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WORLD / Crime & Legal
Jun 20, 2015

Slain Charleston pastor to blame for gun deaths, says National Rifle Association executive

A National Rifle Association executive in Texas has come under fire for suggesting that a South Carolina lawmaker and pastor who was slain with eight members of his congregation bears some of the blame for his opposition to permitting concealed handguns in church.
Japan Times
WORLD / Crime & Legal
Jun 20, 2015

Obama says church shooting exposes 'blight' of racism, need for gun laws

President Barack Obama on Friday said a mass shooting at a black church in South Carolina exposed the "blight" of racism still present in America, and railed against critics who have accused him of politicizing a tragedy to talk about tougher gun laws.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Voices / FOREIGN AGENDA
Jun 17, 2015

Indians in Japan — a love story beset with challenges

While the recent increase in the number of Indian residents in Japan might appear substantial, it is small compared to the influx seen in some other countries. So why the big difference?
WORLD / Crime & Legal
Jun 17, 2015

Morsi, Muslim Brotherhood figures sentenced to death over mass jail break

An Egyptian court sentenced deposed President Mohamed Morsi to death on Tuesday over a mass jail break during the country's 2011 uprising and issued sweeping punishments against the leadership of Egypt's oldest Islamic group.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Jun 16, 2015

Greece's Tsipras isn't on the side of democracy

The question for Greeks today is whether they think the leftist policies of Syriza will give them a better future with default, capital controls and the drachma.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Science & Health
Jun 16, 2015

Consumer groups skeptical of health claims from new food labels

The first batch of products with new "functional food" labels will hit stores nationwide this week, amid controversy over regulatory policy that critics say is too lax.
JAPAN / KANSAI PERSPECTIVE
Jun 15, 2015

Osaka's assault on ethnic invective stalls

With last week's decision by the Osaka Municipal Assembly to delay a decision on what would have been Japan's first city ordinance to combat hate speech and to issue a nonbinding statement instead, local legal efforts to crack down on racist rhetoric have slowed.
Japan Times
WORLD / Politics
Jun 15, 2015

Jeb Bush runs from Romney's ghost as he readies U.S. presidential bid Monday

When Republican Jeb Bush gathered donors in Miami for an April retreat, it was clear he planned a less-scripted, more-inclusive U.S. presidential campaign bearing little resemblance to that of the unsuccessful 2012 nominee Mitt Romney.
Japan Times
LIFE / Travel
Jun 13, 2015

Above and below the Yamaguchi plains

Three meters above my head, the rectangular offering box of Motonosumi Inari Shrine seems impossibly out of my reach. For the 23rd time, I wind back my arm and attempt to lob my chosen donation between the narrow slats. For the 23rd time, the coin takes on a trajectory I'm certain I didn't intend ......
JAPAN / Media
Jun 12, 2015

Times advisory board meets, offers recommendations

COMMENTARY / World
Jun 11, 2015

Algorithms give us what we want, but little else

Algorithms may take the guesswork out of marketing, crime prevention and even romance. But they also take the guesswork out of life itself, making it predictably dull.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Politics
Jun 11, 2015

Security bills' credibility hobbled by suspicious explanations and reporting: scholars

As the Diet continues debate over a raft of contentious bills that would upend Japan's postwar security regime, some scholars and experts are noting the need for at least some changes to the nation's defense posture considering the security climate in the region — and a more transparent approach to...
EDITORIALS
Jun 9, 2015

Legal doubts over security bills

The Abe administration must address key questions if it's serious about winning the public's support and understanding of its security legislation.
Japan Times
JAPAN / EXPLAINER
Jun 8, 2015

Sincere climate pledge or 'sleight of hand'?

Last week, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's Cabinet announced Japan would reduce its greenhouse gas emissions by 26 percent by 2030, based on 2013 levels. The plan will be presented to delegates at a United Nations conference on climate change in Paris this December.
EDITORIALS
Jun 7, 2015

Abe should heed Onaga's words

To avoid an all-out confrontation with Okinawa, the Abe administration needs to search in earnest for an alternative plan to building a new U.S. Marine base in Henoko.
BASEBALL / BASEBALL BULLET-IN
Jun 6, 2015

New interleague format divides opinion

We're already more than halfway through Japan's interleague season, and I overheard a member of the Japanese media say last week, "The interleague games are not interesting."
JAPAN / Politics
Jun 5, 2015

Experts' tongue-lashing rekindles Diet debate on reinterpreted Constitution

The surprise tongue-lashing in the Diet meted out by three noted constitutional scholars has reignited debate on whether the Cabinet's reinterpretation of Article 9 last year was legitimate.
ASIA PACIFIC
Jun 5, 2015

Relatives in China ship disaster say they were beaten by police

Relatives of passengers missing in the sinking of the Eastern Star cruise ship on the Yangtze River have accused Chinese police of beating them when they sought more information about the disaster.
JAPAN / Politics
Jun 4, 2015

Some Japanese teens welcome move to reduce voting age, others apathetic

For high school student Aine Suzuki, the Lower House's move on Thursday to pass legislation that would reduce the voting age to 18 from the current 20 was akin to a dream come true.
EDITORIALS
Jun 4, 2015

Russia cracks down again on NGOs

Russian President Vladimir Putin's latest crackdown on NGOs is just one more attempt to silence any opposition to his rule.
JAPAN / Politics
Jun 4, 2015

Success of Doraemon film in China reflects thaw in ties with Japan: expert

The success of a Japanese animation film recently released in China reflects a thaw in relations between the two nations as Beijing opens up to cultural exchanges, according to a Japan-based expert on the communist country.
COMMUNITY / Voices / FOREIGN AGENDA
Jun 3, 2015

Here's hoping the ikumen fad fades as Japan ages like fine sake

When the Japanese media started to harp on about the fatigue emerging among ikumen — men who help their wives with child-rearing and other domestic duties — I just had to laugh. Being a Japanese sake brewer's husband, I was confident that I was streets ahead of these trendy men bragging about their...
COMMENTARY / Japan
Jun 2, 2015

An alliance of hope must include Okinawans

The disproportionate presence of American forces on Okinawa is at least in part the continuation of Tokyo's low regard for the island and its people.
COMMENTARY / World
Jun 1, 2015

Tayyipism strikes a chord with Turkish voters

President Recep Erdogan's new Turkey is more religious, more conservative, more rooted in the Middle East and less bound to the West.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Jun 1, 2015

The AIIB key to Beijing's new economic order

China's approach to creating an infrastructure bank that will knit Asia into a Sino-centric economic order could prove to be a nightmare.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues
May 31, 2015

U.S. greenlights Japan's march back to militarism

As I've often written, I'm a big proponent of the historical record — if for no other reason, so we can look back at the past and learn from our mistakes.
Japan Times
WORLD / Politics
May 31, 2015

Islam takes center stage as Turkish election campaign enters final week

Evoking the Ottoman conquest of Constantinople and vowing the Muslim call to prayer would forever ring out, President Tayyip Erdogan put religion at center stage on Saturday as campaigning for Turkey's parliamentary election entered its final week.

Longform

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