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JAPAN / Politics
Jan 8, 2020

Abe to cancel Middle East trip after Iran attacks U.S. forces in Iraq, government source says

The decision to cancel the visit came after Iran launched missiles targeting Iraqi bases hosting American troops in response to the U.S. killing last week of a top Iranian general.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Jan 7, 2020

After Carlos Ghosn's dramatic escape, former minister says Japan should overhaul bail system

Japan should introduce a more relaxed bail system but step up its surveillance of defendants in criminal cases to prevent a repeat of the dramatic escape by fallen auto titan Carlos Ghosn, a former Cabinet minister and Tokyo governor said Tuesday.
JAPAN / Politics / FOCUS
Jan 7, 2020

Possible snap election Japan's top political issue in 2020

Whether Prime Minister Shinzo Abe will call a snap election is expected to be the biggest issue in Japanese politics in 2020.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Jan 3, 2020

Despite risk from the 'Big One,' are Shizuoka and the rest of Japan becoming complacent about earthquakes?

When Hokkaido native Tatsushi Ueda landed a job at the Shizuoka Prefectural Government nearly 40 years ago, he was given a somber send-off that made him feel like he might never see home again.
EDITORIALS
Dec 28, 2019

Eliminate casino corruption

The arrest of a Liberal Democratic Party lawmaker this early in the creation of a casino industry in Japan shows that much more is needed to prevent gambling-related graft.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Politics
Dec 20, 2019

Working mom fights the odds to become sole female LDP lawmaker in Kyushu

On a recent chilly November morning, aspiring politician Maiko Takahashi was undergoing a trial by fire as she stumped for just the second time in her life, addressing an ebb and flow of commuters near Oita Station.
JAPAN
Dec 19, 2019

Japan approves reduced post-3/11 reconstruction budget, citing progress

The government approved a plan Thursday to drastically reduce its budget for reconstruction of areas hit by the 2011 earthquake, tsunami and nuclear disaster due to progress in ongoing projects.
JAPAN / EXPLAINER
Dec 15, 2019

Could merger talks finally produce a credible opposition force in Japan?

With the close of the extraordinary Diet session on Dec. 9, some of the largest opposition parties once again entered talks about merging before year's end, with an eye toward increasing their seats in the next general election. Here's a look at the talks and what they might mean for Japan's political...
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Economy
Dec 12, 2019

Japan's extended fall in machinery orders bodes ill for business spending

Machinery orders sank again in October in a fresh sign that business spending, previously one of the few points of strength in the world's third-largest economy, is stalling as slumping exports bruise investment appetite.
Japan Times
WORLD / Politics
Dec 9, 2019

Sanna Marin, set to be Finland's youngest-ever prime minister, seeks to heal rifts and create jobs

Finland is set to get its youngest-ever prime minister.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Dec 3, 2019

Modi lacks the political ticker for tough economic decisions

Prime Minister Narendra Modi lost his nerve again and has locked India into a bleak future.
JAPAN
Nov 29, 2019

Former Prime Minister Yasuhiro Nakasone, a political titan who spanned eras, dies at 101

The enduring statesman, who bolstered the military alliance with the U.S. and privatized the Japanese National Railways, led Japan onto the world stage in the 1980s.
JAPAN / Politics / The Argument: SDF Dispatch
Nov 28, 2019

Next SDF deployment will only serve U.S. interests, not Japan's

From my long experience serving in the government, there is no way we can send more Self-Defense Forces vessels and planes to the waterways in the Middle East because they can do almost nothing, and it would be a mistake to dispatch the SDF under the dubious legal basis of 'research and investigation.'
JAPAN / Politics
Nov 22, 2019

Sake from Abe's home prefecture served at controversial Tokyo cherry blossom party

Dassai sake from Yamaguchi Prefecture, where Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's constituency is located, was used at the annual state-funded cherry blossom-viewing party that's now the subject of intense scrutiny, it was learned Friday.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / Japan
Nov 18, 2019

Will Tokyo's 'deep state' strike back?

Can and will Japanese bureaucrats revolt or speak out, when necessary, against the incumbent prime minister of the day the way their U.S. counterparts are in the Ukraine scandal?
JAPAN / Politics
Nov 18, 2019

Abe says his private office has no records of expenses for controversial dinner reception

The prime minister's approval rating is dropping as accusations grow that his office may have violated political spending laws.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Society / 2010s: Decade in Review
Nov 16, 2019

The gray wave: Japan attempts to deal with its increasingly elderly population

Eighty-one-year-old Sachiko Miura wakes up at 6 a.m. every day to prepare breakfast at her newly renovated apartment located near a large supermarket, spa and a hospital in the suburbs of Japan's third largest city.

Longform

Koichi Tagawa’s diary entry from Aug. 9, 1945, describes the day of the atomic bombing of Nagasaki.
The horrors of Nagasaki, in first person