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Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Jul 5, 2019

How Iacocca created the celebrity CEO, for better or worse

Saving Chrysler was a big accomplishment, but Iacocca's legacy is more about making the covers of Time and Newsweek.
Reader Mail
Jul 5, 2019

Abortion's role in depopulation

Regarding Haruaki Deguchi's opinion piece in the July 1 edition, "Blame gender gap for Japan's low fertility rate," a massive rigorous study of abortions worldwide by Thomas W. Jacobson and Wm. Robert Johnston, titled "Abortion Worldwide Report" says there were "only" 123,000 performed in Japan in 1948,...
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / Japan
Jul 3, 2019

Japan is cool but has no clue about selling itself

The country is still struggling to make money off of its worldwide cultural cachet
Japan Times
WORLD / Crime & Legal
Jul 3, 2019

House Democrats sue Treasury, IRS chiefs for Trump tax returns

House Democrats asked a U.S. court to force the Treasury Department to turn over six years of President Donald Trump's personal and business tax returns.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Jul 2, 2019

Don't give Trump too much credit for a trade truce

The forces shaping the global slowdown predate both the U.S. president and his Chinese counterpart. The solution will take more than handshakes.
COMMENTARY / World
Jul 1, 2019

Trump shows how powerful America is by weakening it

There is an epochal paradox at the center of the Iran crisis.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / INSIDER REPORT
Jul 1, 2019

Japan's energy policies at a critical juncture

Japan's energy policies are at a big turning point. Due to the unforeseeable future of the energy business, utility companies have yet to embark on drastic reform. Despite the fact that irreversible, inevitable and diverse social change is underway simultaneously, the government has been pressed with...
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Jun 29, 2019

What we get wrong about UFOs

Beware of interpretations posing as facts. And when explanations are incomplete, don't fall for the fallacy of 'god of the gaps.'
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / Japan
Jun 28, 2019

Carlos Ghosn's wife has a message for the G20

She wants the world leaders gathered in Osaka to notice how Japan's 'hostage justice' system has mistreated Nissan's ex-chairman.
Reader Mail
Jun 28, 2019

Relativist narrative does a disservice

While a certain degree of skepticism may be healthy for society, raising unwarranted doubts can lead to a betrayal of truth. For a professor emeritus, Ramesh Thakur shows fairly sloppy — and dangerous — historical thinking in his June 7 opinion piece, "Which Tiananmen narrative is true?" While he...
Japan Times
WORLD / Politics
Jun 28, 2019

U.S. Supreme Court says it can't stop politicians redrawing electoral maps to their advantage

In a major blow to election reformers, the U.S. Supreme Court on Thursday rejected efforts to rein in electoral map manipulation by politicians aimed at entrenching one party in power, a practice known as partisan gerrymandering that critics have said warps democracy.
Japan Times
WORLD / Politics
Jun 28, 2019

Trump fumes as U.S. Supreme Court blocks census citizenship question

The U.S. Supreme Court on Thursday handed President Donald Trump a stinging defeat, blocking his contentious citizenship question planned for the 2020 census because officials gave a "contrived" rationale and prompting Trump to suggest an extraordinary delay in the constitutionally mandated population...
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Jun 27, 2019

Trump says trade deal at Osaka G20 with Xi 'possible,' and that proposed tariffs may be cut to 10%

U.S. President Donald Trump said on Wednesday that a trade deal with Chinese President Xi Jinping was possible this weekend, but that he is prepared to impose U.S. tariffs on virtually all remaining Chinese imports if the two countries continue to disagree.
Japan Times
WORLD / Politics
Jun 27, 2019

Democrats clash on health care and border issues in scrappy first U.S. presidential debate

Democratic U.S. presidential contenders battled over health care coverage and border policy on Wednesday during a surprisingly heated first debate that laid bare the party's divisions on whether to abolish private insurance and shift to a "Medicare-for-All" system.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Jun 26, 2019

More than half Chinese consumers shun U.S. goods due to trade war, survey shows

More than half Chinese consumers have avoided buying anything made in the United States in support of their country in an escalating trade war, a survey suggests, posing a "significant" risk to U.S. companies.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Jun 26, 2019

'The Journalist': Uncovering the dark side of Japan

Before Donald Trump made "fake news" the buzzword of choice for dissemblers and autocrats, Japanese netizens were already starting to question the veracity of what they read in the papers, albeit for very different reasons.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / Japan
Jun 26, 2019

Japan-China warming: People power at work

The impact of Chinese tourists is more than economic; the visitors to Japan are having a diplomatic impact as well.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Politics
Jun 26, 2019

Abe looks to secure voter mandate for 'stability' in Upper House vote as Diet session wraps up

On Wednesday, the government formally determined that the Upper House election will take place July 21, preceded by campaigning that would kick off July 4.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Jun 25, 2019

In defense of the not-so-cute animals

Understanding how 'puppy dog eyes' are manipulating us shouldn't make us love our pets less. But give wolves a chance.
Japan Times
WORLD / Crime & Legal
Jun 25, 2019

New lawyer for ex-Trump adviser Michael Flynn says she may need more time to prep for sentencing

U.S. President Donald Trump's former national security adviser, Michael Flynn, appeared in court on Monday for the first time since hiring a new lawyer who has criticized special counsel Robert Mueller's investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Jun 24, 2019

U.S. and allies can still make Iran blink

Canceling the missile strike against Iran made the White House look indecisive, but it could be turned to America's advantage
Japan Times
LIFE / Language / BILINGUAL
Jun 24, 2019

The Japanese words 'mono' and 'koto' can make things tricky

Both 'mono' and 'koto' mean 'thing' in Japanese, but they're used in different ways. And the thing is, nuance matters.
Japan Times
LIFE / Language / WELL SAID
Jun 24, 2019

The ugly truth behind using 'mittomonai' and 'kakkowarui'

The words 'mittomonai' and 'kakkowarui' are used when behavior or appearance is unbecoming, but the former carries more shame.
Japan Times
WORLD
Jun 23, 2019

Brexit murder plot and other online lies: Study blames Russians for multinational attempt to 'divide, discredit and distract'

In August 2018, Spanish authorities uncovered a plot by anti-Brexit campaigners to assassinate Boris Johnson, a leading Brexiteer who now is the favorite to be Britain's next prime minister. Or did they?
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Jun 22, 2019

Healthy living can't prevent cancer

But acknowledging the role of random bad luck should inspire more testing, research and treatments.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Jun 20, 2019

In Pyongyang, Xi and Kim discuss nukes as speculation grows over possible message to Trump

Chinese leader Xi Jinping on Thursday kicked off his first visit to Pyongyang as president, meeting with North Korea’s Kim Jong Un, telling him that the international community expects the U.S. and North to restart nuclear talks in efforts to produce a tangible outcome.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Jun 19, 2019

World Refugee Day: How well is Japan fulfilling its obligations in 2019?

Ahead of World Refugee Day on Thursday, attention has been turning to just how well Japan — the world's third-biggest economy — has been fulfilling its responsibilities as a signatory of the United Nations 1951 Refugee Convention this year.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Jun 19, 2019

Why are Putin and Xi going soft on protest?

The Russian and Chinese regimes are doing something new: not escalating in the face of protest.

Longform

In 2020, 38% of all households were single-person. That figure is projected to rise to 44.3% by 2050.
The rise of AI companionship in a lonely Japan