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EDITORIALS
Oct 30, 2013

Death row inmate deserves retrial

Japan's top court rejects a request for retrial from an 87-year-old man on death row — after taking its time doing so — despite chemical evidence that might clear the defendant.
BUSINESS / Companies
Oct 30, 2013

JT to cut 1,600 jobs, close four plants

Japan Tobacco Inc. is cutting 1,600 jobs and closing four domestic factories as part of its plan to boost competitiveness at home and profitability.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Oct 30, 2013

Snag jeopardizes JPMorgan deal with U.S. Justice Department

Settlement talks between the U.S. Justice Department and JPMorgan Chase are in danger of breaking down over the bank's demands that it avoid future criminal charges and that another government agency pay some of the $13 billion price tag, according to a person familiar with the negotiations.
CULTURE / Music / STRANGE BOUTIQUE
Oct 29, 2013

Tokyo Boredom is blazing its own trail — and the first stop is Taiwan

Of all the cliches about Japanese music being bandied around, the one I find most baffling is the idea that bands here are "just copying Western music." It's a rehash of the old jibe, originally born from fear of Japan's rapid postwar industrial growth, about the Japanese being dedicated imitators but...
BASKETBALL
Oct 29, 2013

bj-league bans JT access

In an unprecedented move, the professional basketball bj-league has issued a ban on media access by The Japan Times for the entire 2013-14 season. The directive has been relayed to teams around the country by the league office, the newspaper has learned.
COMMUNITY / Issues / THE FOREIGN ELEMENT
Oct 28, 2013

Getting published is easy; getting noticed is trickier

How can writers make themselves heard in the age of blog and self-publishing saturation? Japan-based authors offer a diverse range of views
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC
Oct 27, 2013

Rajapaksa: Sri Lanka's affable authoritarian?

Down in the deep south of Sri Lanka, where life usually moves at a leisurely pace, there is one small town that is less tranquil. Hambantota — population 20,000 — is expanding fast. There is a vast new deepwater port, built with $360 million of borrowed Chinese cash; a new 35,000-seat cricket stadium;...
Japan Times
WORLD
Oct 26, 2013

Saudi driver's license protest kick-starts nation's women's rights movement

Women's rights activists in Saudi Arabia were set to get behind the wheel en masse Saturday to protest their government's refusal to allow women to have driver's licenses — a demonstration that comes just two years after a similar push. While the earlier effort was not successful, it did kick-start...
COMMENTARY
Oct 24, 2013

New lever for reducing the U.S. nuclear arsenal

The threat of the continuing U.S. budget sequester could succeed in yielding rational changes to the U.S. nuclear weapons program — a goal that simple logic has failed to achieve.
Japan Times
WORLD / Politics
Oct 23, 2013

Amid thaw, Iranians debate usefulness of anti-Americanism

Recent moves by the United States to engage the new Iranian government headed by a moderate president has triggered a public debate in the Islamic republic over its national interests, forcing hard-line conservatives to defend Tehran's 34-year-old enmity with Washington.
LIFE
Oct 22, 2013

Mike Mills looks at depression in Japan

Among all the many trips American film director Mike Mills has made to Japan since he first started coming here in the mid 1990s, one incident in particular has remained with him.
COMMENTARY / World
Oct 21, 2013

India's turn toward ASEAN gains momentum

India's 'Look East' policy was again in focus as Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh visited Brunei and Indonesia to boost his nation's profile in a region increasingly suspicious of China.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / THE FOREIGN ELEMENT
Oct 21, 2013

Medical bills mount for 'fired' Tokyo English teacher fighting cancer and HIV

A British language school teacher in Tokyo is struggling to pay for his chemotherapy and cancer surgery after his Waseda University-linked former employer failed to renew his contract, citing his nonattendance due to illness.
BUSINESS
Oct 21, 2013

Airbus aims high in Japan market

Airbus SAS, which won its first order from Japan Airlines Co. this month, intends to double its market share in the country by 2020 as air travel demand climbs.
Japan Times
ENVIRONMENT
Oct 20, 2013

Wildlife victory: shark fin falls from favor in China

Once a rare delicacy served to honored guests, shark fin soup had become so popular among China's fast-growing elite in recent years that it was pushing some shark species close to extinction.
BASEBALL / BASEBALL BULLET-IN
Oct 19, 2013

Tanishige to become rare player-manager for Dragons

Kind of a surprise was the announcement last week that Motonobu Tanishige was named the new manager of the Chunichi Dragons.
COMMENTARY / World
Oct 15, 2013

The narrative plot against Syria

America must focus on unifying Syria's bickering rebels before it can persuade Syrians that the campaign to destroy chemical weapons is not aimed at imposing a neo-colonial order.
Japan Times
BASKETBALL
Oct 15, 2013

Akita improves to 4-0 by sweeping Aomori

The Akita Northern Happinets are off to a 4-0 start this season, completing their second straight series sweep on Sunday by routing the expansion Aomori Wat's 74-51.
Japan Times
WORLD / Politics / FOCUS
Oct 15, 2013

Some fear McConnell-Reid bitter rift could endanger U.S. fiscal deal

When Washington is in crisis and every other option has fallen to pieces — whether on rescuing Wall Street, rewriting national security rules or agreeing on a budget — Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, a Democrat, and Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, a Republican, are usually the ones who put it...
Japan Times
WORLD
Oct 13, 2013

Medal of Honor seen as vindication for war hero

Four years after he survived a brutal firefight in a remote Afghanistan valley that claimed the lives of five Americans, retired U.S. Army Capt. William Swenson will be hailed as a hero at the White House on Tuesday.
Japan Times
WORLD
Oct 13, 2013

Cleanup at nation's war cemetery stirs anger, grief

Elizabeth Belle walked toward the grave of her son carrying a canvas bag full of miniature pumpkins, silk leaves and other decorations for his headstone. Then she noticed the changes. Section 60 of Arlington National Cemetery, where more than 800 Iraq and Afghanistan war dead are buried, had been stripped...
BASEBALL / Japanese Baseball
Oct 12, 2013

Marines veteran Iguchi proves value as key component of championship quest

Tadahito Iguchi couldn't help feeling a sense of deja vu after the Chiba Lotte Marines' destruction of the Seibu Lions in Game 1 of the Pacific League Climax Series First Stage on Saturday at Seibu Dome.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Media / BIG IN JAPAN
Oct 12, 2013

Tabloids brimming with anti-Korea diatribes

For 11 consecutive days from the start of this month, every front page of the Yukan Fuji, a nationally circulated evening tabloid published by the Sankei Shimbun, was embellished with at least one negative reference to South Korea. Some headline excerpts:

Longform

Figure skater Akiko Suzuki was once told her ideal weight should be 47 kilograms, a number she now admits she “naively believed.” This led to her have a relationship with food that resulted in her suffering from anorexia.
The silent battle Japanese athletes fight with weight