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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...
Japan Times
JAPAN / Media / BIG IN JAPAN
Mar 3, 2018

Anniversaries loom for gum producer Lotte and the Yoshiwara red-light district

In 1941, a 19-year-old Korean chemistry student named Shin Kyuk-ho traveled to Tokyo to study at a technical college. He remained in Japan following the war and, under the name Takeo Shigemitsu, founded Lotte Co. in 1948. The brand's name was inspired by Charlotte, the heroine of Johann Wolfgang von...
Japan Times
LIFE / Language / MORNING ENGLISH
Oct 16, 2017

Let's discuss the DP joining up with Kibo no To

In a dramatic move, the center-left Democratic Party decided Sept. 28 to effectively disband its Lower House caucus and join Kibo no To.
JAPAN / Politics / FOCUS
May 26, 2017

Strange Yomiuri story signals Maekawa being targeted for authenticating Kake papers

An unusual story in a conservative daily raises suspicions that a former education official is being targeted for verifying the documents behind Prime Minister Abe's latest influence-peddling scandal.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Politics
Feb 4, 2017

Mattis clarifies U.S. defense pledge, stays mum on host-nation support

Japan breathes a sigh of relief after visiting U.S. Secretary of Defense James Mattis reaffirms America's commitment to the bilateral security treaty and keeps quiet about host-nation support.
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Jan 21, 2017

Emperor's abdication highlights the inconvenience behind the country's Imperial naming system

For two weeks the media has been buzzing about the news that Emperor Akihito will abdicate before 2019.
JAPAN / Politics
Sep 26, 2015

As dust from security bills fight settles, Japan opposition — not Abe — facing crisis

Despite putting up a strong united front, it is the opposition that are struggling even though polls showed a majority of voters opposed the controversial security legislation.
BASKETBALL
Aug 21, 2015

Broncos signee Uhle, 22, dies in Atlanta

A prospective Saitama Broncos player for the upcoming season has died before his professional career began.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Media / DARK SIDE OF THE RISING SUN
Jan 31, 2015

Crime and punishment: Abe's Mideast crisis

In general, crime prevention is a good thing — it helps stop crime. By punishing people for minor transgressions, you stop them from committing larger misdemeanors and discourage crime overall. If the principle is applied blindly, however, it can produce some awkward results.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / THE FOREIGN ELEMENT
Dec 22, 2014

Jeers, apologies and silence: Japan's 2014 in quotes

First of all, we're sorry. Everybody is sorry. This was the year that everyone apologized and everyone was sorry about something. The Asahi Shimbun was sorry so many times (even when maybe they shouldn't have been) that we're omitting them from the list. There's not enough space.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Dec 14, 2014

American in North Korea reportedly denounces U.S., seeks asylum in Venezuela

A U.S. citizen who illegally entered North Korea delivered a lengthy denunciation of U.S. domestic and foreign policy Sunday and said he was seeking political asylum in Venezuela, the North's official media said.
JAPAN / Media / DARK SIDE OF THE RISING SUN
Oct 4, 2014

Yakuza do what Abe Cabinet pick can't

In most countries, police officers and criminals are supposed to be on opposite sides of the law, especially the higher up the chain of command you go, but Prime Minister Shinzo Abe doesn't appear to think this is necessary.
COMMENTARY / Japan
May 27, 2014

Nationalistic sentiment keeps Abe's popularity ratings high

The Abe Cabinet continues to enjoy an approval rating of more than 50 percent, according to a recent survey, because of the knock-on effect of 'Abenomics,' the dearth of other viable leaders and, like it or not, nationalist sentiment.
Japan Times
LIFE / Language / BILINGUAL
Nov 3, 2013

This is the year of the typhoon

We have never had more taifū (台風, typhoon)-related news than we have had this year. Japan has had at least 28 typhoons so far in 2013 and the number is likely to surpass 30 — the first time this will have happened in 19 years.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Feb 17, 2013

Judo scandal casts doubt on Olympic bid

News stories don't exist in a vacuum. What often makes them "news" is a confluence of factors that provide a context of interest. Though the public thinks the current story about 15 female judo athletes (jūdōka) demanding fundamental changes to the way the national team is structured and run is a self-contained...
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.
OpenAI CEO Sam Altman and French President Emmanuel Macron at the AI Action Summit in Paris in February. The mood at the event was largely optimistic despite growing evidence that chatbots like OpenAI's ChatGPT are being used by malicious actors.
COMMENTARY / World
May 14, 2025

How much will we risk in the name of AI?

AI safety breaches are a very present danger. Evidence shows that leading chatbots are perpetuating Kremlin talking points, while many leaders tout optimism rather than concern.
Meta’s rapid AI chatbot rollout is raising safety concerns as critics cite inappropriate responses and poor accountability despite its access to vast user data.
COMMENTARY / Japan
May 14, 2025

Meta’s defense of its rogue AI sounds painfully familiar

The social media platform Meta is going on the attack instead of worrying about its users. How did that work out the last time?

Longform

The byzantine process for converting a foreign driver’s license into a Japanese one entails mountains of paperwork and significant stamina — unless you're a lucky license holder from a country or region where these requirements are waived.
Driving in Japan isn’t hard. Getting the license is.