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Japan Times
CULTURE / Books / ESSENTIAL READING FOR JAPANOPHILES
Jun 6, 2015

Osamu Dazai's travel guide 'Return to Tsugaru' is more concerned with people than place

In the northernmost reaches of Honshu, Japan's largest island, lies Tsugaru, an area isolated even from its neighbors in Aomori Prefecture, let alone the rest of Japan. As a celebrated author and son of Tsugaru himself, Dazai Osamu must have seemed the perfect choice for this 1944 volume in Oyama Shoten's...
CULTURE / Books
May 30, 2015

Breaching the secretive sects of Shin-Buddhism

The tendency to perceive covert groups as reticent conspirators rather than curators of hidden knowledge is universal.
Japan Times
CULTURE / CULTURE SMASH
May 16, 2015

Anime oasis of the Midwest flourishes

The 18th annual Anime Central (ACen), North America’s third largest anime convention, is underway this weekend in Rosemont, near Chicago. Last year's event drew a record 29,000 unique attendees, tallying 81,000 in total over its three full days. Organizers expect to breach those figures again in 2015....
Japan Times
JAPAN
May 10, 2015

Writers in Kyoto offers expats a forum to discuss state of publishing in Japan

Those who love the English language and the written word have always found like-minded souls to associate with, formally or informally, in cities where English-speaking expats and immigrants are located. In Japan, though, once one is outside Tokyo, such gatherings are rare.
Japan Times
JAPAN
May 3, 2015

Activists battle to justify, denounce Constitution

As the conservative LDP forges ahead with its bid to revise the national charter, activists rally on Constitution Day to press both sides of the debate.
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...
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
WORLD
Apr 25, 2015

Killing of American al-Qaida media frontman seen as huge blow to militants

The killing of an American who directed al-Qaida's media campaign from his Pakistani hideout is likely to be a big blow for the militants, especially as they wage a propaganda war with the Islamic State group.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Apr 16, 2015

Hillary Clinton runs for office first, thinks last

Despite having had at least 20 years to think about what she'd like to do as president, Hillary Clinton lacks a convincing campaign platform.
COMMENTARY / World
Apr 13, 2015

Time for the U.S. to militarily disengage from Northeast Asia

North Korea is Northeast Asia's biggest security problem, but it is not — or at least should not be — America's security problem.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Voices / COMMUNITY CHEST
Apr 8, 2015

Do Western men have it bad in Japan? Readers discuss

A small selection of the large number of comments received in response to Olga Garnova's recent column, 'Spare a thought for Western men trapped in Japan.'
COMMENTARY / COUNTERPOINT
Apr 4, 2015

America's memory wars and the Vietnam debacle

April 30 marks the 40th anniversary of the fall of Saigon, as Americans remember it — the day that the North Vietnamese army captured the capital of South Vietnam and reunified their country.
JAPAN
Feb 20, 2015

Outrage grows over Sono 'apartheid' column

Public outrage over what is widely seen as a pro-apartheid column penned by conservative author Ayako Sono shows no sign of abating more than a week after its publication.
COMMENTARY / World
Feb 20, 2015

New tech isn't paying off as much as before

We are not getting our money's worth from the 'creative destruction' process that the economist Joseph Schumpeter trumpeted. For example, the technology that makes social networking possible monetizes activities that used to be outside the market's purview, while leaving us open to criminal and governmental cyber assaults.
Japan Times
WORLD
Feb 19, 2015

Volunteers bled and led U.S. entry into World War I

Missing from chapters on World War I in most U.S. textbooks is the name of Edward Mandell Stone, a 27-year-old Harvard graduate from Chicago who made history with his death as a machine gunner in France 100 years ago this month.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Feb 18, 2015

Fifty Shades of Grey: 'The real perversion here is how business has infected even matters of the heart'

The lyrics to the Gang of Four song "Contract" (from their seminal post-punk album "Entertainment!"), set to brittle guitar chords and thrashing drums, explored the distance between the bedroom and the boardroom. Singer Jon King addressed a lover who "dreamed of scenes / like you read of in magazines,"...
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Voices / COMMUNITY CHEST
Feb 16, 2015

Readers split over issue of U.S. military presence in Okinawa

Some emails and online comments in response to the claim by a U.S. military official that Okinawan protesters have faked their injuries.
JAPAN / Science & Health
Feb 10, 2015

Riken serves Obokata, others with penalties; charges could follow

The research institution at the center of a scandal over faked work is putting most of the blame on scientist Haruko Obokata and to a lesser extent three of her former colleagues.
LIFE / Lifestyle
Feb 7, 2015

Breaking down the barriers: Can Tokyo improve access for people with disabilities?

In the summer of 2020, Tokyo will once again host the Olympic and Paralympic Games. It's the first time the Paralympics will be hosted by a city for the second time.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Books
Feb 7, 2015

Taking a critical look at the prison of history

Those who write about history do so at their peril. The difficulties are manifest: how to contribute anything meaningful, to be divergent but remain credible and to research the past without losing sight of the present.
Japan Times
WORLD / Science & Health
Feb 7, 2015

Jogging may be healthier than running

Vigorous running — faster than 11 km an hour, more than 2.4 hours a week, more than three times a week — could be almost as harmful as sitting around doing nothing, according to a new cardiology study that's likely to stoke the debate over how much exercise is too much.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Feb 4, 2015

Tehran shouldn't underestimate Obama's abilities

Tehran should be careful not to base its negotiation calculations with Washington on yesteryear's political realities.
COMMENTARY / World
Jan 9, 2015

Avoid trap of pitting Islamism against nativism

Many people fear dreadful political reactions to the brutal attack on the headquarters of the satirical weekly newspaper Charlie Hebdo.
COMMENTARY / World
Jan 9, 2015

Paris' bloody sequel to provocative past

French novelist Michel Houellebecq couldn't have foreseen such a horribly swift real-life sequel to his latest literary provocation, 'Submission,' out this week. With the killings in Paris, he finds himself in the cross hairs again.
JAPAN
Jan 1, 2015

Most read domestic news stories for 2014

Ranging from scandal to tragedy to celebration, here are some of the most read Japan news stories from 2014.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Voices / COMMUNITY CHEST
Dec 29, 2014

Discussing sex crimes and Japan's 'safety myth'

A selection of responses to Rachel Halle's recent column, 'Foreign student's account of treatment in rape case points to gaps in Japan's safety myth.'
JAPAN
Dec 26, 2014

'STAP cells' claimed by Obokata were likely embryonic stem cells

An investigative panel at Riken says the debunked “STAP” cells generated by one of its scientists were likely created instead from embryonic stem cells.
Japan Times
CULTURE / CULTURE SMASH
Dec 26, 2014

Sanrio's 'Nutcracker' offers visual experience in 3-D

For anyone raised in the West, the year-end holidays in Japan can be a jarring experience, at least for the uninitiated. Decorated trees, illuminated boulevards and carols in convenience stores coincide with Colonel Sanders statuettes remade into Santa Claus and mini-skirted chorus girls in reindeer...

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