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Japan Times
JAPAN / CHUBU CONNECTION
Jun 20, 2014

Aichi shrine worships pickles god

There is a shrine in Ama, Aichi Prefecture, dedicated to Japan's only god of pickles.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Voices / FOREIGN AGENDA
Jun 18, 2014

Japan's 'no immigration principle' looking as solid as ever

In contrast to Hidenori Sakanaka's unbridled optimism, I argue that Japan has little prospect of becoming a 'migrant nation' anytime soon.
Reader Mail
Jun 18, 2014

Hashimoto owes liberty to Allies

Regarding the June 17 article "Hashimoto says WWII Allies set up 'comfort stations' after soldiers committed D-Day rapes": How dare that buffoon Osaka Mayor Toru Hashimoto insult the Allied soldiers who fought at D-Day!
Reader Mail
Jun 18, 2014

Joint development of resources

Regarding the June 8 wire service article "Abe holds talks with Pope Francis": Prime Minister Shinzo Abe is reported to have talked with Pope Francis about ways of promoting peace and stability in Asia. East Asia is riven with tensions over the large number of small islands claimed by China in the East...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Stage
Jun 18, 2014

Cocoon Kabuki enters a new era

Theatre Cocoon in the Bunkamura performance-arts hub of Tokyo's vibrant Shibuya district has always been a popular venue specializing in new works by fresh contemporary writers. Emblematic of this is Cocoon Kabuki, its unique series begun in 1994 under the then Artistic Director Kazuyoshi Kushida.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Stage
Jun 18, 2014

Female dramatists dispel gender concern

Last month in Berlin, in a conversation with Annemie Vanackere, artistic director at the city's cutting-edge Hebbel am Ufer company, she was saying how she loved contemporary Japanese theater, and how HAU had worked with several Japanese dramatists. Then she suddenly asked me: "Why were they all men?...
COMMENTARY / World
Jun 17, 2014

Capitalism facilitates but doesn't ensure freedom

As Democratic experiments in Thailand and Egypt collapse, there seems to be a building consensus among financial and political elites globally that authoritarian rule, rather than pluralism, is the path to happy endings.
COMMENTARY / World
Jun 16, 2014

Corruption rumors sideline Beautiful Game's rewards

New squalid facts, claims and rumors are emerging every week suggesting that the game of soccer may be beautiful but some of its leading figures are too close to dark and shadowy criminal forces.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / THE FOREIGN ELEMENT
Jun 16, 2014

Harassers exploit Gaba's 'man-to-man' lesson format

The first sign that Olivia's Gaba lesson would be anything but ordinary came when her student insisted during the warmup that he didn't like wearing clothes.
Japan Times
JAPAN / FUKUSHIMA FILE
Jun 15, 2014

Fukushima hotline gets record calls

A suicide-prevention hotline in Fukushima Prefecture received a record 18,194 calls in 2013, signaling that scars from the events of March 2011 still weigh heavily on residents' minds.
LIFE / Language / COMMUNICATION CUES
Jun 15, 2014

Anti-World Cup protests across Brazil

Protesters and police clashed in Sao Paulo on May 15, as demonstrations against the World Cup and rallies calling for improved public services erupted in several Brazilian cities.
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / JAPAN LITE
Jun 15, 2014

Oh, the places we'll go in 2020 — unless, of course, we won't

In 2020 the Tokyo Olympics will be here! And all our troubles will be gone. Unless, of course, they won't. Because, sometimes, they don't.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Jun 14, 2014

The thrill of the job won't pay the rent

"If your work isn't what you love, then something isn't right." — Talking Heads
Japan Times
JAPAN / Media / BIG IN JAPAN
Jun 14, 2014

Vietnam seen as a potential role model for Japan

Although tourism and trade between Japan and the Socialist Republic of Vietnam have expanded rapidly in recent years, when compared with other ASEAN countries such as Malaysia, Singapore and Thailand, Vietnam has maintained a fairly low profile in the Japanese media. But suddenly the country is being...
Japan Times
BUSINESS / YEN FOR LIVING
Jun 13, 2014

Won't get fooled again? Fans and their money are soon parted

Some pop fans are more devoted, and more naive, than others
Japan Times
JAPAN / CHUBU CONNECTION
Jun 13, 2014

Okazaki's grapes, Ieyasu legacy reel in tourists

The city of Okazaki in Aichi Prefecture this year is doubling efforts to attract visitors from its neighbors in East Asia, especially China and Taiwan.
COMMENTARY / World
Jun 13, 2014

Kagan and the ruin of ideas

Neocon commentator Robert Kagan's belief — detailed in his new book 'The World America Made' — that the world will benefit from a benevolent American suzerainty, despite the side effects of the Persian Gulf, Iraq and Afghan wars, beggars the imagination.
EDITORIALS
Jun 12, 2014

Dangerous turn in ODA policy

The Abe administration should give up on a plan to change the government's basic policy on official development assistance in ways that could see aid used for the armed forces of foreign countries.
Reader Mail
Jun 11, 2014

New paradigm for the Olympics

Regarding the June 2 Reuters article "Architect blasts new Tokyo Olympics stadium as 'a sin, a crime' ": The pleas by the Japan Sports Council and by architect Edward Suzuki do not really contain in my mind a reasonable and convincing critique of the 2020 Tokyo Olympics stadium as proposed by Zaha Hadid,...
Reader Mail
Jun 11, 2014

Abductions by any other name

The June 9 Kyodo article "Japan sends list of 470 potential abductees to North Korea" made me think. No one can begin to criticize the Japanese authorities for continuing to take a firm stand on this issue in the face of continued stalling on the part of an evil and untrustworthy state such as North...
COMMENTARY / World
Jun 10, 2014

Why don't more American soldiers walk away?

American news media portrays Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl and his apparent decision to simply walk away from the war in Afghanistan as bizarre and incomprehensible. Yet some wonder why it doesn't happen all the time.
COMMENTARY / World
Jun 10, 2014

Obama administration waging war on media

Insiders say the pressure of America's powerful national security apparatus and the fear among White House aides of facing the wrath of the intelligence community has made the once-media-friendly President Barack Obama appear neo-Nixonian.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / THE FOREIGN ELEMENT
Jun 9, 2014

ASIJ announces investigation into sex abuse

An independent investigation will examine late teacher Jack Moyer's suspected sexual abuse of scores of female students and why American School in Japan officials apparently allowed his attacks to continue unabated despite students' warnings.
Japan Times
ENVIRONMENT / WILD WATCH
Jun 7, 2014

Japan's efforts bring back 'extinct' species

Oriental stork 73; crested ibis 82; red-crowned crane 1,143; short-tailed albatross estimated 3,550. Those numbers of wild birds in Japan seem perilously low — and they are, especially when considered alongside the Japanese population of 126.75 million people — but in reality they are good news!...
Reader Mail
Jun 7, 2014

Brazil big enough for the World Cup

After reading Chikako Nakayama's May 29 article, "World Cup without succor," I would like to make a few observations, as the writer failed to grasp two basic aspects of Brazil's current political and economic state.
JAPAN / Politics
Jun 6, 2014

Abe drops SDF combat mission proposal

Japan's security talks take a twist as Prime Minister Abe's team says the SDF won't take missions in combat zones, after trying earlier to scrap the term 'non-combat zone.'
Japan Times
JAPAN / CHUBU CONNECTION
Jun 6, 2014

Fans go nuts for Shiga banana carver

An electrician by day and banana artist by night, Keisuke Yamada has attained renown at home and abroad for his banana sculptures.

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