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Japan Times
JAPAN / FUKUSHIMA FILE
Oct 19, 2014

Former Fukushima teacher blogs to inspire students while fighting off cancer

The former vice principal of a junior high school in Fukushima Prefecture has been encouraging his former students by blogging while undergoing 11 years of treatment for cancer.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Media / BIG IN JAPAN
Oct 18, 2014

The sinking yen is a threat to the cost of living

If the items you purchase these days seem more expensive, you're not imagining things.
COMMENTARY / Japan / COUNTERPOINT
Oct 18, 2014

The Abe conundrum and the pitfalls ahead

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe is a polarizing figure, lauded as the resolute leader Japan needs to revive its flagging fortunes and slammed for mishandling history issues in ways that undermine national interests.
Japan Times
JAPAN / CHUBU CONNECTION
Oct 17, 2014

Survivor looks to save images of deadliest typhoon to hit Japan

After Typhoon Vera, also known as the Isewan Typhoon, struck Japan in September 1959, local history researcher Kaneo Ogawa dedicated the next few months of his life to photographing the aftermath in his hometown.
Japan Times
JAPAN / CHUBU CONNECTION
Oct 17, 2014

Documentary puts survivors' accounts of Isewan Typhoon on film

A Japanese documentary on the 1959 Typhoon Vera, titled "Sorezore no Isewan Taifu" ("Each Person's Isewan Typhoon"), will begin screening on Saturday in three prefectures in the Tokai region.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Oct 17, 2014

Ruling denying welfare for foreign residents finds homegrown, biased support

The landmark Supreme Court ruling in July that found permanent residents of Japan legally ineligible for public assistance is already having an impact. Moves are afoot both at the national and local levels to try to scale back or remove welfare payments to foreign residents.
COMMENTARY / World
Oct 16, 2014

U.S.-China skirmishes beg for guidelines on 'spying'

What do the dangerous encounters at sea and in the air between Chinese and American ships and aircraft have in common, and how can they be prevented or managed?
WORLD
Oct 16, 2014

Michael Jackson tops Forbes list of highest-earning dead celebrities

Five years after his death, singer Michael Jackson is generating a fortune and is the top-earning dead celebrity, raking in an estimated $140 million in the past year for his estate, according to Forbes magazine.
Reader Mail
Oct 15, 2014

Strange obsession with robots

Regarding the Oct. 8 article "Toshiba unveils a humanoid robot that could be a sign of the times": I find it ironic that as the human population continues to increase, we are trying our best to make robots do the work of humans, aiming to find substitutes for tour guides, companions, etc.
Reader Mail
Oct 15, 2014

Nuclear village fooling itself

Regarding the Oct. 14 Reuters article "As nuclear waste piles up, South Korea faces storage crisis": Duh?! When will all the nuclear-village idiots across the globe realize that radioactive waste from aging nuclear power plants will need safe storage for up to 100,000 years? Such waste cannot be collected...
EDITORIALS
Oct 14, 2014

A shift in defense posture

A Japan-U.S. interim report proposes that geographical restrictions on the activities of the Self-Defense Forces in support of U.S. military operations be removed as part of a tremendous shift in Japan's defense posture.
EDITORIALS
Oct 12, 2014

Freedom of the press in South Korea

Criminal action taken by Seoul prosecutors against a Japanese journalist for questioning the whereabouts of President Park Geun-hye on the day in August when a South Korean passenger ferry sank raises serious questions about South Korea's commitment to freedom of the press.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Oct 11, 2014

In-debt idols send wrong message to girls

Two weeks ago a female pop group called The Margarines debuted via a Tokyo news conference. Since Japanese show business has no shortage of young women who want to sing and dance in order to "fulfill their dreams," the new ensemble needed a gimmick.
Japan Times
OLYMPICS / ROBERT WHITING'S 1964 OLYMPICS RETROSPECTIVE
Oct 10, 2014

Olympic construction transformed Tokyo

The 1964 Tokyo Olympics had a profound impact on the capital city and the nation. In the opening installment of a five-part series that will run during the next two weeks, best-selling author Robert Whiting, who lived in Japan at the time, takes a look back at the preparations for the event.
Japan Times
JAPAN / CHUBU CONNECTION
Oct 10, 2014

New center in Nagoya helps young patients deal with head injuries

A new facility for people with traumatic brain injuries has opened in Nakagawa Ward, Nagoya, to offer the kind of care that, say, traffic accident victims often need.
EDITORIALS
Oct 9, 2014

