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COMMENTARY / World
Aug 5, 2014

The legacy of World War I

The 'storm of steel' of World War I, which for Britain began 100 years ago this week, began the process of people questioning how useful the whole institution of war was.
LIFE / Language / WELL SAID
Aug 4, 2014

Boku-ga kōchō-dattara

Today, we will introduce how to express a fantasy, using the subjunctive mood (if-sentence).
Japan Times
JAPAN
Aug 4, 2014

Most shared Japan Times stories from July

In case you missed them, here are the most shared stories from The Japan Times for July 2014. The top 10 most shared new stories Welfare ruling stuns foreigners The landmark decision by the Supreme Court that permanent foreign residents of Japan are not entitled to welfare benefits will discourage more...
COMMENTARY / World
Jul 28, 2014

Safe alternative rites to female circumcision

New rites of passage to replace the traditional practice of female genital mutilation offers hope of protecting woman from bodily harm and helping them to lead healthier, more fulfilling lives in Africa and the Middle East.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Books
Jul 26, 2014

Last Words from Montmartre

Qiu Miaojin tells us that her novel features "a plot that has long since disappeared." That these reflections on narrative are part of "Last Words," the novel they serve to elucidate, and that they are apt, places Qiu's novel squarely at the avant-garde end of the literary spectrum. As such, it will...
Japan Times
WORLD / Politics / ANALYSIS
Jul 25, 2014

Brazil poll win now anything but certain for Rousseff

Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff until recently appeared to be cruising toward re-election in October but she now finds herself in a tight race as an already sluggish economy takes a turn for the worse.
EDITORIALS
Jul 24, 2014

Collective self-defense smokescreen

It is deplorable that Prime Minister Shinzo continues to avoid discussing the inherent dangers to Japan with regard to his Cabinet's recent reinterpretation of 'collective self-defense.'
Japan Times
SOCCER
Jul 22, 2014

Ronaldo expects extraordinary success for Real Madrid in upcoming season

Cristiano Ronaldo says his injury problems are behind him. Now the Portuguese superstar intends to get back to the business of winning everything in sight with soccer superpower Real Madrid.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / TELLING LIVES
Jul 22, 2014

Linking Japan, Ukraine via songs

Nearly 20 years have passed since Nataliya Gudziy visited Japan for the first time, when she performed live with fellow members of the Ukrainian folk dance ensemble Chervona Kalyna, or Red Viburnum, named after Ukraine's national symbol.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Jul 22, 2014

Panicsmile opt for a back-to-basics approach on 'Informed Consent'

For more than 20 years now, Panicsmile has been an unsung hero in Japanese rock.
Japan Times
JAPAN / EXPLAINER
Jul 21, 2014

Selective consumption tax weighed

It's only been three months since the consumption tax was hiked to 8 percent, but the ruling coalition is already expediting talks on another increase scheduled to come into effect in October next year.
Japan Times
WORLD / Politics / FOCUS
Jul 18, 2014

As Scotland decides, not all Scots get a say

Ruth McPherson was born and educated in Scotland but left to work in London two years ago and so has no say on whether her native country should end three centuries of union with England.
CULTURE / Stage
Jul 16, 2014

Parisians hail beauty of Nomura's oeil de boeuf

Mansai Nomura’s recent staging of “Macbeth” at the Maison de la culture du Japon in Paris drew a varied and enthusiastic audience.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Jul 15, 2014

YMO's Yukihiro Takahashi recruits Towa Tei, Cornelius, Yoshinori Sunahara, Tomohiko Gondo and Leo Imai for an impressive supergroup

One of the unspoken rules in the progress-fixated world of electronic music is that you don't get bonus points for dwelling on past glories. So when Yukihiro Takahashi — drummer, vocalist and dapper elder statesman of electro-pop — convened a star cast of musicians at Tokyo's Ex Theater Roppongi...
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / THE FOREIGN ELEMENT
Jul 14, 2014

From Yokosuka rape to U.S. court victory, 'Jane' commits her 12-year ordeal to print

Rape victim Catherine Fisher reveals the story behind her 12-year fight with the U.S. military and Japanese authorities in her new book, 'I am Catherine Jane.'
Japan Times
JAPAN / Media / BIG IN JAPAN
Jul 12, 2014

The high cost of peace and quiet

Peace and quiet! How rare it is, how precious. Why rare? Because a full-blooded modern economy is no monastery, no "ancient pond" into which a frog may jump, producing the hushed "sound of water" immortalized by the haiku poet Basho (1644-94).
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC
Jul 12, 2014

Ex-South Korean 'comfort women' for U.S. troops sue own government

Cho Myung-ja ran away from home as a teenager to escape a father who beat her, finding her way to the red light district in a South Korean town that hosts a large U.S. Army garrison.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Jul 11, 2014

Public asked to help build moving giant Gundam

The life-sized Gundam figurine in Tokyo's Odaiba district is an impressive sight as it towers a full 18 meters above its visitors and has grown into a popular tourist attraction since it was erected in 2009.
Japan Times
WORLD / Science & Health
Jul 11, 2014

Mississippi girl believed cured of HIV no longer in remission

A toddler thought to have been cured of HIV now has detectable levels of the virus in her blood, the child's doctors and U.S. health officials said Thursday.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Jul 10, 2014

Angelina Jolie takes evil to new places in 'Maleficent'

Websites such as Buzzfeed have made an art of the "listicle," a news article that comprises a top 10 on a designated topic. Thanks to childhood nostalgia, Walt Disney characters often make their way onto such listicles, and a quick look at the Top 10 Disney villains of all time often ends with one woman...
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / LAW OF THE LAND
Jul 9, 2014

Under Abe, Japan reconnects with the world of harm

It would be tragic if the process Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has set in motion destroys one of the truly great things about Japan: the fact that so little of its economy and society is devoted to harming other people.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Voices / COMMUNITY CHEST
Jul 7, 2014

Letters: adoption from Japan, book bores, returnees, workers' rights and fleeing U.S. guns

Some letters in response to recent articles in the Community section about a wide range of subjects.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Jul 7, 2014

High test scores, low expectations

Young people in Japan, like their counterparts in the U.S., know that high scores on tests have little to do with their job prospects. So why do a higher percentage of American students still report being hopeful about their prospects for a good life?
Japan Times
JAPAN / GENERATIONAL CHANGE
Jul 7, 2014

Future leader shows promise with African aid work, British schooling, and Japan politics in sight

When Doga Makiura arrived in Rwanda in 2012, the 18-year-old was amazed to find not the stains of the 1994 genocide, but a tidy airport, impressive high-rises and welcoming people.
Japan Times
LIFE / Travel
Jul 5, 2014

Off the beaten path on Japan's paper trail

At a little roadside store in rural Nagano, a foreign tourist is miming a rice bowl with her cupped left hand. Firm in the belief that Japanese washi (paper — wa meaning Japanese and shi meaning paper) was made from rice, she waves her flattened right hand across the "bowl," miming her desire for "sheets"...

Longform

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Japan’s sauna movement: Relax, refresh, repeat