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July 08, 2025
 

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Eric Johnston

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Eric Johnston
Japan Times
JAPAN / EXPLAINER
Sep 8, 2014
How vulnerable is Japan to severe weather?
The deadly mudslides in Hiroshima and other parts of western Japan last month caused by torrential rains have raised concerns about how vulnerable Japan is to such natural disasters, especially given severe weather events due to climate change.
JAPAN / Politics
Sep 4, 2014
Kansai wary of new regional revitalization office's effectiveness
Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has promised that his new Cabinet, unveiled Wednesday, will place a high priority on the social and economic concerns of prefectural and other governments across the nation worried about depopulation and their widening economic gap with Tokyo.
JAPAN / Politics
Sep 1, 2014
With bigger issues in the balance, local election kicks off in Nago, Okinawa
A city assembly election expected to influence Okinawa's gubernatorial election in November and the central government's plans to build a replacement for the controversial Futenma base kicked off Sunday in Nago.
JAPAN
Aug 29, 2014
Fukui holds nuke disaster drill under revised evacuation plan
Fukui Prefecture will conduct a nuclear disaster drill on Sunday that involves evacuating areas that lie within 30 km of a nuclear power plant.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Aug 27, 2014
Police say rumors of foreign looters in Hiroshima unfounded
The Hiroshima Prefectural Police said Wednesday they had no information to substantiate online rumors that foreigners were burglarizing houses in areas of the city hit hardest by last week's deadly mudslides.
JAPAN / Politics / KANSAI PERSPECTIVE
Aug 24, 2014
Nippon Ishin, Yui no To take second shot at dethroning LDP
With their recent “political remarriage,” Nippon Ishin no Kai (Japan Restoration Party) and Yui no To (Unity Party) enter the union more experienced, and perhaps more wiser, than the first time around
JAPAN / Politics / KANSAI PERSPECTIVE
Aug 24, 2014
Osaka merger drags on Hashimoto's return to Nagatacho
Osaka Mayor Toru Hashimoto may be moving forward with plans to once again become a notable player in Nagatacho by tying up with Yui no To (Unity Party).
JAPAN
Aug 22, 2014
Fukui to review mudslide dangers in wake of Hiroshima disaster
After the deadly mudslides in Hiroshima, Fukui announces it will conduct a survey on the dangers that such disasters pose to the reactor-packed Tsuruga Peninsula.
JAPAN / ANALYSIS
Aug 20, 2014
Osaka mayor paints ambitious picture of prefecture in 2025 plan
If Osaka Mayor Toru Hashimoto has his way, by 2025, as it prepares to host that year's International Expo, Osaka will have become an international entertainment capital, home to a casino resort, the site of a major electronic car race and a bicycle race that rivals the Tour de France.
JAPAN / View from Osaka
Aug 16, 2014
Kepco: the monstrous 500-pound gorilla of Kansai
Last month, Chimori Naito, a 91-year-old former vice president at Kansai Electric Power Co., admitted what was hardly a secret but which put the utility under intense media scrutiny.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Aug 16, 2014
Power play: the debate over renewable energy
On Aug. 26, 2011, the same day that Prime Minister Naoto Kan resigned after widespread criticism of his handling of the meltdowns at the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant that followed the Great East Japan Earthquake and tsunami in March 2011, the Diet passed legislation that created a new feed-in...
JAPAN / Politics
Jul 27, 2014
Is 'Kobe Formula' spanner in works?
On March 18, 1975, in a show of defiance against Japan-U.S. military policy, the Kobe Municipal Assembly passed a resolution that became known as the "Kobe Formula."
JAPAN / KANSAI PERSPECTIVE
Jul 27, 2014
Self-defense less collective at local level
After the Shiga gubernatorial election earlier this month, in which Taizo Mikazuki, the hand-picked successor to former Gov. Yukiko Kada, defeated the ruling coalition's candidate, certain media agencies and pundits suggested that collective self-defense had no impact on the race.
JAPAN / Politics
Jul 25, 2014
Governors tell Abe to get real on fixing economy — outside Tokyo
