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JAPAN / Politics
Sep 1, 2014

With bigger issues in the balance, local election kicks off in Nago, Okinawa

A city assembly election expected to influence Okinawa's gubernatorial election in November and the central government's plans to build a replacement for the controversial Futenma base kicked off Sunday in Nago.
Japan Times
LIFE / Language / BILINGUAL
Sep 1, 2014

Farewell to the sun-scorched suffering of another summer

Back in the day, the customary question among Japanese gakusei around this time of year was 'Natsu yasumi du014d datta?' (How was summer vacation?). But that was in the days of no smartphones or Skype, when there was a lot less of this hankering for tsunagari (connectedness).
ASIA PACIFIC / ANALYSIS
Aug 31, 2014

China seeks to better protect South China Sea submarine gateway in face of U.S. surveillance flights

China's efforts to protect its submarine gateway to the South China Sea could broaden from standoffs with U.S. military planes to announcing an air defense identification zone, according to two retired People's Liberation Army officers.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Books
Aug 30, 2014

The Makioka Sisters

Junichiro Tanizaki may be best known for novels featuring protagonists with odd obsessions, but his masterpiece, family epic "The Makioka Sisters," has been hailed by many as Japan's greatest modern novel.
EDITORIALS
Aug 30, 2014

Is it twilight for cram schools?

Does the announcement by Japan's third-largest cram school that it'll close 20 of its 27 facilities by March 2015 signal the twilight era for the entrance-exam industry?
EDITORIALS
Aug 29, 2014

Ready or not for disaster

The landslides this month that devoured houses in the hilly outskirts of the city of Hiroshima, killing at least 72 people, illustrate the risk of assuming that disaster-prepared measures introduced under central government policy are in place when it may take years for local authorities to implement them.
COMMENTARY / World
Aug 29, 2014

Three timelines shaping Mideast developments

To shape an effective strategy in the Middle East, it is essential to understand three distinct timelines that are shaping developments: the short-term timeline of daily struggles, the medium-term timeline of geopolitical shifts, and the long-term timeline of sociocultural transformation.
Japan Times
LIFE / Style & Design / ON: ARCHITECTURE
Aug 29, 2014

Checking in on Tokyo hotels old and new

The news that the Hotel Okura in Tokyo will be redeveloped in time for the 2020 Olympics has been greeted with dismay by surprisingly far-flung and influential group of admirers — an indication of the status of clientele that has patronized the hotel since it opened in 1962, U.S. President Barack...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Aug 28, 2014

Artist takes a jab at social identity

What will it take to save the world? If you visit Maison Hermes Le Forum in Ginza in the next few weeks, artist Tsuneko Taniuchi — in the guise of Ninja Girl, wearing a flower in her hair and with a toy M16 rifle tucked in her belt — will ask you to respond to this question, and you may be surprised...
COMMENTARY / World
Aug 28, 2014

Two-headed Russian eagle mulls moves at crossroads

The bicontinental nature of Russia is reflected in its national symbol, a double-headed eagle looking in two directions. That eagle finds itself in a precarious spot now that it must look around for as many non-Western partners and openings for business as possible.
EDITORIALS
Aug 27, 2014

Deng Xiaoping's lasting legacy

Seventeen years after his death, Deng Xiaoping's grip on China remains as tight as ever.
COMMENTARY / World
Aug 27, 2014

The difference between good and bad equality

The 'old' theory about inequality was that redistribution via the tax system weakened incentives and undermined economic growth. But the relationship between inequality and growth is far more complex and multi-dimensional than this simple trade-off suggests.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / LABOR PAINS
Aug 27, 2014

Tipping points: Japan, North America and the limits of performance pay

Many in Japan believe that performance pay equals the American way, full stop. But the U.S. custom of tipping even for mediocre service suggests things are not so clear-cut.
EDITORIALS
Aug 26, 2014

Military courts unconstitutional

The recent Cabinet decision to let Japan take part in 'collective self-defense' raises the question of whether a courts-martial system, and what would likely be a more severe standard for punishing violators of Self-Defense Forces law, should be introduced.
COMMENTARY / World
Aug 26, 2014

