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Japan Times
WORLD
Oct 29, 2013

NSA bills let Congress choose: End amassing of phone records or OK it

After nearly five months of controversy and debate, the U.S. Congress may face a clear choice over the National Security Agency's program to collect the phone records of nearly every American: endorse it or shut it down.
EDITORIALS
Oct 28, 2013

Two tasks for the opposition

The Diet must thoroughly scrutinize the Abe administration's rationale for pushing to restart some of Japan's 50 nuclear reactors that have been offline for more than two years.
COMMENTARY / World
Oct 28, 2013

Measure of mismeasure confounds free choice

It's important to help people think clearly about why they might choose something less desirable than what they now have to avoid the risk of getting something even worse next time.
COMMUNITY / Issues / THE FOREIGN ELEMENT
Oct 28, 2013

Getting published is easy; getting noticed is trickier

How can writers make themselves heard in the age of blog and self-publishing saturation? Japan-based authors offer a diverse range of views
Japan Times
LIFE / Style & Design
Oct 28, 2013

Smashing ideas on future design and technology

While contemporary art is still transfixed by its own reflection, veteran Japanese curator Yuko Hasegawa has focused her cultural microscope on something quite different. "Bunny Smash Design to touch the world," the current group exhibition at the Museum of Contemporary Art, Tokyo, is a hit-and-miss...
JAPAN
Oct 27, 2013

Half of public opposes secrecy protection bill: poll

A government bill aimed at toughening penalties for leaking state secrets is opposed by 50.6 percent of the public, a survey says.
COMMENTARY / World
Oct 27, 2013

Chemical weapons watchdog has tighter leash

The Nobel Committee's decision to honor the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons with this year's Peace Prize should compel world leaders to increase their support for it.
Japan Times
JAPAN / WEDGE
Oct 27, 2013

Sony spinoff goes global with biometric ID gadget

Turkey is working on a nationwide project to install biometric authentication systems in hospitals and pharmacies nationwide.
Japan Times
LIFE / Travel / BACKSTREET STORIES
Oct 26, 2013

Strolling old Fukagawa, where gardens and true glitterati mingle

I may be jumping the gun a bit on fall colors, but early October's glorious weather has got me craving some autumnal arboreality.
Japan Times
ENVIRONMENT / OUR PLANET EARTH
Oct 26, 2013

'Scary as hell' ocean-research storm breaks

'The long-held barriers between nature and culture are breaking down. It's no longer us against 'nature.' Instead, it's we who decide what nature is and what it will be.'
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Oct 26, 2013

Singh seeks to mend fences with Beijing

Six months after a military standoff on their disputed border, the leaders of China and India signed a defense cooperation agreement last Wednesday to limit the risk of further confrontations.
Japan Times
WORLD
Oct 26, 2013

Saudi driver's license protest kick-starts nation's women's rights movement

Women's rights activists in Saudi Arabia were set to get behind the wheel en masse Saturday to protest their government's refusal to allow women to have driver's licenses — a demonstration that comes just two years after a similar push. While the earlier effort was not successful, it did kick-start...
Japan Times
JAPAN
Oct 25, 2013

Frenchman missing five days in Yamanashi mountains

A Frenchman has been missing since Monday in Yamanashi Prefecture near the country's second-highest mountain, and his friends are now desperate to raise funds to kick off a private search for him, it was learned Friday.
Japan Times
WORLD / Politics
Oct 25, 2013

U.S. health site tests 'began too late'

Private contractors in charge of building the federal online health insurance marketplace testified Thursday that the administration went ahead with the Oct. 1 launch of HealthCare.gov despite insufficient testing.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Oct 24, 2013

Tokyo Designers Week uses music, art as draws

The definition of design in Japan is changing. Depending on who you speak to, what falls under its umbrella is either shrinking or expanding to include nearly all aspects of modern life.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / EVERYMAN EATS
Oct 24, 2013

A gourmet tour of Japan in one spot

If you were visiting Japan and wanted to experience the best of the country's dining scene, your itinerary might look something like this:
Japan Times
Events / Events Outside Tokyo
Oct 24, 2013

A frightful day out in Kawasaki

Though not a traditionally Japanese event, you can still celebrate the West's spookiest time of the year at the 17th annual Kawasaki Halloween Parade. More than 3,000 revelers are expected to show up, dressed in their finest ghoulish attire, to march around the east side of JR Kawasaki Station and neighboring...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Oct 24, 2013

'Now You See Me'

So many directors these days seem to want to be Christopher Nolan: There's Zack Snyder aiming for "Dark Knight" portentousness with "Man of Steel" and Danny Boyle aping the false-reality trickiness of "Inception" with "Trance" to name but two. The latest wannabe is French director-gone-Hollywood Louis...
Japan Times
Events / Events Outside Tokyo
Oct 24, 2013

Nagashima Onsen Resort lights up the winter

Although the Christmas holiday season is not yet upon us, Nagashima Onsen Resort in Kuwana, Mie Prefecture, is already getting into the spirit of festive lighting. From Oct. 25, Japan's longest-running winter illuminations event lights up for its 10th time. Until March next year, Nabana no Sato, a botanical...
Japan Times
Events / Events In Tokyo
Oct 24, 2013

Sapporo City Jazz makes its way to Tokyo

Japan's top-notch jazz singers are heading to the Sapporo City Jazz festival this autumn, as part of the satellite events related to this year's Tokyo Designers Week.
Japan Times
Events / Events Outside Tokyo
Oct 24, 2013

In the market for fresh local produce?

On Oct. 26 and 27, organizers of morning markets across the nation will be getting together in Atsugi, Kanagawa Prefecture, for the 18th National Morning Market Summit 2013 to discuss the future of their sector and exchange opinions on the latest trends.
BUSINESS
Oct 24, 2013

Federal jury finds Bank of America liable for mortgage fraud

A federal jury in Manhattan on Wednesday found Bank of America liable for fraud because of thousands of defective mortgages sold by its Countrywide Financial unit, handing the government a victory in one of the few major trials rooted in the financial crisis.
Japan Times
WORLD
Oct 24, 2013

German leader calls Obama about alleged cellphone tapping

Furious German officials said Wednesday that U.S. intelligence agencies may have been monitoring German Chancellor Angela Merkel's cellphone, creating a fresh diplomatic headache for President Barack Obama after a week in which other close allies condemned his administration over allegations of other...
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Voices / FOREIGN AGENDA
Oct 23, 2013

Japan: no safe country for foreign women

When I first moved to Japan, I tolerated the staring, following and the persistent pickup artists, but after being assaulted twice in public, they have taken on darker undertones.
LIFE
Oct 22, 2013

Apathy is the real enemy in NSA affair

One of the most disturbing aspects of the public response to Edward Snowden's revelations about the scale of governmental surveillance is how little public disquiet there appears to be about it. A recent YouGov poll, for example, asked respondents whether the British security services have too many or...
COMMENTARY / World
Oct 22, 2013

Brain drain taking toll on India, China

Disillusionment with India's seemingly ineradicable corruption and inefficiency has resulted in a brain drain abroad. A similar quest for more congenial climes affects China's privileged classes.
CULTURE / Music
Oct 22, 2013

Lemon's Chair shoegaze festival adds Nagoya to its list of stops

"It's about the urge to drown out your inner weaknesses with the guitar," says Masashi Imanishi, guitarist for Osaka band Lemon's Chair. "There's a sentimental aesthetic to it that's about picturing scenery through sound, but I don't really have a strict definition for it."

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