Search - long form

 
 
JAPAN / History / THE LIVING PAST
Aug 15, 2015

The fraught debate over science and divinity

Truth is a sordid business. It brings nations down to earth, cuts people down to size. Why honor it, therefore? Why esteem it above myth, which does the opposite, raising nations to the gods and turning ordinary, unremarkable people into subjects of divine rulers?
Japan Times
JAPAN / History
Aug 14, 2015

Full text of Abe's declaration on 70th anniversary of the end of WWII

On the 70th anniversary of the end of the war, we must calmly reflect upon the road to war, the path we have taken since it ended, and the era of the 20th century. We must learn from the lessons of history the wisdom for our future.
Japan Times
JAPAN / EXPLAINER
Aug 10, 2015

Photochemical smog creeps back on hot, still days

As searing hot days continue this summer, heatstroke and heat exhaustion have sent record numbers of people to hospitals.
Japan Times
WORLD / Society
Aug 10, 2015

Modi's quest to put India's poor to work stymied by rise of robots

In a sweltering factory in southern India, Royal Enfield motorcycles are being painted and lacquered by giant robotic arms that move at twice the maximum speed of a human limb, day in, day out, never making a mistake.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / LAW OF THE LAND
Aug 9, 2015

Is Japan equipped to handle historic decisions that cost lives, limbs and loved ones?

Perhaps calendars should indicate not just holidays, but the dates on which important people in our collective pasts made decisions that caused tremendous harm.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Aug 4, 2015

Why Islamic State makes the Taliban nervous

The Taliban want to avoid a situation in which, having won their long war against the U.S. and its Afghan puppet regime, they have to fight another civil war against an Islamic State offshoot.
COMMENTARY / World
Aug 4, 2015

Can Singapore save democracy?

The conditions exist for Singapore to move from being a showcase of efficient authoritarianism to an exemplar of that much-invoked but nearly extinct thing: democracy.
Japan Times
WORLD / Crime & Legal
Aug 4, 2015

Italy nabs 11 in hunt for Sicilian Mafia don of dons on run since '93

Police in Sicily arrested 11 suspected mobsters they believe were helping Sicilian Mafia boss Matteo Messina Denaro evade capture and spread his orders to the rest of the criminal organization.
Japan Times
JAPAN / CHUBU CONNECTION
Aug 3, 2015

Deep-sea creepy crawlies turned into crackers in Japan

Here's a novel treat: a senbei rice cracker made of giant isopods, creepy crawlies from the ocean deeps. The snacks are now on sale at a range of outlets in Japan and are quickly gaining popularity.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / How-tos / LIFELINES
Aug 2, 2015

Moriumius project brings young life and learning back to the Tohoku disaster zone

A unique educational project aims to revitalize the Miyagi town of Ogatsu, which lost around 80 percent of its buildings and 10 percent of its 4,300 population to the 3/11 disasters.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Jul 30, 2015

Nation's political culture stands at major crossroads

Will Japan be dragged down by egocentric anti-intellectualism and suspension of judgment, or will a new civic culture turn the nation into a more mature democracy?
COMMENTARY / World
Jul 28, 2015

Why little Estonia's not worried about Russia

Estonian President Toomas Ilves wants to turn his tiny country into a digital pioneer to save the rest of Europe from Luddism and red tape.
Japan Times
Reference / SO WHAT THE HECK IS THAT
Jul 25, 2015

Nihonshu overflow

Dear Alice,
SOCCER / J. League
Jul 25, 2015

Okubo brace lifts Frontale past S-Pulse

Yoshito Okubo scored twice as Kawasaki Frontale came through a wild, swinging encounter with Shimizu S-Pulse with a 3-2 win on Saturday night.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Companies
Jul 23, 2015

Regional lenders want to work with Japan Post Bank, on one condition

As Japan Post Bank Co. prepares for an initial public offering and poses increased competition to regional banks, they are willing to do business with the state-owned company — on one condition.
JAPAN
Jul 22, 2015

