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COMMENTARY / World
Jun 6, 2016

Ali forced people to take sides, and I took his

Muhammed Ali was the transcendent sports figure of the 20th century, a lightning rod for controversy who became a beloved ambassador for peace.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Jun 4, 2016

Japan baffled by the intricacies of LGBT issues

A middle-aged woman I know never wears makeup or skirts and keeps her hair short. Sometimes she receives concerned glances when she enters the women's locker room at the gym she patronizes and, while no one has ever questioned her gender (for the record, she is straight and married), she often feels...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Books / ESSENTIAL READING FOR JAPANOPHILES
Jun 4, 2016

Why 'The Japanese Chronicles' remains an archetypal travelogue

Author of the classic travelogue "The Way of the World," Nicolas Bouvier was also a photographer, whose grainy images add texture to this series of essays published in 1989. A travel writer who used the genre as a medium for political and cultural inquiry, Bouvier was both investigative journalist and...
WORLD / Science & Health
Jun 4, 2016

Easing pressure on farmland, 'bionic leaf' uses sunlight to make clean fuel

A new clean technology to turn sunlight into liquid fuel could drastically shrink the need for large plantations to grow crops for biofuels and also combat climate change, Harvard University researchers said Thursday.
WORLD / Science & Health
Jun 3, 2016

Satellites find 39 unreported sources of major pollution

Researchers in the United States and Canada have located 39 unreported sources of major pollution using a new satellite-based method, the U.S. National Aeronautics and Space Administration said.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Jun 3, 2016

Must U.S. satisfy NATO's paranoid members?

The only way to get Europeans to make a more meaningful military contribution is to turn responsibility for their defense over to them. Washington should stop taking care of NATO.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Jun 2, 2016

Four carmakers still installing defective Takata air bags: U.S. lawmaker

Toyota Motor Corp., Fiat Chrysler Automobiles NV, Volkswagen AG and Mitsubishi Motors Corp. are still selling new vehicles with defective air bags that will eventually need to be recalled, according to a report by a U.S. lawmaker overseeing the agency handling the largest-ever auto safety recall.
Japan Times
JAPAN
May 31, 2016

Study faults Japan for inaction on modern-day slavery

Almost 46 million people are trapped in modern-day slavery, two-thirds of them in the Asia-Pacific region, according to a study released Tuesday.
COMMENTARY / World
May 30, 2016

An isolationist Trump could save American lives

Donald Trump believes that subsidizing prosperous allies and attempting to remake failed states provides little benefit to most Americans, who do the dying and paying.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / Japan
May 29, 2016

A-bombs taught U.S. how to justify attacks abroad

The nuclear attack on Hiroshima set in motion a sweeping, national generalization that if Americans do it, it is right.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC / Society
May 29, 2016

Industry helps Chinese game their way into and through U.S. colleges

The advertisements were tailored for Chinese college students far from home struggling with the English language and an unfamiliar culture.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Media / BIG IN JAPAN
May 28, 2016

Poverty and boredom gnaw at Japan

Boredom, poverty and war: three themes you’d think (wrongly) would be extinct by now — war because humankind as a whole is more peaceably inclined than ever before, poverty because of an abundance of riches and boredom because ... doesn't it go without saying, given the endless stream, not to say...
CULTURE / Books
May 28, 2016

'Butoh': the dance of death and disease

The first dance in Japan may well have been a mythological striptease. In one of the most famous episodes from Japanese folklore, the goddess Ame-no-Uzume-no-Mikoto entices Amaterasu Omikami, the sun deity, to come out of hiding by ripping off her clothes and dancing. The elemental irreverence of this...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Books
May 28, 2016

'Japaneseness: A Guide to 76 Values and Virtues'

Love it or hate it, Yoji Yamakuse's explanation of the concepts fundamental to Japanese behavior, "Japaneseness: A Guide to Values and Virtues," deserves a read.
JAPAN / Politics
May 25, 2016

Abe treads fine line in Ise Shrine tour as Shinto religion faces challenges

Ise Shrine is considered one of the holiest sites in Shinto, a faith whose rituals have been woven into Japan's culture for centuries.
Japan Times
BASKETBALL / NBA / NBA REPORT
May 24, 2016

Cavaliers may have right formula for Warriors this time

It looks like the NBA is going to finish its 2015-16 season the way it should and the way few expected it might.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / Japan
May 24, 2016

Even under Trump, U.S. can't go it alone in Asia

Japan-U.S. relations will likely remain the cornerstone of America's foreign policy in Asia regardless of who wins the presidential election.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
May 23, 2016

Why millions of Democrats won't vote for Hillary

Hillary Clinton is more than 'flawed' in the eyes of many Bernie Sanders supporters, she's a warmongering monster.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
May 23, 2016

Why are some politicians impervious to facts?

Many politicians make innaccurate statements, and most people can't be bothered to question them.
COMMENTARY / World
May 22, 2016

U.S. allies must prepare for a President Trump

Looking at the upcoming contest between Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump, America's friends and allies may want to hope for the best, but they need to prepare for the worst.
COMMENTARY / World
May 21, 2016

Governments paranoid over free media

Many of the world's leaders are developing a form of paranoia about legitimate journalism.
WORLD / Science & Health
May 21, 2016

Less money goes to mental health in developing nations than Americans spend on Halloween pet costumes, report says

More money is spent on Halloween pet costumes and takeaway coffee in developed countries than on mental health in developing countries, a new report has found, with the amount accounting for less than 1 percent of all aid funding.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
May 20, 2016

What if the North conducts another nuclear test?

The U.S., Japan and South Korea should start planning seriously for a nuclear North Korea rather than expect a miraculous policy change by Pyongyang.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
May 18, 2016

Can the U.S. political parties heal themselves?

With their nomination fights all but over, both the Democrats and the Republicans now face the challenge of reuniting for the fall campaign.
COMMENTARY / World
May 17, 2016

Sadiq Khan's democratic Islam

Sadiq Khan's election as mayor of London can and should be seen as a clear victory of enlightened Islam against benighted, reactionary, and intolerant Islam.
CULTURE / Books
May 16, 2016

Crime and thriller writer Kanae Minato named winner of Yamamoto Shugoro Prize

The 29th Yamamoto Shugoro Prize will be given to Kanae Minato for her book "Utopia," the award's screening committee said Monday.

Longform

A man offers prayers at Hebikubo Shrine in Tokyo's Shinagawa Ward. The shrine is one of several across the country dedicated to the snake.
Shed your skin and reinvent yourself in the Year of the Snake