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Japan Times
JAPAN
Oct 4, 2018

Health care system could collapse if elderly people's contributions not doubled: insurance official

Japan's universal health care system could collapse unless the medical expense burden shouldered by elderly patients aged 75 or older is at least doubled, a senior official of a nationwide health insurance group has warned.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Society
Oct 4, 2018

Deaf community looks to bring their own Olympics to Japan after 2020

About seven years have passed since Miyuki Kano, a 41-year-old former Olympic volleyball player, entered into the world of deaf sports as a volleyball coach, taking over the position of her friend who died of cancer.
BUSINESS
Oct 4, 2018

As planet warms, China's drought losses predicted to soar into tens of billions of dollars

Economic losses caused by drought in China will rocket to tens of billions of dollars per year if global warming breaches the limits set by governments in a 2015 agreement to tackle climate change, scientists said.
Japan Times
WORLD / Crime & Legal
Oct 4, 2018

Utah man arrested over suspected ricin-containing envelopes mailed to Trump, Pentagon officials: source

A Utah man was taken into custody on Wednesday as a suspect in the investigation of letters sent to Pentagon officials and President Donald Trump that were initially feared to contain the poison ricin, a law enforcement source said.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Tech
Oct 4, 2018

Jeff Bezos' space company designing large, reusable lunar lander

Jeff Bezos' space company is in the conceptual design phase of a large lunar lander that it says will provide reusable access to the moon's surface and its resources, Blue Origin said on Wednesday.
JAPAN / Politics / ANALYSIS
Oct 3, 2018

Abe's latest Cabinet reshuffle casts doubt on 'womenomics' policy

While the prime minister has declared boosting the profile of professional women a top policy priority, Tuesday's reshuffle reduced the number of female ministers to just one.
SUMO / INSIDE SUMO
Oct 3, 2018

Sumo skills applicable on the gridiron, not in the ring

Former top-division wrestler Osunaarashi fell to 45-year-old actor Bob Sapp in his mixed martial arts debut this week.
Japan Times
BASKETBALL / B. League
Oct 3, 2018

New passport, but same responsibilities for Brave Thunders star Nick Fazekas

Since his 2012 arrival in Japan, Nick Fazekas has been regarded as one of the very best to compete in Japan pro basketball.
EDITORIALS
Oct 3, 2018

An EU challenge to America's financial power

Given the size of Japan's economy and its role as a global trader, it must prepare for an era when the U.S. isn't at the center of global finance and get ahead of developments rather than be overtaken by them.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Oct 3, 2018

When Ami Yamasaki begins to sing, brooks, birds and barks emerge

I first heard Ami Yamasaki's voice in 2016 at a studio where I hosted a radio show in New York. She popped by to promote an upcoming performance at the Japan Society with composer Mamoru Fujieda, koto player Kayoko Nakagawa and shō (free reed mouth organ) player Ko Ishikawa.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film / Wide Angle
Oct 3, 2018

'Dare to Stop Us': Japanese cinema's bad boy as seen by one of the women who worked with him

In the 1960s Koji Wakamatsu was Japanese cinema's enfant terrible: A real-life outlaw — he once joined a yakuza gang and served time in prison — he made pioneering "pink" (softcore porn) films such as "The Embryo Hunts in Secret" (1966) and "Go, Go, Second Time Virgin" (1969), whose extreme sex and...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Oct 3, 2018

'You Are the Apple of My Eye': A missed chance at romance isn't a bad thing

"You Are the Apple of My Eye," a teen romance by writer and director Giddens Ko in 2011, became a hit not only in his native Taiwan but across Asia. Seeing it at the Udine Far East Film Festival, I was struck by the raunchiness of the humor, starting with a classroom masturbation contest, and the originality...
BUSINESS / Markets / CURRENCY MARKET
Oct 3, 2018

