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COMMENTARY / COUNTERPOINT
Jan 25, 2014

Spinmeister Abe: crisis-mongering and distractions

The news media tends to hyperventilate because this generates a buzz that attracts attention.
COMMENTARY / World
Jan 25, 2014

U.S. regulators undermining Net neutrality

The U.S. has the most innovative people in the world working in an increasingly information-based economy, yet its Internet service providers are subject to neither competition nor oversight.
COMMENTARY / World
Jan 24, 2014

Francois Hollande: What became of dull Mr. Normal?

However indignant French President Francois Hollande might have been about a glossy celebrity magazine revealing the details of his affair with a French actress, the idea of sitting down and drafting his resignation was almost certainly not among them.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Jan 24, 2014

SoftBank to Dentsu, firms start to court gays

With less than a 0.1 percent share of Japan's car market, Alfa Romeo knew it couldn't match the marketing muscle of the local giants like Toyota Motor Corp., which together make nine out of every 10 vehicles sold in the country.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Jan 23, 2014

16 kick off Tokyo gubernatorial race

Campaigning for the Tokyo gubernatorial election officially kicked off Thursday with 16 candidates set to battle over national-level issues ranging from energy policy to the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Politics
Jan 23, 2014

Tokyo voters unhappy with nuclear focus

Campaigning for the Tokyo gubernatorial race starts and voters express bewilderment over how fast the focus seems to have turned to nuclear energy.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Jan 23, 2014

'Before Midnight'

Richard Linklater's "Before Sunrise" was the most deliciously romantic film of the 1990s. A young, devilishly handsome Jesse (Ethan Hawke) meets bohemian beauty Celine (Julie Delpy) while both are on a train bumming around Europe; he talks her into spending a day with him in Vienna, and the next 90 minutes...
Japan Times
COMMUNITY
Jan 22, 2014

Teachers tread water in eikaiwa limbo

Every year, thousands of young native English-speakers fly to Asia in search of an adventure, financed by working as English teachers. They come from Australia, New Zealand, the U.S., Britain, Canada and elsewhere.
Japan Times
BASKETBALL / BJ-LEAGUE NOTEBOOK
Jan 22, 2014

Akita, Ryukyu a cut above at halfway point of season

With the eighth annual All-Star Game slated for Sunday afternoon in Akita, it's an appropriate time to take a look at highs and lows of the season's first half.
COMMENTARY / SENTAKU MAGAZINE
Jan 21, 2014

Is the Obama administration prioritizing ties with China?

The different tones of the U.S. and Japanese reactions to China's recent establishment of an air defense identificatin zone raises the question of whether the Obama administration is prioritizing ties with Beijing.
EDITORIALS
Jan 21, 2014

Japan's nuclear waste problem

The government plans to step up its efforts to select a final disposal site for high-level radioactive waste from nuclear power generation despite having searched for more than a decade, without success, to find a willing host community.
COMMENTARY
Jan 19, 2014

Criminal envoy or rogue state?

If Indian diplomat Devyani Khobragade's alleged offenses in New York City were criminally outside the norm, Washington should have worked with India to file charges in the U.S. or in India. If Delhi proved noncooperative, Khobragade could have been expelled persona non grata.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Jan 16, 2014

Why Winding Refn doesn't care if you hate his movie

Danish director Nicolas Winding Refn was a film-school dropout who gained sudden acclaim at the tender age of 24 with his ultraviolent 1996 film "Pusher," which was eventually developed into a trilogy. He reached wider audiences with "Fear X" (starring John Turturro) and British crime flick "Bronson,"...
COMMUNITY / Voices / FOREIGN AGENDA
Jan 15, 2014

No refuge from booze in Tokyo, paradise for alcoholics in denial

Many of us foreigners living here know deep down that we and many of our friends are at least mild alcoholics, masking each other's addictions, and the allure of alcohol is not an easy monkey to get of your back. It's difficult in any city, though living in Tokyo provides it's own unique set of problems.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / TOKYO FOOD FILE
Jan 14, 2014

Maishin: Safe haven in Shibuya for sake-loving adults

Shibuya is not a neighborhood where you head for haute cuisine. But all that window-shopping, people-watching, hanging out and having fun can be hungry work. So it's good to have a few places up your sleeve that offer sustenance and respite from the crowds and noise.
Japan Times
JAPAN / EXPLAINER
Jan 13, 2014

Novartis drug's data-tampering reflects unchecked collusion

Last week, the Health, Labor and Welfare Ministry filed a criminal complaint with prosecutors against Novartis Pharma K.K., the Japanese subsidiary of Swiss pharmaceutical giant Novartis, alleging the firm made exaggerated advertising claims for its blockbuster blood pressure drug Diovan.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Jan 12, 2014

Japan goes back to the future to affirm energy 'foundation'

The Japanese government's recently released draft Basic Energy Plan goes as close as possible to preserving the pre-Fukushima nuclear status quo, event with all nuclear power plants currently closed down and public opinion still strongly in favor of a nuclear phase-out.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Entertainment news
Jan 12, 2014

French comedian's gesture divides a nation

On Jan 12, 1944, the Gestapo occupying the French city of Bordeaux despatched its Jews, who had been rounded up and imprisoned in their own majestic synagogue, to the death camps.
LIFE
Jan 11, 2014

King of the monsters has universal appeal

Kouhei Nomura published a glossary titled 'The Godzilla Encyclopedia' in 2004 after six months of dedicated research. He delivers his verdict on why the king of the monsters is so popular worldwide.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Jan 11, 2014

Dire quake forecasts fail to stir a numb public

Is there a level of fear above which the mind reflexively retreats from imagining the worst? The Great East Japan Earthquake was often described as being 'beyond imagination,' and the art and science of projecting future catastrophes has had to adjust accordingly.
COMMENTARY / World
Jan 10, 2014

Hidden consequences of Snowden's revelations

The most insidious consequence of the Edward Snowden affair and the NSA controversy may be the destruction of trust in closer collaboration between the private sector and government in protecting vital electronic systems.
BASKETBALL / NBA / NBA REPORT
Jan 7, 2014

Love of the game: Bynum never seemed to have it

There's considerable freedom in the United States these days.
COMMENTARY / World
Jan 6, 2014

Obama's Asian 'pivot' went flying off like a divot

Even in Washington-centric Washington, President Barack Obama gets the award for having the worst year in Asia. His 'pivot to Asia' looked more like a divot.
COMMENTARY / World
Jan 6, 2014

India's sex laws contradict tradition of tolerance

It is surprising that India's Bharatiya Janata Party would privilege the social morality of Victorian England above both precolonial indigenous social practices and the constitutional morality of independent India.
COMMENTARY
Jan 5, 2014

The rational ignorance of the American voter

If the political knowledge of American voters is measured relative to government's expanding scope, ignorance is increasing rapidly: There is so much more to be uninformed about.
COMMENTARY
Jan 5, 2014

Obamacare took a beating in 2013, and this year could be worse — for the law and Democrats

As bad as 2013 was for Obamacare, the year ahead has the potential to be even worse — for the law, the Obama administration and congressional Democrats.

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