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EDITORIALS
Jan 26, 2014

Leadership change at Keidanren

Keidanren has selected a new leader just as its clout declines and it faces challenges to its role as the nation's most powerful business lobby.
JAPAN / KANSAI PERSPECTIVE
Jan 26, 2014

No plan best plan in Kansai nuclear disaster

Ten months after regional governments were required to submit nuclear disaster evacuation plans, a lack of central government guidance and local-level cooperation is generating concern that Kansai will be ill-prepared to respond if any of Fukui Prefecture's 13 commercial reactors suffers a meltdown....
WORLD
Jan 26, 2014

Former leader reignites simmering debate about his role in Iraq conflict

Tony Blair reignited the debate about the West's response to terrorism Sunday, with a call on governments to recognize that religious extremism has become the biggest source of conflict around the world.
Japan Times
ENVIRONMENT / OUR PLANET EARTH
Jan 25, 2014

Is altruism our hope, and growth a curse?

My day job is at Chuo University in western Tokyo, and January at Japanese universities is chaotic, what with final classes, reports and grading as our second term comes to an end and the academic year winds down toward its conclusion in March. Among the words that come to mind, "happiness" is not usually...
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / 20 QUESTIONS
Jan 25, 2014

Baye McNeil: 'Always endeavor to do ... what you love to do'

Do what you have to do if you truly have to do it, of course, but always endeavor to be yourself and do what you love to do. That way, you'll come to the realization sooner that the life you're living is actually the product of your actions and decisions, and you'll be much less likely to waste a precious moment of it.
COMMENTARY / COUNTERPOINT
Jan 25, 2014

Spinmeister Abe: crisis-mongering and distractions

The news media tends to hyperventilate because this generates a buzz that attracts attention.
COMMENTARY / World
Jan 25, 2014

U.S. regulators undermining Net neutrality

The U.S. has the most innovative people in the world working in an increasingly information-based economy, yet its Internet service providers are subject to neither competition nor oversight.
JAPAN / Politics
Jan 24, 2014

As Western leaders decide to shun Sochi, Abe will go

Many Western leaders have decided to skip the Sochi Winter Olympics in February, but not Prime Minister Shinzo Abe.
JAPAN / CHUBU CONNECTION
Jan 24, 2014

Kabuki reviews shed light on Edo theater culture

Seven compilations of acting reviews for kabuki shows performed in Nagoya during the Edo Period have been found in the storeroom of Misono-za, an old theater in the city that is under renovation.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Jan 23, 2014

Getting a hustle on the Oscars

David O. Russell's "American Hustle" is cleaning up in the early part of an awards season that was meant to belong to Steve McQueen's "12 Years a Slave." And that ain't no con.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Jan 23, 2014

The oyster can be your world in Ishikawa

Fresh, plump oysters are the tempting offerings at this weekend's Secchu Jumbo Kaki Matsuri 2014 (Jumbo Oyster Festival in the Snow 2014) in Ishikawa Prefecture's city of Anamizu.
Japan Times
Events / Events Outside Tokyo
Jan 23, 2014

Don't flap about when it comes to ensuring a year of good luck

This weekend, Osaka Tenmangu, a shrine in Osaka's Kita Ward, is hosting its annual festival where visitors can trade bullfinch shaped good-luck charms to bring about future prosperity.
Japan Times
Events / Events Outside Tokyo
Jan 23, 2014

New-year festivities all set to start in Yokohama

From the end of next week, Yokohama's Chinatown begins its spring festival to ring in the Year of the Horse.
BUSINESS
Jan 23, 2014

Nomura sees Japanese IPOs doubling to ¥1 trillion in 2014

Nomura Holdings Inc., the nation's top manager of initial public offerings in 2013, expects debut share sales will almost double to ¥1 trillion this year as buyout funds recoup investments amid a stock rally.
Japan Times
JAPAN / DAVOS SPECIAL 2014
Jan 23, 2014

'Abenomics' returns spotlight to Japan

Takeshi Niinami, CEO of Lawson Inc., remembers how Japan captured the attention of world leaders gathered in Davos a year ago.
Reader Mail
Jan 22, 2014

Avoiding the nuclear debate

Regarding the Jan. 17 Kyodo article "Fukushima No. 1 engineer's warning to Taiwan: Nuclear power unstable": So now we know that the government — the Liberal Democratic Party, that is — was not only clearly informed of the likelihood of a nuclear disaster but has been deliberately covering up this...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Jan 21, 2014

Kobe's tofubeats moves from blogs to the big time

Like many kids growing up in the 1990s, Yusuke Kawai's initial brush with the World Wide Web happened in elementary school.
COMMENTARY / SENTAKU MAGAZINE
Jan 21, 2014

Is the Obama administration prioritizing ties with China?

The different tones of the U.S. and Japanese reactions to China's recent establishment of an air defense identificatin zone raises the question of whether the Obama administration is prioritizing ties with Beijing.
COMMENTARY
Jan 21, 2014

A Dutch cure for the Dutch disease

When a country like the Netherlands, which built one of the world's most expansive welfare states in the 1960s and '70s, reverses course to reduce welfare dependency and to restore work incentives, it is worth noting.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Jan 21, 2014

Kadena moms demand truth

Six months ago, dangerous levels of dioxin were discovered near two U.S. Department of Defense schools on Okinawa Island — but only now are many service members based there learning the full extent of the contamination.
JAPAN / Politics
Jan 19, 2014

Nago mayor wins re-election in blow to Abe, U.S.

Nago voters return Mayor Susumu Inamine for a second term, dealing a setback to Tokyo's plans to build a long-sought air base for the United States.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / LEARNING CURVE
Jan 19, 2014

China, South Korea face familiar woes in English quest

Japan isn't alone in its struggles with teaching English. China and South Korea have experienced similar frustrations, but their responses and results have been quite different.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Jan 18, 2014

Hirata and Saito: love on the run

The trial of Makoto Hirata, which commenced Thursday, is expected to reveal a number of new facts about the former Aum Shinrikyo fugitive, but of most interest to investigators will be how he managed to stay hidden for so long.
Japan Times
WORLD / Science & Health
Jan 18, 2014

Meditation may reduce anxiety, depression

Meditation may offer the same relief as antidepressants for people with symptoms of anxiety and depression, according to an analysis of previous findings on the practice.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Jan 17, 2014

Smaller is getting bigger in the satellite business

As emerging space pioneers in China and India race to the moon and Mars, private-sector startups are quietly launching satellites the size of microwave ovens that aim to satisfy much more terrestrial desires.

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