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Japan Times
OLYMPICS / ICE TIME
Feb 12, 2014

Questions follow high scores for Plushenko, Lipnitskaia

In the wake of the judging scandal at the 2002 Salt Lake City Games, figure skating has done its best to revamp its scoring system. It's not perfect by any means, but seems much fairer than before.
COMMENTARY / World
Feb 11, 2014

Reviving China's economic rebalancing act

As China remains among the world's poorest countries, with per capita income amounting to less than $7,000, its position as the world's largest exporter of capital signifies a gross misallocation of resources. It should adopt a float exchange-rate regime as soon as possible.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Politics
Feb 10, 2014

Kennedy to pay highly anticipated visit to Okinawa

U.S. Ambassador Caroline Kennedy arrives in Okinawa Tuesday for a highly anticipated visit that will center on the U.S. military presence and the unpopular relocation of a Marine base within the prefecture.
Japan Times
LIFE / Style & Design
Feb 10, 2014

Japan's leather industry, almost as tough as old boots

In his east Tokyo workshop, across the Sumida river from Asakusa Station, Katsuhiko Nakano is surrounded on all sides by bags and tools. He is one of the few leather craftsmen in the city who makes goods by hand.
COMMENTARY / World
Feb 10, 2014

Kerry errs when he invokes specter of boycotts of Israel

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry cleverly addresses every worry articulated by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, but Kerry's big mistake in his approach to negotiations is his need to publicly invoke, repeatedly, the specter of an international campaign to boycott Israel.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / LEARNING CURVE
Feb 9, 2014

Globally focused International Baccalaureate diploma needs local-level support

The education think tanks were busy in 2013. As the Year of the Snake slithered to a close, the education ministry made headlines by announcing bolstered English education plans — again — in an attempt to better prepare Japanese students for an increasingly connected world.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / How-tos / LIFELINES
Feb 9, 2014

Getting the colors clear when filing taxes in Japan

Filing a tax return isn't easy at the best of times, but doing it in another country can be particularly challenging. Fortunately, if you work for a company and that's your sole source of income in Japan, they will take care of everything for you. However, those who are self-employed or have multiple...
COMMENTARY / World
Feb 9, 2014

China's credit boom raises flags on risk levels

The growth of credit in China at a breakneck pace, including the spike in local-government debt by 70 percent since 2009, is raising serious concerns about the level of risk in China's financial system.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Politics
Feb 7, 2014

DPJ exec's denial of Nanjing stands

The Democratic Party Of Japan's Diet Affairs Chief, Declines To Retract His Remarks Almost Seven Years Ago Insisting That There Was No Nanjing Massacre.
JAPAN / ANALYSIS
Feb 7, 2014

NHK governors' impartiality doubted

Shocking remarks like "there was no Nanjing Massacre" and "the gender equality law triggered Japan's low birthrate" by NHK governors appointed by Prime Minister Shinzo Abe have called into question the qualifications and neutrality of the public broadcaster's board and the biased way its members are...
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Companies
Feb 7, 2014

Sony revision spurs credibility crisis for Hirai

Kazuo Hirai, who took the helm at Sony Corp. two years ago to revive the Japanese icon, is losing credibility with investors who think he's not up to the job.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Feb 6, 2014

New boss to steer Keidanren back to politics?

Sadayuki Sakakibara, the incoming chairman of Keidanren, says his priority in leading the nation's top business lobby is to help get Japan back on a growth track, but observers say he may also try to re-establish the organization's influence in politics.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Stage
Feb 5, 2014

Yokohama's annual feast of TPAM

As befits its designation as a "Cultural City of East Asia 2014," Yokohama is about to host Japan's foremost annual platform for contemporary performing arts.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Feb 5, 2014

Can nature solve humankind's errors?

Masato Kodama's sculptures are concerned with light, gravity and air. For him, light is a symbol of tomorrow and potential futures, gravity represents the present and the past, and air is associated with memory.
EDITORIALS
Feb 5, 2014

Stalemate in Syria

The first round of Syrian peace talks began in controversy, proceeded in the most formal of terms, then concluded after a week with a whimper. A second round is uncertain.
COMMENTARY / World
Feb 4, 2014

Climate-change skeptics have free-speech rights

One could find himself tugged in two directions by the latest ruling in the defamation suit filed by climatologist Michael Mann, who has long been an object of ire among climate-change skeptics. Now it seems the skeptics have let their ire get out of hand.
Japan Times
JAPAN / EXPLAINER
Feb 3, 2014

Yasukuni: It's open to interpretation

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's visit to Yasukuni Shrine in December stirred outrage at home and abroad because he was perceived as promoting his revisionist views on wartime history and violating the constitutional separation of state and religion.
COMMUNITY / How-tos / LIFELINES
Feb 2, 2014

Post-school life can bring visa complications

After The Japan Times published a Lifelines column on Dec. 15 that focused on visa issues, we received a lot of mail from readers asking about their particular individual situations. We would like to stress that it is always best to have a professional look at personal cases.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Feb 2, 2014

Momii's rise tests NHK's reputation

For millions of Japanese, and even Japan-watchers abroad, NHK is a trusted source of information: gray in tone perhaps, but neither black nor white on the issues. This assumption has been put to the test by new NHK Chairman Katsuto Momii, whose recent remarks have led many to wonder whether the public...
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Tech
Feb 2, 2014

Should we be scared by the rise of Zuck?

On Tuesday, Facebook will turn 10 years old. It has 1.23 billion users. Ponder those two facts for a moment. A company that did not exist 10 years ago now has as many users as India has people.
JAPAN / History / JAPAN TIMES GONE BY
Feb 1, 2014

Steamer surveys new island; Forces land on Hainan Island; Kyu Sakamoto profiled; Leftists suspected in shrine bombing

The N.Y.K. Bonin liner Chefoo, which returned to Yokohama yesterday, gave an interesting account of her exploration of the newly formed island near Minami Iwojima.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Books / ESSENTIAL READING FOR JAPANOPHILES
Feb 1, 2014

The Tattoo Murder Case

Still reeling from the effects of war, Tokyo, in 1948, was ripe with intrigue, not to mention men and women capable of plotting monstrous crimes. Akimitsu Takagi's crime mystery "The Tattoo Murder Case" was first published that year and his gritty scenes of the city are described with the authenticity...
EDITORIALS
Feb 1, 2014

Defend dolphins, not a 'tradition'

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's argument that the force of tradition justifies the herding, capturing and slaughtering of dolphins is a flimsy one. It is an inhumane practice that should be stopped.
Japan Times
BASEBALL / Japanese Baseball
Feb 1, 2014

Hawks need more quality in starting rotation

The Fukuoka Softbank Hawks fielded a pitching juggernaut in 2011, the likes of which will be hard to replicate without the help of outside forces.
EDITORIALS
Jan 31, 2014

Reckless politicization of textbooks

A revised government guideline for textbook writing states that the Takeshima islets in the Sea of Japan and the Senkaku Islands in the East China Sea are to be treated unequivovally as Japan's territories.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Jan 30, 2014

'What Maisie Knew (Maisie no Hitomi)'

What Maisie Knew" is based on the 1897 novel by Henry James. Then and now, "What Maisie Knew" deals with child-neglect, abandonment and just general, sharper-than-a-serpent's-tooth bad behavior on the part of the parents. You want to think that such parents will look back in their old age and writhe...

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