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Japan Times
JAPAN
Nov 10, 2014

None for the road: Japan finally takes a sober look at alcohol abuse

With its cultural affinity toward drinking, Japan has long looked the other way when it comes to the negative aspects of alcohol, particularly addiction. But that is changing.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Media / BIG IN JAPAN
Nov 8, 2014

Determining good and evil, with the kids

What is "moral education"?
Japan Times
JAPAN / Media
Nov 5, 2014

NHK drama's foreign star says Japan has strengthened her

Charlotte Kate Fox, lead actress in the NHK morning drama "Massan," said Wednesday that like the character she plays, she has grown stronger since coming to Japan.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Nov 5, 2014

Poll on national character finds love of Japan is increasing

The latest government survey on national character has found that 83 percent of Japanese, if they were to be reborn, would choose to live in Japan rather than anywhere else.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / IEC GENERAL MEETING IN TOKYO
Nov 4, 2014

Panasonic focuses on greener, safer, better living for people in smart towns

Since the founding of the company in 1918, Panasonic has been following its basic management philosophy of contributing to the progress of society and the well-being of people throughout its worldwide business operations. With its corporate activities always centered on people, the company will continue...
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / THE FOREIGN ELEMENT
Nov 3, 2014

International crowd add their voices to Okinawa protests over U.S. base relocation

Mainland Japanese and expats alike are making the journey to northern Okinawa to support the locals' fight against the relocation of Futenma air base to the Henoko district of Nago.
COMMENTARY / THE VIEW FROM NEW YORK
Nov 3, 2014

Redaction of a 'comfort woman' story

One of the Japanese stories sometimes mentioned in the 'comfort women' controversy was written by the late Taijiro Tamura in the spring of 1947. It depicted Korean 'comfort women,' but the U.S. Occupation 'suppressed' it.
Japan Times
JAPAN / GENERATIONAL CHANGE
Nov 2, 2014

Crowdfunding leader wants others' dreams to come true

Bill Gates, the late Steve Jobs and Mark Zuckerberg all hit the big time by persevering for years in the pursuit of their dreams. They continue to be an inspiration to entrepreneurs the world over who dream of one day growing their own companies into the next Microsoft Corp., Apple Inc. or Facebook Inc.,...
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC / Science & Health
Nov 2, 2014

Errors tarnish the reputation of South Korea's big plastic surgery industry

Kim Bok-soon disliked her nose and fantasized about getting it fixed after learning of the Korean superstition that an upturned nose makes it harder to hold on to riches.
Japan Times
LIFE / Travel
Nov 1, 2014

Cultivating shrunken worlds in Bonsai-mura

Omiya is one of greater Tokyo's rare pockets of residential comfort that can accurately be defined as middle class — a trait it shares with places such as Chiba's Ichikawa Mama or southwestern Tokyo's Denenchofu district.
BUSINESS / Markets
Oct 31, 2014

Nomura sees Chiba Bank blazing bond trail for regionals

Chiba Bank Ltd. was rewarded for pushing ahead with the first dollar bond sale by a Japanese regional bank even as U.S. corporate borrowing costs leaped.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Oct 30, 2014

Kunisaki Art Festival shows works worth the hike

To visit Antony Gormley's "Another Time" — a life-sized iron figure which looks eastward across Oita Prefecture's Sento district of Kunisaki from atop a mountain ledge — is a breathtaking experience. Not just because it's a stong piece of art or that the location offers a stunning vista of verdant...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Oct 29, 2014

Pale Moon: Bored bank teller embraces the root of all evil

American bank robber Willie Sutton, who allegedly made more than $2 million over a 40-year criminal career, once told a reporter that he robbed banks because "that's where the money is." In the usual heist movie, however — with Stanley Kubrick's "The Killing" (1956) serving as a template — the stolen...
COMMENTARY / World
Oct 27, 2014

The antidote to poverty, disease and terrorism

To increase the chances of success for children in developing countries, educating mothers may be more important than educating fathers, as educated girls seem to develop better essential life skills, including the ability to participate effectively in society.
EDITORIALS
Oct 26, 2014

