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Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Jul 17, 2013

The different brush strokes of Tani Buncho

The latest exhibition at the Suntory Museum of Art commemorates the 250th anniversary of the birth of Tani Buncho — a painter, connoisseur and art historian of formidable energy and with an insatiable drive for knowledge. Of samurai lineage, Buncho underwent foundational art training in Kano School...
COMMENTARY / World
Jul 17, 2013

Can Snowden cite rights and still applaud Putin?

It's easy to admire Edward Snowden for what he has revealed about U.S. and U.K. spying, and still feel deeply uncomfortable about his praise for Russia, of all places.
COMMENTARY / World
Jul 16, 2013

Do unto Exxon as you would do unto yourself

Last week's resolution on climate change by the General Synod of the United Church of Christ has garnered mostly admiring attention from the news media. But I must admit to a degree of perplexity and sorrow over the document, which seems to place the blame for our heavy use of fossil fuels on the companies...
Japan Times
WORLD
Jul 15, 2013

NSA chief on quest to 'collect it all'

In late 2005, as Iraqi roadside bombings were nearing an all-time peak, the National Security Agency's newly appointed chief began pitching a radical plan for halting the attacks that then were killing or wounding a dozen Americans a day.
Japan Times
WORLD / Crime & Legal
Jul 14, 2013

Zimmerman acquitted of Martin killing

A Florida jury acquits George Zimmerman of second-degree murder and manslaughter in a case that both fascinated and appalled large segments of a spellbound America.
Japan Times
LIFE / Language / BILINGUAL
Jul 14, 2013

Furigana: read the fine print, decode the hidden meanings

Years ago, a colleague at a company where I worked had a surname written using a character so obscure, that when handing out his business card he used to joke apologetically, 名前の漢字、ほとんど誰も読めない (namae no kanji, hotondo dare mo yomenai, hardly anybody can read the kanji in...
COMMENTARY / World
Jul 14, 2013

American Revolution bore stripes of a holy war

Americans have considered their wars sacred even when the primary objectives were political. The American Revolution bore the stripes of a holy war.
WORLD / Science & Health
Jul 14, 2013

'Alarm fatigue' at hospitals poses risks

Walk into a hospital intensive care unit and hear the din: A ventilator honks loudly. An infusion pump emits a high-pitched beep-beep every six seconds. A blood pressure monitor pushes out one long tone after another.
CULTURE / Japan Pulse
Jul 12, 2013

Tweet Beat: #七夕, #鯖アニメ, #愛国競争

Tanabata wishes, political demonstration and a whole pile of anime premieres featured big in last week's Japanese Twitter hashtags! #TweetBeat
COMMENTARY / World
Jul 11, 2013

Who'll stand for spied-on?

By hearing only the state side of the story, the U.S. secret surveillance courts lose the appearance of impartiality. Court disputes need to have adversaries.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Jul 10, 2013

Surveying the city from a different viewpoint

Beside Stephan Balkenhol's sculpture "Big Head with Three Part Relief" a note reads, "Nothing here is as it should be." This figureless "head" set against a black void represents "Mr. Everyman," that common figure, detached from his surround and considering his place in the world.
EDITORIALS
Jul 10, 2013

Japan's first 'Internet election'

Political candidates don't seem to be using the Internet effectively ahead of the July 21 Upper House polls. The messages read more like diaries than policy arguments.
BUSINESS
Jul 7, 2013

Messaging program WeChat leads Chinese firm's global Internet foray

With Web giants such as Facebook and Twitter blocked by the government here, an entire ecosystem of home-grown companies has flourished with names that are unfamiliar to many outside China.
COMMENTARY / World
Jul 6, 2013

America's revolutionary declaration of dissent

One cause of the growing American fury in this political age is that a large, distant federal establishment is not terribly well-suited to give ear to ordinary dissent.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives
Jul 5, 2013

Mom who blogged about tsunami wants people to remember

Stranded for three days after March 11, 2011, with her mother-in-law and young children on the second floor of their home near the industrial port of Ishinomaki, Miyagi Prefecture, Naoko Nakayama fought panic by communicating the only way she could: scribbling on torn scraps of paper.
JAPAN
Jul 2, 2013

Apple seeks to trademark 'iWatch'