A long-sought response from Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, who is finally listening to the problems faced by the other Japan — the one outside Tokyo — or a cynical attempt to rally the Liberal Democratic Party before key local elections next April?
JAPAN / Politics
Jul 24, 2014
In Osaka, plan to merge wards faces stiff winds
Osaka Mayor Toru Hashimoto and his Osaka Ishin no Kai (One Osaka) political group formally approved a plan Wednesday evening to consolidate the city's 24 wards into five semiautonomous zones with their own elected leaders and assemblies rather than appointed officials.
Japan Times
JAPAN / NATIONAL SPOTLIGHT
Jul 20, 2014
Osaka zone a litmus test of foreign worker policy
As prefectural officials begin talks with Tokyo on a deregulated economic area, local skepticism remains high over the content, necessity of the proposal.
JAPAN / View from Osaka
Jul 19, 2014
Time for legislation to prevent spread of hate speech
On July 8, the Osaka High Court ruled that, yes, standing in front of a primary school while kids are in class, shouting through a megaphone that they and their parents are not human, and then vandalizing the school's property, is legal discrimination.
JAPAN / Politics
Jul 18, 2014
Recent votes suggest local dissatisfaction with LDP growing
The conservative Liberal Democratic Party seems unassailable at the national level, but leader Shinzo Abe's actions are causing a backlash that could hurt the LDP in local elections.
JAPAN / Politics
Jul 14, 2014
LDP candidate flounders in Shiga governor race
In a blow to Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and the ruling coalition, Shiga voters chose as their next governor Taizo Mikazuki, the designated successor to Yukiko Kada, over a candidate heavily backed by the Liberal Democratic Party and New Komeito.
JAPAN
Jul 10, 2014
Nippon Ishin, Yui no To form second-largest opposition bloc in Lower House
The Diet's fragmented opposition forces took a step toward consolidation as Nippon Ishin no Kai (Japan Restoration Party) and Yui no To announced they will operate as a unified party in the Lower House this autumn.
Heatstroke alert issued for 19 prefectures as Japan enters 'once-in-a-decade' heat wave
Japan will experience a heat wave through mid-July on a “level only seen once in a decade,” the Meteorological Agency said on June 30.
Japan braces for more quakes as authorities dismiss doomsday hype
Evacuees from Akuseki Island, located in the Tokara island chain in Kagoshima Prefecuture, arrive at Kagoshima Port on Friday.
Foreign nationals' presence in Japan emerges as key issue in Upper House poll
Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba delivers a campaign speech next to a Liberal Democratic Party candidate for the Upper House (top center left) in Yokohama on Sunday.
Hidden AI prompts in academic papers spark concern about research integrity
Waseda University is one of 14 institutions in eight countries found to have used hidden prompts in research papers.
China’s housing crisis is worse than it seems
Residential buildings under construction in Shanghai in July 2022. The Chinese government risks long-term decline by repeating Japan’s policy mistakes in handling its real estate and demographic crises.
Ainu land rights in crosshairs as Hokkaido communities debate nuclear waste
A street in Suttsu, Hokkaido, with a sign put up by an anti-nuclear organization. The small community is considering hosting a facility that would hold nuclear waste.
Ghibli’s Isao Takahata exhibit shows how beloved anime is made
“The man who planted Japanese animation” exhibition includes a variety of sketches, drawings and animation cels from Isao Takahata films such as color design for characters by Michiyo Yasuda from "Grave of the Fireflies."
Flag football facing challenges and opportunities ahead
Japan’s women’s flag football team at the 2025 International Bowl in Los Angeles in June. The sport is enjoying continued growth in the country.
From Hokusai’s Great Wave, shinkansen to One Piece: a cultural treasure box for Lego Japan
Michael Ebbesen, general manager of Lego Japan, says Lego bricks based on Japanese culture have a rich global appeal and are sellable around the world.
With farmed fish, RelationFish swims against the tide in fine dining
Chef Hideaki Matsuo (middle) and the staff of Oseto Suisan Fisheries prepare to check on their sustainably farmed fish.

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