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JAPAN
May 26, 2015

Government defies foes over Henoko, stays set on landfill for new base

The central government will press ahead with construction of the Futenma replacement base even if Okinawa Gov. Takeshi Onaga revokes existing permission for landfill work at the site, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga says.
WORLD / Crime & Legal
May 26, 2015

Tehran trial of Iranian-American journalist on unspecified charges to be closed, brother says

The trial in Iran of jailed Washington Post reporter Jason Rezaian will be closed to the public when it starts on Tuesday, his brother said on Monday.
Japan Times
WORLD
May 26, 2015

Galapagos volcano erupts, posing threat to rare pink iguanas

A volcano perched atop one of Ecuador's Galapagos Islands erupted in the early hours of Monday, the local authorities said, potentially threatening a unique species of pink iguanas.
Japan Times
WORLD
May 26, 2015

Peace talks scrubbed as fighting engulfs Yemen; Houthis suffer first key setback in south

Local Sunni Muslim militia ejected Shiite Houthi rebels from much of the southern Yemeni city of Dalea on Monday, residents and combatants said, inflicting the first significant setback on the Iranian-backed rebels in two months of civil war.
Japan Times
WORLD
May 26, 2015

Obama pays tribute at Arlington as U.S. marks first Memorial Day without ground war in 14 years

President Barack Obama heralded the first U.S. Memorial Day in 14 years without a major ground war in an annual ceremony of remembrance on Monday for fallen American forces.
JAPAN / Society
May 25, 2015

With hate speech bill, Osaka grapples with freedom of expression

The Osaka Municipal Government has proposed an ordinance aimed at curbing hate speech against racial and ethnic minorities in the city, where verbal and other attacks against Korean residents have intensified in recent years.
BUSINESS / Companies
May 25, 2015

Suntory Beverage buys JT's vending machines to close gap with Coke

Suntory Beverage & Food Ltd. will buy Japan Tobacco Inc.'s vending machines for about ¥150 billion to add to its own, closing a distribution gap with Coca-Cola Co.
COMMENTARY / Japan
May 25, 2015

Takata is the real safety hazard, not its air bags

The Takata debacle is a microcosm of all that's wrong with Japan's insular corporate culture.
COMMENTARY / World
May 25, 2015

Syria: the last chance saloon

Rescuing the embattled Assad regime from the Islamic State onslaught is the least bad option for U.S. President Barack Obama.
COMMENTARY / World
May 25, 2015

China's unaddressed mental health problems

The Chinese government must take steps to deal with the country's mental health crisis.
ASIA PACIFIC
May 25, 2015

China lodges complaint with U.S. over Spratlys spy plane flight

China said on Monday it had lodged a complaint with the United States over a U.S. spy plane that flew over parts of the disputed South China Sea in a diplomatic row that has fueled tension between the world's two largest economies.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC / Society
May 25, 2015

In North Korea, men call the shots, women make the money

North Korea is a militarized, male-dominated society, but it is women who are making the money as the insular nation allows an unofficial market-based economy to take shape.
Japan Times
WORLD
May 25, 2015

Bikers converge on Washington to honor vets, ex-POWs, MIAs

One week after a gathering of biker gangs in Texas resulted in nine deaths and 170 arrests after a shootout, thousands of motorcycle riders roared into the nation's capital Sunday to honor military veterans, prisoners of war and soldiers missing in action.
JAPAN / Society
May 23, 2015

Shifting the scales of juvenile justice

In light of 13-year-old Ryota Uemura's recent murder in Kawasaki, the country is once again split over whether or not to revise the law governing crimes committed by minors.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
May 23, 2015

Lowball nuclear pitch is fooling no one

Earlier this month, the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI) announced the results of a review of energy production costs, which concluded that nuclear will remain the cheapest alternative for Japan over the next 15 years while pointing out that the calculations took into consideration the...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Books
May 23, 2015

The 'Daughters of the Samurai' who changed the face of Meiji Era Japan

Tsuda College, occupying a leafy campus in the western suburbs of Tokyo, is a private college where female students are educated in languages and the liberal arts. In one corner of the site, overshadowed by the stately trees that surround it, lies the final resting place of Umeko Tsuda, an early pioneer...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Books
May 23, 2015

"Tokyo" is an unsettling take on the "foreigner in Japan" trope

So-called foreigner-in-Japan novels can set cliche alarm bells ringing, so when a book as exciting and original as Nicholas Hogg's "Tokyo" comes along, it takes a moment to recalibrate expectations. And it's not the last time Hogg wrong-foots his readers — this slow-boil thriller is designed to unsettle....
Japan Times
WORLD / ANALYSIS
May 23, 2015

With capture of Ramadi, Islamic State expands its hold over region

Almost a year after the Islamic State's shock capture of Mosul, Iraq's second-largest city, the black flags of the jihadis have been raised over Ramadi, the capital of Anbar province to the west of Baghdad, seat of Iraq's increasingly theoretical central government.
CULTURE / Music
May 22, 2015

Mono guitarist Goto revisits past compositions on 'Classical Punk and Echoes Under the Beauty'

In 2014, instrumental rock band Mono released two LPs simultaneously: "The Last Dawn" and "Rays of Darkness." The albums stripped the band's sound down to its bare essentials, eschewing the orchestral sounds it had become known for and instead going for the sound of a raw rock band with two emotional...
COMMENTARY / World
May 22, 2015

China's Cold War nostalgia

China's MIRV warhead deployment is meant to emphasize that it intends to become a genuine global power alongside the U.S.

Longform

An illustration features the Japanese signs for "ganbare" (good luck) and the Deaflympics, which will be held between Nov. 15 and 26.
A century of Deaf sport finds its moment in Tokyo