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JAPAN

JAPAN / Politics
Sep 4, 2015
Opposition leaders pledge last-ditch efforts to block security bills
The leaders of six opposition parties Friday agreed to form a united front in trying to prevent the ruling camp bulldozing two contentious security bills into law.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Sep 4, 2015
Online community offers up Olympic logo ideas
As the Tokyo Olympics organizing committee decided to scrap the official emblem design for the 2020 Games and launch a new competition to find another design, Japan's online community has been actively discussing what might be suitable alternatives.
Japan Times
JAPAN / TELLING LIVES
Sep 4, 2015
Patrick Harlan, an American who can make the Japanese giggle
Japan's entertainment business is a come and go affair. Hundreds of local and foreign talents have entered the spotlight with a joke or two, only to vanish a year or two later when their gags ran out of chuckle.
JAPAN / Society
Sep 4, 2015
Ibaraki clinic 'named and shamed' for maternity harassment
The labor ministry says the dermatology clinic in Ibaraki Prefecture defied numerous instructions not to dismiss an employee on the grounds of her pregnancy.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Politics
Sep 4, 2015
Japan wins Asia-Pacific popularity poll despite mutual distrust with China, South Korea
The latest survey by the Washington-based center found 71 percent of respondents in the Asia-Pacific had a favorable view of Japan.

ASIA PACIFIC

ASIA PACIFIC
Sep 4, 2015
U.S. may sanction Chinese firms next week: report
The United States is preparing to sanction Chinese companies connected to the cybertheft of U.S. intellectual property as early as next week, the Financial Times newspaper reported on Thursday.

WORLD

WORLD / Science & Health
Sep 4, 2015
Plants may one day fight back against toxic TNT pollution: researchers
Scientists have discovered why TNT is so toxic to plants and intend to use the knowledge to tackle the problem of cleaning up the many sites worldwide contaminated by the commonly used explosive.
Japan Times
WORLD
Sep 4, 2015
On Arctic tip of Europe, Syrian migrants reach Norway by bike
Some Syrian refugees have found a cheaper, safer, though much more roundabout way of reaching Europe than crossing the Mediterranean — heading to the Arctic Circle and entering Norway from Russia, sometimes by bicycle.
WORLD / Politics
Sep 4, 2015
U.S. sanctions Russia's state-owned arms exporter Rosoboronexport
The U.S. government has slapped sanctions on Russian state-owned arms exporter Rosoboronexport for violating a U.S. law restricting weapons trade with Iran, North Korea and Syria, barring future U.S. military purchases with the company.
Japan Times
WORLD / Politics
Sep 4, 2015
Lawyer says ex-Clinton aide will invoke Fifth Amendment, won't testify in Republiican-led House probe
A former U.S. State Department information technology staffer who worked for Hillary Rodham Clinton is refusing to testify before U.S. lawmakers probing the former top diplomat and the 2012 attacks on U.S. installations in Benghazi, Libya, according to a letter sent by his lawyer to congressional investigators....
Japan Times
WORLD / Crime & Legal
Sep 4, 2015
Trump-inspired Boston brothers who roughed up homeless Mexican to stay in jail
Two Boston brothers charged with urinating on and beating a homeless Mexican man in an attack allegedly inspired by Republican presidential hopeful Donald Trump's views on immigrants agreed on Thursday to remain in custody until trial.
Japan Times
WORLD / Crime & Legal
Sep 4, 2015
South Carolina to seek death penalty for accused, 21, in Charleston church massacre
South Carolina will seek the death penalty for Dylann Roof, who is charged with the June murders of nine black worshippers at a Charleston church, a state prosecutor said on Thursday.
Japan Times
WORLD / Crime & Legal
Sep 4, 2015
Canary camp refugees rat on trafficking ring boss, smuggling boat skipper in their midst
Spanish police have arrested the suspected organizer of a ring smuggling migrants from Western Sahara to the Canary Islands and the captain of a trafficking boat from among a group of migrants recently arrived in the islands.

