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JAPAN
Dec 22, 2014

Conservative Abe's secrecy law doesn't hold a candle to Seoul's press suppression

For people concerned with the weakening of press freedoms under the government of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, its criticism of Asahi Shimbun and the new state secrets law, there should still be a sense of relief that media suppression in Japan has not quite reached the levels now being seen in South Korea.
Japan Times
WORLD / Politics
Dec 21, 2014

Why the U.S.-Cuba talks had to be kept secret

When reporters needled her for details of delicate Israeli-Syrian talks 15 years ago, U.S. Secretary of State Madeleine Albright replied: "Sometimes talks, like mushrooms, do better in the dark."
JAPAN
Dec 5, 2014

New Asahi Shimbun chief promises to restore public trust in daily

The Asahi Shimbun's new president vowed Friday to rebuild domestic and international trust in the beleaguered paper by broadening the range of views expressed in its pages, correcting erroneous information in a timely manner and being more careful with investigative stories.
WORLD
Dec 2, 2014

Russian jets pose threat to civilian planes, U.S. envoy says

Russian military aircraft are posing a threat to civilian planes by turning off communications devices and failing to file flight plans, the U.S. ambassador to NATO said on Monday.
LIFE / Lifestyle
Nov 22, 2014

Can women really 'shine' under Abe?

The prime minister has vowed to help women break the glass ceiling in the workplace but critics have questioned his motivation.
Japan Times
ENVIRONMENT
Nov 15, 2014

Shrinking well: Is depopulation affecting Japan's energy, climate goals?

Keishi looks a lot like it did when Toshiko Nakamura first moved there four decades ago. The quiet farming community in Nagano Prefecture is a patchwork of verdant rice fields, lush kitchen gardens and picturesque post-and-beam houses nestled between pine and chestnut trees on the slopes of Mount Hijiri....
COMMENTARY / World
Nov 15, 2014

Eastern Europe's 25 years of transition

Four key ingredients contributed to Central and Eastern Europe's successful transitions after the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Nov 6, 2014

An opportunity for Abe and Xi

One reason for Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and Chinese President Xi Jinping's newfound flexibility toward each other may be domestic political shifts in both countries that have created a more equal balance between conservative, nationalist groups and more internationally oriented business interests.
COMMENTARY / World
Oct 31, 2014

A failure of U.S. democracy and human rights

It is a sad day for democracy when 12 Nobel Peace laureates have to write a letter to U.S. President Barack Obama, himself a Nobel Peace laureate, urging him to end, once and for all, America's flagrant use of torture and other violations of international law.
Japan Times
WORLD / Science & Health
Oct 25, 2014

Two U.S. states to quarantine health workers returning from Ebola zones

New York and New Jersey will automatically quarantine medical workers returning from Ebola-hit West African countries, and the U.S. government is considering the same step after a doctor who treated patients in Guinea came back infected, officials said on Friday.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Oct 24, 2014

The U.S. has done enough damage in the Middle East

The notion that Iraq will 'destroy' the Islamic State at American behest is an illusion, and so is the notion that the U.S.-formed coalition can do it. Only Muslims themselves can resolve the Islamic crisis overtaking the Middle East.
BUSINESS / Markets
Oct 22, 2014

Ebola raises airline bond risk, similar to SARS scare

The bond risk of ANA Holdings Inc. rose the most of any company in Japan as the spread of Ebola to two health workers in the U.S. rekindled memories of the severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) epidemic in 2002 and 2003.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC
Oct 4, 2014

North Korea may have shut down reactor: U.S. think tank

North Korea may have shut down a recently restarted reactor that can yield plutonium for bombs, possibly for renovation or partial refueling, a U.S. security institute said, citing new satellite imagery.
Japan Times
WORLD / Politics
Sep 14, 2014

Silent Europe aghast at possible breakup of U.K.