Dollar slightly firmer around ¥113.90 in late Tokyo trading

The dollar was slightly higher around ¥113.90 in Tokyo trading late Wednesday after overcoming early weakness thanks to higher long-term U.S. interest rates.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Oct 3, 2018

Eyeing Brexit cliff edge, Japan waves goodbye to U.K. as 'gateway to Europe'

After a February meeting between U.K. Prime Minister Theresa May and 19 Japanese business chiefs, Tokyo's ambassador to Britain warned what might happen if Brexit took an unfavorable turn for foreign investors.
ASIA PACIFIC / ANALYSIS
Oct 3, 2018

Photos confirm U.S.-Chinese warships' near-miss as experts say South China Sea encounter likely to affect allied operations in region

Experts said a near-miss between a U.S. Navy destroyer and a Chinese warship in the disputed South China Sea earlier this week could have dire implications for American allies and partners operating in the waterway and elsewhere — including Japan — after the U.S. confirmed that photos showing just...
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC / Crime & Legal
Oct 3, 2018

Chinese star Fan Bingbing fined $129 million over tax evasion

China has ordered A-list movie star Fan Bingbing to pay about 884 million yuan ($129 million) in overdue taxes and fines, the Xinhua News Agency said on Wednesday, as a crackdown on tax evasion in the entertainment industry gathers momentum.
Japan Times
WORLD
Oct 3, 2018

Airports act against rising seas and stronger storms as climate changes

Global airport operators, faced with rising sea levels and more powerful storms as the climate changes, are starting to invest in measures including higher runways, seawalls and better drainage systems to future-proof immovable assets.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Oct 3, 2018

On Tokyo trip, tennis star Roger Federer says he's focusing on future with new sponsor Uniqlo

Roger Federer said on Tuesday in Tokyo that his decision to end a 20-year association with Nike and embark on a new chapter with Uniqlo was influenced by the Japanese clothing company's commitment to stay with him long after his playing days are over.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Entertainment news
Oct 3, 2018

The bots awaken: Half of 'Star Wars: The Last Jedi' haters were trolls or not even human, study says

How much did movie fans hate "Star Wars: The Last Jedi"?
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Oct 3, 2018

Poaching brings added problems to fishermen in disaster-hit Tohoku region

In coastal areas in the northeastern prefectures of Iwate and Miyagi, hit hard by the March 2011 earthquake and tsunami, local fishermen are struggling to find countermeasures against poaching.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC
Oct 3, 2018

Time running out in search for survivors of Indonesia's quake and tsunami

Time was running out for anyone trapped in the rubble of a devastating earthquake and tsunami in Indonesia on Wednesday, five days after disaster struck, while increasingly angry survivors waited for an aid operation to move into high gear.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Politics
Oct 3, 2018

Japan's biggest warship visits Sri Lanka amid rise in Chinese military clout

Japan's largest warship, the Kaga helicopter carrier, sailed into Sri Lanka's Colombo harbor this weekend, marking Tokyo's highest profile salvo in a diplomatic battle with China for influence along the region's vital commercial sea lanes.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Voices / FOREIGN AGENDA
Oct 3, 2018

Japan's diverse bunch of disaster volunteers are primed for a warming world

In these polarized times, crises bring together people from a range of backgrounds to spread the word about perils linked to climate change.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Voices / COMMUNITY CHEST
Oct 3, 2018

What does the future hold for Naomi Osaka and Japanese dual nationals?: Readers' views

Some readers' letters in response to the recent Community articles about Japan's first tennis singles Grand Slam champion.
Japan Times
WORLD
Oct 3, 2018

U.S. would destroy banned Russian warheads if necessary: NATO envoy

Russia must halt its covert development of a banned cruise missile system or the United States will seek to destroy it before it becomes operational, Washington's envoy to NATO said on Tuesday.

Longform

Figure skater Akiko Suzuki was once told her ideal weight should be 47 kilograms, a number she now admits she “naively believed.” This led to her have a relationship with food that resulted in her suffering from anorexia.
The silent battle Japanese athletes fight with weight