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Japan Times
WORLD / Society
Oct 26, 2017

EU too? Lawmakers denounce harassment in Brussels

EU lawmakers accused their own parliament on Wednesday of failing to protect staff from sexual harassment, as allegations of abuse in the wake of the Harvey Weinstein case have raised questions over standards also in Brussels' institutions.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Oct 25, 2017

Look for Tehran to emerge dominant in post-IS Middle East

The changing balance of power in the Middle East threatens to leave the U.S. on the sidelines.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC / Society
Oct 25, 2017

Myanmar and Bangladesh agree to 'halt outflow' of Rohingya refugees and begin repatriations

Myanmar and Bangladesh on Tuesday agreed to cooperate on the repatriation of Rohingya refugees and took steps to boost border security as relations between the neighbors have been strained by the continuing flow of refugees into Bangladesh.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Oct 24, 2017

What electric vehicles portend for the future

The widespread use of electric vehicles would be good for the environment, but could be bad news for millions of workers in the automotive industry.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / Japan
Oct 20, 2017

The wisdom of Tanzan Ishibashi

Japan might be a very different country today if Prime Minister Tanzan Ishibahi hadn't handed the reins of power over to Nobusuke Kishi after just 65 days in office.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Oct 20, 2017

Hurricanes' unnatural toll

The world spends far more on post-disaster aid and reconstruction than it does on mitigation even though the latter would save many lives and is far more cost-effective.
JAPAN / Politics / Decision 2017
Oct 19, 2017

'Manifesto' era may be over but election campaigns still rife with rosy pledges and vague bottom lines

Eight years is a long time in Japanese politics and people are quick to forget, but things were vastly different then.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Oct 19, 2017

A new front opens in Asia's water war

In a water-stressed Asia, taming China's hegemonic ambition is now the biggest strategic challenge.
Japan Times
WORLD / ANALYSIS
Oct 17, 2017

A divided Iraq tests U.S. influence as fight against Islamic State wanes

After years of focusing divided Iraq on a shared fight against the Islamic State group, the United States is now straining to leverage its limited influence to avoid a full-blown conflict between the Iraqi and Kurdish forces it has armed and trained.
Japan Times
JAPAN / History / THE LIVING PAST
Oct 14, 2017

Japan's 'way of the sword' baffles foreign observers

All cultures present aspects that cannot but baffle the foreign observer. For example: nothing in the native tradition equips a Japanese to grasp the concept of the blood of the crucified son of the one God washing believers clean of sin.
Japan Times
WORLD
Oct 14, 2017

Freed Canadian says Afghan kidnappers killed one child and raped his American wife

A U.S.-Canadian couple freed in Pakistan this week, nearly five years after being abducted in Afghanistan, returned to Canada on Friday where the husband said one of his children had been murdered and his wife had been raped.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Companies
Oct 13, 2017

Richard Branson takes another bet on the future with Hyperloop One

British billionaire Richard Branson on Thursday placed another bet on the future with an investment in Hyperloop One, which is developing super high-speed transportation systems.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Stage
Oct 12, 2017

It's more than 400 years old, but 'Richard III' is just as relevant today

Romanian theater director Silviu Purcarete has staged several plays in this country before, but now he's working with an all-Japanese cast for the first time as he prepares to present his brand-new "Richard III" at Tokyo Metropolitan Theatre in Ikebukuro from Oct. 18 to 30, ahead of a three-city tour....
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC
Oct 11, 2017

U.S. flies powerful bombers over Korean Peninsula as Trump discusses 'range of options'

The U.S. sent powerful B-1B bombers from Guam for joint exercises with the South Korean Air Force over the Korean Peninsula late Tuesday as President Donald Trump gathered his top national security advisers to discuss "a range of options" for dealing with North Korea's nuclear ambitions.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Markets
Oct 10, 2017

Political risk seeps into yen trade as Japan's Abe faces popular upstart in October election

It's been five years since politics captured much attention from the foreign-exchange world in Japan, but traders are now gaming out potential scenarios for the yen after the Oct. 22 general election.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Oct 5, 2017

