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Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
May 22, 2014

'The Bay'

Found footage becomes a different animal under the direction of a major-league director like Barry Levinson ("Rain Man" and "Diner"). "The Bay" is plenty scary but this isn't your usual found footage horror fare; it's a faux documentary carrying a very real eco-message.
COMMENTARY / Japan / SENTAKU MAGAZINE
May 20, 2014

Washington mixes signals about aims toward China

Even while reconfirming its 'pivot to Asia,' Washington tries to construct multifaceted bilateral ties with Beijing, raising questions about the ultimate fate of longtime alliances between the U.S. and a number of Asia-Pacific countries.
CULTURE / TV & Streaming / CHANNEL SURF
May 17, 2014

The 'variety' of reasons foreigners come to Japan; profiles of Senshin Settlers; CM of the week: Kellogg's

The "You" in the title of the variety show "You wa nani shi Nihon e?" (What Are You Doing in Japan?; TV Tokyo, Mon, 6:57 p.m.) is fluid, since it can be used as both a second person and a third person pronoun. In both cases, "you" always refers to foreigners who are visiting Japan.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Economy
May 15, 2014

GDP jumps to 5.9% on tax hike in first quarter

The Japanese economy climbed to its fastest pace since 2011 as companies invested more and consumers raced to beat the first tax hike in 17 years.
BUSINESS / Companies
May 14, 2014

Docomo announces launch of LTE voice calls

NTT Docomo Inc. announced Wednesday that it will launch the nation's first high-quality voice call service using fast LTE networks in June, aiming to halt the decline in revenue from voice calls.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / LAW OF THE LAND
May 14, 2014

From NHK, an offer you can't refuse

The state broadcaster's approach to separating the Japanese public from its money is legally and ethically troublesome, writes Colin P.A. Jones.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Stage
May 14, 2014

'The Big Fellah' IRA drama entertains as it also elucidates

Written by English playwright Richard Bean, and premiered in London in 2010, "The Big Fellah" spans 30 years in the lives of U.S. supporters of the Irish Republican Army as that movement fought to sever Northern Ireland's ties to the United Kingdom and unify the island of Ireland.
Japan Times
WORLD
May 14, 2014

Kiev forces suffer heaviest losses yet as separatists ambush, kill troops

Pro-Russian separatists ambushed Ukrainian troops on Tuesday, killing seven, in the heaviest loss of life for government forces in a single clash since Kiev sent soldiers to put down a rebellion in the country's east.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
May 13, 2014

Macmanaman step up to bat for the live show

"Instrumental post-rock" is probably the worst way to introduce a band, and by this point 90 percent of this article's readers will have probably fled to the sports section.
Japan Times
WORLD / Politics
May 11, 2014

East Ukraine referendum raises fears of dismemberment

Rebels pressed ahead with a referendum on self-rule in east Ukraine on Sunday and fighting flared anew in a conflict that has raised fears of civil war and pitched Russia and the West into their worst crisis since the Cold War.
EDITORIALS
May 11, 2014

A new look at spent nuclear fuel

Shizuoka Gov. Heita Kawakatsu's plan to get the use of plutonium-uranium mixed-oxide fuel re-approved for Chubu Electric Power Co.'s Hamaoka nuclear power plant highlight various contradictions in the central government's continuing pursuit of a nuclear fuel-cycle policy.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC / Society / FOCUS
May 8, 2014

The 'yes-man' whose faith defied China's rulers

It was shaping up to be a win in the Communist Party's quest to contain a longtime nemesis — the Roman Catholic Church. In July 2012, a priest named Thaddeus Ma Daqin was to be ordained auxiliary bishop of Shanghai.
COMMENTARY / World
May 5, 2014

Phones may not have the right to remain silent

The U.S. Supreme Court has just heard arguments over whether police should be allowed to search a person's smartphone without a warrant to find evidence relevant to the crime for which he or she is being arrested.
Japan Times
WORLD / Crime & Legal
May 5, 2014

