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WORLD / Society
Apr 3, 2014

New Zealand tops world social index; Japan leads in health

Japan leads the world in health and wellness in a new global index that ranks countries by social and environmental performance.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Apr 3, 2014

Kanye West cancels Fuji Rock headline spot

Kanye West has canceled his headline appearance at this year's Fuji Rock Festival "due to artist circumstances," according to festival organizers.
EDITORIALS
Apr 2, 2014

Fishermen give Tepco green light

Fishermen have given Tepco a green light to attempt to reduce the flow of groundwater into the reactor buildings at the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant by diverting it directly into the sea.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Apr 2, 2014

The limitations of a medium can also be its artistic freedom

New work by the young photographer Yusuke Takeda shows how a mechanical limitation of digital cameras can be turned into a positive feature.
EDITORIALS
Apr 1, 2014

Reducing disaster-related deaths

The government outlines a policy of reducing by 80 percent in 10 years the death toll of 332,000 currently anticipated from the next massive quake in Japan, which is predicted to happen off the Pacific coasts stretching from Shizuoka Prefecture to Shikoku.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Apr 1, 2014

LA lifestyle gives starRo a new take on making music

Video-chatting with Los Angeles resident Shinya Mizoguchi toward the tail end of a particularly testing Tokyo winter, it's hard not to feel a twinge of jealousy. I deliberately avoid defaulting to my typically British weather-related opening gambit of small talk, but it's not long before the topic is...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Apr 1, 2014

Saxophonist Maceo Parker brings a funk legacy to Tokyo, Osaka on Japan visit

Maceo Parker will be carrying a heavy load of history on his shoulders when he visits Japan for a string of gigs this month, but you wouldn't know it from his carefree attitude.
COMMENTARY / World
Mar 31, 2014

Russia's natural gas weapon looks overblown

On close inspection, the threat that Russia could use its natural gas as a doomsday weapon involves much bluff. If used, it would probably do less damage than imagined while imposing long-term costs on Russia.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / THE FOREIGN ELEMENT
Mar 31, 2014

The Fukushima disaster: Three years on, who's fooling whom?

Japan's new Basic Energy Plan sees nuclear power as an important base load energy source. But whatever 'base load' means politically, the public is lulled — fooled — into a sense that, despite Fukushima, nuclear will remain a logistically viable long-term option.
WORLD
Mar 30, 2014

Governments hacking media: Google experts

Twenty-one of the world's 25 leading news organizations have been the target of likely government-sponsored hacking attacks, according to research by two Google security engineers.
Japan Times
LIFE / Travel
Mar 29, 2014

Under the beat of the Taiko in Kyoto

Kyoto's long history has ensured that it has seen its fair share of giants. Yet few of these legends have marked the city's physical appearance to the extent of Toyotomi Hideyoshi, despite the man's reputedly smallish stature.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Books
Mar 29, 2014

A wistful note on a triumphant battle

When I was a boy, my father told me and my kid brother stories from the Russo-Japanese War (1904-1905) and taught us how to sing some of the threnodies that Gen. Maresuke Nogi composed in classical Chinese on the battlefield. My father was born three years after the war, but memories of it were still...
Japan Times
WORLD / Science & Health
Mar 29, 2014

If you want to fake pain, don't do it around this computer

In the ever-expanding contest between artificial intelligence and the ordinary human mind, you can chalk up another one for the computer.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / TELLING LIVES
Mar 28, 2014

TV personality Haruka Christine wants youth to get politically savvy

Regular viewers of Japanese TV may remember young Haruka Christine's first appearances on the variety-show circuit in early 2010, when she had her fellow entertainers and audiences in stitches.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC
Mar 28, 2014

Malaysian jet search resumes, U.S. sends second Poseidon plane

An air search of the remote southern Indian Ocean resumed Friday, seeking to confirm if hundreds of objects spotted by satellites are debris from a Malaysian jetliner presumed to have crashed almost three weeks ago with the loss of all on board.
JAPAN
Mar 27, 2014

Amnesty: Let 'tragedy' be a lesson to Japan's courts

Prosecutors must swiftly accept Thursday's Shizuoka District Court decision to reopen a high-profile 1966 murder case and get to the truth behind the conviction of former professional boxer Iwao Hakamada, the Japan branch of Amnesty International said after the ruling.
Japan Times
WORLD / Science & Health
Mar 27, 2014

Autism begins in the womb: study

Autism may begin when certain brain cells fail to properly mature within the womb, according to new research by U.S. scientists.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Mar 27, 2014

'Shirayuki Hime Satsujin Jiken (The Snow White Murder Case)'

The Japanese are big fans of mysteries of the puzzle-plot sort, with murders committed in the kinds of odd and ingenious ways that real killers seldom use. The detective hero not only cracks the case, but delivers a detailed postmortem to an appreciative audience, somewhat like a chess master analyzing...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Mar 27, 2014

Man With A Mission and Buzz The Bears keep punk's spirit alive at Punkspring

It's not every day you get to exchange thoughts on punk rock with a talking wolf.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Mar 27, 2014

Me First and the Gimme Gimmes to show a feminine side at Punkspring

Punk rock's best-known cover band, Me First and the Gimme Gimmes, will be previewing material from their upcoming "Are We Not Men? We Are Diva!" album at this weekend's Punkspring festival.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Mar 26, 2014

North Korean missile launch draws 'strong' protest from Japan

Japan lodges a strong protest against Pyongyang over its test-firing of two intermediate-range ballistic missiles into the Sea of Japan.
BUSINESS / Companies
Mar 26, 2014

Sumitomo Mitsui reportedly to hire four ex-UBS employees for equities

Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group Inc. will hire four former UBS AG employees to expand its Japan equity business, according to a source.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Mar 26, 2014

Shimooka Renjo, back in focus

It's not surprising that the Tokyo Metropolitan Museum of Photography has organized a retrospective on Shimooka Renjo, one of the first commercial photographers in Japan. What is surprising is that it didn't happen sooner.
Japan Times
Events / Events Outside Tokyo
Mar 26, 2014

Party with the yuru-kyara in Saitama

On March 30, Kibitan, Fukushima Prefecture's Narcissus Flycatcher bird mascot is joining other yuru-kyara regional mascots from across Saitama Prefecture in an event to support the recovery efforts in regions of northeastern Japan affected by the Great East Japan Earthquake of March 11, 2011.
Japan Times
Events / Events Outside Tokyo
Mar 26, 2014

Let cherry blossoms light up the evening at Osaka castle

When it comes to spring beauty, nothing surpasses the sight of cherry blossoms in full bloom, especially when they are illuminated during the night. Add the grandiose view of Osaka Castle as the backdrop plus a delicious bento-box picnic, and you have a winning combination.
Japan Times
Events / Events Outside Tokyo
Mar 26, 2014

There's lots to do down by the river in Kitakyushu

During World War II, Kokura, which is now part of Kitakyushu in Fukuoka Prefecture, is said to have been selected as a potential target of the atomic bomb, an alternative to Nagasaki.

Longform

Ayumi Matsuki, a priestess at Yoshiwara Shrine, shows off some "o-mamori" charms. She says visitors to the shrine have increased since the NHK drama “Unbound” began airing this month.
Tracing Tsutaya Juzaburo, Edo’s media maverick