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COMMENTARY / World
Apr 4, 2017

How Trump should prepare for Xi

U.S. President Donald Trump needs to become something he's never been when he meets Chinese leader Xi Jinping this week — a knowledgable statesman.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Books
Mar 25, 2017

'Tokyo: A Biography': Tracing the life of a city

Cities are intrinsically inviting subjects for a writer. Part human, part natural; arena of history and mantelpiece of memory — cities provide the setting for the archetypal encounter of the individual with the masses.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Mar 18, 2017

False sense of security? Experts weigh the threat that terrorism poses Japan

Widely regarded as a safe place to live, Japan currently sits in ninth position on the Global Peace Index's list of the most peaceful nations on the planet. The East Asian nation is generally believed to be an orderly society that has incredibly low homicide and assault rates, and it certainly doesn't...
Japan Times
CULTURE / CULTURE SMASH
Mar 18, 2017

Breaking the comic book glass ceiling

Four years ago, Chinese-American writer Marjorie Liu had a simple but persistent idea: create an epic fantasy comic book series about a classic Japanese kaijū (strange beast) movie monster that has a connection to a girl.
COMMENTARY / World
Mar 13, 2017

China shouldn't treat South Korea as an enemy

Beijing should rethink its self-defeating strategy of trashing Seoul.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Media / BIG IN JAPAN
Mar 11, 2017

2017 looks more like '1984' than 1984 ever did

Goerge Orwell's '1984' is a fitting best-seller for 2017, a year of 'post-truth,' 'fake news' and 'alternative facts.'
COMMENTARY / World
Mar 7, 2017

Dems: win by out-Trumping Trump

The Democrats can only succeed against Trump by getting louder, meaner, more over the top and beating him at his own game.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / COUNTERPOINT
Mar 4, 2017

'Comfort women' in South Korea who serviced U.S. forces seek justice

Historical 'comfort women' cases involving Japanese and U.S. forces should be mutually reinforcing and underscore the ongoing need to hold Tokyo, Seoul and Washington accountable in ways that address the traumas and indignities endured.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Books
Feb 23, 2017

What to prepare for when you're expecting one of Murakami's mammoths

Haruki Murakami has put scientists to shame. Harvard geneticists recently announced that they are two years away from bringing the wooly mammoth back from extinction, while Murakami is releasing his latest mammoth tonight: His novel "Kishidancho Goroshi" will be published in two 500-page volumes via...
WORLD / Science & Health
Feb 17, 2017

Air pollution is linked to 2.7 million premature births a year

Curbing outdoor air pollution may help prevent 2.7 million premature births a year, a condition that threatens children's lives and increases their risk of long-term physical and neurological problems, scientists said on Thursday.
COMMENTARY / World
Feb 16, 2017

Another move in the North Korean chess game

It seems Kim Jong Un is tying up loose ends, eliminating a family heir who might have been used to legitimize a successor regime.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Media / BIG IN JAPAN
Feb 4, 2017

Does contemporary Japan need religion?

“God, Buddha — where are they?” asks Aera magazine.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Books / ESSENTIAL READING FOR JAPANOPHILES
Jan 21, 2017

'Wrong About Japan': A travelogue from the home of anime, manga and 'otaku'

"Wrong About Japan" was not universally appreciated when it was first published in 2005, but time has proven it to be a small, highly original contribution to books on this country. In it, author Peter Carey, recipient of two Man Booker prizes, traipses through urban Japan in the company of his son Charley,...
Reader Mail
Jan 20, 2017

The beauty of country living

Regarding the story "Country life holds growing appeal for young people" in the Jan. 4 edition, the author has described an extraordinary community. It's an incredible story, especially that of a Tokyo University graduate who bravely took the less-trodden path by giving up an offer of an advertising...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Books
Jan 14, 2017

Mishima and the maze of sexuality in modern Japan

In June 1948, novelist Osamu Dazai committed suicide. The 38-year-old, who had just completed his masterpiece, "No Longer Human," and whose fame was peaking, jumped into Tokyo's Tamagawa Canal with his mistress, Tomie Yamazaki, and drowned.
COMMENTARY / World
Jan 10, 2017

