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Japan Times
CULTURE
Dec 19, 2013

Comiket, where otaku come to share the love

The Tokyo International Exhibition Center, better known as Tokyo Big Sight, boasts an area of more than 80,000 sq. meters of exhibition space. It's the country's largest convention center and will host wrestling, fencing and taekwondo during the 2020 Olympics.
EDITORIALS
Dec 18, 2013

WTO breakthrough in Bali

Meeting with trade ministers in Bali, Indonesia, the World Trade Organization has concluded its first trade reform agreement despite last-minute threats from Cuba and India. It is a moment to savor, but it is just a start.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC
Dec 14, 2013

North propagandists don't mince words

The scribes at North Korea's official news agency have long elevated hyperbole into an art form, but even by their high standards, last week's pronouncement was something special.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Dec 11, 2013

The noisy posters of the silent 1920s

When the Communists seized control of Russia in late 1917, they found themselves in a difficult position. According to Marxist theory, the revolution should have happened hundreds of miles further west in one of the more industrialized countries, such as Britain or Germany, with a working class that...
COMMENTARY / Japan
Dec 10, 2013

An opportunity for America in China's overreach

Recent Chinese posturing in the East China Sea makes the U.S. pivot to Asia only more welcome. If Washington responds shrewdly, Beijing stands to lose the longer-term contest for leadership.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Dec 9, 2013

India's Congress party trounced in state elections

India's governing Congress party suffered a bruising blow Sunday, losing four keenly watched state elections in what is seen as a semifinal for the national vote next spring.
CULTURE / Film
Dec 7, 2013

Re-examining Yasujiro Ozu on film

Yasujiro Ozu once had a reputation for making films only other Japanese could understand.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Stage
Dec 4, 2013

One year on from arts world 'disaster'

It's Oct. 27 and the setting sun fades to darkness. A long line of people begins to form around Tsukiji Honganji Temple next to the world-famous fish market in central Tokyo. The scene recalls what happened there last year on Dec. 27, the funeral of Nakamura Kanzaburo XVIII who passed away in the city...
JAPAN / Politics
Dec 2, 2013

Ishiba softens criticism of bill protesters

Liberal Democratic Party Secretary-General Shigeru Ishiba remains critical of public demonstrations despite retracting part of an earlier comment likening protesters to terrorists.
SUMO / SUMO SCRIBBLINGS
Dec 2, 2013

Little-man sumo pays off for Harumafuji

It was without doubt one of the most disappointing yokozuna-yokozuna bouts in recent years.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Nov 30, 2013

English part of equation for science students

Even as Japan was praised for its English presentations during the bidding process to host the 2020 Olympic Games in September, it is no secret that Japanese are still said to be poor at communicating in English.
Events / Events In Tokyo
Nov 28, 2013

Aoyama Gakuin University gets jazzed up for Sunday

Visitors to Tokyo's Aoyama district on Dec. 1 are encouraged to wear their dancing shoes this weekend, as Aoyama Gakuin University (AGU) once again hosts its annual Aoyama Jazz Initiative, a student-run celebration of jazz.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Voices / FOREIGN AGENDA
Nov 27, 2013

'Disabled' in Britain, just 'foreign' in Japan

For myself, a British citizen who has cerebral palsy living in Japan, it is the liberatory power of being a foreigner here that leaves the deepest impression on me.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / THE FOREIGN ELEMENT
Nov 25, 2013

WWII tunnels beneath Keio campus under threat

The Imperial Japanese Navy commanded some of the war's most destructive battles from tunnels under Keio University's Hiyoshi campus. After a section was destroyed in spring, concerned citizens worry that the tunnel network's days are numbered.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Nov 21, 2013

New Ai Weiwei film details the art of persecution

Timing, as they say, is everything, and for aspiring filmmaker Alison Klayman, that meant being in Beijing filming China's most well-known contemporary artist, Ai Weiwei, at precisely the moment the Chinese government decided to throw him in jail.
Japan Times
LIFE / Travel
Nov 16, 2013

Fun for all on Tokyo's Oku-Tama wild side

Before I'd even set eyes on the river I heard a deep rumble from its bubbling gash of white and cobalt water rending apart the Tama Mountains.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Voices / FOREIGN AGENDA
Nov 13, 2013

The irritating gaijin: testing police patience from Belfast to Oimachi

In Oimachi, there was clear 3G connectivity. For anyone questioned by the RUC in Northern Ireland in the 1980s, broadband penetration probably meant something quite different.
COMMENTARY / World
Nov 12, 2013

Media redirection waters down impact of dissent

The way U.S. media outlets chose to cover the anti-NSA march last month provides a fascinating window into a form of censorship they often use but we rarely notice: redirection.
SOCCER / PREMIER REPORT
Nov 8, 2013

Pressure on Man United as Arsenal visits Old Trafford

Wayne Rooney's glass was half-full.
BASEBALL / Japanese Baseball
Nov 4, 2013

High-flying Eagles reign supreme after eight-year rise to top

To say simply that Senichi Hoshino put Masahiro Tanaka in the game during the ninth inning of the Japan Series finale somehow does the moment a disservice.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Stage
Oct 31, 2013

Festival/Tokyo pushes a return to storytelling

In 2009, when Festival/Tokyo took over from the annual Tokyo International Arts Festival, it burst forth with the slogan "Towards a New Real" and the resolve to stamp the city's name on the global arts map.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Voices / FOREIGN AGENDA
Oct 30, 2013

Volunteers staying the course in Tohoku

Upstart NGOs It's Not Just Mud and OGA for Aid continue to punch above their weight in public conversations about the future of Tohoku.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Oct 30, 2013

Kinki University fish lab opening Ginza eatery

A fisheries research lab at Kinki University in Wakayama Prefecture is poised to make a smashing debut in the heart of Japan's gourmet capital: Ginza.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / FOCUS
Oct 30, 2013

Australia's 'plain packaging' stubs out cigarette branding, prompts backlash

Marlboro cigarettes' red-and-white box and distinct typeface created one of the world's most powerful brands — by some estimates, one of the 10 most recognized consumer products.
EDITORIALS
Oct 29, 2013

New investment opportunity

Japan will introduce tax-free, individual investment accounts in January to entice more younger people to consider better ways of growing their capital than through savings accounts.

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.