Economy | ANALYSIS
Households to take hit from tax hike
by Tomoko Otake
The consumption tax increase will hit every household in Japan hard, with many people’s financial future hanging on whether their wages rise enough to offset the hike's impact.
National Sep 27, 2013
Japan, S. Korea fail to mend fences
Ministerial-level talks between Japan and South Korea have failed to mend acrimonious ties strained by the Takeshima territorial dispute, differing interpretations of wartime history and the safety of Japanese fishery products in view of the nuclear disaster. Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida told reporters that ...
National Sep 9, 2013
City in California readies another resolution against Hashimoto
by Eric Johnston
Another California city is preparing a resolution to condemn Osaka Mayor Toru Hashimoto for his comments in May that Japan’s use of sexual slavery during the war was a necessity. Milpitas, a city of about 66,000 in Silicon Valley, is about 70 km south ...
National Aug 22, 2013
Osaka mayor urges San Francisco board to retract condemnation of his sex slave justification
Osaka Mayor Toru Hashimoto said Thursday that he has sent a letter to the board of supervisors of sister-city San Francisco to request that it retract a resolution condemning his remarks seeking to justify Japan’s wartime system of military brothels. Hashimoto, who doubles as ...
History Aug 13, 2013
Korean's war brothel diaries offer new details
The diaries of a Korean man who worked in wartime brothels for Japanese soldiers in Burma and Singapore during World War II are providing a wealth of new information about "comfort women."
History Aug 11, 2013
Campaign aims to introduce U.N.-recognized day in memory of wartime sex slaves
Activists launch a campaign to introduce a United Nations-proclaimed day to remember wartime sex slaves and end sexual assaults against women in wartime.
History Aug 2, 2013
Exhibit highlights Taiwan sex slaves
by Keiji Hirano
A Tokyo museum focusing on wartime sex slavery is holding an exhibition on how Taiwanese women exploited by the Japanese military have struggled to recover from their ordeals. The Women’s Active Museum on War and Peace, better known as WAM, has collected documents and ...
National Jul 31, 2013
California city unveils memorial statue of Korean 'comfort woman'
Hundreds of people gathered Tuesday at Glendale Central Park near Los Angeles to witness the unveiling of the first “comfort women” memorial on public property on the U.S. West Coast. Supporters, Glendale city officials and other community members attended the event on the sixth ...
National Jul 27, 2013
Sex slavery victims rally in Manila
Six Filipino former sex slaves staged a rally Saturday near the entrance of the Philippine presidential palace as Benigno Aquino III held a meeting with Prime Minister Shinzo Abe. “Justice for the grandmothers! Shinzo Abe, we are here, proof of the Japanese military’s sexual ...
National Jul 26, 2013
China sex slave who sued Japan dies
Guo Xicui, a Chinese woman who filed a lawsuit against the Japanese government seeking reparations for wartime sexual slavery, has died, a source who knew her said. She was 86. Guo died Tuesday of an unknown cause at her home in Yu County, Shanxi ...
National Jul 26, 2013
'Comfort women' to Aquino: Sit Abe down
A women’s rights group in the Philippines has asked President Benigno Aquino III to bring up the “comfort women” issue with Prime Minister Shinzo Abe when the two leaders meet Saturday in Manila. In an interview Thursday, Richilda Extremadura, president of Lila Pilipina (League ...
Politics & Diplomacy Jul 25, 2013
California sex slave monument draws fire
The government has expressed its displeasure to U.S. officials over a plan to unveil in California next week a monument dedicated to Korean “comfort women” forced into sexual slavery by the Japanese military during the war, according to diplomatic sources. The plan by a ...
Japan-related Jul 1, 2013
Constitutional revision debate could make or break 'Abenomics'
by Jochen Legewie
Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s popularity continues — the latest Nikkei and TV Tokyo survey shows his approval rating at 66 percent, his Liberal Democratic Party’s victory in the Upper House election seems highly probable, “Abenomics” is still on course, and even medium-term economic growth ...