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Japan Times
JAPAN / GENERATIONAL CHANGE
May 3, 2015

'Omotenashi' a facade, wheelchair-bound consultant says

Unlike other students who enjoyed full mobility and could easily find jobs as convenience store clerks or waiters, the choices available to Toshiya Kakiuchi, 26, were limited as he sought to finance his studies at Ritsumeikan University in Kyoto.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Stage
May 2, 2015

Dramatist brings citizens of all ages together

Public theaters across the country are holding significantly more community productions and workshops aimed at local residents who are looking to get involved in performance art.
COMMENTARY / COUNTERPOINT
May 2, 2015

Foreign media feels the heat from prickly government minders

Last month, Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung journalist Carsten Germis wrote about the Japanese government harassing him just for doing his job. In his view, the government of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe is overly sensitive to criticism, especially reporting about what Germis calls "a move by the right to...
Japan Times
ENVIRONMENT / OLD NIC'S NOTEBOOK
May 2, 2015

Spring legacy of winter's toll in the woods

As I write this, April is two-thirds gone and the snow around our house and in our woods has almost disappeared, leaving butterburs to sprout up everywhere. Today was quite warm and we heard the first songs of the bush warblers. The Torii River that flows right past my study and gym is swollen and rushing...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Books
May 2, 2015

Investigating 'impurity' in Tokyo's marginalized leatherwork districts

Because of irrational fears of contamination, Japan's hibakusha — the survivors of the nuclear bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki — suffered discrimination. Try to imagine having an atom bomb dropped on you by a foreign enemy, then to have your own people turn against you. There is another group...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Books / ESSENTIAL READING FOR JAPANOPHILES
May 2, 2015

'Embracing Defeat' breaks down remorse and resistance in postwar Japan

"Embracing Defeat," the title of John Dower's landmark study of how Japan reformed and rebuilt during the U.S. Occupation, raises an interesting question: What about remorse and responsibility? It's a timely question as 2015 is the 70th anniversary of the end of a war that continues to divide East Asia....
COMMENTARY / World
May 2, 2015

What not to do after the Baltimore riots

To help avoid future riots, U.S. authorities could start by training cops not to automatically treat people in such predominantly black neighborhoods as criminals.
CULTURE / TV & Streaming / CHANNEL SURF
May 1, 2015

Bizarre homes around the world; legendary Korean drama series; CM of the Week: Nisshin

Real estate and home renovation programs continue to be popular, but the housing-oriented special, "Osekkaina Sawabe Fudosan" ("Meddlesome Sawabe Real Estate Company"; NHK-G, Mon., 10:55 p.m.), aims for something out of the ordinary.
Japan Times
WORLD / Science & Health
May 1, 2015

NASA's Messenger orbiter slams into Mercury

NASA's pioneering Messenger spacecraft ended its four-year study of the planet Mercury on Thursday by crashing into the planet's surface, scientists said.
EDITORIALS
Apr 30, 2015

Scrutinize health insurance reform

The national government needs to provide sufficient support to prefectural governments, which will be tasked to play a larger role in maintaining the nation's health insurance system.
COMMENTARY / World
Apr 28, 2015

Closing America's black-white achievement gap

The black-white achievement gap in the U.S. can be slain by better education.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Apr 26, 2015

Time to stop taking the Earth's soil for granted

Healthy soils are crucial to human nutrition, but erosion and contamination are placing them under severe stress.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Apr 26, 2015

LDP fails to live up to its name

The Abe administration and the Liberal Democratic Party have gone too far in their abuse of power.
Japan Times
LIFE / Lifestyle
Apr 25, 2015

College campuses studying on borrowed time

University students are taking out massive loans to pay for their tertiary education and generally end up facing a crippling repayment timetable that is impossible to service. We examine the alarming state of student debt and what is being done to improve conditions for those who are struggling to pay it back.
COMMENTARY / COUNTERPOINT
Apr 25, 2015

Abe primed to shine in Washington's limelight

The bar is set low for Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's April 29 speech at a joint session of the U.S. Congress. Former U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage says everyone will be "looking to see if Mr. Abe can put history behind him." In his view, the key is speaking sincerely rather than repeating...
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Economy
Apr 25, 2015

Cash shortfall among the elderly could push Japan over the edge

Last summer the welfare ministry reported that a record number of households were receiving government assistance, and 47.1 percent of these households were made up of either elderly people only or the elderly and unmarried family members under 18. The media has been reporting for years that an increasing...
COMMENTARY / World
Apr 25, 2015

China's growing breastfeeding problem

This past week, Beijing announced that it was considering a ban on infant milk formula advertising in hopes of changing the country's dire nursing statistics.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Politics / LOCAL POLLS '15
Apr 24, 2015

Vanishing communities find themselves facing shortage of leaders

At a glance, the town of Kanna in southern Gunma Prefecture looks like just another beautiful rural community, surrounded by deep mountain forests stretching along the Kanna River, which is touted as having some of the clearest water in the Kanto region.
Japan Times
WORLD
Apr 24, 2015

Newly found chamber under Yellowstone has enough magma to fill Grand Canyon 11 times: scientists

Deep beneath Yellowstone National Park, one of the world's most dynamic volcanic systems, lies an enormous, previously unknown reservoir of hot, partly molten rock big enough to fill up the Grand Canyon 11 times, scientists say.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Apr 23, 2015

From dusk till dawn at Roppongi Art Night

For all the criticism that can be levelled at the conventional "white cube" gallery space — its quasi-religious, sanitized hush and incongruity with large-scale interactive installations and other emergent forms of media art — as a visitor, it's at least unlikely that you'll wander into the path...
COMMENTARY / World
Apr 22, 2015

Positive thinking really is a hallmark of success

We're often irritated by people who make excuses when they lose and brag when they win, but they might just have the right attitude.
COMMENTARY / World
Apr 21, 2015

How altruism makes the world a better place

Studies show that people who are generous are typically happier and more satisfied with their lives than those who do not give.
BUSINESS
Apr 21, 2015

Pacific trade deal would yield thousands of U.S. jobs, business group says

The 12-nation Pacific trade pact would create nearly a quarter of a million U.S. jobs due to increased foreign investment in the United States, a business group estimated on Monday, in the first look at the deal's employment impact.
EDITORIALS
Apr 20, 2015

New assistance for the needy

A new welfare system that begins this month should not be used as an excuse to deny livelihood assistance to those who need it.
Japan Times
LIFE / Digital / JAPAN TIMES BLOGROLL
Apr 20, 2015

Rachel & Jun

Husband-and-wife YouTube team Rachel & Jun first started making videos in 2012 as a fun way to keep in touch while they were apart. Now, with over 350,000 subscribers, the Japanese-American couple covers a variety of subjects, from what’s considered overweight in Japan to making mochi.

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