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COMMENTARY / COUNTERPOINT
Apr 11, 2015

Abe gets negative reviews ahead of U.S. visit

At the end of this month Prime Minister Shinzo Abe will visit Washington, D.C. He can expect the red carpet treatment because he has ticked more boxes on the Pentagon's wish list than all his postwar predecessors combined.
Japan Times
LIFE / Lifestyle / CHILD'S PLAY
Apr 11, 2015

Take a slow, deep dive into marine life

Island nations have a unique relationship with the sea, and for Japan these connections often manifest themselves through its culture and cuisine. This can make an aquarium visit doubly interesting: Come for the fish, stay to watch the visitors as they admire each tank's inhabitants with a unique mixture...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Books / ESSENTIAL READING FOR JAPANOPHILES
Apr 11, 2015

'Salad Anniversary' comes dripping with honesty

My entry to Japanese poetry was, I suspect, similar to most. It began with Matsuo Basho; anthologies by R. H. Blyth and Kenneth Rexroth; haiku by Edo Period (1603-1868) monks; and tanka by Heian Period (794-1185 ) noblewomen.
Reader Mail
Apr 11, 2015

Some ideas for better English

The editorial titled "Disappointing levels of English" in the March 29 edition made me sad to know that many high school students have difficulty in learning English, particularly with speaking and writing. And also, this is another shocking reality, that about 60 percent do not like studying English....
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / KANPAI CULTURE
Apr 10, 2015

Jimbocho Den brings hot sake and hanami to Shizuoka

On an evening in late March, a group of well-heeled guests arrive at the Nippondaira Hotel, on a high plateau in the center of Shizuoka City, for the fifth edition of Dining Out, a series of creative pop-up dinners held at various locations around the country. The theme this time was hanami — the tradition...
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Apr 9, 2015

When everything is a crime in the United States

The U.S. has a criminal justice system with too many opportunities for generating defendants, too few inhibitions on prosecutors, and ongoing corrosion of the rule and morality of law.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Apr 9, 2015

Charli XCX hits her J-pop groove

"I've tried to immerse myself in Japanese culture," says Charli XCX, international hit maker and Britain's next big pop-star-in-waiting. Of course, that's the sort of comment you might expect the 22-year-old to make on the eve of her first headline shows in the country this week, bringing her breakthrough...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Apr 9, 2015

Britain's bo en finds a musical family in Tokyo's electronic scene

Calum Bowen's music career under the moniker bo en started thanks to a Tokyo label, and the 24-year-old English producer has collaborated with many Japanese electronic musicians since 2013. In the past year, he has worked on songs for rising J-pop singers, and is currently on a mini-tour in the country,...
Japan Times
WORLD / Science & Health
Apr 8, 2015

Brontosaurus gets back its name, standing

Paleontologists are restoring the good name of Brontosaurus more than a century after it was deemed scientifically invalid and the famous dinosaur was reclassified as another genus called Apatosaurus.
COMMENTARY / World
Apr 7, 2015

Beijing declares war on illegal golf courses

On April 1, the Chinese government quietly went to war against golf.
JAPAN
Apr 7, 2015

Japan's 'deep remorse' over war spelled out in Diplomatic Bluebook

Japan is actively contributing to world peace and stability based on the pledge of never waging war that grew out of "deep remorse" over World War II, according to the Foreign Ministry's diplomatic policy report for 2015, which was released Tuesday.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Apr 6, 2015

Japan's battery-powered economic recovery

A renewable-energy boom would do for Japan what quantitative easing can't: produce a thriving economic ecosystem that creates wealth, jobs and international esteem.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Apr 6, 2015

U.S.' best Asian friend deserves a trade deal

The Trans-Pacific Partnership represents the best aid the U.S. can give to Japan, a crucial ally that could use all the help it can get.
Japan Times
JAPAN / GENERATIONAL CHANGE
Apr 5, 2015

Makeup entrepreneur heals women's souls in Nepal

Mai Mukaida, 32, believes that emotional change often comes with the help of others who encourage one to notice the beauty that lies within.
Japan Times
LIFE / Travel
Apr 4, 2015

Bouldering, a remedy to climbing the walls

I emerged from Mitake Station, on the Ome Line, just after 10 a.m. on a Sunday morning amid a throng of day-tripping hikers easily identifiable by their heavy boots, seam-busting backpacks and seemingly standard issue trekking poles.
Japan Times
OLYMPICS / OLYMPIC NOTEBOOK
Apr 4, 2015

Olympic channel set to innovate, inspire

The evolution of Olympic TV coverage mirrors technological changes that have transformed broadcast media — and society — over the past 50-plus years.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Apr 3, 2015

Local party boss says Tibet temples must become propaganda centers

Buddhist temples and monasteries in Tibet must become propaganda centers for the ruling Communist Party, where monks and nuns learn to "revere" science and appreciate the party's love, the troubled region's top Chinese appointed official said.
WORLD / Politics
Apr 3, 2015

Indiana, Arkansas approve religious-freedom laws that some call discriminatory

Indiana and Arkansas revised on Thursday new religious freedom acts that had drawn criticism from rights groups and U.S. companies that assailed them as discriminatory against gays.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Society
Apr 3, 2015

Multiracial Miss Universe Japan hopes to change homeland's thinking on identity

Ariana Miyamoto hadn't planned to enter a Japanese beauty contest because she figured her multiracial origins meant she couldn't win. Then a close multiracial friend committed suicide.
Japan Times
LIFE / Digital / JAPAN TIMES BLOGROLL
Apr 3, 2015

Ochikeron

Ochikeron, a Tokyo-based YouTuber, has transformed her kitchen into a studio as she uploads Japanese cooking videos introducing easy and quick-to-prepare recipes for viewers.
COMMENTARY / World
Apr 2, 2015

Cinderella's new moral: be rich or be a pumpkin

Kenneth Branagh's remake of 'Cinderella' carries a troubling economic message.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Stage
Apr 2, 2015

Shinobu Terajima dresses down for risque role in 'All Nudity Shall Be Punished'

Sex and violence can be a good draw to get crowds out to the theater, but don't underestimate the power of actress Shinobu Terajima to bring audiences to a show.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Stage
Mar 31, 2015

Konan W.U. students set to mark 50 years of Shakespeare in English

In 1964, the late Polish theater scholar Jan Kott wrote "Shakespeare, Our Contemporary," an influential book that questioned the processes of producing Shakespeare in the here and now and whether the Bard's texts should serve as clues for an archeological dig to recover something of their original history...
Japan Times
WORLD / Politics / ANALYSIS
Mar 31, 2015

U.S. still 'Great Satan' even in a nuclear deal

Iran is not expected to normalize relations with the United States even if Tehran reaches agreement with world powers on its nuclear program, officials and analysts said.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Mar 31, 2015

Low-cost airlines elevate stress levels for pilots

Andreas Lubitz, the co-pilot who steered a Germanwings flight into a mountainside, had a history of depression so debilitating that he left his pilot training program for six months in the late 2000s, reports Germany's Bild newspaper.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / THE FOREIGN ELEMENT
Mar 30, 2015

The Battle of Okinawa: America's good war gone bad

Seventy years after the final epic clash of World War II, has the U.S. betrayed the ideals its service members died fighting for?

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