Moral education's slippery slope

An advisory body to Japan's education minister calls for upgrading grade school 'moral education' — which deals with children's way of thinking and their attitude toward life — to an official subject on a par with mathematics and science.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Books / ESSENTIAL READING FOR JAPANOPHILES
Oct 25, 2014

No Longer Human

Osamu Dazai's "No Longer Human" comprises a series of three fictionalized notebooks, with each increasingly darker than the last. The character writing these books, Yozo, is detached from the beginning and is afraid of human interactions, but he learns how to socialize with people by playing the clown...
Japan Times
BASKETBALL / HOOP SCOOP
Oct 21, 2014

Kyoto forward Warren dedicates play to those battling cancer

It's not every day that you see a 202-cm forward wearing a pink headband during a men's pro basketball game.
COMMENTARY / World
Oct 20, 2014

Big Pharma, world leaders not cut out for Ebola battle

Scientists at leading universities, rather than Big Pharma, are fighting the battle against Ebola and other tricky diseases, while the response of Western leaders has been to try to keep Ebola out of their backyards.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues
Oct 20, 2014

Bicultural Japanese baby names can be double the trouble

What do the following names have in common: Ayeisha, December, Eli, Gabrielle, Haruki, Julie, Kaede, Koh, Leon, Louis, Lucia, Luke, Margaret, Olivia, Ryuken, Tobin and Tennis? They are all children's names — all but one the sons and daughters of bicultural couples.
Japan Times
LIFE / Language / BILINGUAL
Oct 20, 2014

Subtle humor of haiku's cousin senryū is on a roll

"Therefore, since brevity is the soul of wit," philosophizes the long-winded Polonius in Shakespeare's "Hamlet." That's also a fitting description of senryū — a form of short poetry defined by the Merriam-Webster dictionary as "a three-line unrhymed Japanese poem structurally similar to haiku, but...
Japan Times
JAPAN / FUKUSHIMA FILE
Oct 19, 2014

Former Fukushima teacher blogs to inspire students while fighting off cancer

The former vice principal of a junior high school in Fukushima Prefecture has been encouraging his former students by blogging while undergoing 11 years of treatment for cancer.
Japan Times
LIFE / Travel
Oct 18, 2014

Grave hunting in Tokyo's realms of the dead

The moon wasn't out, but a low bank of clouds refracted the city lights and recast them around me as a dingy glow. Only chirping crickets and the occasional hum of a passing car in the distance broke the silence.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Science & Health / NATURAL SELECTIONS
Oct 18, 2014

Suicidal cells and the immortal cells of Henrietta Lacks

You may not have heard of Henrietta Lacks — an African-American woman from Baltimore who died of cervical cancer in 1951 — but you have benefited from her.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Media
Oct 17, 2014

BIFF 2014 plays down unavoidable controversies

The biggest event of the year for South Korea's film industry is the opening night of the Busan International Film Festival (BIFF), which marked its 19th year Oct. 2 to 11. Whether or not they have films screening at the festival, almost all the major Korean movie stars show up and strut the red carpet...
BUSINESS / Economy
Oct 17, 2014

Abe's jobs push beyond Tokyo spurs regional lending

Lending in September by regional banks grew at triple the pace of the nation's megabanks as Prime Minister Shinzo Abe acted to rejuvenate areas outside of Tokyo.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Oct 16, 2014

Tokyo International Film Festival contender 'Pale Moon' gets to the root of all evil

The bad news? Japan has only one entry in the Competition section at this year's Tokyo International Film Festival. The good news? The submission, Daihachi Yoshida's "Pale Moon," is a major contender for the $50,000 Tokyo Grand Prix.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Oct 15, 2014

Tale of panic and pain strikes an operatic chord

At a time when Japan is being rapped over the knuckles by the U.N. for hate-speech rallies against ethnic Koreans, a movie like "The Tenor: Lirico Spinto" takes on special significance. Directed by Kim Sang-man, "The Tenor" (released here as "The Tenor: Shinjitsuno Monogatari") is a collaborative project...
COMMENTARY / World
Oct 15, 2014

North Korea's elites are a threat to Kim Jong Un

North Korea is frequently described as 'the world's last Stalinist state,' but this is no longer the case. The North is now home to a large and growing private economy.

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