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Japan Times
JAPAN / Media / BIG IN JAPAN
Jan 30, 2021

Japanese news outlets report from the besieged citadel of American democracy

The initial reactions in the Japanese media, which focused on the flamboyant garb of a certain individual that was part of the unruly mob that stormed the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Media / BIG IN JAPAN
Jan 23, 2021

Wisdom often fails the test of time

One generation's knowledge is the next generation's folly.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Media / BIG IN JAPAN
Sep 5, 2020

Trust and truth go hand in hand in a troubled year

COVID-19's most visible symbol is the mask, but 85 of 100 doctors surveyed by Shukan Gendai say masks are unnecessary in open outdoor spaces.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Sep 28, 2019

Cabinet reshuffle raises a slew of new questions

Since the new Cabinet was announced on Sept. 11, the focus has been on Shinjiro Koizumi as environment minister. Described by some as earnest but lacking in substantive ideas, the 38-year-old lawmaker has tried to make the most of the spotlight, commenting on Japan's role in addressing climate change...
Japan Times
JAPAN / Media / BIG IN JAPAN
Mar 9, 2019

China's detention system offers a few lessons for Japan

Shukan Gendai magazine last month sounded a warning: "Students, if you're arrested in China it's a very serious matter."
Japan Times
JAPAN / Media / BIG IN JAPAN
Dec 1, 2018

Magazines explore the inevitability of death and taxes

From this week, beneath the glitter of tinsel and glimmer of outdoor seasonal illumination, the bonenkai (year-end party) season begins in earnest.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Media / BIG IN JAPAN
Sep 22, 2018

Will Don Quijote tilt its lance at the Amazon giant?

A somewhat cynical commentary attributed to the late American TV comedian Jackie Gleason goes, "Anybody who says money can't buy happiness doesn't know where to shop."
JAPAN / Media / BIG IN JAPAN
Jul 21, 2018

Learning to live with a vulnerability to violent actions

Nature bursts its bounds. People seethe and erupt.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Media / BIG IN JAPAN
Feb 24, 2018

What's to become of humanity when AI replaces us all?

Humanity is turning a corner. The signpost is marked "AI." Everyone knows what it stands for. Who knows what it means?
JAPAN
Nov 17, 2016

Japan's top buzzword candidates for 2016 range from Pikotaro to 'the Trump phenomenon'

The 30 nominees for Japan's top buzzwords of 2016 were announced Thursday by the Jiyukokuminsha publishing house, covering a variety of new popular terms ranging from the "Shin Godzilla" film to the "Zika fever."
JAPAN / Media / BIG IN JAPAN
Jul 16, 2016

Terrorism and sexual assault cast shadow over Japanese travelers

Surely if a prize were to be awarded for the week's most controversial article, it would go to Shukan Shincho's piece titled "If you're traveling abroad, here is a phrase from the Quran you should memorize."
Japan Times
JAPAN / Media / BIG IN JAPAN
Jun 25, 2016

A confused, senile future awaits Japan

Confucius said: "When your parents are alive, serve them according to ritual. When they die, bury them according to ritual, make sacrifices to them according to ritual."
JAPAN / Media
May 28, 2016

Shooting the messenger: journalism under siege in Japan

Journalists who refuse to toe the official line are under pressure, experts say
Japan Times
JAPAN / Media / BIG IN JAPAN
Nov 21, 2015

Press gets tense over possible terrorism in Tokyo

Look around, if you will, for a waste receptacle on any station platform in the Tokyo metropolitan area; you won't find one. Their disappearance, a precautionary measure against urban terrorism, can be dated to the immediate aftermath of the nerve gas attack on the city's subway system by members of...
Japan Times
JAPAN / Media / BIG IN JAPAN
May 2, 2015

Giving parents credit where rent is due

We choose our friends but we don't choose our parents. Nor do they choose us. It's a pretty fraught relationship, sometimes, that between parent and child. Perhaps "love-hate" best describes it — hopefully with love dominant.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Media / BIG IN JAPAN
Oct 18, 2014

The sinking yen is a threat to the cost of living

If the items you purchase these days seem more expensive, you're not imagining things.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Media / BIG IN JAPAN
Sep 13, 2014

