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Japan Times
JAPAN / Media / BIG IN JAPAN
Feb 6, 2016

Does sumo commentary need to stress the foreignness of the wrestlers?

Let's scroll 10 years back to 2006, when a wrestler named Tochiazuma emerged victorious in the January Grand Sumo tournament. That win, by a native Japanese grappler, was already a rare occasion, as Mongolian yokozuna (grand champion) Asashoryu almost completely dominated the sport and another Mongolian,...
JAPAN
Jan 22, 2016

IOC praises Tokyo as 'most prepared city' during latest visit

International Olympic Committee Vice President John Coates on Friday praised Tokyo as "the most prepared city we've ever seen," more than four years ahead of the 2020 Games. But Coates also scotched suggestions that the new National Stadium could be completed in time to host games at the 2019 Rugby World...
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Jan 21, 2016

The bill for China's flawed ascent is coming due

The Chinese government's contract with its 1.4 billion subjects is that it will deliver prosperity and they will be obedient. But how much longer can this deal continue?
COMMENTARY / World
Jan 18, 2016

Israel pays close attention to Putin, with good reason

Israel's interests vis-a-vis Russia run wide and deep, and are impossible for Jerusalem to ignore.
ASIA PACIFIC / ANALYSIS
Jan 18, 2016

South China Sea? For Beijing, Taiwan is the No. 1 security issue

For China, whose President Xi Jinping is already taking an increasingly muscular approach to claims in the East and South China seas, the question of Taiwan trumps any other of its territorial assertions in terms of sensitivity and importance.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Books
Jan 16, 2016

The ink-stained road: ‘age of adventure’

If foreign visitors to Japan in the Edo Period (1603-1868) ran certain risks by committing their impressions of the country to paper in a totalitarian state that worked hard to maintain its obscurity, the new Meiji Era (1868-1912) positively encouraged attention.
COMMENTARY / World
Jan 14, 2016

Don't believe all the myths about North Korea

Before figuring out what can be done about North Korea and its seemingly crazy dictatorship, we mustn't fall prey to four common myths about the hermit kingdom.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC
Jan 12, 2016

China sets up new military units, including graft-busting team

China's military has set up 15 new units — covering everything from logistics to equipment development, political work and fighting corruption — as part of an ongoing drive to modernize the world's largest armed forces, the Defense Ministry said.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Dec 30, 2015

A common thread in 2015's list of ludicrousness

Some of America's most ludicrous events in 2015 were the result of a collapse of judgment in, and the infantilization of society by, government.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Books
Dec 26, 2015

Flipping back through the good reads of 2015

Before we turn the page on the year, here's a selection of our reviewers' favorite books.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Dec 26, 2015

Modi makes sudden stopoff, meets Pakistan leader Sharif

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi made a surprise stopover in Pakistan on Friday to meet his counterpart, Nawaz Sharif, the first time an Indian premier has visited the rival nation in over a decade.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC
Dec 25, 2015

Indonesia to step up hunt for IS militant Santoso

Indonesian forces are mobilizing for a manhunt in steamy jungles on the far-flung island of Sulawesi to flush the country's most-wanted man from his hideout and deal a pre-emptive blow to the Islamic State group. The real threat could be much closer to home.
Japan Times
WORLD
Dec 24, 2015

Re-print of Hitler's 'Mein Kampf' unleashes row in Germany

For the first time since Adolf Hitler's death, Germany is publishing the Nazi leader's political treatise "Mein Kampf," unleashing a highly charged row over whether the text is an inflammatory racist diatribe or a useful educational tool.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Dec 15, 2015

'Pre-Raphaelite and Romantic Painting from National Museums Liverpool'

Dec. 22-March 6
ASIA PACIFIC
Dec 15, 2015

U.S. Navy commander warns of possible South China Sea arms race

The U.S. Pacific Fleet Commander has warned of a possible arms race in the disputed South China Sea which could engulf the region, as nations become increasingly tempted to use military force to settle territorial spats instead of international law.
ASIA PACIFIC
Dec 8, 2015

Wanted: cosmopolitan, foreign language-speaking Chinese graft busters to hunt suspects abroad

