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Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Mar 20, 2014

Lego builds the year's first true blockbuster

Film director Phil Lord has fond childhood memories of days spent playing with Lego's colorful plastic blocks. He says he would simply dump what he had on the floor and create a huge mess.
Japan Times
LIFE / Lifestyle / CHILD'S PLAY
Mar 20, 2014

Our guide to family hanami hot spots

The transition from winter to summer is just beginning, and that means something magical is about to arrive: cherry-blossom season. As winter loosens its grip, delicate pastel petals push their way out of gnarled sakura-tree branches — an early indicator of the warmth that will slowly envelop the archipelago....
COMMENTARY
Mar 20, 2014

Failure to pool information haunts saga of missing flight

The apparent failure of the emergency services of all countries to pool their information, in real time or at least within a day, haunts the saga of missing Malaysia Airlines flight MH370.
Japan Times
LIFE / Japan Showcase / AOMORI PREFECTURE
Mar 20, 2014

Walking among the snow monsters of the Hakkoda mountains

The cable car rumbles ominously as it carries us from the station in Towada-HachimantaiNational Park up to the peak of Mount Tamoyachi, in the northern Hakkoda mountain range. The dozens of goggled skiers and snowboarders filling the floating glass chamber hardly seem to hear it, as they eagerly approach...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Mar 19, 2014

Deep feelings at high altitudes

The photographs, taken by artist Naoya Hatakeyama, hint at both the beauty and dangers of a mountain, as reflected in the shades of light and darkness alongside textures of soft-edged snow and sharply lined rocks.
Japan Times
Figure Skating / ICE TIME
Mar 18, 2014

Worlds better held before Olympics as a qualifier

Is a post-Olympic worlds really worthwhile?
WORLD / Politics
Mar 18, 2014

Ukrainians dig massive trench along border in Russian-speaking east

Ukraine's easterly Donetsk region, dominated by Russian-speakers and buffeted by rallies by pro-Russian activists, has built a defensive trench complete with concrete barriers along its long border with Russia, its governor said Monday.
Japan Times
WORLD
Mar 16, 2014

Will the fate of Flight MH370 ever be known?

After a week of false leads, U-turns, wild speculation and outright contradictions, experts wonder if the missing Malaysia Airlines 777 will ever be discovered.
Japan Times
WORLD / Science & Health
Mar 16, 2014

Did climate — or man — kill off megafauna?

They were some of the strangest animals to walk the Earth: wombats as big as hippos, sloths larger than bears, four-tusked elephants and an armadillo that would have dwarfed a VW Beetle. They flourished for millions of years, then vanished from our planet just as humans emerged from their African homeland....
Japan Times
ENVIRONMENT
Mar 15, 2014

All change — for a Transition Town near you

For anyone who cares about nature — or their own future — Earth in the 21st century can be a worrying place to live. The planet is warming and climate-related disasters are growing more frequent; plants and animals are going extinct at rates not seen in 65 million years; and in many places, key resources...
Japan Times
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Mar 15, 2014

Olympics highlight the need for foreign blue-collar laborers

In a recent column, Tokyo Shimbun sportswriter Masaru Ogawa called on past and future Olympic athletes to come forward and talk about what he sees as the biggest problem facing the Tokyo 2020 Games: lack of construction workers. Next year, work on venues will start in earnest, but Japan is already burdened...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Books
Mar 15, 2014

Portrait of the assassin as a young man

Sometime in the 1970s, as more Americans began to rally against the Vietnam War, an unknown cynic parodied the U.S. Army's promotional recruitment tagline with the slogan, "Join the Army! Travel to unusual places. Meet interesting people, and kill them."
Japan Times
WORLD / Politics / FOCUS
Mar 14, 2014

U.S. joins France in anti-terrorism fight across Sahel

On a dusty training ground in Niger, U.S. Special Forces officers teach local troops to deal with suspects who resist arrest. "Speed, aggression, surprise!" an instructor barks as two Nigeriens wrestle a U.S. adviser out of a car.
Japan Times
WORLD / Politics / ANALYSIS
Mar 14, 2014

Symbolic Crimea vital to Putin legacy

When Russian President Vladimir Putin flew into the Ukrainian port of Sevastopol in Crimea last year, he made a pilgrimage to several sites associated with Russia's tumultuous history.
Japan Times
SOCCER / SOCCER SCENE
Mar 14, 2014

Murai deserves praise for taking bold action against Urawa

The J. League has not always been known for taking clear, decisive action, but Thursday's announcement that Urawa Reds must play one home game behind closed doors as punishment for a discriminatory banner was a bold decision that must be applauded.
COMMENTARY / World
Mar 14, 2014

To achieve peace, the past must not be forgotten

The past must never be forgotten when trying to make peace between Ukraine and Russia. The U.S. risks war with Russia if it can't adjust the same reckless sentiments responsible in recent years for promoting NATO membership for Ukraine.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / JUST BE CAUSE
Mar 12, 2014

J. League and media must show red card to racism

On Saturday, during their J. League match against Sagan Tosu at Saitama Stadium, some Urawa Reds fans hung a 'Japanese only' banner over an entrance to the stands.
COMMUNITY / Voices / FOREIGN AGENDA
Mar 12, 2014

With love and Japan, what you get out depends on what you put in

Moving to Japan makes an infant of us all, regardless of race, sex or creed. A major conflict in Shakespeare's 'The Tempest' comes from the fact that Prospero knew the language and Caliban the land, but when you first get to Japan, you know neither.
Japan Times
WORLD / Politics
Mar 12, 2014

Fresh uprisings erupt across Turkey

Protesters clashed with police in cities across Turkey on Tuesday after the death of a 15-year-old boy who was hit in the head by a tear-gas canister during anti-government demonstrations last summer.
Japan Times
LIFE / Japan Showcase / AOMORI PREFECTURE
Mar 12, 2014

Freshly grilled squid on a winter train: Taking a ride on the Tsugaru Railroad

A continuous bluster rips snow from the white ground all around us and keeps sending it flying into our faces, as we stand on the platform of Kanagi Station in Goshogawara. It is frigid weather and I am relieved when I finally spot our train emerge out of the bleached hazy distance. Two identical orange...
COMMENTARY / Japan
Mar 11, 2014

Japanese jingoism won't help Fukushima's refugees

The Abe government's inability to handle its crisis at home belies its global ambitions.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Mar 11, 2014

Mothercoat sees tour as a step in cultivating a global fanbase

Most bands in Japan come to Tokyo to reach for stardom. Indie rock act Mothercoat did the opposite, however, when its members all relocated to Fukaya, Saitama Prefecture, two years ago.
CULTURE / Music / JAZZ NOTES
Mar 11, 2014

New acts see good results off the beaten path

Jazz is a form of music that was born out of live performance, and fans in Japan are certainly spoiled for choice when it comes to places to see jazz gigs.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Mar 10, 2014

Life indoors exacts toll on Koriyama children

Some of the smallest children in Koriyama, a short drive from the ruined Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant, barely know what it's like to play outside — fear of radiation has kept them indoors for much of their short lives.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Mar 9, 2014

New map shines light on Tokyo air raid horrors

In an attempt to preserve people's fading memories of the World War II air raids on Tokyo, scholars and citizens have drawn up what is considered the most comprehensive map so far of their efforts to escape from U.S. bombs.

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