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Japan Times
WORLD
Apr 16, 2022

Why Ukraine war crimes trials could take many years

Long after the fighting ends, any prosecutions and trials arising from it could be barely beginning. Here is a look at the complexities of bringing aggressors to justice.
Special Supplements / COP26 special
Nov 1, 2021

Global efforts for a better tomorrow

For almost three decades, the U.N. has worked to bring as many countries together as possible on a regular basis for the global climate change summits known as COP, short for Conference of the Parties to the U.N. Framework Convention on Climate Change. These events have served to focus the world’s...
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC
Dec 31, 2020

25 days that changed the world: How COVID-19 slipped China’s grasp

China's delayed initial response unleashed the virus on the world and foreshadowed battles between scientists and political leaders that would play out across continents.
Japan Times
WORLD / Politics / FOCUS
Sep 21, 2020

Abortion was on the back burner in the U.S. presidential race — not anymore

An all-out fight over the issue could further alienate the more moderate suburban voters both sides are competing for.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World / Post-Coronavirus Briefing
Sep 7, 2020

All-out effort needed to learn successful virus response

Japan risks losing its status as an advanced nation unless it survives the pandemic and comes out on top.
Japan Times
WORLD / Crime & Legal
Oct 18, 2019

Trump told U.S. officials to work with his lawyer Rudy Giuliani on Ukraine policy, ambassador to EU testifies

President Donald Trump directed senior U.S. officials to talk directly to his personal lawyer, Rudy Giuliani, about U.S. policy in Ukraine, raising concern that the president was outsourcing American foreign policy to a private citizen, the U.S. ambassador to the European Union said on Thursday.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Politics
Apr 11, 2018

Former U.S. defense chief William Perry urges Trump to learn from past successes and failures on North Korea

As one of the key individuals who brought the United States and North Korea closer than ever before to a deal on Pyongyang's nuclear weapons, former U.S. defense chief William Perry has a lot to say about dealing with the regime of Kim Jong Un and a planned landmark summit with President Donald Trump...
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Voices / COMMUNITY CHEST
Jan 7, 2018

More readers' responses to Japan Times Community articles from 2017

A selection of unpublished letters about Community stories from the second half of last year.
Japan Times
WORLD / Politics
Jun 16, 2017

Pence hires his own lawyer amid Russia probes

U.S. Vice President Mike Pence has hired a lawyer known for defending government officials in high-profile investigations to help him with probes into whether there were ties between the election campaign of U.S. President Donald Trump and Russia, his office said on Thursday.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / Japan
May 29, 2017

The hidden side of the Japanese-Russian summit

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's approach to Russia is looking increasingly risky.
JAPAN / EXPLAINER
Dec 26, 2016

Abdication panel leans toward one-off deal after Emperor Akihito's rare video

A government panel appears ready to propose that a special temporary law be enacted to allow Emperor Akihito, 83, to abdicate, given his advanced age.
COMMENTARY / Japan / SENTAKU MAGAZINE
Nov 29, 2016

LDP ignores needed reform by focusing on term limits

The Liberal Democratic Party is being very shortsighted by focusing its reform effort so narrowly.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / THE FOREIGN ELEMENT
Sep 14, 2016

Japan's dual citizens get a tacit nod but keep their status in the shadows

Is the 'don't ask, don't tell' status quo the ideal situation for a country that tends to be reflexively conservative on issues of race and nationality yet benefits from the dual-citizen population?
COMMUNITY / Issues / JUST BE CAUSE
Jan 3, 2016

Battles over history, the media and the message scar 2015

A rundown of the top 10 human rights issues of the past year as they affected non-Japanese residents.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Media
Dec 24, 2015

The Japan Times advisory board rates paper's coverage

The Japan Times Media Advisory Board members who have been monitoring the newspapers' reporting met Nov. 18 to discuss progress from the previous board meetings and offer advice for the future.
While Donald Trump and Joe Biden are both highly unpopular, key economic indicators and recent polls suggest that Biden should be worried about the coming election.
COMMENTARY / World
Mar 13, 2024

The anatomy of the Biden-Trump rematch

Trump has an energetic base whereas Biden’s re-election bid generates almost no enthusiasm. Still, many Americans strongly oppose a second Trump term.
The Spirit of Barrow statue celebrates Barrow-in-Furness’s long history of shipbuilding.
WORLD / Politics
Jul 1, 2024