BUSINESS

BUSINESS
Sep 4, 2015
Smartphone game-maker DeNA, builder Haseko join Nikkei 225
DeNA Co., the social website operator that's working with Nintendo Co. on smartphone games, and condominium builder Haseko Corp. will join Japan's Nikkei 225 Stock Average.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Companies
Sep 4, 2015
Utilities buying new gas turbines to cut fuel bills
The nation's biggest power utilities are pushing ahead with plans to spend more on new turbines to improve the efficiency of their gas-fired power plants in an effort to lower fuel bills amid a protracted debate over the role of nuclear power.
BUSINESS / Economy
Sep 4, 2015
Japanese wages post 0.6% rise, steepest in a decade
Regular wages increased in July by the most in nearly 10 years, aiding Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's efforts to reflate the world's third-biggest economy.
BUSINESS / Markets
Sep 4, 2015
BOJ readies for liquidity squeeze with T-bill yields below zero
The Bank of Japan is becoming increasingly concerned its massive government bond purchases are drying up market liquidity, six months after investors warned that conditions were deteriorating.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Sep 4, 2015
Oil slump dooms Glomar, CIA spy ship built to raise Soviet sub, to scrapheap
A ship built by the CIA for a secret Cold War mission in 1974 to raise a sunken Soviet sub is heading to the scrap yard, a victim of the slide in oil prices.

Opinion

EDITORIALS
Sep 4, 2015
Time to heal rifts with Beijing, Seoul
As the events marking the end of World War II draw to a close, the Abe administration should turn its attention to improving ties with South Korea and China.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Sep 4, 2015
The veiled cause of Abe's legislative predicament
The national debate over the security bills as been limited to constitutional issues but it should also focus on Japan's significantly enhanced responsibilities in the U.S. defense guidelines.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Sep 4, 2015
Who will suffer most from climate change?
When it comes to climate change, it is the world's poorest farmers who will suffer the most.
COMMENTARY / World
Sep 4, 2015
Automation doesn't always improve productivity
Common sense says a business that invests in automation will be more productive, but the statistics tell a different story.

Sports

Japan Times
SOCCER / PREMIER REPORT
Sep 4, 2015
Rooney's legacy complicated despite proximity to Charlton's records
On Saturday, Wayne Rooney could become England's all-time leading goalscorer. He needs two goals against San Marino to overtake Sir Bobby Charlton's record of 49. By the end of the season he may well have surpassed Charlton's Manchester United record of 249 goals — Rooney is 16 behind the total.
Japan Times
SOCCER / World cup
Sep 4, 2015
Japan took past lessons to heart in win over Cambodia
National team manager Vahid Halilhodzic believes Japan owes Singapore a debt of gratitude for providing the wake-up call that fueled Thursday's World Cup qualifying win over Cambodia.
BASKETBALL
Sep 4, 2015
Japan women hold off Taiwan, book spot in FIBA Asia final
The Japan women's national basketball team dominated key stretches of the first and fourth quarters en route to a 65-58 triumph over Taiwan in the FIBA Asia Women's Championship semifinals on Friday in Wuhan, China.

LIFE

Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink
Sep 4, 2015
Sleep-deprived Tokyo gets an Australian wake-up with granola
Thinking about Tokyo's morning rush hour is enough to make anybody want to crawl back into bed. After working late in the office or attending an obligatory drinking party with coworkers, the last thing anyone wants to do is squeeze themselves onto a packed morning train for a somber repeat of the day...
Japan Times
Roasted-on-the-spot coffee from Kyoto is going global
The five-story pagoda of Hokanji Temple has crowned the skyline of eastern Kyoto for more than a millennium — give or take the few times when it burned down and was reconstructed. Just down the lane from the current incarnation (constructed in 1440) sits a rather newer landmark, % Arabica, which has...
Japan Times
Dharmasagara: Vegetarian curries that will transport you to India's sun-baked streets
Uttappam, idli, vada, masala dosa — for me, dinner at Dharmasagara is more than just a roll call of favorite foods. It's an incantation that summons up India's sun-baked streets of Chennai and Tamil Nadu.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / DESSERT WATCH
Sep 4, 2015
Lotte's koala cookies come in a new limited-edition flavor
Lotte's "Koara no Machi" ("Koala's March") brand of cookies has added a not-so-radical new flavor to its roster: cocoa and milk.
Japan Times
Sumibiyakiniku Nakahara: From raw beef with egg yolk to 'legendary' wagyu tongue
Open the menu at Sumibiyakiniku Nakahara and the first thing you will see is a full-page diagram showing the 22 basic parts of a Japanese cow. It's a simplified chart but the point is clear: You don't just eat well here — you get an education in some of the finest wagyu beef in the city.

CULTURE

Female news announcers; evaluating trash and treasure; CM of the Week: Coca-Cola Japan
TV stations rely on announcers for more than just news reading. Female announcers, in particular, represent their stations and are often as well known as the celebrity talent they present. So once in a while the stations treat them like the celebrities they are.

Longform

Figure skater Akiko Suzuki was once told her ideal weight should be 47 kilograms, a number she now admits she “naively believed.” This led to her have a relationship with food that resulted in her suffering from anorexia.
The silent battle Japanese athletes fight with weight