Britain's international partners are aghast, mostly in silence, at the possibility that one of the leading Western powers could break up and turn in on itself if Scotland votes this week for independence from London.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Economy / 'SUMMER DAVOS' SPECIAL 2014
Sep 10, 2014

Suzuki promotes Mie Pref. globally

Mie Gov. Eikei Suzuki, selected as a Young Global Leader by the World Economic Forum this year, is trying to promote his prefecture on the global stage.
COMMENTARY / World
Aug 29, 2014

Three timelines shaping Mideast developments

To shape an effective strategy in the Middle East, it is essential to understand three distinct timelines that are shaping developments: the short-term timeline of daily struggles, the medium-term timeline of geopolitical shifts, and the long-term timeline of sociocultural transformation.
Japan Times
WORLD / Science & Health
Aug 29, 2014

U.S. seizes more than 1,200 illegal giant snails

The giant African snail damages buildings, destroys crops and can cause meningitis in humans. But some people still want to collect, and even eat, the slimy invaders.
Japan Times
LIFE / Lifestyle
Aug 9, 2014

Okinawa: pocket of resistance

The battle over Henoko Bay looks set to challenge the power of the archipelago's protest movement.
EDITORIALS
Aug 8, 2014

Food safety without borders

Recent revelations that a food maker in Shanghai supplied fast-food and retail chains, including some in Japan, with expired and moldy meat came as another reminder that the issue of food safety does not stop at national borders.
WORLD
Aug 5, 2014

Video shows 'unspeakable acts' carried out by Nigerian soldiers: Amnesty

Footage obtained by human rights group Amnesty International and released on Tuesday appears to show Nigerian soldiers slitting the throats of Boko Haram suspects and dumping their bodies in a mass grave.
COMMENTARY / World
Jul 29, 2014

Why I'll be flying again on Malaysia Airlines

Despite losing its second airliner in four months, Malaysia Airlines says its generous refund policy for 2014 has not resulted in a surge in requests for refunds. There is good reason for that.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Companies
Jul 22, 2014

China food scandal drags in other chains, spreads to McDonald's Japan

A toxic food scandal in China is spreading fast, dragging in U.S. coffee chain Starbucks, Burger King Worldwide Inc. and others, as well as products of McDonald's Corp. as far away as Japan.
LIFE / Language / COMMUNICATION CUES
Jul 21, 2014

Malnutrition kills 3 million toddlers a year

More than 3 million children under the age of 5 die annually of malnutrition, the U.N. food agency and World Health Organization said on June 12. 'Malnutrition is responsible for about half of all child deaths under 5 years of age, causing over 3 million deaths every year,' the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) said. Some 162 million children are left stunted by chronic malnutrition and 99 million children are underweight across the world, it added. The FAO and WHO urged governments to 'make strong commitment to ensure healthier diets for all' at an international conference on nutrition to be held in Rome in November.
Japan Times
WORLD / ANALYSIS
Jul 18, 2014

Putin backed into corner over jet crash

President Vladimir Putin's intransigence over Ukraine risks turning him into a global pariah should the blame for downing a Malaysian Airlines jet with 298 passengers and crew members aboard fall on pro-Russia rebels in eastern Ukraine.
COMMENTARY / World
Jul 15, 2014

U.S. policy triggered latest border crisis

The U.S. does everything it can to screw up the Central American countries of Honduras, Guatemala and El Salvador, then acts surprised when desperate people from there, including thousands of children, show up at the U.S. border, trying to escape the carnage.
COMMENTARY / World
Jul 12, 2014

Is China really set on another Olympics?

One would have expected some civic joy at Monday's news that Beijing is listed as one of three candidate finalists to host the 2022 Winter Olympics. Curiously, though, that news has been hard to find in China.

Longform

Mount Fuji is considered one of Japan's most iconic symbols and is a major draw for tourists. It's still a mountain, though, and potential hikers need to properly prepare for any climb.
What it takes to save lives on Mount Fuji