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 Ayako Mie

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Ayako Mie
Ayako Mie covers Japanese politics and policies for the Japan Times. She started her career as a reporter at Tokyo Broadcasting System in 2001. In 2008, she went to journalism school at University of California, Berkeley as a Fulbright scholar. On returning to Japan in December 2010, she worked for the Washington Post as a special correspondent.
For Ayako Mie's latest contributions to The Japan Times, see below:
Japan Times
JAPAN
Dec 9, 2012
Okinawa takes base row into its own hands
If the Liberal Democratic Party emerges victorious in next Sunday's Lower House election, one of the main tasks looming for the new government will be repairing diplomacy.
JAPAN / ELECTION 2012
Dec 2, 2012
Abe's rightism: Campaign ploy or governance plan?
The main election slogan of the Liberal Democratic Party, which polls say will prevail in the Dec. 16 general election, is "Restoring Japan," underlining its determination to reclaim the power it lost three years ago.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Nov 24, 2012
Scholar tries to ease Okinawa's U.S. pains
Three years ago, Robert Eldridge gave up his associate professorship at Osaka University to work on behalf of the U.S. Marine Corps in Okinawa. He said he thought he could make bigger contributions to U.S.-Japan relations in the prefecture than by teaching about the U.S.-Japan alliance to students at...
JAPAN
Nov 22, 2012
LDP vows pact with BOJ for 2% inflation
The Liberal Democratic Party unveiled on Wednesday its policy promises for the Lower House election, pledging to steer the economy out of a decade of deflation by reaching an accord with the Bank of Japan to set an inflation target of 2 percent per year.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Nov 14, 2012
Tokyo wary of looming Beijing helm change
China is on the verge of installing a new leader, presumably Vice President Xi Jingping, to lead the nation for the coming decade at a time when its economy and society are showing strains and its growing military expansion and tensions with its neighbors, particularly Japan, are promising turbulence...
Japan Times
JAPAN
Nov 6, 2012
An incubator for the samurai spirit
Kentaro Sakakibara, 37, leads a group of samurai. But his fortress isn't a feudal stronghold. Instead, it's an incubator of sorts to nurture startup businesses seeking to go global.
JAPAN / EXPLAINER
Nov 6, 2012
Startup: Add risk, cash, entrepreneur
Softbank Corp. CEO Masayoshi Son took the world by surprise last month by announcing a $20 billion buyout of U.S.-based Sprint Nextel Corp. In 1980, his startup firm was a two-man computer wholesaler. Now through vigorous mergers and acquisitions it's angling to be the world's third-largest telecommunications...
Japan Times
JAPAN
Nov 3, 2012
U.S. airman's home intrusion draws fire
The government lodged a protest Friday with Washington over the reported break-in and assault by a U.S. serviceman in Okinawa, an incident that comes less than three weeks after a high-profile alleged rape by two U.S. sailors of a woman in the prefecture.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Nov 2, 2012
Female diplomat has rare work-life balance
Hikariko Ono has always been a survivor in Japan's male-dominated society.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Sep 12, 2012
Syria war reporting risky, and a hard story to sell in Japan
When photojournalist Shin Yahiro heard compatriot video reporter Mika Yamamoto was killed in late August in Aleppo, he was not surprised, because he too has come under fire while covering the civil war raging in Syria.
Japan Times
JAPAN / EXPLAINER
Sep 11, 2012
Isle row Rule No.1: Protect what you have
The nation's territorial disputes heated up in August when the South Korean president made an unprecedented visit to the Takeshima Islands, which his country holds, and Chinese activists briefly landed on the Japan-administered Senkaku Islands.
JAPAN
Aug 29, 2012
Japanese Defense Ministry agrees Osprey crash in Morocco was caused by human error
The Defense Ministry on Tuesday concluded that pilot error caused the fatal crash of an MV-22 Osprey in Morocco in April, an accident that set off a strong outcry against the deployment of the airplane-helicopter hybrid in Japan.
JAPAN
Aug 28, 2012
Japan Coast Guard releases footage of Senkaku clash with Chinese activists
The Japan Coast Guard on Monday released a condensed 30-minute video of its failed attempt to prevent activists from Hong Kong from making an unauthorized landing on the Senkaku Islands on Aug. 15.
Japan Times
LIFE
Aug 26, 2012
Material girls: Japan's preteen model boom
AKB48 has reshaped the landscape of youth culture in modern Japan. The pop-idol group's rapid rise to stardom across a wide array of formats has provided the country's children with a fairly straightforward path to commercial success: fame is ultimately achieved by attracting a broad fan base via popular...
JAPAN / ANALYSIS
Aug 17, 2012
Tokyo, Beijing want tiff ended fast
Tokyo and Beijing are exchanging tough words over the arrest of 14 Hong Kong protesters and journalists who landed Wednesday on the disputed Senkaku Islands, repeating their harsh rhetoric over who owns the rocky outcroppings in the East China Sea.
JAPAN
Aug 16, 2012
No. 1 workers' stress, stigma jeopardizing motivation
About 30 percent of the Tokyo Electric Power Co. workers at the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear plant were suffering from the disorder called posttraumatic stress response when a survey was conducted in May and June 2011, according to a recently published study.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Aug 16, 2012
Photographer finds dignity in a dark time
When Hiroshi Watanabe went looking for traces of the disappearing Japantown in San Jose, California, the Los Angeles-based photographer was not drawn to the neighborhood's old storefronts but to a flower brooch made with tiny shells.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Aug 14, 2012
Key crisis contact heads for London
As deputy Cabinet secretary for public affairs, Noriyuki Shikata instantly realized his workload would skyrocket when the Great East Japan Earthquake struck, but admits being taken aback by the flood of requests that started pouring in from overseas media.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Aug 7, 2012
Female parley slaps male dominance
Men need to shed their deeply ingrained leadership mentality and tap female innovation, especially in Japan, where women could be the key to regaining competitiveness and igniting the rapid economic growth being experienced in many other parts of Asia.
JAPAN
Aug 6, 2012
New hearing held to gauge nuke sentiment
The government continued to solicit public opinion on nuclear energy policy over the weekend by holding a discussion-oriented polling session in Tokyo involving about 300 citizens from across the country.

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