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JAPAN
Jan 7, 2016

LDP lawmaker faces off against his party's old guard over child care leave plan

Liberal Democratic Party Lower House lawmaker Kensuke Miyazaki wanted to do something to change the nation's declining birthrate, so he announced last month he planned to take child care leave after his wife gives birth.
WORLD / Crime & Legal
Jan 7, 2016

Florida woman died after hospital thought she was faking: lawyers

A Florida woman who collapsed and later died after being arrested for refusing to leave a rural hospital emergency room may have lived if medical staffers and police had not assumed she was faking illness, her lawyers said on Wednesday.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC
Jan 7, 2016

China again lands planes on disputed island in South China Sea

China on Wednesday landed two test flights on an island it has built in the South China Sea, four days after it angered Vietnam with a landing on the same runway in the disputed territory, the official Xinhua News Agency said.
Japan Times
WORLD / Politics
Jan 7, 2016

Already under sanctions, adding more poses dilemma, especially for China, over Pyongyang nuke test

U.S. presidential candidates and members of Congress demanded more sanctions on North Korea on Wednesday after its latest nuclear test, but major powers will likely be reluctant to take the tough steps necessary to force Pyongyang to abandon its weapons program, former U.S. officials and analysts said....
Japan Times
WORLD / Politics
Jan 7, 2016

Pyongyang's nuclear strides all Obama's, Clinton's fault, Republicans claim; Trump vows to lean on China

Republican U.S. presidential candidates on Wednesday faulted President Barack Obama's "feckless" and "failed" foreign policy for letting North Korea bolster its nuclear arms capabilities, while also blaming Democratic front-runner Hillary Clinton.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues
Jan 6, 2016

For Japan's English teachers, rays of hope amid the race to the bottom

The major economic engines of Japan Inc. — car manufacturers, appliance giants and the like — have often been caught price-fixing: colluding to keep an even market share, squeeze competitors out and maintain "harmony." Similarly, the commercial English-teaching business could be accused of wage-fixing:...
EDITORIALS
Jan 6, 2016

Much at stake in Upper House poll

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe appear ready to amend the Constitution if the LDP and its allies can secure a majority in the upcoming Upper House election.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Jan 6, 2016

'Miss Doc' shows the struggles of a lone female doctor in rural Japan

Change comes slowly to the Japanese film industry. The hagiographic biopic about a doctor, scientist or similarly distinguished personage — rarely seen in Hollywood since the days of Jack L. Warner and Louis B. Mayer — is still alive and well here.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC
Jan 6, 2016

Stephen Bosworth, former U.S. envoy to North Korea, dies at 76

Stephen Bosworth, a veteran U.S. diplomat who for many years headed Washington's engagement with North Korea, has died. He was 76.
WORLD
Jan 6, 2016

Obama's move to control gun sales turns on a murky definition of who is a dealer

What makes a gun dealer?
COMMENTARY / Japan
Jan 5, 2016

Free Japan's universities so they can flourish

If Japan's bureacracy really loves the country's universities, it should end its micromanaging and set them free.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / Japan
Jan 5, 2016

The ghosts of North Korea

Will North Korean leader Kim Jong Un ever be able to act in his country's real interests, and not those of his fantasies?
COMMENTARY / World
Jan 5, 2016

Social engineering backfires on graying China

China's powerful bureaucrats are finding that human behavior cannot be fully controlled or predicted.
JAPAN / Politics
Jan 5, 2016

Suga rules out Taiwan talks, says Japan's 'comfort women' deal applies only to South Korea

Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga indicates the government does not intend to launch new negotiations on the 'comfort women' issue with other countries after sealing a deal with South Korea.
Japan Times
WORLD / Crime & Legal
Jan 5, 2016

FBI hopes to peacefully end protesters' armed occupation of Oregon wildlife facility

Federal law enforcement officials on Monday sought a peaceful end to the occupation of the headquarters of a U.S. wildlife refuge in Oregon launched over the weekend by a group of self-styled militiamen angry over the imminent imprisonment of two ranchers.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Jan 4, 2016

2016: the year of looking beyond Japan's Abenomics

After three largely squandered years, Abe must finally get serious about the reforms he's been promising.
LIFE / Language / MORNING ENGLISH
Jan 4, 2016

Let's discuss healthy eating in Japan

In a country where food culture permeates all aspects of life and society, it is perhaps unsurprising that Japan leads the 'World Health Olympics.'
ASIA PACIFIC
Jan 4, 2016

Head of Western-backed Syrian opposition to visit China this week

The head of the Western-backed opposition Syrian National Coalition (SNC) will visit China this week, as Beijing seeks to deepen ties with all sides in the conflict to help bring about a peaceful resolution.

Longform

An illustration features the Japanese signs for "ganbare" (good luck) and the Deaflympics, which will be held between Nov. 15 and 26.
A century of Deaf sport finds its moment in Tokyo