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Japan Times
COMMENTARY / Japan
Mar 13, 2019

Bad assumptions behind 'Cost Plus 50' plan

Trump's posture toward allies hosting U.S. forces could damage crucial relationships.
Japan Times
SATOYAMA CONSORTIUM
Mar 11, 2019

Summit highlights regional revitalization

The fourth Regional Revitalization Venture Summit was held in Tokyo on Feb. 3 to promote regional revitalization through lectures and discussions involving the public and private sectors.
Japan Times
WORLD
Mar 8, 2019

Trump seeks a big premium from Japan and other allies hosting U.S. troops: Full cost plus 50% more

For years, President Donald Trump has complained that countries hosting American troops aren't paying enough. Now he wants to get even, and then some.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Society
Mar 6, 2019

Japanese artist behind ghastly creature in viral 'Momo Challenge' baffled by disturbing hoax

The ghastly image of a goggle-eyed creature that triggered the so-called Momo Challenge — a viral social-media hoax terrifying children and parents alike — was born in a cluttered two-story studio on the outskirts of Tokyo.
WORLD
Mar 3, 2019

Saudi Cabinet gives green light for electronic tourism visas for foreign travelers

Saudi Arabia's Cabinet has approved electronic visas for foreign visitors to attend sporting events and concerts, local media reported, as the world's top oil exporter tries to diversify its economy and open up its society.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Society
Mar 2, 2019

'No one wants to be homeless': A glimpse at life on the streets of Tokyo

Seventy-year-old Yoshitomo Hara now lives in a housing facility, but he is well-versed in strategies to deal with sleeping rough in Tokyo during winter.
Japan Times
JAPAN / History / JAPAN TIMES GONE BY
Mar 2, 2019

Japan Times 1969: Exploding balloons injure eight people

By the violent wind Wednesday evening, two large, two-storied buildings at the Tokyo Medical College at Higashi-Okubo that were being erected, and one of them almost completed, were blown down and destroyed. In the suburbs, several small houses tumbled down.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Politics / ANALYSIS
Mar 1, 2019

For Japan, 'no deal' at Kim-Trump summit beats a bad deal with concessions to nuclear North Korea

At a glance, this week's Kim-Trump summit meeting in Hanoi, held to foster progress toward the denuclearization of North Korea, generated few tangible victories — despite U.S. President Donald Trump's boasts of the "tremendous" achievements he had expected.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Feb 28, 2019

Tokyo restaurateur develops spore sheet to speed up aging of meat — and fish

Mikio Atobe carefully peels a layer of rayon netting from a chunk of farmed bluefin tuna, revealing a secondary sheet of cloth clinging to its exposed flesh, partially yellowed by the mold coating it.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC
Feb 27, 2019

Train swapping: North Korea's Kim Jong Un reliant on Chinese for summit transport

When North Korean leader Kim Jong Un rolled into the Vietnamese border station of Dong Dang early on Tuesday, his vaunted specialized train was pulled by a red-and-yellow locomotive emblazoned with China's national railway logo.
Japan Times
WORLD / Crime & Legal
Feb 26, 2019

Public deserves 'robust' release of Robert Mueller probe findings, says ex-FBI chief Andrew McCabe

Former FBI deputy director Andrew McCabe called on the Justice Department to make public special counsel Robert Mueller's Russia report but said some classified materials and investigative methods need to be protected.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Feb 25, 2019

With Ghosn still under lock and key in Tokyo, foreign execs are getting spooked about taking jobs in Japan

The stunning arrest, indictments and long incarceration of former Nissan Motor Co. Chief Executive Officer Carlos Ghosn have given pause to foreign executives considering taking on senior jobs at Japanese companies.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC
Feb 24, 2019

Trump's North Korea envoy Stephen Biegun: A capable man in an impossible job?