Island offers free ferry trips in novel seabird rescue project

Authorities at the little-known island of Teuri in northern Japan have taken a novel approach to tackling its stray cat problem with the offer of free ferry trips to anyone who will take the felines off their hands.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Jul 21, 2015

Time to face facts on Greece

The eurozone must find a way to ensure future debt discipline without provoking an even deeper crisis in Greece.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Jul 20, 2015

Germany, not Greece, should exit the euro

A German return to the deutsche mark would cause the value of the euro to fall immediately, giving countries in Europe's periphery a much-needed boost in competitiveness.
Japan Times
LIFE / Lifestyle
Jul 18, 2015

Tales from the crypt: ghost stories from Japan

On a damp afternoon in early July, almost two dozen people sat in silence in a dark room on the sixth floor of a building located right next to Sensoji Temple in Tokyo's Asakusa district. The audience has come to Amuse Museum to hear two presenters — storyteller Chinatsu Ushidaki, who performs under...
ASIA PACIFIC
Jul 14, 2015

Pyongyang installs bike lanes to cut down on accidents

North Korea has installed cycle lanes on major thoroughfares running through Pyongyang in an apparent bid to cut down on pedestrian accidents, as more people have the cash to spend on bicycles to get around.
COMMUNITY / Voices / OVERHEARD
Jul 11, 2015

Breaking bad

Hurry up and eat your noodles before they expand.
EDITORIALS
Jul 9, 2015

Greece nears the time of reckoning

Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras is running out of time before the rubber meets the road and he decides whether Greece will leave the European Union.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Jul 8, 2015

Rural migration, shaved ice and no easy endings in 'Umi no Futa'

Why not abandon your stressed urban existence, move to a picturesque part of the world and live the simple life? An old dream, but still powerful, as shown by the recent spate of Japanese movies about women getting back their grooves by relocating to a beautiful middle-of-nowhere. Usually their dream...
Japan Times
JAPAN
Jul 7, 2015

'Onsen' at center of sex acts controversy to reopen Aug. 1

A mixed-bathing, open-air onsen in Tochigi Prefecture that was forced to close last month amid complaints over lurid sexual behavior by some users is set to reopen following a deal between tourism officials, the operator and the local community.
COMMENTARY / World
Jul 7, 2015

Why the euro experiment is destined to fail

The euro is destined to fail because it imposes a common monetary policy on economies that requires different ones.
JAPAN / Politics
Jul 6, 2015

Hashimoto raises prospect of forming all-Kansai political party

Osaka Mayor Toru Hashimoto expresses interest in forming an all-Kansai political party, which could split the party into eastern and western Japan factions.
LIFE / Language / BILINGUAL
Jul 6, 2015

Kendo can bring Japan's passive smartphone zombies back to life

When I visited the Nippon Budokan (日本武道館) to watch the Kokusai Kendo Senshuken (世界剣道選手権大会, World Kendo Championships), an unexpected surge of joy coursed through my veins. This is probably how Brazilians feel when watching a soccer match between their national team and anyone...
COMMENTARY / World
Jul 5, 2015

'Affirmative consent' will make rape laws worse

Proposed legal reforms in the U.S. intended to make it easier to prosecute sexual assault are eerily totalitarian and would go too far.
Japan Times
LIFE / Travel
Jul 4, 2015

Nothing is too bright for Ikuchijima Island

Islands can quickly lose their charm when they become attached to land masses. This, mercifully, has not happened to Ikuchijima Island in Japan's Geiyo archipelago, a cluster of islets in the Seto Inland Sea that, despite its two connecting bridges, feels defiantly detached.

Longform

Visitors walk past Sou Fujimoto's Grand Ring, which has been recognized as the largest wooden structure in the world.
Can a World Expo still matter? Japan is about to find out.