China's free ride set to end once Trump is president

After relishing the Obama administration's unremitting obsequiousness toward it, Beijing must now brace up and face an assertive new U.S. team that is unlikely to put up with its covert territorial expansion and trade manipulation.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Jan 6, 2017

Kissinger's Washington is coming back around

Let's take a moment to savor what looks to be Henry Kissinger's final act. The man is 93 years old. At that age, most people are lucky to have enough energy for "Wheel of Fortune" and a few Facebook posts. Not Kissinger. These days, he's playing the influence game against insiders who hadn't even been...
CULTURE / Books
Dec 24, 2016

Tales from the cracks: 10 of the best books about Japan released in 2016

It's been a difficult year — one that felt like humanity was living on a fracturing ice shelf. That uncertainty came from our exposure to wars and natural disasters, and even our struggles with "truth" itself. The best Japan-related books released in 2016 seemed to channel this feeling of instability...
LIFE / Language / MORNING ENGLISH
Dec 19, 2016

Let's discuss the Soseki robot

An android version of literary giant Natsume Soseki has been unveiled in Tokyo.
CULTURE / Books
Dec 17, 2016

Love, obsession and perverted desires in Japan's age of steam

Japan began to open its doors to the West in the 1850s, after centuries of remaining closed. In the following decade, foreigners' "concessions" were established in port cities such as Yokohama and Kobe to cope with the new visitors. The Japanese, with their characteristic desire to extend guests every...
BASKETBALL / NBA / NBA REPORT
Dec 6, 2016

Ex-referee Vanak helped improve job with courage

John Vanak was a quiet revolutionary.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Books / ESSENTIAL READING FOR JAPANOPHILES
Nov 12, 2016

'Gardens of Gravel and Sand': The skeletal remains of Japan's ornamental landscapes

There are only a handful of foreign writers on the Japanese garden that can really be taken seriously. Among those who have applied their erudition and insight to the subject are Loraine E. Kuck, Gunter Nitschke, Marc P. Keane and David A. Slawson. Leonard Koren joins this exalted group with "Gardens...
COMMENTARY / World
Nov 7, 2016

China's sole ally in Asia might get more than it wished for

The implications of China's growing strategic penetration of Pakistan are ominous for the region and for Pakistan's own future.
EDITORIALS
Oct 17, 2016

The times they are a-changin'

Throughout his career, Bob Dylan's songs have struck a chord with the young and young at heart around the world. It is hard to imagine a 'purer' or more deserving form of literature.
COMMENTARY / World
Oct 14, 2016

Civil-military chasm deepening in Islamabad

Pakistan's civilian government may be living on borrowed time.
Japan Times
LIFE / Travel
Oct 8, 2016

The 'onsen' retreat that transformed Natsume Soseki

Shuzenji, an onsen (hot-spring) town in the heart of the Izu Peninsula, is a little piece of heaven. Nestled in the densely wooded hills of Shizuoka Prefecture, its collection of baths, guesthouses and shops line up on either side of the rushing Katsura River, with historic temples, shrines and bamboo...
COMMENTARY / World
Oct 8, 2016

Meet the machines that know what's funny

Algorithms are outperforming human beings in a variety of unexpected contexts.
COMMENTARY / World
Oct 4, 2016

Why biologists don't put too much stock in race

Race is a scientifically indefensible concept with no biological basis as applied to humans.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Oct 4, 2016

Kim is challenging the U.S., not the entire world

If Washington and its allies hope to halt the North Korean nuclear program, they will have to address the actual purpose of the North's activities, and not blame them on some mythical attack on the world.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Markets / FOCUS
Oct 3, 2016

BOJ seen adopting American WWII rate-pegging ploy to spark inflation

In deciding to target bond yields, Japan is deploying a monetary strategy to combat deflation used by its former enemy in World War II. The trouble is that America's experience back then suggests the tactics probably will not work on their own.

Longform

A man offers prayers at Hebikubo Shrine in Tokyo's Shinagawa Ward. The shrine is one of several across the country dedicated to the snake.
Shed your skin and reinvent yourself in the Year of the Snake