Search - news

 
 
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
May 17, 2015

Russia's indefensible budget

Vladimir Putin is playing with dynamite if he thinks Russia can maintain its military spending amid low global oil prices.
EDITORIALS
May 17, 2015

Fiscal road map needs hard choices

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe must be willing to make hard choices if he wants to reduce the nation's massive debt.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
May 17, 2015

Xi tells Kerry U.S.-China relations stable despite tensions in South China Sea

China's ties with the United States remain stable, President Xi Jinping said Sunday, as he sought to defuse tension over a territorial dispute in the South China Sea that has raised fears of confrontation between them.
JAPAN / View from Osaka
May 16, 2015

Osaka's 'win-win' merger may leave the people lost

In a historic first, Osaka municipal voters go to the polls today to vote on a referendum that, if approved, will divide the city into five semi-autonomous wards.
Japan Times
WORLD
May 16, 2015

Philadelphia train may have been hit by projectile before it crashed

The Amtrak train that derailed in Philadelphia on Tuesday and a separate commuter train in the vicinity may have been hit by projectiles of some kind shortly before the wreck, a U.S. transportation official said Friday, after investigators interviewed members of the Amtrak crew.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC / ANALYSIS
May 16, 2015

South Korean spy agency under scrutiny after reporting execution by Pyongyang

The South Korean spy agency's assertion that North Korea purged its defense chief and executed him with anti-aircraft fire is one of its boldest claims ever and, given the agency's checkered history, has come under growing scrutiny.
Japan Times
SPORTS / NOTES ON A SCORECARD
May 15, 2015

Mao's big decision has fans, skating world on edge

The speculation is growing by the minute.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Politics
May 15, 2015

Peace or war? Diet plays security bill name game

The government says two safely named security bills endorsed by the Cabinet are for “peace,” but the titles aren't flying with everyone.
EDITORIALS
May 15, 2015

Defense bills remain problematic

The Abe administration's legislative package to expand the SDF's role finally reaches the Diet — but still remains poorly explained.
COMMENTARY / Japan
May 15, 2015

Schools can do little without addressing poverty

Household income inequality has a bigger impact on students' academic performance than the quality of schools.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Politics
May 15, 2015

Abe Cabinet OKs bills to relax limits on SDF operations abroad

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's Cabinet adopted two security bills on Thursday that would, if passed by the Diet, greatly expand the scope of the Self-Defense Forces' joint operations with foreign forces overseas.
BUSINESS
May 15, 2015

Bill to give Obama fast-track trade power gains in Republican-led Senate, faces Democrat foes

The U.S. Senate advanced a measure allowing President Barack Obama to expedite approval of trade agreements, a bill with bipartisan support in that chamber that may run into strong opposition from House Democrats.
WORLD
May 15, 2015

Iran warship fires warning shots at Singapore-flagged tanker in Gulf

Iranian naval vessels fired shots at a Singapore-flagged tanker in the Gulf on Thursday in what appeared to be the country's latest attempt to settle a legal dispute by force with a passing commercial vessel, U.S. officials said.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Politics
May 14, 2015

Abe: Japan won't slide into U.S. war despite collective defense loophole

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe tried to brush off concerns Thursday that Japan could be dragged into a war involving the United States, saying the government's security legislation allows the Self-Defense Forces to address every situation in a seamless manner to protect Japanese citizens.
BUSINESS / Markets
May 14, 2015

Biggest stock disconnect with JGB yields in 23 years reveals Kuroda's heavy hand

The weakest correlation between Japanese bond yields and stocks in 23 years is showing how dependent the nation's markets have become on central bank support.
Japan Times
WORLD / Politics
May 14, 2015

The new office politics of funding the boss's causes

It wasn't long ago that politics, like religious orientation or sexual preference, was a taboo topic in the American workplace. Political beliefs were considered a private affair — off limits to the boss.
Japan Times
WORLD
May 14, 2015

Amtrak train in Philadelphia derailment was traveling at over twice speed limit

An Amtrak train that derailed in Philadelphia, killing seven people, was barreling into a curved stretch of track at 100 miles per hour, over twice the speed limit, when the engineer slammed on the brakes, U.S. investigators said on Wednesday.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film / Wide Angle
May 13, 2015

Sign of the times as yakuza classic gets kudos at Cannes

In the early 2000s, when I was writing a book about yakuza movies, veterans of the genre's 1960s and '70s heyday I met had a fierce pride in their work but no illusions about its low ranking in the film-world hierarchy. In particular, the Toei studio's films about sword-swinging or gun-toting gangsters...
COMMENTARY / World
May 13, 2015

NSA loses in court but the police state rolls on

A U.S. court rules against an NSA data-collection program is illegal, but the police state goes on.
Japan Times
JAPAN / TELLING LIVES
May 13, 2015

Nagoya DJ brings Japanese history to life

Chris Glenn's participation in relief efforts in the disaster-hit Tohoku region made the news in 2011, when as a member of a group of pilots he flew a helicopter to deliver food, water and medicines for evacuees.

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