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Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Feb 19, 2018

How information technology poses a threat to democracy

Social media could be just the start of a slippery slope leading to an Orwellian world controlled by Big Data Brother, accelerated by convergence with the sensors in our devices and rapid advances in artificial intelligence.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Feb 19, 2018

Will the Olympics go bust?

While the costs of hosting the Olympics are going up, the prestige and long-term economic benefits seem to be going down.
Reader Mail
Feb 15, 2018

Strategies for increasing tourism

Regarding the story "Japan Tourism Agency aims to draw more Western tourists amid boom in Asian visitors" in the Feb. 7 edition, Japan has always been ranked high among Asian tourists, and in the not so distant past, among Western European and American tourists. That is before the rise of China and South...
Reader Mail
Feb 15, 2018

In Japan, drive as fast as you want

Japan has made a new law. Increased speed limits now say we can all drive up to 200 km per hour on any street. Furthermore, if you can afford to buy a Ferrari, there is no speed limit, you can drive as fast as you want, and its legal.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Politics
Feb 15, 2018

Don't fall for charm offensive, keep North 'under siege': chief of Lower House foreign affairs panel

South Korea must stay in line with U.S. and Japanese plans to keep North Korea "under siege," the chairman of the Lower House committee on foreign affairs said, referring to the policy of maintaining maximum pressure on Kim Jong Un's regime.
ASIA PACIFIC
Feb 14, 2018

Chinese newspaper says Britain is 'trying to validate its existence and grab attention' with South China Sea patrol

Chinese state-run media has blasted London for its plans to send a warship through the disputed South China Sea next month, saying that "by acting tough against China, Britain's Ministry of Defence is trying to validate its existence and grab attention."
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Feb 13, 2018

North Korean charm sure beats the alternative

Engaging with Pyongyang may encourage the regime down the path of liberalization.
JAPAN
Feb 13, 2018

Japan saw record number of refugee applicants in 2017, Justice Ministry says

The ministry attributes the surge to a rise in economic immigrants — what the government calls those who apply for refugee status to land jobs.
COMMENTARY / World
Feb 12, 2018

The point of sharp power

The view that despotism is incompatible with 'soft power is a popular one. Yet Russia and China are projecting more influence beyond their borders than at any time in recent memory.
Japan Times
JAPAN / History / JAPAN TIMES GONE BY
Feb 3, 2018

Japan Times 1993: Female workers don't like to drink with boss

Japanese women love to drink with friends — provided they are not office colleagues — and hate to drink with their bosses, according to a survey released Sunday.
EDITORIALS
Feb 3, 2018

Victims of the eugenics law

The government has a moral duty to quickly compensate victims of the eugenics law.
ASIA PACIFIC
Jan 30, 2018

China Eastern, Xiamen Airlines cancel Taiwan flights amid routes row

China Eastern Airlines and Xiamen Airlines said on Tuesday they had cancelled 176 round-trip flights to Taiwan added to their schedules to meet demand over the Lunar New Year, amid a row between Beijing and Taiwan over flight routes.
EDITORIALS
Jan 28, 2018

Right to reside for widows and widowers

The Justice Ministry should ensuring equal treatment to all married couples irrespective of their legal status.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Politics
Jan 24, 2018

Abe confirms plan to attend Winter Olympics despite tension with South Korea over 'comfort women' pact

The announcement puts an end to speculation he may forgo the trip to protest Seoul's recent move to revisit the 2015 deal on the comfort women issue.
Japan Times
SPORTS / MAN ABOUT SPORTS
Jan 23, 2018

NBA the latest to botch All-Star Game format

The one-upmanship never ends between the NBA, NHL and NFL regarding who can come up with the most ridiculous All-Star Game format.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC
Jan 23, 2018

Bad rap: China takes aim at hip-hop, saying 'low-taste content' must stop

China's censors have a new target in a widespread clamp-down on popular culture: the country's nascent hip-hop scene, which resonated with Chinese youth last year on hugely popular television show "Rap of China."
Japan Times
WORLD / Politics
Jan 23, 2018

Trump signs bill reopening U.S. government as immigration fight looms

U.S. President Donald Trump signed a government spending bill Monday evening that ends a three-day partial shutdown, White House official said. But that leaves the fight over a politically charged immigration proposal unresolved for at least another three weeks.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / Japan
Jan 22, 2018

Why is Japan populist-free?

Japan's middle-class mentality helps keep the dangerous populist politics roiling other countries at bay.
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / The Big Questions
Jan 21, 2018

Redesigning and refining the perception of luxury

For the past 23 years Guido Tarchi has weaved among Tokyo's crowds, surrounded by the city's architectural jumble where the everyday harmonizes with the extravagant.
JAPAN / Media / Japan Pulse
Jan 20, 2018

Stranded Niigata train incident highlights flaws in social media

Thanks to social media, anyone can log in to Twitter these days and comment on the fate of people who are stuck inside a stranded train from the comfort of their own homes. Is this what the world has become?
JAPAN / Politics
Jan 19, 2018

One year later, Abe's gamble on the unpredictable Trump appears to be paying off

Before U.S. President Donald Trump took office on Jan. 20 last year, Japanese officials were anxious, even obsessed, with a nightmare scenario that could not be ruled out — an incoming American leader who could shake up the balance of power in the Asia-Pacific region and vastly damage domestic interests....
COMMENTARY / World
Jan 16, 2018

Facebook's new mission may be impossible

Mark Zuckerberg's company is imitating Snap in trying to focus on interactions with 'friends and family.' But can the media genie be bottled up again?
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Voices / FOREIGN AGENDA
Jan 14, 2018

Japan still has much to learn from Martin Luther King's nonviolent struggle

Could Dr. King's nonviolent methods work in Japan, a country with a completely different relationship between government and citizen than in America?
Japan Times
JAPAN
Jan 12, 2018

Japan toughens screening rules for refugees; automatic work permits ditched

The Justice Ministry gets tough on immigrants seeking refuge in Japan with new rules designed to weed out those who are primarily seeking jobs.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / Japan
Jan 11, 2018

People of Japan, take a clear stance

Japanese are all too often reluctant to offer an opinion — on anything.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / BLACK EYE
Jan 10, 2018

Time for Japan to scrub off that blackface — for good

Oops, they did it again: offensive makeup for laughs on TV. But some Japanese viewers are far from amused.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Jan 9, 2018

Nuclear arms: Look ahead to 2018 in hope, not back at 2017 in anger

The biggest positive story line of 2017 was a new nuclear ban treaty adopted July 7.

Longform

Japan's growing ranks of centenarians are redefining what it means to live in a super-aging society.
What comes after 100?