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Japan Times
JAPAN / EXPLAINER
Jun 30, 2014

New station to boost Shinagawa's international role

East Japan Railway Co. (JR East) announced in early June it will open a new station on the Yamanote loop in Tokyo in time for the 2020 Olympics and Paralympics.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Society
Jun 29, 2014

Comic books champion debate on Fukushima disaster

Farmers in Fukushima try to convince skeptical visitors that their crops are safe from radiation. Blood trickles from the nose of a reporter who visits the area.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / TELLING LIVES
Jun 29, 2014

Cartoonist Ernst captured 'fish-out-of-water' gaijin as they floundered

Having often been told by the Japanese that he would 'never understand' their culture because he was not one of them, American cartoonist Tim Ernst decided to embrace this notion and deploy it creatively.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Jun 28, 2014

Sexist remarks seen through a clouded lens

It's assumed that the heckling of Tokyo assembly member Ayaka Shiomura by some of her male colleagues on June 18 became a major news story in Japan only after the foreign press picked it up as an example of intractable Japanese sexism. The situation is more nuanced than how Western media described it,...
Japan Times
JAPAN / EXPLAINER
Jun 23, 2014

Abe looks to put his stamp on foreign aid

Next up for Prime Minister Shinzo Abe? Figuring out how to put official development assistance (ODA) to "strategic" use so the international aid program can help Japan make a more "proactive contribution" to world peace, one of Abe's pet policy goals.
COMMUNITY / Voices / COMMUNITY CHEST
Jun 23, 2014

ASIJ abuse scandal stirs dark memories among readers

Some letters in response to Jon Mitchell's The Foreign Element articles about sexual abuse by late American School in Japan teacher Jack Moyer.
COMMENTARY / World
Jun 22, 2014

Bewildering take on the American job market

With the U.S. government's latest monthly employment report, the American job market has entered a bewildering phase. The U.S. may be closer to 'full employment' than is commonly supposed, but the weak recovery since 2009 is hardly typical of economic cycles since World War II.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Media / BIG IN JAPAN
Jun 21, 2014

Advances in robotics present singular worry

'Singularity' is an odd word. Originally it meant peculiarity. Then 20th-century physicists got hold of it and situated it at the very boundary of space-time, to the eternal bafflement of the lay mind.
Japan Times
JAPAN / EXPLAINER
Jun 16, 2014

Japan's gambit in WWI set stage for a dark future

One hundred years ago, on June 28, 1914, Austrian Archduke Franz Ferdinand was assassinated in Sarajevo. It was the spark that led, one month later, to the beginning of World War I, which originally was expected to be confined to Europe and end in weeks. By the time it ended on Nov. 11, 1918, an estimated...
Japan Times
OLYMPICS
Jun 13, 2014

JOC grooms young athletes for international success at Elite Academy

Since 2008, the Japanese Olympic Committee has run a national youth athlete development program called the JOC Elite Academy. It's a part of the JOC Gold Plan, which was drawn up to improve Japan's international competitiveness in sports seven years before the development program was established.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Jun 12, 2014

'Sweet Poolside'

Puberty is a time of physical changes that range from the wondrous to the excruciating, but once accomplished are soon forgotten. The beard that greets you in the mirror, which once seemed miraculous and strange, is now just one more morning chore.
COMMENTARY / World
Jun 10, 2014

Some companies still struggle with their dark WWII history

The amount of bookshelf space dedicated to the 12 years of Hitler's Third Reich often exceeds that of any other period in history, but the role and the complicity of companies in the atrocities committed by the Nazis continue to be shrouded in obscurity.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Jun 7, 2014

Media minds manners in royal reportage

As much as we all love them, the Imperial family doesn't make for exciting reading. Last week, the European press was beside itself with news of the abdication of Spain's King Juan Carlos, who has been hit by several public support-sapping scandals in recent years. The only thing comparable here was...
Japan Times
JAPAN
Jun 4, 2014

Dance pioneer puts homeless back on their feet

While walking on the streets of Tokyo 10 years ago, dancer and choreographer Yuki Aoki encountered a scene that remains indelibly etched into his memory.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Jun 3, 2014

Kenta Koie and Crossfaith earn some rock cred overseas

In February, Osaka electro-infused metalcore act Crossfaith toured Britain with Limp Bizkit. Sharing stages and hanging out with the 1990s rap-metal act and its celebrity frontman Fred Durst reinforced the importance of not letting success go to their heads.
Japan Times
JAPAN / EXPLAINER
Jun 2, 2014

Middle road sought for health food labels

In an attempt to cash in on consumers' growing interest in healthy eating, new varieties of fresh fruit and vegetables — each touting enhanced health-boosting properties — are making their way to supermarkets nationwide.
COMMENTARY / World
May 27, 2014

Will India's Modi resist the lure of nationalism?

If newly elected Narendra Modi runs into trouble as Indian prime minister, will he be the prime minister for all Indians, as he has promised, or will he revert to his divisive roots?
Japan Times
JAPAN / EXPLAINER
May 26, 2014

Spousal tax break targeted to get wives out of house

The government is considering cutting a tax benefit that critics say deters wives from seeking full-time employment, as part of efforts to spur the economy.
SOCCER / PREMIER REPORT
May 23, 2014

Toure's agent not making many friends with attitude

Until last Tuesday, few people in England had heard of Dimitry Seluk. Now we are sick of him.
Japan Times
JAPAN
May 19, 2014

'Oishinbo' editor defends manga

The editor of 'Oishinbo' defends a decision to link characters' nosebleeds to Fukushima radiation, calling it a 'meaningful' attempt to depict the grim reality of life there.
Japan Times
JAPAN / EXPLAINER
May 19, 2014

Getting to the heart of Abe's vision for Japan's military

The hottest buzzwords in politics these days are "the right of collective self-defense," now that Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's advisory panel on security has released its much-awaited recommendations for reinterpreting the Constitution.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
May 17, 2014

Commemorating national trauma in South Korea

Memorials suggest neighbor has no inclination to forgive or forget colonial rule, a past Japan downplays
Japan Times
JAPAN / Media / BIG IN JAPAN
May 17, 2014

'Japan is back' but small business isn't

The old Japan is dying. Is a new Japan being born?
Japan Times
JAPAN / EXPLAINER
May 12, 2014

Know your rights when faced with 'stop and frisk' situation

U.S. President Barack Obama's visit to Japan last month triggered a barrage of security measures in Tokyo. Lockers and garbage cans at major train stations were taped shut and throngs of solemn-faced police officers appeared to be everywhere.
Japan Times
WORLD
May 11, 2014

U.S. first lady uses bully pulpit to push concerns about girls

Michelle Obama has taken the unique step of delivering her husband's weekly presidential address to express outrage at the recent kidnapping of Nigerian schoolgirls.
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
May 10, 2014

Brush up on pop idol feuds before the exam

Last month, Meiji University's law department announced it would offer a social-psychology course on the boy band Arashi. The syllabus includes lectures about the group's individual members; its work in TV dramas and advertising; and the "culture of Johnny's Jimusho," Arashi's powerful production company....
Japan Times
JAPAN / EXPLAINER
May 5, 2014

Silk mill took Japan to global level

The historic Tomioka Silk Mill in Gunma Prefecture and its related facilities are expected to become UNESCO World Heritage sites next month.

Longform

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