The dangers of intolerance

Two universities in Japan have received letter threats that nail-laden bombs will go off on their campuses if they don't dismiss two instructors who formerly reported on the 'comfort women' controversy for the Asahi Shimbun.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / JUST BE CAUSE
Oct 8, 2014

Biased pamphlet bodes ill for left-behind foreign parents outside Japan

A pamphlet about the Hague Convention provides valuable insights into the Foreign Ministry's slanted mind-set towards the child abduction issue.
JAPAN
Oct 8, 2014

New Japan-U.S. defense guidelines will stress global reach

Japan and the United States released an interim report Wednesday on revising their bilateral defense cooperation guidelines by the year's end, in which they call for more global military cooperation between the two countries that will "benefit the (Asia-Pacific) region and beyond."
JAPAN / Science & Health
Oct 8, 2014

Japanese tourist in India has Ebola symptoms: newspaper

A Japanese woman traveling in Imphal, the capital of the Indian state of Manipur, developed symptoms suggestive of Ebola infection, an Indian newspaper has reported.
COMMENTARY / World
Oct 7, 2014

India's nuclear risks and costs

The inevitable conclusion that nuclear weapons cannot help India solve the problems of poverty, illiteracy and malnutrition, and are irrelevant as security against any other country, should at least encourage India to champion the phased and verifiable goal of global nuclear disarmament.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Oct 6, 2014

India's illusory nuclear gains

The subcontinent's history since 1998 belies expectations at the time, in both India and Pakistan, that the nuclearization of weapons would prove to be a largely stabilizing factor.
LIFE / Language / COMMUNICATION CUES
Oct 6, 2014

Emperor Hirohito's annals released

The Imperial Household Agency has compiled the annals of the late Emperor Hirohito, known posthumously as Emperor Showa, into 61 volumes that portray him as being distressed that he could not stop his country from going to war, according to Kyodo News.
Japan Times
WORLD / Politics
Oct 5, 2014

Anti-EU U.K. Independence Party on cusp of winning first parliament seat

As he walks through the southeastern English seaside town of Clacton-on-Sea with a large banner for the anti-EU U.K. Independence Party under his arm, there is no doubt who 47-year-old builder Phil Drew will vote for in an election this week.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Media / BIG IN JAPAN
Oct 4, 2014

Unburdening oneself of life's possessions

Japanese often cite an old aphorism that goes, "Tatsu tori ato wo nigosazu" ("It is a foolish bird that defiles its own nest"). This can be taken to mean that a departing person should not leave behind a mess.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Oct 4, 2014

Tourists may not warm to Japan's welcome

A former colleague of mine always made it a point to tell people coming to Japan for a visit to bring lots of handkerchiefs because the public restrooms didn't have towel dispensers. I always took a more positive view and emphasized that public restrooms in Japan were everywhere and open to everyone,...
Japan Times
JAPAN / CHUBU CONNECTION
Oct 3, 2014

Immigrant puts truancy in past with part-time classes

A young Japanese-Brazilian is carving out a new life for herself in Toyota, Aichi Prefecture, by aiding foreign students at a public junior high school.
Japan Times
WORLD / Science & Health
Oct 2, 2014

Ditch U.N. temperature target for global warming, study recommends

A temperature goal set by almost 200 governments as the limit for global warming is a poor guide to the planet's health and should be ditched, a study published in the journal Nature said on Wednesday.
EDITORIALS
Oct 1, 2014

The achievements of Takako Doi

People who respect the ideals of Takako Doi, the former head of the Social Democratic Party who died last month at 85, have a lot to learn from what she achieved and what she could not achieve in Japanese politics,
Reader Mail
Oct 1, 2014

Woman who took on 'dinosaurs'

Regarding the Sept. 28 article "SDP's Takako Doi, first female leader of major political party in Japan, dies at 85": I am sad about Takako Doi's passing probably because she was in her political prime when I arrived in Japan, and so her passing makes me reflect on my own age and mortality.
Reader Mail
Oct 1, 2014

What's Abe been crowing about?

Regarding the Sept. 25 article "20% of college dropouts cite financial difficulties as reason": It's a sad state of affairs when Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has fun globe-trotting and lauding himself over what he claims are his great economic achievements while the reality at home becomes more desperate....

Longform

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