyers Club," says he was recently called a shape-shifter.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Feb 19, 2014

Ryuichi Kakurezaki: on clay and legends

It's not easy to make profound changes in a ceramic style that has a 1,000-year history. Take, for instance, the style known as Bizen. Bizen pottery is one of Japan's most celebrated high-fired unglazed ceramic styles, and continues to be so to this very day. Forms that started with farmers' needs in...
Japan Times
WORLD / Politics
Feb 19, 2014

Singh seeks India votes with 29th state as opponents vow fight

India's lower house moved to create a new state in the south to resolve a 50-year dispute, risking unrest where Google Inc. and Microsoft Corp. have their offices as the ruling Congress party seeks votes before elections.
Japan Times
JAPAN / NATIONAL SPOTLIGHT
Feb 16, 2014

Son's rags-to-riches career impresses by the numbers

Although alive and well, Masayoshi Son has already attained legendary status in Japan for rising from his poverty-stricken childhood to become the chief SoftBank.

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