China's efforts to take its anti-graft campaign global are being crimped by a serious lack of officials familiar with foreign languages and laws, the country's top newspaper said Tuesday.
Japan Times
LIFE / Travel
Dec 5, 2015

Oku-Nikko: Once home from home for Japan's diplomats

‘One of the principal points to which travelers will direct their steps is the Lake of Chuzenji,” writes Ernest Mason Satow (1843-1929) in “A Guide Book To Nikko,” the first English tourist guide of the area published in 1875. Satow, a British diplomat and Japanologist, arrived in Japan in 1862...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Nov 26, 2015

Jennifer Lawrence, Natalie Dormer and Gwendoline Christie laud the heroic women of 'The Hunger Games' saga

At the London premiere of "The Hunger Games: Mockingjay — Part 2," actress Natalie Dormer, who plays Cressida in the film, received quite the surprise when she was accidentally kissed on the mouth by costar Jennifer Lawrence. The Internet went nuts.
Japan Times
WORLD / Science & Health
Nov 19, 2015

Astronomers see planet still growing in its stellar womb

Astronomers have taken the first images of a planet still in formation, a discovery expected to shed light on how giant planets manage to beef up early in their lives, research published on Wednesday showed.
WORLD / Science & Health
Nov 19, 2015

Alarming new 'superbug' gene found in animals and people in China

A new gene that makes bacteria highly resistant to a last-resort class of antibiotics has been found in people and pigs in China — including in samples of bacteria with epidemic potential, researchers said this week.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Voices / FOREIGN AGENDA
Nov 11, 2015

Let women and the world into kabuki and watch it flourish

Kabuki has the ability to enrich the imagination of the world; it should not be held back by insular vision and outmoded conservatism.
COMMENTARY / World
Nov 2, 2015

U.S. better keep an eye on Indonesia

The U.S. generally fails to give due importance to the largest nation in Southeast Asia, but taking Indonesia seriously is at least as logical and consequential as taking Japan seriously.
WORLD / Science & Health
Oct 31, 2015

Massive fissure mysteriously opens in Wyoming mountains

A massive fissure that has mysteriously appeared on the flanks of the Bighorn Mountains in Wyoming is a slow-moving landslide, possibly triggered by excessive precipitation combined with moisture from a nearby spring, a state geologist said on Friday.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC
Oct 27, 2015

Chinese paper says West is trying to 'falsify' history of Communist Party, military

Enemy forces in the West are trying to "falsify" the history of China's ruling Communist Party and its military and force a "color revolution" on troops who are too susceptible to outside influences, the military's official newspaper said Tuesday.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Oct 21, 2015

Women are in trouble at the Tokyo International Film Festival

Bad things can happen to good women, especially in the movies. For me, the most intriguing films at TIFF this year feature women in trouble. Yes, men may be a lot harder to take down on-screen than women — requiring explosives, monsters and extremely fit assassins — but, in reality, girls are more...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Oct 21, 2015

Rare orchids and misfit sex workers at the Tokyo International Film Festival

Some of the hottest tickets at TIFF each year are for films that have already secured a commercial release date in Japan. For all the high-minded talk about artistry and creativity, most viewers just want to see the big movies before everyone else. But spare a thought for the less commercial offerings...
JAPAN / Media / Japan Pulse
Oct 21, 2015

Warning: This viral video of high school girls might make you blush

Japan Times
CULTURE / Books / ESSENTIAL READING FOR JAPANOPHILES
Oct 17, 2015

'Little Songs of the Geisha' collected by an American anthropologist

The label kouta (which roughly translates as, "little song") has been applied to any number of popular Japanese music forms over the centuries. But these days, the word usually refers to a specific genre of shamisen music that evolved in 19th-century Edo (present-day Tokyo) from existing popular styles,...
COMMENTARY / World
Oct 14, 2015

China's unfinished island wars

China will continue to pursue its claim to the Spratly Islands, but Hainan and Taiwan remain the two great pearls of its maritime frontier strategy.

Longform

People in cities across Japan will pop into their local convenience store for any number of products they believe will help them with a night of drinking.
Hangover cures are everywhere in Japan — but do they work?