Brace for the coming CLASS war

The balkanization of global banking by the U.S.' requiring all foreign banks in the country to become subsidiary companies and international banks with U.S.-dollar clearing accounts to comply to some degree with U.S. foreign policy by refraining from trading with U.S. enemies defines a key threat facing the world today.
Japan Times
WORLD / Science & Health
Aug 26, 2014

Ebola fight needs $430 million to end outbreak: WHO

More than $430 million will be needed to bring the worst Ebola outbreak on record under control, according to a draft document laying out the World Health Organization's battle strategy.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Politics / KANSAI PERSPECTIVE
Aug 24, 2014

Nippon Ishin, Yui no To take second shot at dethroning LDP

With their recent “political remarriage,” Nippon Ishin no Kai (Japan Restoration Party) and Yui no To (Unity Party) enter the union more experienced, and perhaps more wiser, than the first time around
Japan Times
CULTURE / Books
Aug 23, 2014

Wena Poon on life and death in occupied Kyoto

As a child living in a tiny apartment in Singapore, Wena Poon listened to radio plays broadcast in a variety of languages and watched TV — everything from Chinese sword-fighting operas to popular American series such as "M*A*S*H." "There was nowhere to go outside," Poon says, "so I just sat around....
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / 20 QUESTIONS
Aug 23, 2014

Nick Ward: 'It's just as hard to live outside Yorkshire as it is inside of Yorkshire'

I have a love-hate relationship with (Haruki) Murakami. I think his prose is really beautiful but he gives me vivid nightmares.
LIFE / Lifestyle
Aug 22, 2014

New fashion trends look to squeeze out skinny pants

It shouldn't be hard to kill skinny jeans. After all, women love and loathe them in equal measure.
SOCCER / PREMIER REPORT
Aug 22, 2014

Tan's revenge spells end for Mackay

If revenge is a dish best served cold, Vincent Tan's retribution on his former Cardiff City manager Malky Mackay came straight from the freezer.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Aug 22, 2014

Put Japan's casinos where they're most needed

Japan would do better to steer gargantuan casino projects to regions that really need them — like economically depressed Okinawa or Tohoku, the northeast region that still hasn't recovered from the March 2011 earthquake.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Aug 22, 2014

U.S.-Israeli affair almost over

Today the endorsement of Israel and financial support from the American Jewish community remain important but diminishing factors in American politics. Sympathies, especially among younger Jews, have moved leftward.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Politics / ANALYSIS
Aug 22, 2014

Polarizing Abe learns the long game

Shinzo Abe is one of Japan's most polarizing prime ministers in decades. He may also have a good shot at becoming that rarity in Japanese politics — a long-serving leader.
Japan Times
WORLD
Aug 22, 2014

National Guard to withdraw from riot-torn Ferguson as tensions ease

Missouri Gov. Jay Nixon ordered the withdrawal on Thursday of National Guard troops from riot-torn Ferguson, where tensions have eased after sometimes violent protests were staged nightly since police killed an unarmed black teenager.
WORLD / Crime & Legal
Aug 21, 2014

Prosecutor in Ferguson police shooting tells governor to decide if he stays on case

The St. Louis county prosecutor in charge of investigating the police shooting of an unarmed suburban teenager called on Missouri Gov. Jay Nixon to promptly decide whether he should remain on the case.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Aug 20, 2014

Zulu (Cape Town)

Any movie with Orlando Bloom in it is getting an extra star this month because he recently did what so many of us have longed to do: He took a swing at Justin Bieber. Hell, I'd give him five stars if he had landed that punch, but the Beaver was saved by his entourage before "manning up" and taking the...
Japan Times
JAPAN / Politics
Aug 20, 2014

Debate on foreigner voting rights reignites ahead of 2020 Olympics

The debate over voting rights for non-Japanese residents is flaring up again, amid a drive to attract more foreign workers ahead of the Tokyo Summer Olympics in 2020.
Reader Mail
Aug 20, 2014

Recognition as special victims

Regarding the July 31 AP article "Last surviving crew member of Enola Gay dead at 93": On Aug. 13, a Japanese scholar provided his take on the outcome of World War II in The New York Times. It was triggered by the attention given to the death of the last survivor of the Enola Gay atomic bomb crew.

Longform

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