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COMMENTARY
May 4, 2008

A chance for Beijing to take a stand on health

LOS ANGELES — As matters now stand, accredited, professional journalists from Taiwan are once again being denied press passes by U.N. authorities to cover the annual World Health Assembly of the World Health Organization. This year's event takes place in Geneva on May 19. The topic is "A Safer Future:...
JAPAN
Aug 29, 2007

'Sakura Papa' sues publisher, ex-girlfriend

Democratic Party of Japan member Yoshiro Yokomine, elected last month to the Upper House, filed a damages lawsuit Tuesday against publisher Shinchosha Publishing Co. and his former girlfriend for defamation of character over a recently published article.
Japan Times
Reference / Special Presentations / WITNESS TO WAR
Aug 15, 2007

Surrender spared a young, doubting kamikaze

If Masamichi Shida, 80, had known a bit more about the world back in 1942, he might never have become a kamikaze.
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Jun 25, 2006

Who needs a trial when the media has hanged, drawn and quartered the accused?

Cynicism comes naturally to members of the tabloid press, who report sensational news in a sensational way and rarely think about what exactly it is they're doing. All they care about is the gory details. However, their coverage of the murder of a 7-year-old boy last month in Akita Prefecture and the...
Japan Times
ENVIRONMENT
Feb 15, 2006

Japan Times wins award for animal rights coverage

The Humane Society of the United States (HSUS) today announced that The Japan Times is this year's winner of its prestigious International Genesis Award, given in recognition of its Nov. 30, 2005 "breakthrough expose" headlined: " 'Secret' dolphin slaughter defies protests."
COMMENTARY / COUNTERPOINT
Dec 18, 2005

Sinister stats suggest southpaws should swap sides

I am very depressed by the news these days. But, believe me, it's not what you think. It's all because I'm left-handed, an extrovert and a writer of poetry.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Nov 15, 2002

Soga's husband, daughters request her prompt return

The husband and two daughters of Hitomi Soga, one of five Japanese abducted by North Korea who are now back in Japan, have said they want her to return to Pyongyang as soon as possible, officials of a Japanese weekly magazine that interviewed the trio said Thursday.
COMMENTARY
May 20, 2002

Too early to fete a new day for Myanmar

HONG KONG -- On May 7, Vietnam inadvertently hindered 50 million Myanmarese from learning that "at last Aung Sang Suu Kyi is no longer under house arrest." The Myanmar government's authoritarian habits prevailed at the very moment when hopes of future democracy were reborn.
JAPAN
Dec 11, 2001

Ministry denies role in pro-MBM report

The farm ministry on Monday defended itself against allegations by a weekly magazine that it encouraged farmers to feed cattle with meat-and-bone meal in the mid-1990s.
COMMENTARY / THE VIEW FROM NEW YORK
Jul 30, 2001

Is yellow journalism in vogue again?

Why do so many foreign commentators feel they can get away with anything they say about Japan?
JAPAN
May 4, 2001

Constitution turns 54 as battle lines drawn up for and against reform

Groups for and against revision of the Constitution held rallies in Tokyo on Thursday to mark the 54th anniversary of the supreme law amid increasing calls for its revision from political leaders, including Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi.
COMMENTARY / World
Apr 17, 2000

China clamps down on Hong Kong press

SYDNEY -- While the rest of the world debates the terms under which they might engage China, Beijing is busy trampling on its agreement with the British over Hong Kong's return to Chinese sovereignty. In the handover agreement, both parties agreed upon Hong Kong's mini-constitution, the Basic Law, as...
Japan Times
WORLD
Apr 3, 2023

A front company and a fake identity: How the U.S. came to use spyware it was trying to kill.

The Biden administration has been trying to choke off use of hacking tools made by the Israeli firm NSO. It turns out that not every part of the government has gotten the message.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / Japan
Feb 17, 2023

Off the record should mean off the record

An off-the-record remark may have take down a high-level Japanese bureaucrat. Such actions by journalists will only hurt journalism.
Japan Times
PODCAST / deep dive
Dec 16, 2022

Is it too late to save the Japanese giant salamander?

