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JAPAN / YEAR IN REVIEW 2013
Dec 25, 2013

A look back at the year's top 10 Japan news stories

Japan Times editors selected the following domestic stories as the most important in 2013.
Japan Times
WORLD / YEAR IN REVIEW 2013
Dec 25, 2013

A look back at the year's top 10 world news stories

Japan Times editors selected these world stories as the most important of 2013.
SPORTS / YEAR IN REVIEW 2013
Dec 25, 2013

A look back at the year's top 10 Japan sports stories

Japan Times editors selected these domestic sports stories as the most important of 2013.
LIFE / Digital
Dec 24, 2013

Even our Facebook 'grunts' could be monetized

As Mark Twain observed: "A lie can travel halfway around the world while the truth is putting on its shoes." And that was a long time before the Web. Which brings us to a meme that was propagating last week though social media. Its essence was an assertion that Facebook monitored — and stored — not...
BUSINESS / Economy / ANALYSIS
Dec 24, 2013

Debt-issuance levels point to lack of concern for debt: experts

Experts say the draft fiscal 2014 budget doesn't show that the Abe team is serious about revising the debt-driven fiscal structure as more than 40 percent of the budget will be paid for through new debt issuance.
JAPAN
Dec 24, 2013

U.S. Navy gives benefits to gay spouses in Japan

The U.S. Navy will provide military benefits to gay spouses stationed in Japan after previously denying dependent status to them, defense officials said.
LIFE / Travel
Dec 24, 2013

VA futsal tournament; Surprise KLM gifts; Jetstar nonstop to Melbourne

VA futsal tournament Virgin Atlantic Airways has announced that it will again co-host the All England Cup Futsal Tournament with international banking group Standard Chartered Bank in March.
COMMENTARY / World
Dec 23, 2013

When leaps in technology make cheating easier

As economists keep reminding us, the optimal level of cheating isn't zero. Sometimes the costs of monitoring tests and chess games, for example, can outweigh the benefits of the underlying activity.
COMMENTARY / World
Dec 23, 2013

Help Ukrainians stand up for Western values

Make no mistake, Ukraine's so-called oligarchs still support President Viktor Yanukovych, and they will be prime beneficiaries of the $15 billion in bailout loans and lower natural gas prices that he secured from Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Figure Skating
Dec 22, 2013

Mao stays on target for seventh national title

Mao Asada moved within grasp of her seventh national title with a fine short program on Sunday in the All-Japan Championships at Saitama Super Arena.
LIFE / Language / WELL SAID
Dec 22, 2013

Ima, denwa-wo shite-iru hito-ga Tian-san-desu

Today we will introduce the proper use of the particle u304c. X u304c is used to mark the subject of the sentence (= X) when it is newly introduced.
COMMUNITY / How-tos / LIFELINES
Dec 22, 2013

Beauty, shoes and music to round up 2013

Lifelines is playing catch-up this week, with some feedback from previous columns and a reader hoping for a little bit of Christmas magic to help him reconnect with his musical past in Japan.
Japan Times
WORLD
Dec 22, 2013

All bets off as Syrian rebels fracture

The Bab al-Hawa crossing post sits under a low ridge on the Syrian-Turkish border, not far from the Turkish town of Reyhanli. There is a concrete canopy and a handful of buildings. It is important because of what lies not far away in the village of Babisqa — one of the main storage depots for the Supreme...
Japan Times
WORLD
Dec 22, 2013

Story of  ‘systematic’ exploitation of women becomes reporter’s life

On the first day that Jineth Bedoya Lima arrived for work at the offices of Colombia National Radio in Bogota, she was assigned to cover a story that would become her life. That day, in December 1996, her task was to report on a riot at what is probably the most dangerous prison in the world, La Modelo,...
WORLD
Dec 22, 2013

U.S. reasserts need to keep domestic surveillance secret

The government Friday reasserted its claim of state-secrets privilege to keep under wraps what it says are operational details in two long-running lawsuits alleging the National Security Agency's surveillance of Americans' emails and phone calls is unlawful.
Japan Times
LIFE / Lifestyle
Dec 21, 2013

Upbeat in the face of adversity

Twenty-four-year-old Yura Tsutsumi was first attracted to Yuta Suzuki after seeing how positive he was in everyday life.
Japan Times
LIFE / Travel
Dec 21, 2013

Hot times in the realm of Mount Aso

I used to think that only Mount Fuji was massive enough to have its own weather patterns, but 1,592-meter Mount Aso in Kyushu proved me wrong.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Media / BIG IN JAPAN
Dec 21, 2013

The envelope, please (and don't lick it)

One of the most sensational news stories emanating from Japan over the past year never actually happened.
BASEBALL / MLB
Dec 21, 2013

Cromartie hungry to bring baseball back to Montreal

Warren Cromartie's energy can be infectious. When the former Montreal Expos and Yomiuri Giants star gets going on a topic, his voice rises, his words drip with conviction and even over the phone, you can imagine him flashing that familiar, toothy, megawatt smile.
BUSINESS / JAPANESE PERSPECTIVES
Dec 21, 2013

It's business as usual 'back in the USSR'

Paul McCartney was in Japan some weeks ago. Having spent a totally Beatlemaniac four years of my pre-teen existence in the U.K., it was nice to see the erstwhile Beatle in such good form.
COMMENTARY / World
Dec 20, 2013

Ruling a fitting end to Snowden's year

However fleeting a U.S. district court's order against NSA's collection of phone-call metadata turns out to be, it provides a perfect opportunity to ask what we've learned about secrecy and government in this year of Edward Snowden.
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / WHEN EAST MARRIES WEST
Dec 20, 2013

To tap tourist yen, think train-packing, plastic grub and sumo

I think it is time for some up-to-date experiences — ones that the waves of tourists due to flood Japan up through the 2020 Olympics might savor more than those that revolve around traditional Japanese culture.

Longform

The building of new high-rise residential buildings has some alarmed that they could empty and fall into disrepair as Japan's population shrinks.
The high cost of letting Japan's condos crumble