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Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink
Mar 6, 2014

Japan's top chefs grapple with sustainable eating

After the Asia's 50 Best Restaurants awards ceremony in Singapore last month, chef Yoshihiro Narisawa was in high spirits, despite the late hour and the tropical February heat. His Tokyo restaurant, the eponymous Narisawa in the Aoyama district, had been named Best Restaurant in Japan for the second...
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / LEARNING CURVE
Mar 2, 2014

Thinking outside the usual white box

Imagine being a meter tall and dashing around the donut-shaped roof of your school. Or picture studying math while taking in the rich smell of timber in one of a variety of wooden houses connected by a single three-story atrium, or attending a zero-carbon wooden school in the forest.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / TELLING LIVES
Feb 28, 2014

The lesson of the long-distance runner: 'There are no impossibles'

Maickel Melamed was born with his umbilical cord wrapped around his neck, and his parents were told he would not live long. Almost four decades on, Melamed has crossed marathon finishing lines in New York, Berlin and Chicago — and conquered Venezuela's highest mountain.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / THE FOREIGN ELEMENT
Jan 27, 2014

A death in detention in Tokyo and a bitter belated farewell

What was the back story to this Ghanaian's death from pneumonia? A pre-existing condition? Or something the immigration authorities wanted hidden? Without an autopsy, there would be no answers to these gnawing questions. We already knew all we would ever know.
COMMENTARY
Jan 21, 2014

Obama's still spying on you, no matter what he says

If you're worried that the government has already collected enough phone-call metadata to map out the details of your life at the click of a button, then President Barack Obama's much-hyped speech recently on intelligence gathering will probably do little to allay your concerns.
COMMENTARY / World
Jan 13, 2014

Boosting the global economy

Although we have avoided the worst-case depressioin scenario over the past five years, thanks to the efforts of global policymakers, the world economy is not yet flying on all engines and is likely to remain underpowered this year as well, says the IMF managing director.
COMMENTARY / World
Jan 7, 2014

Altruistic cooperation key to solving global issues

As mankind now tryies to solve new, global challenges, we must also find new ways to cooperate, and the basis for this cooperation must be altruism, writes a French Buddhist monk with a doctorate in molecular geneteics.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / LEARNING CURVE
Jan 5, 2014

English fluency hopes rest on an education overhaul

Ringing in 2014, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has a dream: One nation that will actively re-engage with the global marketplace.
COMMENTARY
Dec 27, 2013

Extremists threatening Libya

Sunday's suicide bomb attack in Libya hat killed 13 soldiers should be a signal that the world can no longer afford to stand aside as this oil-rich nation of 6 million people appears to slide into chaos.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / LEARNING CURVE
Dec 22, 2013

Don't let the holidays leave you homesick this year

Homesickness is a particular concern for foreign residents in December, when the holiday season starts to conjure up images of family dinners and drinking parties with old friends. For new arrivals, it's further complicated by the simultaneous challenge of adjusting to a different culture.
COMMENTARY / World
Dec 13, 2013

In search of Himalayan Yetis and global citizens

The educated 'global citizen' is like the Himalayan Yeti: a figment of the imaginations of a few, not a living member of the political fauna of the world. It isn't something we should try to create.
Japan Times
WORLD
Dec 5, 2013

NSA tracking cellphone locations worldwide, Snowden documents show

The National Security Agency is gathering nearly 5 billion records a day on the whereabouts of cellphones around the world, according to top-secret documents and interviews with U.S. intelligence officials, enabling the agency to track the movements of individuals — and map their relationships —...
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / JUST BE CAUSE
Dec 4, 2013

In Japan, no escape from The Eye's perpetual policing glare

In Japan, The Eye compels you towards collective behavior: Mustn't be forceful or push back against the status quo, lest you get hairy-eyeballed.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / LEARNING CURVE
Dec 1, 2013

For busy teachers, online degrees can help in the rat race

As a graduate of a competitive U.S. university, I didn't take online learning seriously. Sitting in front of a computer couldn't compare with my four-year liberal arts experience collaborating with peers and debating with professors.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Nov 25, 2013

