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WORLD / Politics / ANALYSIS
Dec 30, 2016

With Russia sanctions move, Obama leaves Trump with tough choices

President Barack Obama is forcing his successor, Donald Trump, into a difficult choice: reverse the sanctions he just imposed on Russia for hacking the U.S. election or put at risk his campaign vow to improve relations with Russian President Vladimir Putin.
WORLD / Politics
Dec 29, 2016

U.S. set to announce response to Russian election hacking, sources say

The Obama administration plans to announce on Thursday a series of retaliatory measures against Russia for hacking into U.S. political institutions and individuals and leaking information in an effort to help President-elect Donald Trump and other Republican candidates, two U.S. officials said on Wednesday....
Japan Times
JAPAN / Politics
Dec 28, 2016

Abe offers 'everlasting condolences' at Pearl Harbor as Obama praises partnership in peace

Abe's historic visit to Hawaii wraps up with addresses from himself and U.S. President Barack Obama.
JAPAN / KANSAI PERSPECTIVE
Dec 25, 2016

Train, casino, reactor woes to grab Kansai headlines in '17

A casino, an expo, tourists, trains, and old nuclear power plants. These are just some of the major issues the Kansai region faces in 2017.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / LABOR PAINS
Dec 25, 2016

Worrying times for job security in Japan

The year 2016 was no walk in the park for workers nationwide. At one extreme, we have Matsuri Takahashi, a 24-year-old worker who felt she had no other choice but to take her life as a result of overwork.
Japan Times
BASKETBALL / B. League / HOOP SCOOP
Dec 24, 2016

Toyama coach Nash persevering through challenges

The Toyama Grouses have experienced both ends of the emotional spectrum over the past seven-plus months.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / BLACK EYE
Dec 18, 2016

A 'Big Bang' in the ring kicks it old school in Japan

American 'joshi puroresu' follows her dreams and finds fresh challenges in the 'mecca of wrestling'
Japan Times
JAPAN
Dec 18, 2016

Holiday lights burn bright along Meguro River thanks to biodiesel fuel initiative

Organizers of an elaborate midwinter light display running until January along the Meguro River in downtown Tokyo, a popular cherry blossom viewing spot in spring, are going off the grid as a way to limit harm to the environment.
Japan Times
WORLD / Politics / FOCUS
Dec 17, 2016

Trump builds team of bosses and big egos to shake up Washington

With more than 20 nominees now selected, Donald Trump's Cabinet appears much like the president-elect himself: mostly older, white males, many of them wealthy, who see themselves as risk-takers and deal-makers and prize action over deliberation.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Dec 15, 2016

Proceeds from The Japan Times Readers' Fund go to four worthy causes

Every yen counts.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Voices
Dec 14, 2016

Views from Kansai: What are your hopes and fears about the coming Trump presidency?

John Ashburne took to the streets of Osaka and Kyoto 
to find out what people expect from the Donald Trump administration in 
the U.S. See the online version of this article or the Japan Times YouTube channel for a video of these vox pops.
Japan Times
LIFE / Lifestyle / CHILD'S PLAY
Dec 10, 2016

DIY — a power tool for distracting kids

My 4-year-old daughter's eyes light up when she spies something sitting on the work table. Unlike her normal playtime preferences, it is not a rainbow-haired unicorn, felt tip pens or a plastic doll that has caught her attention — it's an industrial looking electric screwdriver.
Japan Times
WORLD / Politics
Dec 10, 2016

Obama orders review of 2016 election cyberattacks

U.S. President Barack Obama has ordered intelligence agencies to review cyberattacks and foreign intervention into the 2016 election and deliver a report before he leaves office on Jan. 20, the White House said Friday.
COMMUNITY / Issues
Dec 4, 2016

Japan's Board of Audit: unlikely guardians of the Constitution?

