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Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / JUST BE CAUSE
Feb 4, 2015

At age 50, seeing the writing on the wall

At half a century old, I only look forward — to see how much time is left before my clock runs out.
COMMENTARY / World
Feb 3, 2015

Why is America at war with the Islamic State?

The Islamic State group doesn't pose a threat to the United States, so why is the U.S. waging a war against it?
COMMENTARY / World
Feb 2, 2015

Putin's 'family values' only add to his legend

The Kremlin seems to be doing little to stop a fast-spreading story that President Vladimir Putin's younger daughter heads a company that is developing ways to stop the nation's brain drain.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Politics / ANALYSIS
Feb 1, 2015

Crisis awakens Japanese to shortcomings, realities

The hostage crisis that ended so tragically has taught Japan about the reality of life in a strife-filled part of the world.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Feb 1, 2015

A dispossessed Palestinian advises a refugee from Syria

A dispossessed Palestinian writer advises Syrian refugees not to believe in promises from the international community and never to stop loving Syria.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Politics
Jan 31, 2015

Hostage talks deadlocked

Jordan and Japan tensely wait as Amman's request for proof of life is answered only by a mysterious silence from the Islamic State hostage-takers.
EDITORIALS
Jan 29, 2015

Unreasonable welfare cuts

The health and welfare ministry's decision to lower the upper limits of housing allowances alloocated to most of those people receiving livelihood protection assistance reflects the Abe administration's unreasonable attitude toward the weakest members of society.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / How-tos / LIFELINES
Jan 28, 2015

Making your U.S. tax filing from Japan that little bit less ... taxing

Calvin Tong, an American taxation expert and long-term Japan resident, explains recent changes in U.S. taxation laws that have left many Americans here confused.
Japan Times
BASKETBALL / NBA / SPORTS SCOPE
Jan 27, 2015

Shameful practice of resting healthy players must end

"Being a professional is doing the things you love to do, on the days you don't feel like doing them."
Japan Times
JAPAN / Politics
Jan 26, 2015

Diet session opens with focus on security as hostage crisis continues

The Diet opens with expectations for the Abe administration to focus on security legislation in his quest to get the Japanese military more 'proactively' involved overseas.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Media / BIG IN JAPAN
Jan 24, 2015

Amid French crisis, Japan frets over virgins

Still in its infancy, the new year has already spawned a theme: diversity. Is it possible? Is it desirable? Is there any common ground, besides mutual, irreconcilable loathing, between those who declare "I am Charlie" and those who riposte "I am Mohammad"?
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / 20 QUESTIONS
Jan 24, 2015

Stephen Gill: 'Don't believe everything you hear or read'

University lecturer Stephen gill on haiku, hiking barefoot and Kyoto ice-cream
Japan Times
JAPAN
Jan 23, 2015

Hostage's mother pleads for his release as Islamic State ransom deadline looms

The distraught mother of a Japanese journalist held captive by the Islamic State group made an eleventh-hour plea for her son's safe release Friday morning.
Japan Times
LIFE / Travel / HOTELS & RESTAURANTS
Jan 22, 2015

Chocolate delight at Hyatt Regency; Ritz-Carlton offers berry good buffet; Peninsula Spa soothes, pampers

Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Jan 21, 2015

Mystery: 'Asian sensuality against the backdrop of polluted cities'

'Fifty shades of pitch black" is an apt way to describe "Mystery." It's a feel-awful anti-love film that should come with a huge warning label for anyone contemplating marriage or even a long-term commitment. On the other hand, it's a raw and compelling look at contemporary Chinese society, as the emerging...
COMMENTARY
Jan 20, 2015

Building community resilience to disasters: legacy of the Great Hanshin-Awaji Earthquake

The Great Hanshin-Awaji Earthquake ushered in a new era of volunteerism in Japan, and highlighted many lessons on how to prepare for disasters.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Jan 20, 2015

Perseverance wins Ningen Isu an encore

Kimonos and heavy metal. It's a combination that few groups have pulled off convincingly. While the aesthetic may have been used last year to turn (or bang) more than a few heads in the West by heavy metal idol unit Babymetal, the tiny trio certainly wasn't the first to attempt it.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Books
Jan 17, 2015

Lingering outside the way station for the dead

It's a hardy soul who braves Osorezan (Mount Osore), a volcano in Aomori Prefecture known as the Japanese way station for the dead. For most, the name conjures up images of the supernatural and the unknown, but for Marie Mutsuki Mockett, it is a place of healing and beauty.
COMMENTARY / World
Jan 16, 2015

The worldwide reality of religious persecution

While good judgment tells us not to express every thought we have, as moral agents responsible for our actions, we must be free to assess the world and express ourselves in vibrant public debate. Attacks on this freedom is spreading from Third World dictatorships to First World democracies.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Voices / FOREIGN AGENDA
Jan 14, 2015

A note of concern to wounded MLK from a friend in Japan

Throughout Martin Luther King Jr.'s pursuit of justice and equal rights for African-Americans, he knew he had the support and consideration of Japan through an old classmate who had decided to study abroad and broaden his cultural understanding.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Stage
Jan 14, 2015

Ichiyanagi opera aims to be 'total work of art'

As part of its 40th-anniversary celebrations, Kanagawa Kenmin Hall in Yokohama will stage a world-premier version of "Legend of the Water Flame," an opera by the renowned composer Toshi Ichiyanagi that's scored around a libretto by a fellow octogenarian, the poet Makoto Ooka.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Jan 11, 2015

Fear and retribution rule amid Xi's crackdown on corruption in China

Chen Zhenggao, a member of the Communist Party's elite Central Committee, clearly has enemies.
COMMENTARY / World
Jan 11, 2015

Dispelling the glamor factor of Islamic State

The Pentagon is trying to figure out why Islamic State has been so successful at attracting followers. Islamic State's recruitment imagery offers a different, more contemporary and overtly violent form of glamour.
Japan Times
WORLD
Jan 10, 2015

French police kill Charlie Hebdo massacre suspects; four hostages die in separate siege

Two brothers wanted for a bloody attack on the offices of French satirical newspaper Charlie Hebdo were killed on Friday when anti-terrorist police stormed their hideout, while a second siege ended with the deaths of four hostages.
Japan Times
SOCCER / PREMIER REPORT
Jan 9, 2015

Martinez struggling to keep Everton competitive

So David Moyes is not such a bad manager after all.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Jan 9, 2015

We are all Charlie, too late

The hope must be that the assassinations of cartoonists and journalists at the weekly Charlie Hebdo will waken political and media leaders to understand that press freedoms have been badly eroded worldwide.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink
Jan 8, 2015

Redzepi: 'I think the restaurant staff in Japan are some of the best on Earth'

Last year, while still only halfway through the extensive planning process, Noma chef Rene Redzepi sat down with The Japan Times in the extensive test kitchen above his Copenhagen waterfront restaurant and outlined his reasons and vision for Noma in Japan.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Jan 7, 2015

100 Yen Love: Punching your way out of an old paper bag

Boxing films share a similar arc, typically climaxing in a big bout that decides everything — at least everything relevant to the hero's fate. This does not always means triumph, as fans of the "Rocky" series know, but even in defeat the hero usually inspires respect and sympathy, at the very least...

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