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Reader Mail
Aug 21, 2013

Legacy of Christian humanism

It is difficult to know what precisely Jim Makin is getting at in his Aug. 15 letter, "Common Western fetishism."
COMMENTARY
Aug 20, 2013

Learning the lessons of Egypt

I'm not much for sports analogies, but any athlete knows about the home field advantage. It's easier to win if you play your game, not your opponent's.
COMMUNITY / Issues / LABOR PAINS
Aug 19, 2013

Union, business concerns put limits on freedom of speech

Hot on the heels of their romp to victory in the race for control of the House of Councilors, the Liberal Democratic Party is chomping at the bit to overhaul the Constitution, which has not been amended since it was signed into law in 1946. The ruling party proposes gutting Article 9, which forever bans...
BUSINESS / Companies / THE VIEW FROM EUROPE
Aug 18, 2013

Japan must open up to foreign investment — especially from China

Earlier this year, NHK aired the three-part TV program "Made in Japan," which dramatized an electronics company's struggle to survive tough economic times. While fictional, the story detailed the harsh reality Japan Inc. faces from Chinese competition.
COMMENTARY / World
Aug 18, 2013

Newspaper rescue defines today's good citizen

It would appear that Amazon.com CEO Jeff Bezos wants less to own The Washington Post than to set its values free financially, for at least a generation or two.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Aug 17, 2013

Rudd's Labor may lose seven marginal seats

Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd is on the brink of defeat in next month's national elections, with a poll indicating that his ruling Labor Party will lose seven of the eight most marginal electorates.
Japan Times
WORLD / Politics
Aug 16, 2013

Alexei Navalny: firebrand bidding for Russia's soul

Last week, Alexei Navalny, the recently convicted Russian opposition blogger, lawyer and candidate for the post of mayor of Moscow, posted a provocative item on his site.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Aug 14, 2013

It's time Japan acted to end the war over Yasukuni Shrine

he only thing that Japan's modern reactionaries regret about World War II is defeat. Cabinet ministers show support for this idea when they visit Yasukuni Shrine.
COMMENTARY / World
Aug 13, 2013

Hope amid Mideast turmoil

No one put the chances of reviving the Israel-Palestine peace process at more than minimal. Yet it has happened. Now is not the time for despair in the Middle East.
COMMENTARY / COUNTERPOINT
Aug 10, 2013

Aso's Nazi gaffe tarnishes Abe's agenda for constitutional revision

The other night at my local sushi bar conversation turned to Deputy Prime Minister Taro Aso's comments about constitutional revision — specifically, his suggestion there is something to be learned from the way the Nazis revised the Weimar Constitution in 1933.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Aug 10, 2013

Aussie opposition regains poll lead

Australia's opposition has regained the lead over Prime Minister Kevin Rudd's government, with 52 percent of respondents in an opinion poll published Saturday saying they will support the coalition in the Sept. 7 national election.
COMMENTARY / World
Aug 7, 2013

'No more hibakusha' takes on new meaning after 3/11

A Japanese scholar writes of his outrage in 2011 over the realization that the Fukushima nuclear plant accidents would produce a new generation of hibakusha.
Reader Mail
Aug 7, 2013

Keeping dolphins and whales

Regarding Rob Gilhooly's July 26 article, "Japan bucks trend: Captive dolphin biz big": I cannot agree with the opinion of Sakae Hemmi of the Elsa Nature Conservancy that the reduction of dolphins in captivity is the international trend. This trend is a current fashion of Western culture only. We must...
COMMENTARY / World
Aug 6, 2013

Political Islam loses legitimacy

The progress of political Islam depends on whether Turkey's AKP and Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood commit to safeguarding the principles of pluralism and the rule of law.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / JUST BE CAUSE
Aug 5, 2013

Ol' blue eyes isn't back: Tsurunen's tale offers lessons in microcosm for DPJ

Spare a thought for Marutei Tsurunen, Japan's first European-born naturalized immigrant parliamentarian, who was voted out in last month's House of Councilors election.
COMMENTARY / World
Aug 4, 2013

Focus on facts, not fear, in a public NSA debate

It's time for a meaningful public debate about how NSA's communications data collection programs actually operate, not just the potential dangers they may pose.
JAPAN / Media / DARK SIDE OF THE RISING SUN
Aug 3, 2013

Is new yakuza journal good news for Japan?

If you're a well-connected Japanese gangster, you now have your own newspaper to keep you abreast of underworld life. Another perk of the job.
COMMENTARY / World
Aug 2, 2013

Could the PTA and bowling leagues breed extremists?

What if exposure to civic organizations — and not social isolation, per se — is more likely to contribute to the rise of extreme movements, including fascism?
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music / FUJI ROCK 2013
Jul 31, 2013

Tame Impala

You've been to Japan as visitors before, how does this trip compare?
COMMENTARY / World
Jul 30, 2013

End NSA's bulk collection of telephone records

Two Democratic U.S. senators express their belief that most Americans would agree that the White House should end the bulk collection of telephone records.
Japan Times
WORLD
Jul 29, 2013

Mideast peace talks set to resume

The U.S. announces that the first substantive peace talks between Israelis and the Palestinians in years is set to begin in Washington, following a prisoner release.
Japan Times
MORE SPORTS
Jul 27, 2013

Examining nexus of sports, international relations

Editor's note: Whiting was a guest speaker and panelist at the inaugural gathering of the International Sports Relations Foundation in Seoul recently. This is a new organization founded by Moon Dae-sung, a Republic of Korea's National Assembly member and 2004 Athens Olympics taekwondo gold medalist,...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Books
Jul 27, 2013

Multiple perspectives in novel on the Russo-Japanese War

I asked a Japanese friend how he would characterize Shiba Ryotaro's famous historical novel, "Clouds Above the Hill." I've known its immense popularity, but Shiba had started its newspaper serialization after I left Japan in 1968, and the size of the finished work — six volumes in book form — had...
WORLD
Jul 25, 2013

Proposal to restrict NSA tracking fails

A controversial proposal to restrict how the National Security Agency collects Americans' telephone records failed to advance in the House of Representatives by a narrow margin Wednesday, a victory for the Obama administration, which has spent weeks defending the program.

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