Sinn Fein's Gerry Adams urges calm after release

Northern Ireland police released Gerry Adams from custody Sunday and the Sinn Fein leader sought to calm fears that his four-day detention could destabilize the British province by pledging his support to the peace process.
Japan Times
WORLD / Crime & Legal
May 4, 2014

Food labs fight organized crime

At first glance the sprawling campus amid glorious countryside looks an unlikely base from which to wage war against Italy's most feared crime organization, the 'ndrangheta.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC
May 2, 2014

China militants show new daring

A bombing in western China that killed three people and wounded 79 on Wednesday has raised concerns about the apparent sophistication and daring of the attack, which possibly was timed to coincide with a visit to the heavily Muslim region by President Xi Jinping.
Japan Times
WORLD / Politics / ANALYSIS
Apr 29, 2014

White House casts Russia sanctions strategy as battle of attrition

U.S. President Barack Obama calls his sanctions policy against Russia 'calibrated,' while his Republican rivals dismiss it a 'slap on the wrist' and Russia condemns it as 'illegitimate.'
Japan Times
WORLD / Politics
Apr 28, 2014

Obama announces new U.S. sanctions on Russia over Ukraine

U.S. President Barack Obama announces new sanctions Monday to stop President Vladimir Putin from fomenting the rebellion in eastern Ukraine, but said he was holding broader measures against Russia's economy 'in reserve.'
Japan Times
JAPAN / Media / NET NEWS WATCH
Apr 28, 2014

AKB48 may be the pop the economy needs: ex-chief cabinet secretary Edano

In Yukio Edano's essay “Popular Songs Change with the Times; Yasushi Akimoto, the AKB strategy and the Japanese Economy,” the Democratic Party of Japan Lower House member of Japan argued that AKB48's business strategy “could be effective for the economy in general.”
Japan Times
WORLD
Apr 27, 2014

Social media gives new voice to Brazil protesters

When the battered body of a young Brazilian professional dancer, Douglas Rafael da Silva Pereira, was found in the Pavao-Pavaozinho favela in Rio de Janeiro, locals refused to believe the police statement — that his injuries were "compatible with a death caused by a fall."
COMMENTARY / World
Apr 26, 2014

Chinese who chicken out over duck blood

No matter how weird or disgusting the food scandal in rural China, it'll almost certainly happen again if profitable. The latest involves a 'mom and pop' duck blood counterfeiting ring.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Apr 25, 2014

Japan scores whaling own goal

In the hindsight of the recent International Court of Justice's humiliating ruling against Japan's Antarctic scientific whaling, the government's slapping down of Japan Greenpeace in 2010 was probably a bad idea.
JAPAN / Politics / ANALYSIS
Apr 24, 2014

Abe secured only half of key goals at meeting

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe finally gets a U.S. president to state for the first time that the bilateral security treaty applies to the Senkaku Islands.
Japan Times
WORLD
Apr 24, 2014

NYPD Twitter stunt foiled by hashtag hijack

A New York Police Department campaign to burnish its image via social media instead produced a flood of pictures of apparent police brutality and tweets critical of the force being shared at a rate of thousands an hour.
Japan Times
WORLD / Politics
Apr 24, 2014

Hamas, Abbas' PLO announce reconciliation agreement

The Gaza-based Islamist group Hamas and President Mahmoud Abbas' Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) announced a unity pact on Wednesday, deepening a crisis in U.S.-brokered peace talks with Israel.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC
Apr 23, 2014

Satellite images show North Korea nuke test unlikely

North Korea is unlikely to be ready to stage a nuclear test timed to coincide with U.S. President Barack Obama's visit to Asia, a respected think tank said on Wednesday, based on its assessment of satellite imagery.
Japan Times
WORLD / Politics
Apr 22, 2014

Syria calls presidential vote for June; opponents slam plan as a 'parody of democracy'

Syria announced Monday a presidential election for June 3, preparing the ground for President Bashar Assad to defy widespread opposition and extend his grip on power, days after he said the civil war is turning in his favor.

Longform

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