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ASIA PACIFIC
Jun 24, 2015

Chinese officials may have to pledge allegiance to constitution

Chinese officials may have to pledge allegiance to the constitution when they take up their posts, Xinhua News Agency said on Wednesday, reporting that a draft law is being considered as part of a campaign to stamp out abuses of position.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Jun 24, 2015

'Maternity harassment' victims assail lack of protection for pregnant working women

Female workers who experienced workplace discrimination and bullying when they were pregnant have called on the government to live up to its promise to stamp out what is known in Japanese as matahara, or "maternity harassment."
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Voices / FOREIGN AGENDA
Jun 24, 2015

Story of Japan's industrial rise deserves to be told, forced labor and all

Proposed Kyushu UNESCO sites could be a showcase for East Asian cooperation or festering points of contention.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Jun 24, 2015

'Selma' director Ava DuVernay unveils women activists of civil rights era

A filmmaker needs more than directing skills to make it in the big league, and an activist needs more than a political agenda to change the world. Ava DuVernay brings this point home in "Selma," the first major motion picture portrayal of Martin Luther King Jr.
ASIA PACIFIC
Jun 24, 2015

China invites ex-Kuomintang soldiers in Taiwan to mark end of war against Japan

China will welcome former soldiers living in Taiwan who fought against Japan in World War II to take part in commemorations marking 70 years since the end of the conflict in Asia, state media said Wednesday.
Japan Times
WORLD / Crime & Legal
Jun 24, 2015

Jailed N.Y. prison worker's husband breaks silence, says breakout included him getting drugged

The husband of a female prison worker charged with helping two New York inmates escape spoke out on Tuesday, the 18th day of a massive manhunt, saying the breakout plan called for her to slip him knockout pills.
Japan Times
BASKETBALL
Jun 23, 2015

Grouses bringing Nash back for fourth season

Veteran bench boss Bob Nash, who has led the Toyama Grouses to sustained success since 2012, is returning to lead the bj-league club for the 2015-16 campaign.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Jun 23, 2015

Abe's security legislation and freedom of expression

The Abe administration appears keen to sweep critical intellect out of Japanese society.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC
Jun 23, 2015

China aims to challenge U.S. dominance in air and space

China is mounting a serious effort to challenge U.S. military superiority in air and space, forcing the Pentagon to seek new technologies and systems to stay ahead of its rapidly developing rival, Deputy Defense Secretary Robert Work said Monday.
JAPAN / Politics
Jun 22, 2015

Diet session extended through September as Abe aims to pass contentious security bills

Abe and Komeito's leader decide to extend the Diet session by the most days in postwar history in a bid to enact the controversial security bills.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Jun 22, 2015

What attracts people to white supremacy?

Supremacists offer disaffected whites someone to love and someone to hate, along with an assurance that the problem isn't in you, but in 'them.'
COMMENTARY / World
Jun 22, 2015

China's answer to Europe's needs

Europe would do well to remember that China's investments are a cumulative means to a geopolitical end — one at odds with some of the West's own principles.
Japan Times
LIFE / Language / WELL SAID
Jun 22, 2015

Let your green-eyed monster loose with 'urayamashii'

Today we introduce the proper use of the adjective u3046u3089u3084u307eu3057u3044, meaning 'jealous' or 'envious.
Japan Times
LIFE / Language / MORNING ENGLISH
Jun 22, 2015

Let's discuss Japanese sake in the news

To differentiate it from foreign-brewed fare, the National Tax Agency is considering defining 'Japanese sake' as a home-brewed alcoholic drink made from Japanese-grown rice.
JAPAN / EXPLAINER
Jun 22, 2015

Shima has high hopes for long-term windfall from G-7 meet

Just before departing for this year's Group of Seven summit in Germany earlier this month, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe announced that Shima, situated at the end of a peninsula in Mie Prefecture, will be the main venue for next year's annual gathering.
ASIA PACIFIC
Jun 22, 2015

China claims protest group paid 'regular' people to demonstrate

Police in the eastern Chinese province of Shandong have busted a group it said organized mass protests in an attempt to sway court cases and influence sentences, the state-run Xinhua News Agency reported.
ASIA PACIFIC
Jun 22, 2015

Year's first typhoon set to hit China's Hainan Island

The first typhoon of the year to hit China was expected to make landfall on or near the southern island of Hainan on Monday, which should help ease a severe drought on the tourist center and rubber producer, the official Xinhua News Agency said.
Japan Times
WORLD / Society
Jun 22, 2015

In show of unity, Renzi, Hollande dismiss claims of tensions over migrant crisis

Italy's prime minister and France's president put on a show of unity on Sunday, dismissing suggestions of tensions between their countries over handling the waves of migrants landing on Southern Europe's shores.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Jun 20, 2015

A final indignity for those who built Japan

The first time I visited the Sanya district in Tokyo's Taito Ward, I saw a lot of men drunk and passed out in the street and assumed they were all homeless, but as it turned out most worked and rented rooms in the area.
Japan Times
OLYMPICS / OLYMPIC NOTEBOOK
Jun 20, 2015

Clarke’s legendary records still resonate 50 years later

Nearly three weeks after American sprinter Henry Carr's passing, another iconic runner from the 1964 Tokyo Games has passed away.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Science & Health / NATURAL SELECTIONS
Jun 20, 2015

Medaka: the fish that helps us understand gender

The diminutive medaka (Japanese rice fish) have been kept as pets since the Edo Period (1603-1868). They are hardy animals, an important quality for a pet, and they naturally occur in a variety of colors, including gold. They have distinctive, some say attractive, eyes (for a fish) — indeed, medaka...
JAPAN / View from Osaka
Jun 20, 2015

Abe and Hashimoto's political dance will have to avoid stepping on any toes

One month after Osaka voters said no, just barely, to his pet project of fundamentally restructuring the municipal government, Mayor Toru Hashimoto finds himself courted by an increasingly anxious Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, who hopes to borrow whatever is left of Hashimoto's influence in the Japan Innovation...
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / Japan
Jun 19, 2015

Grasping the key to innovation

Japan should make 'new combination' innovation the nucleus of its growth strategy.
WORLD / Crime & Legal
Jun 19, 2015

Charleston massacre suspect Roof had past brushes with police

His uncle worried he was cooped up in his room too much. The few images of him found easily online suggest he had a fascination with white supremacy. And for his birthday this year, his father bought the young man a pistol, the uncle said.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Companies
Jun 18, 2015

SoftBank's Pepper robot now has emotions, Son claims

After months of delay, SoftBank Corp. announced Thursday that it would make Pepper, its humanoid robot, available to the general public on Saturday, but with an extra twist.
Japan Times
BASEBALL / MLB
Jun 18, 2015

Ex-Mets owner Doubleday, 81, dies

Nelson Doubleday Jr., who co-owned the New York Mets with Fred Wilpon for 16 years after selling his family's book publishing business, died on Wednesday. He was 81.

Longform

Tetsuzo Shiraishi, speaking at The Center of the Tokyo Raids and War Damage, uses a thermos to explain how he experienced the U.S. firebombing of March 1945, when he was just 7 years old.
From ashes to high-rises: A survivor’s account of Tokyo’s postwar past