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Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Dec 5, 2017

The madness of King Donald

The risk of a US military confrontation with North Korea, coupled with President Donald Trump's increasingly peculiar behavior, has put official Washington on edge.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Nov 18, 2017

Ad money makes the news world go round

In a Nov. 8 press release, the Los Angeles-based Simon Wiesenthal Center announced that Katsuya Takasu, the most famous plastic surgeon in Japan, was no longer a member of the American Academy of Cosmetic Surgery (AACS). Previously, the center had been urging the AACS to expel Takasu because of his public...
Japan Times
JAPAN / Media / BIG IN JAPAN
Oct 21, 2017

Magazines hold their own against TV's 'iron chefs'

Prior to Japan's switch-over to full digital TV broadcasting in 2011, a number of industry insiders were already voicing concerns about how the new technology would affect their bottom line. With expanded bandwidth and additional channels, what — aside from reruns of old programs — could the networks...
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / Japan
Oct 13, 2017

Political realignment leaves voters on shaky ground

Japanese will vote in the Oct. 22 general election amid uncertainty and confusion resulting from the recent realignment of the political landscape.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Sep 18, 2017

Unwavering support for Suu Kyi needed

Aung San Suu Kyi is trying to maintain national unity, which is indispensable if Myanmar is to address the daunting tasks facing the young and fragile democracy.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Sep 5, 2017

What Twitter taught me about (nuclear) war with North Korea

Can words alone mitigate the obvious gravity of nuclear holocaust?
Japan Times
BASKETBALL / HOOP SCOOP
Jul 29, 2017

Documentary on former hoop star Neumann's life provides a cautionary tale

Hoop aficionados from Harlem to Hokkaido can appreciate the details of a good global basketball odyssey.
JAPAN / Politics
Jul 19, 2017

Inada faces flak over renewed claims of SDF-related cover-up

The Defense Ministry was hit again Wednesday by another apparent data cover-up scandal involving Defense Minister Tomomi Inada, prompting opposition lawmakers to further step up their calls for her immediate resignation.
Japan Times
JAPAN / History / JAPAN TIMES GONE BY
Jul 1, 2017

Japan Times 1992: 'Oita village sells itself as "Twen Peaks" '

The tiny village of Maetsue, Oita Prefecture, and Kyushu Japan Railway Co. are riding on the bandwagon of the popular U.S. television series “Twin Peaks,” asserting that the local scenery closely resembles the fictional American town.
COMMENTARY / Japan / SENTAKU MAGAZINE
Jun 29, 2017

Imperial succession issue neglected

The Imperial family's future is endangered by the male-only paternal lineage succession rules, yet the Abe administration is taking no action.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Jun 22, 2017

The U.S.-Russia game of chicken will end in tears

The stakes are rising to perilous levels in the international rivalry between Moscow and Washington.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / Japan
Jun 14, 2017

Time for a Japanese rethink on North Korea?

If and when the U.S. does begin to join South Korea in holding a dialogue with North Korea, Japan will have to quickly ask itself whether limiting its approach to pressure is a good idea
COMMENTARY / World
Jun 13, 2017

Comey's 'smoking gun' could take out Trump

If the American people think Donald Trump is a crook, they will have to vote to flip the House and the Senate from red to blue in November 2018 so impeachment proceedings can begin.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
May 2, 2017

Sheryl Sandberg: world's most annoying person

It's that time of year again: Facebook executive Sheryl Sandberg is telling Americans how to live their lives.
JAPAN / Science & Health / A MATTER OF HEALTH
Apr 5, 2017

When it comes to health info, online 'fake news' can have serious repercussions

A recent "fake news" scandal involving IT giant DeNA Co. shows how quickly bogus health information can make the rounds online.
COMMENTARY / World
Mar 14, 2017

De-escalating tensions on the Korean Peninsula

U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres should play an active role in convincing Pyongyang to take the path of peace.
JAPAN / Media / BIG IN JAPAN
Feb 25, 2017

Is Abe attempting to fuse the church and state?