Space industry faces choice for next direction

The air is so clear the mountains in the distance look almost fake, as if added digitally. The desert floor is runway-flat, with a few Joshua trees popping up randomly, like lost cowboys. The dominant feature is the sky, preposterously vast, beckoning test pilots, rocketeers and would-be space travelers....
COMMENTARY / World
Nov 19, 2013

Let's help the Philippines, just not like we helped Haiti

The international community must embrace the technology available to strengthen disaster preparedness, resilience and aid.
WORLD
Nov 6, 2013

U.S. spy agencies out of sync, panel finds

The scientific research efforts of the U.S. intelligence community are poorly coordinated, and agencies have struggled to develop adequate defenses against emerging threats including cyber-attacks, according to a national commission that released its findings Tuesday.
COMMENTARY / World
Nov 1, 2013

A Chinese version of 'responsible protection'

The 'responsibility to protect' principle is a challenge for China, which seems to view humanitarianism as good, interventionism as bad, and 'humanitarian intervention' as marrying good to evil.
EDITORIALS
Oct 28, 2013

Pushing for nuclear disarmament

For the first time Japan has joined other nations in signing a U.N. statement calling for the abolition of nuclear weapons, despite Japan's reliance on the U.S. nuclear umbrella.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / THE FOREIGN ELEMENT
Oct 28, 2013

Getting published is easy; getting noticed is trickier

How can writers make themselves heard in the age of blog and self-publishing saturation? Japan-based authors offer a diverse range of views
COMMENTARY / World
Oct 25, 2013

A better way to end Syria's civil war

The political path to peace in Syria should give intimidated third-party groups a voice by bringing the many segments of society together, regardless of which side of the conflict they are on.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives
Oct 11, 2013

Strays become woman's calling

It's a typical evening in the Mercer-Tojo household. Susan Mercer, 37, has just settled down their 2-year-old for the night, tucking him in as he cuddles with five or six cats. Several dogs prowl restlessly, eager for a pat or a kind word. Scooping a kitten off the floor, Mercer settles down to wait...
WORLD / Politics
Oct 2, 2013

GOP disappoints big-business backers

In 2010 and again in 2012, companies on Main Street and Wall Street did just about everything they could to help Republicans win elected office in Washington.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / INNOVATIVE CITY FORUM
Sep 17, 2013

Nissan paints picture of future lifestyle with electric vehicles

(Publicity)
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives
Sep 6, 2013

'Playground of Hope' project builds communities, benefits affected kids

Michael Anop, a longtime Tokyo resident and entrepreneur, says he is "very much a people's person," as demonstrated by a definite talent for connecting with the right individuals to make things happen.
COMMENTARY / World
Aug 29, 2013

Once again, U.S. rushing to attack without facts

Assertions that Syrian President Bashar Assad is guilty of chemical weapons use without hard evidence presented to the international community will not do, not after the dodgy dossiers fiasco on Iraq in 2003.
Japan Times
WORLD / Crime & Legal
Aug 25, 2013

Mental health courts seek to treat, rather than jail

The charge was stealing a tow truck. The defendant was a baby-faced 27-year-old in shorts and a Chicago Bulls jersey. His hair was slightly matted, wrists cuffed in front, hands clutching a brown paper bag, demeanor slackened by anti-psychotic medications.
Japan Times
ENVIRONMENT / OUR PLANET EARTH
Aug 24, 2013

Reflecting at leisure on who we are and where we live

My day job as a professor in Japan offers precious few chances to take a step back from work and give the old brain a bit of free rein. But August is one such golden opportunity.
EDITORIALS
Aug 14, 2013

Future of military self-restraint

This year's anniversary marking the end of World War II comes as the Abe administration appears girding to discard the postwar principle of military self-restraint.

Longform

Construction takes place on the Takanawa Gateway Convention Center in Tokyo, slated to open in 2025.
A boom for business tourism in Japan?