Days before a second U.S.-North Korea summit, much rests on the shoulders of a former auto executive trying to find common ground between an American president seeking a big foreign policy win and a North Korean leader who seems unlikely to hand him one.
Japan Times
WORLD
Feb 16, 2019

U.S. general recommends arming and aiding Syrian fighters after pullout

The United States should keep arming and aiding the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) following the planned U.S. withdrawal from Syria, provided the group keeps up the pressure on Islamic State, a senior U.S. general said Friday.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Feb 14, 2019

In a first, LGBT couples sue Japan over constitutionality of not recognizing same-sex marriage

“We're not demanding anything special; we just want to have a chance to stand at the same starting line in our lives,” said one plaintiff.
COMMENTARY / World
Feb 12, 2019

Europe and the new nuclear arms race

With the likely demise of the Intermediate Range Nuclear Forces Treaty, Europe is entering a potentially dangerous period.
Japan Times
WORLD / Politics
Feb 6, 2019

In State of the Union, Trump cites 'moral duty' to build wall and blasts 'partisan' probes

President Donald Trump cast his fight against illegal migration to the U.S. as a moral struggle, and charged in his second State of the Union address that "partisan investigations" threaten economic progress under his administration.
JAPAN / Politics / FOCUS
Feb 5, 2019

Feud between major U.S. allies Japan and South Korea deepens as Trump sits it out

Donald Trump's desire to put "America First" has fostered new disputes between the United States and its allies. In Asia, old rivalries are also roaring back.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC
Feb 5, 2019

U.S. and South Korea agree 'in principle' on sharing troop costs, State Department says

The United States and South Korea have reached an agreement "in principle" on sharing the cost of stationing U.S. troops in the Asian country, the State Department said Monday, in a move likely to have implications for Japan.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC
Feb 4, 2019

Ahead of Lunar New Year, Chinese advised to stop pigging out to help save the planet

As Chinese people celebrate the new Year of the Pig this week, environmental campaigners are urging them to eat less pork and help save the planet.
Japan Times
WORLD / Politics
Feb 4, 2019

Russia objects as Trump calls U.S. military intervention in Venezuela 'an option'

U.S. President Donald Trump said military intervention in Venezuela was "an option" as Western nations boost pressure on socialist leader Nicolas Maduro to step down, while the troubled OPEC nation's ally Russia warned against "destructive meddling."
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / Japan
Jan 31, 2019

Fallout from Japan-South Korea tensions

If left unattended, the strained bilateral relationship has the potential to fundamentally undermine the U.S. alliance system on which Tokyo and Seoul depend for their security and prosperity.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Politics
Jan 28, 2019

In annual policy speech, Abe omits passage on ties with South Korea

Seoul gets only a passing mention amid the currently tumultuous relationship.
Japan Times
WORLD
Jan 27, 2019

Foreign troops would exit Afghanistan in 18 months under draft deal, Taliban sources say

Taliban officials said U.S. negotiators on Saturday agreed on a draft peace deal setting out the withdrawal of foreign troops from Afghanistan within 18 months, potentially ending the United States' longest war.
WORLD
Jan 26, 2019

Taliban's new political leader Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar expected to join peace talks with U.S. in Qatar

The Taliban's new political leader is expected to join meetings with U.S. officials in Qatar imminently, Taliban sources said Saturday as the latest round of talks to find ways to end the 17-year Afghan war entered a sixth day.
Japan Times
WORLD
Jan 23, 2019

Germany's Merkel and France's Macron seek to unite European defense industry as U.S. support wanes

German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Emmanuel Macron are pushing for a more united defense industry, citing renewed ties between the two nations as a way to bolster the safety of the European Union in the face of flagging American support.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC / Society
Jan 21, 2019

From pariah to demi-god: Transgender leader becomes a star at India's massive Kumbh Mela festival

In a desert tent guarded by armed police and a well-built bouncer, Laxmi Narayan Tripathi is blessing a constant stream of pilgrims, who garland her with marigolds and kneel to touch her feet.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Jan 21, 2019

Fourth-quarter figures drag China's 2018 growth to a 28-year low of 6.6%

China's economy cooled in the fourth quarter under pressure from faltering domestic demand and bruising U.S. tariffs, dragging growth in 2018 to its lowest level in nearly three decades and pressuring Beijing to roll out more stimulus to avert a sharper slowdown.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Jan 21, 2019

U.S.-China trade talks making scant progress on make-or-break intellectual property problem

Ever since negotiators from the United States and China sat down in Beijing after a Christmas meltdown in global markets, Donald Trump has sought to calm investors and claim his trade talks are making great strides. But that glosses over a more uncomfortable reality.

Longform

Mamoru Iwai, stationmaster of Keisei Ueno Station, says that, other than earthquake-proofing, the former Hakubutsukan-Dobutsuen (Museum-Zoo) Station has remained untouched.
Inside Tokyo's 'phantom' stations — and the stories they tell