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COMMENTARY / SENTAKU MAGAZINE
Jan 21, 2014

Is the Obama administration prioritizing ties with China?

The different tones of the U.S. and Japanese reactions to China's recent establishment of an air defense identificatin zone raises the question of whether the Obama administration is prioritizing ties with Beijing.
LIFE / Language / COMMUNICATION CUES
Jan 19, 2014

Kirobo chats with astronaut in space

The first humanoid robot with speech capability to be in space made small talk with astronaut Koichi Wakata and said it had no problem with zero-gravity on the International Space Station.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Jan 17, 2014

Smaller is getting bigger in the satellite business

As emerging space pioneers in China and India race to the moon and Mars, private-sector startups are quietly launching satellites the size of microwave ovens that aim to satisfy much more terrestrial desires.
Japan Times
WORLD
Jan 13, 2014

Once veiled, French affairs feed tabloids

On Friday morning, I woke up as my usual French self. Then, from under the duvet, I reached for my smartphone and learned from Twitter that the French edition of Closer magazine had published pictures purportedly revealing an affair between President Francois Hollande and actress Julie Gayet. There had...
COMMENTARY / World
Jan 7, 2014

China's anti-Kim campaign

The next target of China's autocrats, already waging an undeclared war over territory against multiple neighboring countries, is likely to be fellow communist state North Korea, now an estranged ally.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Jan 5, 2014

Chinese gaming mecca attempts to shed its gaudy image

Walk into a casino in China's gambling mecca of Macau, and the first thing that strikes you is the silence. There's no blaring music, no sharp cries of victory; all you hear is the rustle of clothing, a hushed conversation, the occasional thump on a table — subtle signs of fortunes being made and lost....
EDITORIALS
Dec 30, 2013

Too young for motherhood

Motherhood in childhood has become a huge global problem. Every year in developing countries, 7.3 million girls — or 20,000 per day — below the age of 18 give birth in developing countries. Two million of these mothers are below the age of 15.
BUSINESS
Dec 24, 2013

GPIF adds Wellington Management

Government Pension Investment Fund, which oversees the world's largest pool of retirement savings, added Wellington Management Co. to help with active management of foreign-equity investments.
JAPAN / KANSAI PERSPECTIVE
Dec 22, 2013

Kyoto aims to be Muslim-friendly city

Kyoto, a city known worldwide as a major center for Buddhism and as the home of some of the country's most famous Shinto shrines, is stepping up efforts to better welcome one particular group of foreign visitors: Muslims.
EDITORIALS
Dec 6, 2013

Government without oversight

Even if the state secrets bill becomes a law, it will be important for people to continue grass-roots movements to oppose it and to prevent from being used to curb their right to know and to express their thought and opinions.
JAPAN / Politics
Dec 1, 2013

No change in China air zone airline policy

Defense Minister Itsunori Onou00addeu00adra indicates that Tokyo won't change its stance on urging Japanese airlines not to submit their flight plans as requested by China for its new air defense identification zone over the East China Sea.
JAPAN
Nov 30, 2013

No Chinese jets scrambled: Japan

Defense Minister Itsunori Onodera denies China's claim it scrambled fighter jets in response to Self-Defense Forces aircraft entering its new air defense zone.
COMMENTARY / World
Nov 19, 2013

Let's help the Philippines, just not like we helped Haiti

The international community must embrace the technology available to strengthen disaster preparedness, resilience and aid.
COMMENTARY
Nov 15, 2013

The true bitterness of sugar

Our use of sugar implicates us in land grabs that violate the rights of some of the world's poorest communities. Better-informed and more ethical consumers could change this.
Japan Times
WORLD
Nov 3, 2013

Secret documents reveal how close USSR came to launching nukes in '83

Chilling new evidence that Britain and America came close to provoking the Soviet Union into launching a nuclear attack has emerged in former classified documents written at the height of the Cold War.
COMMENTARY / World
Oct 29, 2013

Syria's agony continues as the world looks away

Surgery without anesthesia is the brutal reality in Syria. Demolished hospitals and humanitarian blockades have left some Syrians to suffer through amputations and Caesarean sections.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC
Oct 27, 2013

Rajapaksa: Sri Lanka's affable authoritarian?

Down in the deep south of Sri Lanka, where life usually moves at a leisurely pace, there is one small town that is less tranquil. Hambantota — population 20,000 — is expanding fast. There is a vast new deepwater port, built with $360 million of borrowed Chinese cash; a new 35,000-seat cricket stadium;...
COMMENTARY / World
Oct 18, 2013

Profit quest leads big pharma down wrong road

As prescription drug sales in the U.S. stagnate, the drug industry is relying more on markets in China and African countries. But expansion often is tainted by unsavory business practices.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Media / BIG IN JAPAN
Oct 12, 2013

Tabloids brimming with anti-Korea diatribes

For 11 consecutive days from the start of this month, every front page of the Yukan Fuji, a nationally circulated evening tabloid published by the Sankei Shimbun, was embellished with at least one negative reference to South Korea. Some headline excerpts:
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Economy
Oct 10, 2013

Machinery orders see best surge since 2008

In a sign of strengthening economic revival, machinery orders jumped to ¥819.3 billion in August, the highest since 2008, when the world was beset by a financial crisis.
JAPAN
Oct 7, 2013

Minamata mercury treaty finds skeptics

Delegates from about 130 countries will gather Wednesday in the Kumamoto Prefecture cities of Minamata and Kumamoto for a three-day meeting to finalize a new international treaty seeking to ban or greatly limit the use of mercury.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Companies
Oct 7, 2013

JT seeks smokeless product tie-ups

Japan Tobacco Inc. plans to expand its range of smokeless tobacco products and is looking at tie-ups or acquisitions as consumers demand alternatives and regulations tighten worldwide.
COMMENTARY / World
Sep 29, 2013

Sanctions have warmed up Iran for an accord

As Iran's economy reels and President Hassan Rouhani shows interest in rapprochement with the West, it seems high time to reach a nuclear agreement with Iran.
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Sep 21, 2013

After the bid, critics sound off on Olympics

During the week following the announcement in Buenos Aires that Tokyo would host the 2020 Olympic Games, the Japanese media was saturated with news of the capital's celebratory reaction. NHK, which will broadcast the Games, was particularly enthusiastic, leading every news report with a long Olympic-related...
EDITORIALS
Sep 18, 2013

Mr. Abe's ominous defense moves

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's approach to changing the government's traditional position on the right to collective self-defense undermines the foundation of Japanese democracy.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Sep 16, 2013

Successful Olympic bid thrusts Tokyo into spotlight, fencing star says

For Olympic fencer Yuki Ota, Tokyo's successful bid for the 2020 Summer Games and Paralympics was like winning the gold medal he's always wanted.
Japan Times
WORLD
Sep 6, 2013

Syria bio-weapon threat worries neighbors

Last month's alleged chemical attack near Damascus has refocused attention on Syria's 30-year-old biological weapons research and raised concerns about whether its regime could activate an effort to make a weapon.

Longform

After pandemic-era border regulations eased, Indian migrants began returning to Japan. Their population now stands at more than 50,000 across the country.
How remote work is rewriting the migrant experience in Japan