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COMMENTARY / World
Apr 30, 2016

Welcome transparency in picking U.N. chief

The United Nations has opened up the selection process for secretary-general to a level never seen in its 70-year history.
COMMENTARY / World
Apr 28, 2016

The next nuclear disaster may be intentional

Nuclear reactors are likely terrorist targets and not enough is being done to protect them.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / THE FOREIGN ELEMENT
Apr 27, 2016

Agent Orange and Okinawa: the story so far

Five years after The Japan Times first revealed the U.S. military's use of toxic defoliants on the island, new evidence continues to come to light.
COMMENTARY / World
Apr 27, 2016

Why China's censors silenced a Net sensation

China's leaders, so determined to export their culture to the world, are instead cultivating a neutered entertainment industry with their censorship.
Japan Times
WORLD / Politics
Apr 27, 2016

Clinton dominates in Hollywood endorsements and cash

Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders' positions on fracking, free tuition and breaking up big banks wouldn't sound out of place in an Oscar winning-actor's acceptance speech.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Apr 26, 2016

Ominous collapse casts a shadow over Brazil

The collapse of an elevated cycling path in Rio de Janeiro last Thursday is an ominous sign as the scandal-rocked nation prepares to host the Olympics.
Japan Times
BASKETBALL / NBA / NBA REPORT
Apr 26, 2016

Thibodeau could make Timberwolves genuine contenders

One of my favorite movies, and not just because I live in Chicago — but if you want to see the best city location shots, that's the movie — is the John Belushi/Dan Aykroyd 1980s farce, "The Blues Brothers." It's a send-up of a Saturday Night Live TV show bit in which the comics actually became blues...
COMMENTARY / World
Apr 25, 2016

What's up with U.S. black voters?

Unlike Sanders, Clinton has consistently supported policies that have had a devastating impact on African-Americans — yet most black voters support her.
Japan Times
WORLD / ANALYSIS
Apr 25, 2016

World powers keep leaning on economic sanctions that seldom work

To rein in countries from North Korea to Sudan, global powers are boosting their reliance on United Nations sanctions aimed at forcing recalcitrant governments to drop weapons programs, stop attacking their civilians or respect the results of elections. They usually fail.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Apr 24, 2016

Why deflation is a boon for Japan's young people

Deflation can fuel an innovation boom as cash-strapped millennials use technology to raise living standards.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Books
Apr 23, 2016

In search of Japan's own Shakespeare

April 23 marked the 400th anniversary of the death of William Shakespeare (1564-1616), the greatest dramatist of the English speaking world. The anniversary has a particular resonance here: Few countries in the world have embraced Shakespeare with Japan's sustained passion.
COMMENTARY / World
Apr 19, 2016

China's future may be sleepier than you think

China's economy may be headed for a Japan-style slump.
COMMENTARY / World
Apr 18, 2016

Electric cars take a back seat to SUVs in China

The Chinese government is determined to make the smog-choked country a leader in eco-friendly electric cars, but consumers prefer big gas guzzlers.
COMMENTARY / World
Apr 18, 2016

Histories that shouldn't be secret

U.S. President Barack Obama should release classified documents on the 9/11 terrorist attacks and the Bay of Pigs fiasco in Cuba in 1961.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / LAW OF THE LAND
Apr 17, 2016

Two years after Japan signed Hague, children have been returned but old issues remain

A couple of years have passed since Japan signed the international convention on child abduction, and there is cause for celebration — and concern.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Apr 16, 2016

Accommodating disabilities, but only within reason

Due to his recent sex scandal, best-selling author Hirotada Ototake has decided not to run for the Upper House under the banner of the Liberal Democratic Party this year, but he hasn't officially said he won't run at all. Earlier this month, while the scandal was still hot, he went ahead with a birthday...
Japan Times
CULTURE / CULTURE SMASH
Apr 16, 2016

Anime biz sings the praises of shows

The first time I attended AnimeJapan, the industry's annual spring showcase in Odaiba, Tokyo, it was called the Tokyo International Anime Fair. Members of the public couldn't enter during the first two days, amateur cosplay (costume play) was prohibited, and while there were some presentations, most...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Apr 13, 2016

‘Spotlight’: a beacon for investigative journalism

In 1976 the film "All the President's Men" portrayed the true story of Washington Post reporters Carl Bernstein and Bob Woodward (Dustin Hoffman and Robert Redford) uncovering the Watergate Scandal. It wasn't the first time in cinema that journalists took center stage, but it was one of few films that...
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Apr 12, 2016

Why women put on the suicide vest

On a list of history's most notorious assassins, alongside John Wilkes Booth, Lee Harvey Oswald and Gavrilo Princip, the name Thenmozhi Rajaratnam would probably draw mostly blank stares. But in her way, the Tamil Tiger terrorist — who blew up herself, the Indian leader Rajiv Gandhi and 13 others in...
Japan Times
BASKETBALL / NBA / NBA REPORT
Apr 12, 2016

Brilliant-but-humble Curry a product of the modern game

Stephen Curry is about to win his second consecutive NBA Most Valuable Player award. In its penultimate game on Monday, his team tied the all-time record for wins (72) in a season, equaling Michael Jordan's 1995-96 Bulls' record that many believed was as unassailable as Wilt's 100 points.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC
Apr 12, 2016

Growing terrorism risk leads China to boost role in Afghanistan

As China watches Afghan peace talks founder and Islamic militants make inroads in parts of its troubled neighbor, Beijing is taking its most concrete steps yet toward assuming a direct security role in the country.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Apr 11, 2016

It happened before ... it could happen again

Will history repeat itself again?
Japan Times
CULTURE / Books
Apr 9, 2016

'The Stones Cry Out' tells the history of the world through a rock fragment

A Japanese soldier's discovery in a cave during World War II — the realization that a pebble might be a microcosm of the world's entire matter — forever changes the perspective of Tsuyoshi Manase, the main character in the exquisitely written short novel "The Stones Cry Out" that earned author Hikaru...
COMMENTARY / Japan
Apr 8, 2016

An apology, forgiveness and reconciliation

Lasting reconciliation can only be achieved when the stories and lessons of the past are handed down to future generations.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / Japan
Apr 8, 2016

Should U.S. fold its nuclear umbrella in Asia?

Donald Trump shocked the foreign policy establishment when he argued that South Korea and Japan might be justified in building nuclear weapons. But why should only the bad guys in Asia have nukes?
Japan Times
WORLD
Apr 8, 2016

U.S. christens self-driving, sub-hunting warship to meet China, Russia threat, eyes Japan tests

The U.S. military on Thursday christened an experimental self-driving warship designed to hunt for enemy submarines, a major advance in robotic warfare at the core of America's strategy to counter Chinese and Russian naval investments.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Apr 5, 2016

Everyone but the mainstream media saw 'Trumpism' coming

You can't be a good journalist when you're a shill for a corporate media obsessed with access to the powers that be.
COMMENTARY / World
Apr 5, 2016

'Trumpanomics' amounts to fantasy over fact

Donald Trump's math-challenged budget is awash in glaring contradictions.

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