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Japan Times
JAPAN / Politics
Aug 6, 2015

Exclusion of nonnuclear principles from Abe's Hiroshima speech causes stir

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's failure to include a pledge to observe the country's three nonnuclear principles in the annual memorial speech on Thursday remembering the victims of the Hiroshima atomic bomb attack is causing speculation the exclusion may be political.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Media
Aug 5, 2015

Asahi Shimbun apologizes for 'inappropriate' tweet about Shinzo Abe

Tadashi Tominaga, the newspaper's senior staff writer, had posted a photograph of an ultranationalist rally, writing that the participants were supporters of the prime minister.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Aug 4, 2015

Of kimono and cultural appropriation

Clueless identity politics activists in the U.S. are no friends of Japan's struggling kimono industry.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Jul 29, 2015

Learning English requires a different approach

If the most important goal is to teach Japanese students how to speak the kind of everyday English used in the corporate world, then it's imperative that teachers provide them with frequent practice doing precisely that.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Jul 20, 2015

Reconsidering man's dominion over animals

If Pope Francis can change people's views of animal welfare, he will have done more good than any other pope in recent history.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Books / ESSENTIAL READING FOR JAPANOPHILES
Jul 18, 2015

'Mystical Realist' Eihei Dogen's 13th-century writings

Eihei Dogen (1200-53), founder of the Soto school of Zen Buddhism, is a key figure in the intellectual history of Japan, but for many centuries his work was not widely read. This changed in 1926, when the publication of Watsuji Tetsuro's "Shamon Dogen" ("The Monk Dogen") reframed him as a philosopher...
Japan Times
JAPAN / Politics
Jul 15, 2015

Amid angry scenes, ruling parties force security bills through Lower House committee

A special Diet committee has sign off on legislation that would expand the scope of Self-Defense Forces' missions overseas, setting the stage for a vote in the Lower House.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Jul 13, 2015

Reducing the health risks of electronic devices

The best way to avoid some of the negative effects of portable electronic devices such as cellphones is to use them in moderation and to store them far away from the body.
Japan Times
WORLD / Science & Health
Jul 6, 2015

French renewables power grid pilot shows limits of batteries in Europe

A major pilot project by Europe's largest power network operator to integrate power from rooftop solar panels into the grid has shown that battery storage of renewable energy is not yet economically viable in Europe.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Media / BIG IN JAPAN
Jul 4, 2015

Will hot-selling book bring Kobe killer in from the cold?

'June 28, 1997. I ceased being me. It was the day I was expelled forever from the world of sunshine. Up to then, I had nonchalantly spent my days unaltruistically, each passing day framed by the next as in a film, until the day when, suddenly, I began to be stigmatized as an enigmatic being.
Reader Mail
Jul 4, 2015

Yoga has benefits for everyone

The article of "Modi leads Yoga Day amid skepticism" (June 28, 2015) tells us that June 21 is the International Day of Yoga. It is good news since people all over the world can know yoga and enjoy a better health by doing yoga. I myself have been healthy for many years thanks to yoga practices. Even...
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Jun 30, 2015

Vote by U.S. Congress stokes hope for TPP progress in July

With the U.S. Congress formally granting President Barack Obama trade promotion authority, proponents of the Trans-Pacific Partnership agreement in Japan are hoping at least the broad outlines of a bilateral deal for agriculture and auto parts may be worked out when negotiations resume in July.
Japan Times
LIFE / Language / BILINGUAL
Jun 29, 2015

The reigning 'Queen of subtitles,' in her own words

For the past four decades, after the lights dim and curtains go up at cinemas around Japan, the credits that have flashed on screens at the start of hundreds of foreign films have acknowledged subtitle translator Natsuko Toda.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Books
Jun 27, 2015

'Aperture' magazine comes to Tokyo

Think photography and its history, and it's easy to recall iconic images of New York, Paris or London — cities whose buildings and street life have long provided compelling subjects. Constantly changing, Tokyo is now securing its place in that history of urban images.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Jun 23, 2015

Abe's security legislation and freedom of expression

The Abe administration appears keen to sweep critical intellect out of Japanese society.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Jun 22, 2015

The pope's powerful message

If we do not change our behavior quickly, we may well lose the environmental stability upon which our planet depends, warns the pope.
Japan Times
WORLD / Society
Jun 22, 2015

Pope venerates Shroud of Turin, in city of his migrant forbears

Pope Francis on Sunday stopped to pray before an item some Christians believe is Jesus' burial cloth, during a visit to the Italian city of Turin.
Japan Times
WORLD / Society
Jun 22, 2015

Pope venerates Shroud of Turin, tells how refugees' plight 'makes one cry'

Pope Francis said on Sunday the mistreatment of migrants escaping war and injustice "makes one cry" as he visited the northern Italian city of Turin, stopping to pray before an icon some Christians believe is Jesus' burial cloth.
JAPAN / Politics
Jun 19, 2015

Temp workers dealt blow as dispatch bill clears Lower House

Opposition lawmakers leave in protest as the Lower House passes a bill to let companies use temporary workers as long as they want instead of hiring them full time.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Jun 16, 2015

Former victims dismiss ASIJ's sex abuse report as 'whitewash'

Victims of sex abuse committed by former American School in Japan teacher Jack Moyer and their supporters dismiss a report the school released as a 'whitewash' intended to minimize damage to its reputation.
Japan Times
WORLD
Jun 15, 2015

Court ruling on Sudan's al-Bashir leaves South Africa 'in a fix'

South Africa will have to defy its own judiciary or risk the wrath of other African nations if the High Court orders the government to arrest visiting Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir on war crimes and genocide charges.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Jun 12, 2015

Media should stop legitimizing Abe's Article 9 'reinterpretation'

The media should stop giving the Abe administration's 'reinterpretation' of Article 9 a legitimacy and validity that it does not enjoy under Japan's constitutional system.
COMMENTARY / World
Jun 9, 2015

The Magna Carta, 800 years on

Written 800 years ago, Magna Carta elevated the law above the ruler's will. Unfortunately, that idea still is not accepted in many countries.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Jun 2, 2015

The big difference a little time can make

The main premise behind "Time of Others" at the Museum of Contemporary Art, Tokyo (MoT) is that there is no fixed self — "otherness" can be a matter of recognizing that our identities and qualities as people can change. The curatorial team behind the exhibition do not use "otherness" in its more postcolonial...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Books
May 30, 2015

Breaching the secretive sects of Shin-Buddhism

The tendency to perceive covert groups as reticent conspirators rather than curators of hidden knowledge is universal.
Japan Times
JAPAN
May 29, 2015

Expressive emoji win over Merriam-Webster's wordsmiths

From tsunami to head honcho, English boasts no end to Japanese loan words. Artsy chefs now talk of umami and revelers belt out karaoke, so it is no surprise to see the Merriam-Webster dictionary honoring another new arrival: emoji, familiar to mobile users worldwide.
JAPAN
May 27, 2015

Passport confiscation policy should remain in place: Foreign Ministry

The government should maintain its policy of confiscating passports of Japanese nationals seeking to enter a foreign country or area controlled by extremists if it would put their life at risk, according to a new Foreign Ministry report.

Longform

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