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EDITORIALS
Feb 17, 2014

Medical reforms for an aging nation

A new payment scheme for medical services under Japan's public health insurance may create fierce competition among doctors to monopolize patients.
COMMENTARY / World
Feb 17, 2014

Color-coding won't explain mess in Thailand

Recent developments in Thailand may put paid to the international media's tendency to make sense of the protests by describing the 'red shirts' as representing the poor and the 'yellow shirts' as the elite.
Japan Times
JAPAN / NATIONAL SPOTLIGHT
Feb 16, 2014

Son's rags-to-riches career impresses by the numbers

Although alive and well, Masayoshi Son has already attained legendary status in Japan for rising from his poverty-stricken childhood to become the chief SoftBank.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / LEARNING CURVE
Feb 16, 2014

Prepping for university straight from the crib

Aiko has just finished bouncing like a rabbit toward a white line. She has already identified photographs of fruit and will soon be told a story about a panda, after which she'll have to draw a picture and offer an ending. How she does with these activities could determine where she attends university,...
COMMENTARY / World
Feb 16, 2014

White House mulls drone strikes to kill a citizen

In the latest manifestation of the weird war on terror, White House officials say they are considering whether to use drone strikes to kill an unnamed American in Pakistan.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / TELLING LIVES
Feb 14, 2014

Storied family-run toy shop 'sells dreams' to Tokyo tourists

'Continuing a small toy shop for five generations is a kind of miracle,” says Masaki Terao, 58, proprietor and purse-string holder at Toys Terao, which his family has been running on Nakamise-dori in front of Asakusa's Sensoji Temple for nearly 130 years.
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / WHEN EAST MARRIES WEST
Feb 14, 2014

Time to nip this growing plastic tumor in the bud

I find myself swamped with cards. And not just the e-money variety. Member cards, discount cards, hospital registration cards — my wallet has so many damned cards, it's like a plastic tumor bulging from my back pocket.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Feb 13, 2014

Making sense of cultural nonsense

In today's complicated world of mass media and communication, contemporary British artists are finding new means of expression.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / LABOR PAINS
Feb 12, 2014

ANA caricature speaks volumes about Japan's outdated mind-set

My personal opinion is that the ad is a disappointing anachronism, and a reminder of the parochial outlook of large Japanese corporations. The ad appeals to the facile formula that 'foreigner = white = blonde and big-nosed = English-speaking = globalization.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Voices / VIEWS FROM THE STREET
Feb 12, 2014

Nagoya: What do you think about the April sales tax increase and how will it affect you?

Denizens of the Chubu capital offer their tuppence-worth on the impending 3-percent consumption tax hike to 8 percent from the start of the fiscal year.
COMMENTARY / World
Feb 11, 2014

Iraq near implosion as 'bad years' come back

Iraq's 'bad years' seem to be making a comeback, and this time the U.S. has little leverage over Iraq to control events from afar.
COMMENTARY / World
Feb 11, 2014

Bangladesh at a crossroads

In the course of just a few weeks, Bangladesh's fragile democracy — which had made substantial social and economic progress in recent years — has deteriorated dramatically.
EDITORIALS
Feb 11, 2014

Protect Syria's suffering children

Since it began in March 2011, Syria's civil war has led to the deaths of as many as 10,000 children, with many more injured or missing. Japan must continue to do all it can to improve humanitarian relief.
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

Myths about economic inequality

True, the gap between the rich and the poor is enormous, wider than most Americans would wish, but this reality has made economic inequality a misleading intellectual fad, blamed for many of our problems.
COMMENTARY / World
Feb 10, 2014

A wealthier Africa will depend on health care

One of Africa's biggest challenges to greater GDP growth and personal wealth is inadequate health care. Preventable and treatable diseases plague the population.
BUSINESS / THE VIEW FROM EUROPE
Feb 8, 2014

First cracks appear in Abe's PR campaign

Japan stormed back in 2013. Even the staunchest critics of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe have had to admit that his administration managed to achieve roaring success in its first year. This success owes much to a shift of perception based on an excellently devised and executed public relations strategy....
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / TELLING LIVES
Feb 7, 2014

American tuna trader shares passion born in Tsukiji with the world

'I want to roll together the beauty of the history and culture of Japan into a quality tuna product and export that to the West,' says American David Leibowitz. 'I want the West consuming that and having it become part of them.'
EDITORIALS
Feb 7, 2014

NHK's credibility at stake

Two of the more recent appointees to the NHK Board of Governors show their stripes so to speak by denying that the 1937 Nanjing Massacre happened, on one hand, and writing an essay in praise of the Emperor as a 'living god' on the other. Might employees for Japan's national broadcaster start to feel pressure to develop programs from a particular perspective?
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / JAPAN LITE
Feb 7, 2014

'Cove' to become 'aquatic nook' as Abe takes aim at improper eigo

Some say that Shinzo Abe's latest proposed tax increases, part of the 'fourth arrow' in his popular 'Abenomics' policy, are going a step too far. Dubbed the 'language tax,' the new levy is aimed at word usage.
COMMENTARY / World
Feb 7, 2014

Securing the Sochi Olympics

Parallel to the Sochi Olympics, another contest is already under way between the terrorists who seek to disrupt the games and the security forces of the Russian state.
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.
Events / KANSAI: WHO & WHAT
Feb 7, 2014

Plum trees in bloom in Minabe, Wakayama

Nearly 80,000 plum trees are in bloom in Minabe, Wakayama Prefecture, this month and the area will be open to the public until March 2.
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.

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