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Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Jun 10, 2015

Japan's toxic prophets are revealed in 'Yokokuhan' adaptation

Directors of the better Japanese commercial films typically carve out thematic or stylistic niches for themselves, so that even if they do a manga adaptation for the masses, it's their kind of manga filmed in their kind of way. One is Yoshihiro Nakamura, a master of mysteries and thrillers with brainteaser...
JAPAN
Dec 22, 2014

Conservative Abe's secrecy law doesn't hold a candle to Seoul's press suppression

For people concerned with the weakening of press freedoms under the government of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, its criticism of Asahi Shimbun and the new state secrets law, there should still be a sense of relief that media suppression in Japan has not quite reached the levels now being seen in South Korea.
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Mar 1, 2014

Trite TV drama about children's home misses a chance to edify and entertain

Groups including the National Council for Children's Group Homes and Jikei Hospital in Kumamoto have accused NTV of 'violating human rights' and displaying 'prejudice against the children as well as the staff who are working in these childcare institutions.
COMMENTARY
Oct 24, 2013

Chances of eurozone reform

How will Europeans strengthen motivations for generally unpopular economic structural reform in debtor eurozone countries, given the political constraints in democratic societies?
Japan Times
JAPAN
May 8, 2013

China questions Okinawa ownership

Two scholars from an official Chinese research center suggest re-examining the ownership of the Japanese island chain that includes Okinawa, adding to tensions over the Senkaku territorial dispute.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Books
Apr 28, 2013

Re-creating the life of a 17th-century concubine

As G.G. Rowley notes in the preface to her lovingly researched, elegantly written study of Imperial concubine Nakanoin Nakako, the history of her subject's period, the late 16th and early 17th centuries, 'has traditionally been written as the history of men.'
LIFE / Digital
Jan 30, 2013

Why the Apple and Facebook empires are destined to collapse

Nothing lasts forever: if history has any lesson for us, it is this. It's a thought that comes from rereading Paul Kennedy's magisterial tome, "The Rise and Fall of the Great Powers," in which he shows that none of the great nation-states or empires of history — Rome; imperial Spain in 1600; France...
Japan Times
JAPAN / Media / BIG IN JAPAN
Nov 4, 2012

It's a bad time for Sapio to downsize

Japan's first two shūkanshi (weekly magazines) appeared so closely, their arrival could be described as analogous to a "photo start" as opposed to a photo finish. The Asahi Shimbun launched Junkan Asahi on Feb. 25, 1922. Rather than appearing weekly, however, it was issued on the 5th, 15th and 25th...
Reader Mail
Jul 26, 2012

Resentment of the Celtic people

In his July 19 letter, "BBC's Olympics commentary," Barry Andrew Ward claims that "a word of explanation is owed to foreign observers" of this year's London Olympics vis-a-vis the commentary style of the U.K. broadcaster, BBC. Far from being "owed," such an explanation is not even really necessary.
EDITORIALS
Jul 10, 2012

The health of America

Health care reforms put forward by U.S. President Barack Obama have passed constitutional scrutiny. In an anxiously awaited, bitterly divided 5-4 ruling, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled the week before last that the bulk of the bill, put into law in 2010, can go into effect.
Japan Times
BASKETBALL / BJ-LEAGUE NOTEBOOK
Jun 15, 2012

Sendai 89ers to begin play in Xebio Arena next season

Symbolic of Tohoku's revitalization after the Great East Japan Earthquake, the Sendai 89ers will begin play in a new basketball gymnasium, Xebio Arena, in Taiha Ward, in October.
EDITORIALS
Apr 24, 2012

A sad Summit of the Americas

It is a sad commentary on the Sixth Summit of the Americas, the triennial gathering of 34 heads of state from North, South and Central America, when the outcomes of the summit are overshadowed by the misbehavior of U.S. President Barack Obama's advance team and security detail.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Apr 5, 2012

'Turning Around'

Chim↑Pom, a collective of six intrepid young artists, is known for its guerrilla-art tactics and commentary on social taboos.
CULTURE / Art
Apr 5, 2012

'Turning Around'

Chim↑Pom, a collective of six intrepid young artists, is known for its guerrilla-art tactics and commentary on social taboos.
Japan Times
BASEBALL / BASEBALL BULLET-IN
Aug 14, 2011

Well-traveled Stairs enjoyed lengthy career after season in Japan

For many American players, Japan is the last stop in their professional baseball careers.
Japan Times
CULTURE
Jul 8, 2011

Live from Tokyo, it's Saturday Night!

Ladies and gentlemen, it's Saturday Night Live Japan!
COMMENTARY / World
Nov 17, 2010

Fixing the U.S. economy

NEW YORK — For many, if not most, Americans, the crisis that befell them in 2008 — leading to slow growth, rising unemployment and high anxiety among voters — appeared to spring from nowhere. Certainly, the vast majority of economists, investment analysts, financial firms and regulators failed...
COMMENTARY
Aug 19, 2010

Mixed views in rising China

While voices in China continue to be raised against American naval exercises near the China coast and asserting Beijing's increased influence in global affairs, other voices are now being heard questioning the wisdom of China's increasing assertiveness.
ENVIRONMENT / OUR PLANET EARTH
Jul 25, 2010

Wherefore art thou, corporate social responsibility?

As an American lawyer, I know a bit about working in a profession that has had serious image problems.
Japan Times
LIFE / Travel
Jun 6, 2010

A guided tour to Akihabara

Maid cafes, cosplay (costume play), gachapon vending machines, canned oden noodles and otaku (geeks) — lots of otaku: I thought I knew Akihabara, or "Akiba" as its fans affectionately call it. I bought my first Apple computer (a secondhand Macintosh Powerbook) there in the early 1990s and had visited...
CULTURE / TV & Streaming / CHANNEL SURF
Apr 25, 2010

Marijuana addiction special; running commentaries of ordinary events; CM of the week: Hakugen

The discussion show "Heart wo Tsunago" (Linking Hearts; NHK-E, Mon., 8 p.m.) always focuses on a social issue involving young people. This week, the program broadcasts part one of a series on marijuana addiction.
COMMENTARY
Jan 24, 2010

Media gang up on Iran for Latam outreach

SEATTLE — Should the United States be concerned about Iran's determined efforts to reach out to Latin America or, as was suggestively described in the Economist, about the ayatollahs' strategy of cozying up to Latin America?
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Japan Pulse
Dec 1, 2009

Nico Nico brings the chattering masses to TV

Until recently, the 'viewing audience' was a silent majority. With Nico Nico Douga and a new off-shoot for TV, the audience is becoming very vocal.

Longform

Visitors walk past Sou Fujimoto's Grand Ring, which has been recognized as the largest wooden structure in the world.
Can a World Expo still matter? Japan is about to find out.