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COMMENTARY / Japan
Mar 4, 2015

Countermeasures for Japan's changing demographics

The government can no longer afford to postpone efforts to effectively address Japan's population problem.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Stage
Mar 4, 2015

John Caird delivers home truths with 'Twelfth Night'

As an Honorary Associate Director of the Royal Shakespeare Company, John Caird may be one of the leading pillars of the English theater establishment, but in a recent interview with The Japan Times, this acclaimed director of plays, musicals and opera declared, "In a sense, some part of me is becoming...
Japan Times
JAPAN
Mar 3, 2015

Two kamikaze pilots, two late reprieves, one pacifist view

Hisashi Tezuka knew his life had been spared when he heard the Emperor's voice crackling through the wireless.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Voices / VIEWS FROM THE STREET
Mar 2, 2015

Yokohama: If you could live anywhere in Japan, where would it be?

Tyler Parr asks passers-by where they would choose to live on this archipelago if money and jobs were not an issue.
WORLD
Mar 2, 2015

10% of those picked for top U.K. bank jobs pull out of vetting process

More than one in 10 people picked for the top jobs in British finance pull out during a regulatory vetting process which has become tougher since the financial crisis.
Japan Times
PRESS / Publications
Mar 2, 2015

『シンプルな英語で話す日本史』『シンプルな英語で話すアメリカ史』同時発売

Japan Times
COMMUNITY / How-tos / LIFELINES
Mar 1, 2015

In lycra and online, foreigners are doing their bit for Tohoku

Four years on from the catastrophic events of March 2011, Lifelines introduces two examples of how foreign nationals are pitching in for Tohoku and having fun in the process.
COMMENTARY / COUNTERPOINT
Feb 28, 2015

China inadvertently promotes Islamic extremism

March 1, 2014, was China's 9/11. That was the day Islamic Uighur terrorists slashed their way into the collective consciousness of the country's ethnic Han majority.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Books
Feb 28, 2015

The origin myth that beat the drums of war

Since the 18th-century — the age of English historian Edward Gibbon — Western theories of history have held that the past consists of causes, effects and events; there are no determining laws or theorems, and no divine purpose. This is the opposite of the view held by the classic Chinese historians,...
COMMENTARY / World
Feb 28, 2015

Immorality of ceding the high ground to coal

As the idea that greenhouse-gas emissions be reduced to zero by 2050 gains wider acceptance, the coal industry stands apart in its determination to fight for profits at the expense of the environment.
Reader Mail
Feb 28, 2015

Too tired to care who is standing

Having returned to Japan nearly five years ago — after living in the United States for 15 years — I was wondering why the Japanese generally lacked courtesy on the train when it came to yielding their seats to elders, pregnant women or people with small children. In the U.S., gentlemen yielded seats...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Feb 27, 2015

Video artist Duncan Campbell sees between the lines

When Irish artist Duncan Campbell won the Turner Prize last December, it was met with both high praise and criticism, as often happens with the notoriously controversial event. But perhaps such a difference in perception is appropriate.
Japan Times
CULTURE / CULTURE SMASH
Feb 27, 2015

'The Anime Encyclopedia' goes full digital

"The Anime Encyclopedia, 3rd Revised Edition: A Century of Japanese Animation" will be released March 3.
COMMENTARY / World
Feb 27, 2015

China's fertile ground for the Islamic State group

Chinese authorities probably won't be assured by the likelihood of Uighurs who were driven out of Xinjiang and spent time with the Islamic State group taking a path that leads home.
Japan Times
BASKETBALL / BJ-LEAGUE NOTEBOOK
Feb 26, 2015

Late trainer Tanaka recalled fondly by coaches, players

The Gunma Crane Thunders have lost their beloved athletic trainer and translator Takashi "T" Tanaka.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Feb 26, 2015

'The Takeo Poster Collection Best Selection 09'

Feb. 26-April 10
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Feb 25, 2015

Toumast: 'riding camels or machine-gun mounted pickup trucks'

In the Sahara — spread across the countries of Mali, Niger, and Algeria — live a traditionally nomadic tribe known as the Tuareg. Maybe the easiest way to describe them is as desert Gypsies, because like Gypsies (also known as Roma), the Tuareg make fantastic music and suffer incredible discrimination....
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Feb 24, 2015

Caribou explains reasons behind the songs on his 1,000-track playlist on YouTube

The worlds of indie and club music are hardly irreconcilable, either in difference or distance, but it can often be hard to spot crossover success that extends beyond one-off hits or remix packages.
Japan Times
OLYMPICS
Feb 23, 2015

Repucom touts importance of Olympic sponsorship

There's no doubt sponsorships have played a huge role in helping the Olympic Games become the biggest sporting extravaganza in the world today. And when Tokyo hosts its second Summer Games in 2020, it will receive a substantial amount of financial backing from corporate funds, while the companies should...
Japan Times
BUSINESS / YEN FOR LIVING
Feb 23, 2015

Pusses galore: Cats dominate the pet industry

Though cats are cheaper than dogs to acquire, you may end up spending more money on them.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Feb 22, 2015

Ramen dividends: Holders of some firms' shares fancy 'yutai' gifts

Many stock investors collect dividends. Hiroto Kiritani, however, collects melons. And ramen noodles, McDonald's hamburgers, the clothes on his back, anything, really, that Japanese companies send him, gratis, just for owning their stock.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Society
Feb 21, 2015

Apologizing in Japan: Sorry seems to be the hardest word

Dressed in a light-gray suit with her hair pulled back tightly into a bun, McDonald's Holdings Co. (Japan) Chief Executive Officer Sarah Casanova walked stiffly into a news conference on Feb. 5 and addressed a throng of reporters.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / 20 QUESTIONS
Feb 21, 2015

Marguerite Paget: 'Get out, take a deep breath and go for it'

Kyotographie International Photography Festival spokeswoman Marguerite Paget on materialism, hammers and Bobby McFerrin
Japan Times
OLYMPICS / OLYMPIC NOTEBOOK
Feb 21, 2015

Tokyo Dome a worthy option for basketball

One of the key selling points of the 2020 Tokyo Olympic bid was its compact plan, which called for 85 percent of the venues to be within 8 km of the Olympic Village.
ASIA PACIFIC
Feb 21, 2015

Afghanistan arrested Chinese Uighurs to get Beijing's help on Taliban talks: officials

Afghanistan arrested and handed over several Muslim Uighur militants from China's west in an effort to persuade China to use its influence with Pakistan to help start negotiations with the Taliban, Afghan security officials said on Friday.
BUSINESS / Companies
Feb 21, 2015

British press roiled by allegation of self-censorship to keep ads

One of Britain's most storied newspapers has been accused of censoring itself for commercial gain, raising awkward questions about a centuries-old press culture that has prided itself on its no-holds-barred approach to telling the truth.

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