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.
History | CHUBU CONNECTION Aug 23, 2013
Was Fellers friend of Japan or master manipulator?
A Nagoya University professor is working on a book about the life of the late U.S. Brig. Gen. Bonner Fellers, who played a major role in absolving Emperor Hirohito (known posthumously as Emperor Showa) of responsibility for Japan’s wartime aggression across Asia. The movie ...
Issues | THE FOREIGN ELEMENT Aug 5, 2013
SOFA: an unequal treaty that trumps the Constitution?
by Colin P.A. Jones
The prime minister's dogged focus on amending the American-tainted Constitution might reflect an uncomfortable unspoken truth — that it may be easier to change the Constitution than revise another document of potentially greater importance: the Status of Forces Agreement between Japan and the United ...
Politics & Diplomacy Mar 4, 2013
Fresh clashes in Borneo siege leave seven more dead
Five Malaysian policemen and two gunmen died in a fresh clash on Borneo as fears mounted that violence linked to a deadly standoff with Filipino intruders had spread to other areas, police said Sunday. The shootout late Saturday in the town of Semporna followed ...
Politics & Diplomacy Mar 3, 2013
Malaysia threatens drastic action in Borneo isle siege
After a tense standoff erupted into a shootout that killed 14 people Friday, Malaysia threatened Saturday to take “drastic action” against intruding followers of self-claimed Philippine Sultan Jamalul Kiram III. Twelve followers of the little-known sultan of Sulu and two Malaysian security members were ...