Environmental journalist Mara Budgen comes on the show to talk about the Japanese giant salamander, which is well-protected within Japan through various laws but is still at risk of becoming an endangered species.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC
May 2, 2022

Inside China’s 'zero-COVID' fortress, Xi admits no doubts

As the lockdown of Shanghai and outbreaks in Beijing and elsewhere batter the economy, China's leader keeps a distance from the politically charged issue.
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Dec 18, 2021

Sapporo faces uphill battle convincing public about 2030 Winter Games bid

About half of all respondents to a 2014 survey said they were worried about how much the Games would cost. A lot has changed since then.
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
May 1, 2021

Hate speech can’t be met with indifference and ignorance

When the head of DHC began making anti-Korean comments, many news outlets decided it was just better not to talk about it.
Japan Times
WORLD / Politics
Apr 24, 2021

After testing the world’s limits, Putin steps back from the brink

The Russian president went up to the brink — and then, with the eyes of the world upon him, stepped back from it.
Japan Times
WORLD / Science & Health / FOCUS
Dec 27, 2020

How a British COVID-19 vaccine went from pole position to troubled start

A review of records and interviews with scientists and industry figures gives a detailed account of what went wrong with the Oxford-AstraZeneca study.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Aug 18, 2018

Japan's bears are widely vilified and little understood

On Aug. 6, the BBC aired a story about four Ussuri brown bears being successfully transported from a museum in Hokkaido to a wildlife park in England. In the story, a British organization called Wild Welfare said it had become "concerned" about the animals' living situation at the Ainu Museum, where...
Leaves of marijuana plants from which hemp fibers are extracted at Japan's largest legal marijuana farm in Kanuma, Tochigi Prefecture, on July 5, 2016
PODCAST / deep dive
Sep 21, 2023

Does a university cannabis scandal point to a larger trend?

A drugs scandal at Japan’s biggest university draws attention to a troubling statistic: Cannabis use among young people is on the rise.
Masayoshi Son (front, center) poses with the members of the Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks after the team won the Pacific League championship at Kyocera Dome Osaka on Sept. 23.
JAPAN / Society / Regional Voices: Kyushu
Nov 18, 2024

Masayoshi Son’s aim for SoftBank Hawks remains, 20 years after buyout

This year, the team became Pacific League champions for the first time in four years. But its owner has loftier goals.
Digital minister Masaaki Taira, who has jurisdiction over a bill to introduce an “active cyberdefense” system, speaks during an interview in Tokyo on Tuesday.
JAPAN / Politics
Nov 13, 2024

Government set to postpone submission of cyberdefense bill to next year

The delay in the bill to introduce an "active cyberdefense" system follows the ruling bloc's election drubbing, which drained the prime minister's political capital.
Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba shakes hands with U.S. President Donald Trump at the White House in Washington on Friday.
JAPAN / Politics
Feb 8, 2025

Trump targets U.S. trade deficit in first meeting with Ishiba

The two leaders pledged to pursue a "new golden age" of U.S.-Japan relations — though Ishiba did get an earful about America's trade deficit with its ally.
Chinese President Xi Jinping meets with Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Manet at the Peace Palace in Phnom Penh on Thursday.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Apr 18, 2025

Xi meets Cambodian leader on final stop of regional diplomatic blitz

Xi wrapped up his Southeast Asia tour in Cambodia, where he signed new trade deals and pushed back against U.S. tariffs imposed under Trump’s latest “Liberation Day” policy.

Longform

A small shrine perched atop rocks braves the waves hitting the shoreline during a storm in Shimoda, Shizuoka Prefecture. The area is under threat of a possible 31-meter-high tsunami if an earthquake strikes the nearby Nankai Trough.
If the 'Big One' hits, this city could face a 31-meter-high tsunami