It was morning in the land of the gods. "The mountains and the waters serve our sovereign," wrote a seventh-century poet. "And she (Empress Jito), a goddess, is out on her pleasure-barge upon the foaming rapids."
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / Japan / SENTAKU MAGAZINE
Feb 21, 2017

How Trump's plans might deal a blow to Japanese firms

If Trump tries to realign the global structure of manufacturing industries that have become heavily concentrated in Asia, Japanese firms will be hit hard.
COMMUNITY / Issues / JUST BE CAUSE
Feb 19, 2017

Media outside Japan must stop normalizing sumo as an ethno-sport

Foreign correspondents should not pander to stereotypes, passing overt racism off as 'tradition' practiced by those mystical, hidebound, inscrutable Japanese.
COMMENTARY / World
Feb 14, 2017

Trump's political revolution

Popular support — or lack thereof — will make or break Trump's political fortunes.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Media / BIG IN JAPAN
Dec 24, 2016

Japan reconsiders and reinterprets the Pearl Harbor attack

In May, U.S. President Barack Obama became the first sitting U.S. president to make a historic visit to Hiroshima, the city that became the birthplace of the age of nuclear warfare. It should come as no surprise that Japan's prime minister, Shinzo Abe, is scheduled to make a reciprocal gesture of reconciliation...
Japan Times
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Dec 17, 2016

Undercover journalist infiltrates Uniqlo

In her Dec. 14 Tokyo Shimbun column, media critic Minako Saito mentioned how the press is excited about the buzzword of the year and the kanji of the year. They are much less interested in another annual prize, the Black Company Award for the firm that most egregiously exploits workers. The nominations...
JAPAN
Nov 19, 2016

Contamination: Documents reveal hundreds of unreported environmental accidents at three U.S. Marine Corps bases on Okinawa

Since 2002, at least 270 environmental accidents on U.S. Marine Corps bases on Okinawa have contaminated land and local waterways but, until now, few of these incidents have been made public. Internal reports highlight serious flaws in training and suggest the lessons of past accidents have not been...
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / THE FOREIGN ELEMENT
Oct 26, 2016

Japan's Filipinos heed Pope Francis' call to action on refugees and climate

Pontiff's emphasis on mercy for migrants and warnings about climate change resonate with the community in Japan.
JAPAN
Oct 24, 2016

Media watchdog slams Tokyo after journalist alleges U.S. military spying

The government is under fire for failing to protect press freedom following a Japan Times report by a British journalist revealing that the U.S. military has spied on him over his activities in Okinawa.
COMMUNITY / Issues / THE FOREIGN ELEMENT
Oct 19, 2016

How the U.S. military spies on Okinawans and me

Documents reveal that the U.S. Marine Corps is amassing information on Okinawan anti-base protesters as well as journalists.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Media / BIG IN JAPAN
Sep 24, 2016

Japan's future typhoons: disruptive, deadly and destructive

Six typhoons have made landfall this year on the Japanese archipelago, already giving 2016 the distinction of being the second-worst year in terms of direct typhoon hits in modern times. But it's only Sept. 25 — the season's not nearly over and we're getting closer to matching or surpassing the 2004...
COMMENTARY / World
Sep 13, 2016

North Korean rhetoric and reality

Pyongyang's actions are driven by the need to deter the use of American nuclear weapons in the Korean Peninsula if there is a war.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Aug 21, 2016

Corporations abuse law to slap down workers

A law that started as a good idea has become a menace to free speech, the ability to protect one's reputation and the right to redress in a court of law.
JAPAN / Politics / ANALYSIS
Jul 11, 2016

Focus on economy, failure of opposition clears way for Abe's LDP in national elections

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe is on a solid electoral winning streak, and the opposition isn't putting up much of a fight.

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