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JAPAN
Jun 20, 2019

Japanese-American director of 'comfort women' documentary sued by interviewees

A group of seven Japanese intellectuals and activists has sued the director and the distributor of a documentary film that covers the political debates over "comfort women," demanding the screenings be terminated and seeking compensation totaling ¥13 million.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Companies
Jun 20, 2019

Japan crypto-exchange license approval nears for Line

Line Corp., the nation's largest messaging app, is close to obtaining a license to launch a cryptocurrency exchange in Japan, according to people familiar with the matter.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Politics
Jun 20, 2019

High-profile defector says Kim has shown 'great interest' in meeting Abe, but summit will come at a cost

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has shown "great interest" in meeting with Prime Minister Shinzo Abe — with a major caveat — one of the highest-ranking North Korean diplomats to defect in years told a news conference Thursday in Tokyo.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Markets
Jun 20, 2019

Fed Chairman Jerome Powell says he plans to serve full term amid Trump pressure

Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell has said he intends to serve his full four-year term as head of the Federal Reserve, after the White House explored ways of removing him from the job amid criticism from President Donald Trump.
JAPAN
Jun 20, 2019

Visitors to Tokyo Olympics website face long waits as lottery winners announced; overseas sales begin

Over a million people nationwide logged on to the 2020 Tokyo Games website Thursday to see if they had secured seats at their favorite events through the Olympic ticket lottery.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Companies
Jun 20, 2019

Macron to discuss Renault and Nissan with Abe next week, French official says

French President Emmanuel Macron will discuss the situation regarding the alliance between carmakers Renault and Nissan with Prime Minister Shinzo Abe next week, an official at Macron's Elysee office said.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Jun 20, 2019

Japan's summer festivals plan for a final party before Olympic fever hits

As Yo La Tengo once sang, "summer's what you make it," and that's especially true in Japan this year. The 2020 Tokyo Olympics and Paralympics are likely to throw a major wrench (or should that be hammer?) in the works for next summer's festival calendar, so it's worth enjoying things while the going...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Stage
Jun 20, 2019

Building bridges to Bangkok through stage

Never at risk of being run of the mill, Chelfitsch — which took its name from a baby's pronunciation of the English word "selfish" and usually stylizes itself with a lowercase "c" — is one of Japan's foremost contemporary theater companies, despite only rarely performing here. Instead, it can mostly...
JAPAN / Science & Health / NATURAL SELECTIONS
Jun 20, 2019

Revealed: What happened, physically, to the city of Hiroshima after the A-bomb

Everyone in Japan knows that on Aug. 6, 1945, a nuclear bomb destroyed Hiroshima. But what happened to the mass of building debris that was swept up to disappear in the giant mushroom cloud?
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Jun 20, 2019

Embracing life and death at Reborn-Art Festival

The date March 11, 2011, carries a lot of weight in Japan. When the magnitude 9 Great East Japan Earthquake rocked the Tohoku region in the northeast of the country, it devastated the landscape and altered the lives of residents. And now, eight years since the disaster, Takeshi Kobayashi is dedicated...
Japan Times
WORLD / Science & Health
Jun 20, 2019

Eroding trust in vaccines leaves populations vulnerable, global study finds

Trust in vaccines — one of the world's most effective and widely-used medical products — is highest in poorer countries but weaker in wealthier ones where skepticism has allowed outbreaks of diseases such as measles to persist, a global study released Wednesday has found.
Japan Times
WORLD
Jun 20, 2019

Iran suspected as rocket strikes near foreign oil firms in Iraq, prompting staff evacuations

A rocket hit a site in southern Iraq used by foreign oil companies on Wednesday, including U.S. energy giant ExxonMobil, wounding three people and threatening to further escalate U.S.-Iran tensions in the region.
Japan Times
WORLD / Crime & Legal
Jun 20, 2019

'Time and patience are running out' for Robert Mueller testimony, says Adam Schiff

Democratic U.S. Rep. Adam Schiff, the chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, on Wednesday said U.S. special counsel Robert Mueller must testify before Congress about his Russia investigation.
Japan Times
WORLD
Jun 20, 2019

'Sully' Sullenberger tells Congress 737 Max pilots should get new simulator training

Chesley "Sully" Sullenberger, who in 2009 landed a US Airways flight safely on the Hudson River in New York, told a congressional panel on Wednesday that pilots of the now-grounded 737 Max should get new simulator training before the plane returns to service.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Jun 19, 2019

World Refugee Day: How well is Japan fulfilling its obligations in 2019?

Ahead of World Refugee Day on Thursday, attention has been turning to just how well Japan — the world's third-biggest economy — has been fulfilling its responsibilities as a signatory of the United Nations 1951 Refugee Convention this year.
JAPAN / Politics
Jun 19, 2019

Abe says snap election 'nowhere on my mind,' but few likely to take his words at face value

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe is seeking to quell speculation he may dissolve the Lower House to coincide with July's pre-scheduled Upper House poll in a so-called “double election.”
COMMENTARY / Japan
Jun 19, 2019

Prioritize access in Japan-Russia dispute

By prioritizing access to the islands and acknowledging that current negotiations won't lead to their return, Japan will gain a freer hand in dealing with Russia.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Jun 19, 2019

Why are Putin and Xi going soft on protest?

The Russian and Chinese regimes are doing something new: not escalating in the face of protest.
SUMO / INSIDE SUMO
Jun 19, 2019

Retirement ceremonies often full of emotion

It's no secret that difficulty in procuring tickets is one of the main hurdles preventing overseas visitors from being able to watch sumo in person.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Jun 19, 2019

Pioneering singer-songwriter Sachiko Kanenobu finally gets her due

If she had to sum up the past couple of years, Sachiko Kanenobu would probably opt for a simple "OMG!"
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Jun 19, 2019

'Handling Method for Grumpy Woman': A battle of the sexes, cliches and all

To talk about the differences between men and women now is to step into a minefield. One rhetorical foot wrong and off goes the tripwire.
BUSINESS / Economy
Jun 19, 2019

Japanese businesses see economy peaking out, want more stimulus: poll

The nation's economy is likely to stop expanding this year and into next with the Sino-U.S. trade war and a planned sales tax hike expected to crimp activity, a Reuters poll of Japanese companies found, with most calling for fresh stimulus to prop up growth.
COMMUNITY / Issues / LAW OF THE LAND
Jun 19, 2019

With changes in emperors come amnesties, so who will benefit?

One convenient thing about Japanese law for those of us who are professors of it is that it is quite modern. Virtually all Japanese laws and institutions antedate the Meiji Restoration of 1868 and, of those, most have a 20th-century provenance. Compared to Anglo-American law with Magna Carta, bewigged...
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC / FOCUS
Jun 19, 2019

China's most advanced Big Brother experiment is a bureaucratic mess

The city of Suzhou, known as "the Venice of the East" for its web of intricate waterways, captured the imagination of Marco Polo when he journeyed through China more than seven centuries ago.
JAPAN
Jun 19, 2019

Osaka plays down need for new safety measures for G20 summit after recent quake

Following Tuesday night's magnitude 6.7 earthquake in northwest Japan, Osaka Prefecture, the host of the Group of 20 summit scheduled next week, isn't planning additional changes to its emergency safety plans, officials said Wednesday.

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