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Japan Times
CULTURE / Stage
May 16, 2016

Exploring the funny side of familial angst

After it opened on Broadway in 2007, "August: Osage County" scooped a Tony for best play and earned a Pulitzer Prize for U.S. playwright Tracy Letts.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Voices / FOREIGN AGENDA
May 15, 2016

Rather than apologize, Obama should vow to halve the U.S. nuclear stockpile

What remains is that egregious, gaudy number: America's 7,000 nuclear weapons, a number that countries without nuclear arms see as a slap in the face.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
May 15, 2016

Akiko Yano reflects on how music has changed after 40 years in the business

What would a U.S.A. Day look like in Japan? There would need to be American food, like hamburgers, and some kind of technological wonder, like monster trucks! Now imagine Kate Bush shows up.
EDITORIALS
May 15, 2016

Revisiting Bikini Atoll nuclear tests

A lawsuit over the U.S. H-bomb tests in the Pacific will hopefully shed light on the Japanese government's mishandling of the situation.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC
May 15, 2016

Five questions about China's disastrous 1966-1976 Cultural Revolution

May 16 marks 50 years since the declaration of China's Cultural Revolution, a decade that plunged the country into chaos, leaving millions dead and transforming its political landscape.
Japan Times
LIFE / Lifestyle
May 14, 2016

True colors: Seeking equality in the way we see the world

Steps are being taken to assist people with color vision deficiency navigate life more easily. As we find out, however, not everyone agrees with the approach.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Books
May 14, 2016

The woman who spent seven years 'locked' in Issey Miyake's wardrobe

"I'm so sorry I'm late," Midori Kitamura says as she settles into her chair. "OK, let's take a break."
Japan Times
JAPAN / Science & Health / NATURAL SELECTIONS
May 14, 2016

Change in the brain: Central nervous system cells finally get the recognition they deserve

As you read this, some 100 billion neurons are transmitting information through electrical and chemical signals via synapses in your brain.
JAPAN / History / THE LIVING PAST
May 14, 2016

Has pacifism always been doomed to fail in Japan?

Japan had a pacifist "constitution" long before 1947, when the current one went into effect. It was issued in the year 604, its author so esteemed, in his own time and since, as to merit the posthumous name Shotoku Taishi (Crown Prince Sage-Virtue). His lifetime (574-622) spanned an early phase of Japan's...
Reader Mail
May 14, 2016

Reconciliation in an age of lingering hatred

There is a context to U.S. President Barack Obama's planned visit to Hiroshima that is unspoken, but every bit as powerful and necessary as the direct message of nuclear disarmament: that historical woes can — and should — be overcome.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink
May 13, 2016

Why is Tokyo starting to taste like Portland?

Walking into PDX Taproom, a bar in Tokyo's Shibuya Ward, is like wandering into a condensed, alternate version of Portland, Oregon. Everything from the folk-pop hits playing in the background to the craft beers on tap hail from the Pacific Northwest metropolis.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / LEARNING CURVE
May 11, 2016

'Predatory conferences' stalk Japan's groves of academia

“Predatory conference” organizers now stalk Japan’s groves of academe, preying on unsuspecting researchers. These conferences are inferior events that contribute little to the field of academic knowledge but generate plenty of revenue for organizers’ bank accounts. Academics, some simply naive...
Japan Times
JAPAN
May 10, 2016

Japanese technology, investment could help turn Ethiopia into gateway to Africa, ambassador says

Introducing Japanese technology and investment projects to Ethiopia would not only speed up its growth but could also serve as a gateway to Africa, Cham Ugala Uriat, Ethiopia's new Ambassador to Japan, said Tuesday.
COMMENTARY / World
May 10, 2016

Protecting Nelson Mandela's legacy in Palestine

A statue of Nelson Mandela is erected in Palestine, but unfortunately it sends the wrong message.
Japan Times
Figure Skating / ICE TIME
May 10, 2016

Mao mystery finally solved eight years later

In January 2008 Mao Asada suddenly split from coach Rafael Arutunian after 16 months of working together. It was a move made without warning or explanation, and left a great many in the skating community scratching their heads over the reason behind the decision.
COMMENTARY / World
May 9, 2016

Turkey's last shreds of balance are disappearing

An increasingly radical Recep Tayyip Erdogan is forcing out the last of the team of smart and qualified people he brought in to run Turkey with him.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC
May 8, 2016

Forbidden fruit: China bans 'erotic' banana-eating live streams

Bananas may be China's new forbidden fruit — at least online.
Japan Times
LIFE / Lifestyle
May 7, 2016

Domestic violence: 'Abuse was all I knew'

There's an almost dispassionate matter-of-factness in the way Risa Tanaka describes how she was tortured by her husband.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
May 7, 2016

Japan's resident Koreans endure a climate of hate

Later this month, the Diet's Upper House will pass a bill submitted by the ruling coalition addressing the problem of hate speech, specifically directed at non-Japanese. As sociologist Takehiro Akedo explains in his article for the Web magazine Synodos, the Liberal Democratic Party isn't enthusiastic...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Books
May 7, 2016

The vagina, in all its 'obscene' glory

You've probably heard of Japanese artist known as Rokudenashiko ("good for nothing girl"), who was arrested in 2014 for sending the 3-D data of her genitals to patrons of her successful crowdfunding campaign to create a vagina-shaped kayak.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / 20 QUESTIONS
May 7, 2016

Matthew Ireton: 'Continuation is the key to success'

Radio/TV show host on calligraphy, singing shirtless and waking up ridiculously early.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink
May 6, 2016

Tokyo's best artisanal sandwiches

It's the season for being outdoors. Head for the hills, the beach, the nearest park or perhaps just a deck chair on your veranda. There's only one question: who's making the sandwiches?
COMMENTARY / World / THE VIEW FROM NEW YORK
May 4, 2016

The complexities of 'they' versus 'xe/him/xir'

The long search to find a way to refer to people in English without relying on gender won't be ending anytime soon.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / THE FOREIGN ELEMENT
May 4, 2016

Foreign priests find a spiritual home in Shinto

Though few and far between, a handful of non-natives are blazing a trail in Japan's ancient native faith.

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