Starmer pledge on nuclear stance mends hole in Labour red wall

The arrival of the railways in the mid-1800s helped transform Barrow into an industrial powerhouse. Submarines have been built in the town’s shipyard since 1886.
One of the many entrances to the Kabukicho neighborhood in Tokyo’s Shinjuku Ward.
PODCAST / deep dive
Jul 22, 2024

Kabukicho: Tokyo’s ‘stadium of desire’

Homeless influencers, fantasy boyfriends and bubble-era bars — Kabukicho seems to have it all.
Prime Minister Fumio Kishida speaks on Monday at the first meeting of a panel on eradicating discrimination and prejudice against people with disabilities.
JAPAN / Society
Jul 29, 2024

Japan to draw up plan to tackle discrimination against disabled people

Prime Minister Fumio Kishida revealed the government's intention to make the plan at the first meeting of a new panel on the issue.
Paul Watson speaks at a news conference on the sidelines of the U.N. climate summit in Paris in December 2015.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Oct 4, 2024

Japan says Paul Watson case 'nothing to do with whaling'

The co-founder of Sea Shepherd was arrested in Greenland in July on an arrest warrant issued by Japan.
A line of police officers stand guard as protesters gather at the edge of Gwanghwamun Square in central Seoul on Wednesday after President Yoon Suk Yeol formally lifted martial law earlier, six hours after having declared it.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics / ANALYSIS
Dec 4, 2024

Yoon fights for political life as martial law repercussions reverberate

A coalition of lawmakers from six opposition parties on Wednesday submitted a motion to impeach the South Korean president, with a vote set for Friday or Saturday.
At 60, the shinkansen has been mostly stuck in Japan, with only one system ever sold overseas.
BUSINESS / Tech
Jan 1, 2025

Japan’s go-slow approach to selling high-speed rail globally

The shinkansen has been mostly stuck in Japan as competitors from Europe and China sell their own high-speed trains in an increasing number of countries.
Members of a Liberal Democratic Party panel discuss proposals about allowing spouses to retain their respective surnames, in Tokyo on Thursday.
JAPAN / Politics / FOCUS
Mar 10, 2025

Eternal debate over surname law comes to fore again

Since last October’s general election, momentum has picked up for a legislative change to allow married couples to retain different surnames.
George Glass, U.S. President Donald Trump's pick to be ambassador to Japan, attends a Senate Foreign Relations Committee confirmation hearing in Washington on March 13.
JAPAN / Politics
Apr 9, 2025

Japan gets a new U.S. ambassador — and he has his work cut out for him

The U.S. Senate has voted to confirm George Glass, whose top agenda items include resolving the tariff row and getting Tokyo to spend more on defense.
A flag bearing a portrait of slain Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah displayed on Feb. 28 in the southern Lebanese border town of Aitaroun.
WORLD / Politics
Apr 15, 2025

Disarming Lebanon's Hezbollah possible under U.S. pressure, analysts say

Hezbollah was left badly weakened by more than a year of hostilities with Israel, and Lebanon has since elected a president and formed a government.
People pray during a visit to Yasukuni Shrine in Tokyo on Aug. 15, the 79th anniversary of Japan's surrender during World War II.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Jun 20, 2025

Why only Japan is criticized for honoring its war dead

Other countries honor the ultimate sacrifice regardless of whether the war was just, later judged a mistake or involved actions that could be seen as war crimes.
Just 17% of Americans approve of U.S. President Donald Trump's handling of the Jeffery Epstein case, a weaker rating than the president received on any other issue in the poll.
WORLD
Jul 18, 2025

Trump faces backlash as 69% believe Epstein details concealed, poll finds

Close to two-thirds of Republicans surveyed think the administration of U.S. President Donald Trump is hiding details on Jeffrey Epstein's business.
U.S. President Donald Trump and South Korean leader Lee Jae Myung attend a bilateral meeting in the Oval Office at the White House in Washington on Monday.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Aug 26, 2025

'Peacemaker’ Trump says he wants to meet North Korea’s Kim this year

The U.S. president said “big progress” was possible, during a summit with South Korean leader Lee Jae Myung in Washington that also focused on defense and trade issues.

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