Food, folks and film: Yamagata festival dives deep into documentaries

Once an obscure corner of a film world dominated by the fantasies of Hollywood, documentaries are now drawing more attention from both paying audiences and wider society. And the Yamagata International Documentary Film Festival, whose 15th edition unspools from Oct. 5 to 12 in Yamagata, has long been...
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC / ANALYSIS
Oct 2, 2017

Trump dismissal of U.S.-North Korea talks has some fearful of what comes next

After his curt dismissal over Twitter of talks with North Korea, U.S. President Donald Trump has left many wondering — and some fearing — what his next move against the nuclear-armed nation will be.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Books / How the visual arts shaped Japan's modern literature
Sep 30, 2017

How the visual arts shaped Japan's modern literature

Early on in Natsume Soseki's 1908 campus novel "Sanshiro" — one of the most important expositions of the inter-connectedness of visual and literary art ever written — a young scientist, Nonomiya, looks up at a long, thin, white cloud floating diagonally in the sky.
Japan Times
BASKETBALL / B. League
Sep 28, 2017

Brave Thunders focused on positive start to season

There might not be many teams that are as motivated as the Kawasaki Brave Thunders to have a great start to the 2017-18 season.
Japan Times
BASKETBALL / B. League / B. LEAGUE NOTEBOOK
Sep 28, 2017

Challenge awaits Hasegawa in Tochigi

What impact will Kenji Hasegawa make for the defending champion Tochigi Brex in his first season at the helm?
JAPAN / Politics
Sep 25, 2017

Abe gambles on snap election as Koike surprises with new party

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe confirms he will call a snap election on Thursday and Tokyo Gov. Yuriko Koike launches a new political party to take him on.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Companies
Sep 25, 2017

Japan's Cosmo Oil evaluates new sources of crude as market braces for new standards

After years of economic malaise spurred a wave of cutbacks, closures and mergers, reshaping the refining industry in the world's fourth-biggest oil using nation, Japan's Cosmo Oil Co. is reckoning with the aftermath.
Japan Times
ENVIRONMENT / EMBASSY PRESENTS ECO-FRIENDLY LIFESTYLE
Sep 25, 2017

Working to preserve marine environment

At a recent seminar in Tokyo, Swedish embassy officials explained that the Scandinavian country has worked out a unique dialogue inviting major stakeholders to preserve the marine environment and, on the cultural front, offer ideal destinations for ecotourism thanks to its rich natural environment and...
Japan Times
WORLD / Science & Health
Sep 24, 2017

Parched nations tap cloud seeding

Threading through clouds, often with shaky turbulence and occasional thunder, 71-year-old pilot Gary Walker burns the flares on his plane's wings, releasing chemicals as he flies.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Books
Sep 23, 2017

'Devils in Daylight' and 'The Maids': The literary sleuthing of Junichiro Tanizaki

Question: Is it really the case that for a large part of the 20th century Japan enjoyed a golden age of literature? Or is this just misty-eyed nostalgia?
ASIA PACIFIC
Sep 17, 2017

Could North Korea copy Nazi Germany in event of a total oil ban?

As the U.S. and its allies look to impose even stricter measures against North Korea, leader Kim Jong Un could find inspiration from oppressive regimes of yesteryear in Nazi Germany and Apartheid-era South Africa.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Sep 12, 2017

Merkel's moral authority sets EU's direction

Germany's European partners now accept that Berlin is able to set and enforce the basic direction for the European Union — even if they don't like the policies.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Sep 11, 2017

Malay woman to be Singapore president, puts minority representation on agenda

There are no Muslim Malays in the top echelons of Singapore's army, and few among the senior ranks of its judiciary, but a member of its poorest ethnic minority is set to become the first woman president of the city-state this week.
JAPAN / Politics
Sep 8, 2017

Yuriko Koike ally seeks to loosen ruling party's grip on national politics

A close ally of Tokyo Gov. Yuriko Koike who helped an upstart group crush the long-ruling Liberal Democratic Party in Tokyo's local elections two months ago is setting up a political organization to attempt a similar feat at the national level.
Japan Times
LIFE / Language / BILINGUAL
Sep 4, 2017

Japanese packed with phrases for the ages

The Japanese language certainly has no shortage of age-related terms, and the subject can pop up in almost any context.

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