On Nov. 7, an annual ritual of government occurred: The Board of Audit delivered its report on the results of its audit of government accounts for the previous fiscal year (April 1, 2015, to March 31, 2016) to the Cabinet. The 1,123-page paper brick handed over to His Abe-ness identified billions of...
COMMUNITY / Issues / LABOR PAINS
Nov 27, 2016

'Five-year rule' triggers 'Tohoku college massacre' of jobs

I have discussed the "five-year rule" several times before in this column — the revision of the Labor Contract Law (Rodo Keiyaku Ho) enacted in 2013. Under the amendment, any worker employed on serial fixed-term contracts (yūki koyō) for more than five years can give themselves permanent status....
Japan Times
WORLD / Society
Nov 17, 2016

Lawyers get on board as U.S. LGBT ranks rush to legally change gender amid Trump threat

Transgender people in the United States are rushing to legally change their name and gender with the help of volunteer lawyers due to concerns the community's civil rights could be threatened under the administration of President-elect Donald Trump.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / JUST BE CAUSE
Nov 16, 2016

Trump's lesson: You can lie your way to the very top

As the Republican victory in the U.S. threatens to undo eight years of progress, a silver lining in Donald Trump's success proves hard to pin down.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / OBITUARY
Nov 16, 2016

Stefan Lippert: remembering an educator in search of excellence

Stefan Lippert, a luminary from our community of Japan thought leaders, died recently at the age of 47.
JAPAN / Society
Nov 12, 2016

Family debate: same-sex parents?

With LGBT relationships starting to be recognized by authorities, questions are now being asked about whether such couples should have children.
COMMUNITY / Issues / LAW OF THE LAND
Nov 9, 2016

So-called egalitarian Japan is still honor-bound

Abolished and later resurrected system of awards may shape as well as reflect trends in society.
Japan Times
WORLD / Society / FOCUS
Nov 8, 2016

Hate speech seeps into U.S. mainstream amid bitter campaign

The lettering is crude, scrawled in black spray paint on the sidewalk in front of Karen Peters' neatly kept home in the quiet, working class neighborhood where she's lived most of her life. But the contempt is clear.
Japan Times
WORLD / Politics
Nov 7, 2016

Obama's top court pick faces reckoning after Tuesday

Several intriguing scenarios could unfold after Tuesday's U.S. election to break the deadlock over filling a Supreme Court vacancy that has provoked a bitter nine-month standoff between President Barack Obama and Senate Republicans.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Voices / FOREIGN AGENDA
Nov 6, 2016

On the trail of team Trump in Tokyo

A reporter stalks that elusive breed of American in Japan: the Trump supporter.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC
Nov 3, 2016

Non-Muslims in conflict-torn Rakhine State to get arms, training

Myanmar police will begin arming and training non-Muslim residents in the troubled north of Rakhine State, where officials say militants from the Rohingya Muslim group pose a growing security threat, police and civilian officials said.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Oct 31, 2016

Surviving these troubled times

Our challenge, as individuals in this era of discontent, is to ensure that amid the madness, our own sanity endures.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC
Oct 30, 2016

Rohingya women say Myanmar soldiers raped them amid crackdown on militants

Rohingya Muslims say Myanmar soldiers raped or sexually assaulted dozens of women in a remote village in the northwest of the country during the biggest upsurge in violence against the persecuted minority in four years.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Oct 27, 2016

Japan global forum looks at ways to get ahead in world of rapid change

The world is going through a turbulent time of rapid change and huge technological advancements, and the events of 2016 are evidence of just how unpredictable it can get.
EDITORIALS
Oct 26, 2016

UNESCO and Japan

If Japan is unhappy with the way UNESCO is run, it should present rational proposals to improve the operation from within instead of by resorting to financial pressures.
Japan Times
WORLD
Oct 25, 2016

In today's wartorn world, mankind takes to looking other way instead of helping end conflicts

As civilians in the Syrian city of Aleppo are battered by airstrikes, ground offensives and shelling, what has happened to the world's responsibility to protect populations under threat?

Longform

Once smoky, male-dominated spaces, today's net cafes, like Kaikatsu Club, are working to make their operations more attractive to women customers.
The second life of Japan's net cafes