Apple Inc., the world's most valuable technology company, is seeking to trademark "iWatch" in Japan as rival Samsung Electronics Co. readies its own wearable smartphone device.
COMMENTARY / World
Jun 27, 2013

Saudi Arabia backsliding on women's rights

The trumped-up case in which two leading Saudi activists for women's rights were sentenced to prison is a symptom of the kingdom's regression on human rights.
Japan Times
WORLD / Science & Health
Jun 26, 2013

A mother helps son in his struggle with schizophrenia

The mother drives her son everywhere because he is not well enough to drive. He sits next to her, and at the red lights she looks over and studies him: how quiet he is, how stiffly he sits, hands in his lap, fingers fidgeting slightly, a tic that occasionally blooms into a full fluttering motion he makes...
COMMUNITY / How-tos / LIFELINES
Jun 25, 2013

A year on, what you should already know about residence cards and re-entry

Reader CW writes: "I've lived here 35 years and am a permanent resident. Recently I met an American who had just returned through Tokyo immigration and all the information about his work, residence and visa status was on his card but not on his passport. The passport had not been endorsed. Why is Japan...
JAPAN / History / THE LIVING PAST
Jun 23, 2013

The 'barbarians' were coming — like it or not

'Sonnō jōi!": "Revere the Emperor, expel the barbarians!"
Japan Times
CULTURE / Books
Jun 23, 2013

North Korea occupies Fukuoka in Murakami's alternate world

Not to be confused with another famous Japanese novelist who has the same surname, Ryu Murakami is known for being an overtly political, even subversive, writer. "From the Fatherland, With Love," his latest novel to be translated into English, cements that reputation. Taking place in an alternate world...
EDITORIALS
Jun 22, 2013

Putting their heart into tourism

How can Japan be serious about attracting foreign tourists when website promos have to be dropped because the computer translations are so poor?
Japan Times
CULTURE / Stage
Jun 20, 2013

For a nonverbal theater group, The Original Tempo has a lot to say

"The Yellow Raincoat Squad' is charming and engaging. This is another one of those productions that defies description but is a must-see for all ages," wrote Catherine Lamm in The British Theatre Guide in August, 2009. Lamm was reviewing one of Japan's best-kept theatrical secrets: The Original Tempo...
WORLD / Science & Health
Jun 17, 2013

Open-source software aids NPOs

The Grameen Foundation was providing health care to pregnant women in Ghana in 2010 when it came up with a new idea: As cellphones become more widely available in developing nations, health information can be more quickly disseminated to poor patients in remote locations via voice and text messaging....
WORLD
Jun 13, 2013

U.S. quietly sabotages al-Qaida's flashy online magazine

U.S. intelligence operatives covertly sabotaged a prominent al-Qaida online magazine last month in an apparent attempt to sow confusion among the group's followers, according to officials.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Jun 6, 2013

Abe's growth strategy hit for lack of details

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe reveals his set of structural reforms to boost the economy, ranging from creating special economic zones to easing rules to set up international schools, but fails to impress market players.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / THE FOREIGN ELEMENT
Jun 4, 2013

As evidence of Agent Orange in Okinawa stacks up, U.S. sticks with blanket denial

In April 2011, these Community pages published the first accounts of sick U.S. veterans who believe their illnesses were caused by exposure to Agent Orange on Okinawa during the Vietnam War era.
Japan Times
LIFE / Language / BILINGUAL
Jun 3, 2013

Shinto's kami and jinja seeking world acceptance

Ise Jingu (伊勢神宮, Ise Jingu Shrine) has recently published a sasshi (冊子, booklet) in English, titled "Soul of Japan — An Introduction to Shinto and Ise Jingu."
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Jun 1, 2013

Yoko Ono: 'I feel that I am starting a new life at 80'

Sitting at her kitchen table, sipping green tea, Yoko Ono looks much the same as she did when I met her 20 years ago. Dressed in black and peering intently over tinted spectacles, her face bears little trace of the passing of time and her diminutive form exudes utter calmness. Having crossed the famous...
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC
May 27, 2013

Sibling spy case spotlights North Korean defectors

Earlier this year, one of the most prominent North Korean defectors, Yoo Woo Sung, walked out of his apartment building in Seoul and found four South Korean government vehicles waiting for him.

Longform

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