Women express pride in remaining a virgin

"The pleasure is momentary, the position ridiculous, and the expense damnable."
JAPAN / Media / BIG IN JAPAN
Aug 16, 2014

Grisly Sasebo murder defies explanation

Homicides involving dismemberment, referred to in Japanese as bara-bara jiken (scattered incidents), fall into a wider category known as ryōki hanzai (bizarre crimes) — written with kanji meaning "hunting the strange." Typically when minors were involved in such cases they tended to be victims, not...
Japan Times
JAPAN / Media / BIG IN JAPAN
Apr 12, 2014

'Big Pharma' manipulating the market? Now that's depressing

You're the entrepreneurial type, let's say, ambitious but a little unsure of yourself. What field is ripe for your energy and enthusiasm?
Japan Times
JAPAN / Media / BIG IN JAPAN
Mar 1, 2014

Why marry, or worry, when we can be alone together in ohitorisama Japan?

As people increasingly choose to live and do things alone, is Japan evolving into an 'ohitorisama' nation? Time will tell.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Media / BIG IN JAPAN
Nov 30, 2013

Delving into the dark side of longer life

Longevity is like prosperity — it seems an unalloyed good but on closer examination turns out not to be. Longevity spawns dementia, infirmity, loneliness and a demographic imbalance favoring the very old at the expense of the young.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Media / BIG IN JAPAN
Jun 9, 2013

Sifting through the rubble of Hashimoto's political ambitions

In 1995, the late University of Illinois professor David G. Goodman observed that when serious disagreements arise between Japanese people and foreigners, the former invariably internalize the debate among themselves.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Media / BIG IN JAPAN
May 12, 2013

Will Mount Fuji celebrate World Heritage status by blowing its top?

On May 1, Japan's Agency for Cultural Affairs announced it had received notification that Mount Fuji had been recommended for World Heritage status by the UNESCO-affiliated International Council on Monuments and Sites. Formal approval is expected at the World Heritage Committee meeting in Cambodia next month.
JAPAN / Media / BIG IN JAPAN
Apr 22, 2012

The weeklies need to expand their worldview

Japan cuts the world down to size. Thumb through the popular weekly news magazines to get the idea. The weeklies pride themselves on broader, bolder, feistier coverage than the daily press typically musters. All the same, theirs is a small, shrunken world. It consists of four countries: Japan, the United...
Japan Times
JAPAN / Media
Feb 12, 2012

The idol's mom, the underage boy and the media

The recent arrest of the mother of a Japanese pop idol for sex with a minor raises questions on how the media here handles such high-profile cases.
JAPAN / Media / BIG IN JAPAN
Jan 8, 2012

'Strange' is the new 'normal' for 2012

"Whatever happens won't be strange."
JAPAN / Media / BIG IN JAPAN
Nov 13, 2011

Creating a future for Japan's aging society

Japan is an elderly country. Twenty-three percent of its population is 65 or over. By 2050, nearly 40 percent will be. Nothing like these demographics has ever been seen before, here or anywhere. This is well-known and much discussed, usually in terms of the grim implications for an enfeebled economy...
JAPAN / Media / BIG IN JAPAN
Nov 6, 2011

Penny-pinching on pensions threatens to raid retirees' nest eggs

Much of the global media's attention this week was turned toward the possibility of Greece's default. Its direct effect on Japan is difficult to foresee. On the one hand, the approximately ¥1 trillion in national bonds Japan holds from the fiscally ailing countries that are referred to collectively...
JAPAN / Media / BIG IN JAPAN
Feb 6, 2011

There be all kinds of monsters among us

An old saying goes "Issun no mushi ni mo gobu no tamashi" (even a one-inch worm has a half-inch soul); i.e., even the most humble and powerless creature can put up with only so much before turning on its tormentor.
JAPAN / Media / BIG IN JAPAN
Oct 24, 2010

Can we fix Japan's moral morass?

As a gauge of where this country is heading and what kind of mood it's in, consider this fact: Last week, almost every mainstream weekly news magazine ran at least one story on old age and/or death.

Longform

Visitors to Kyoto walk along a street near Kiyomizu Temple in April. A popular tourist spot, Kyoto has seen what locals feel to be an overwhelming amount of tourists in 2024.
Is Japan ready for 60 million tourists?