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Japan Times
BUSINESS / Economy
Dec 9, 2014

Yen slide is unchecked by government ahead of election

Japanese officials have signaled their blessing of a weaker yen as polls show Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's coalition may expand its Lower House majority in this weekend's election.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Voices / FOREIGN AGENDA
Dec 8, 2014

Foreign student's account of treatment in rape case points to gaps in Japan's safety myth

Never did I expect that I would get raped in Japan. The story I am about to tell belies the image of the 'world's safest country' that often gets trotted out when people enthuse about Japan.
COMMENTARY / World
Dec 7, 2014

Evidence suggests Keynesianism boosts GDP in recessions, but good luck explaining why

Casual evidence indicates that government spending during recessions (a pillar of Keynesianism) boosts GDP. But we don't have a satisfying macroeconomic model that explains why.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Companies / ANALYSIS
Dec 5, 2014

Toyota lessons lost on Takata as it resists U.S. recall order

Takata Corp.'s resistance to a U.S. order to expand the recall of its air bag inflators is likely driven by a need to protect itself from legal liability, but it risks longer-term business damage by alienating the public, experts say.
WORLD
Dec 4, 2014

Britain to cut unpopular property levy for nearly all home buyers

British finance minister George Osborne said he will cut a tax on nearly all property purchases from midnight, removing a long-standing grievance of home buyers five months before an election.
JAPAN / Politics / DECISION 2014
Dec 3, 2014

LDP campaign message diverges in urban, rural areas

Voters in parts of the country where the Trans-Pacific Partnership is a particularly sensitive issue are hearing a message from local LDP chapters that differs from the party's national campaign platform.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Voices / FOREIGN AGENDA
Dec 3, 2014

Kick out the touts who rule Roppongi

if you are touted in Roppongi, do not waste your time reporting it to the police. You will be in for a very humiliating experience, as I discovered recently.
EDITORIALS
Dec 3, 2014

Debating nuclear energy

Lawmakers and parties need to lay out energy plans that include measures to reduce emissions that don't rely on nuclear power.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Dec 3, 2014

Abe shouldn't make his mentor's mistakes

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe should keep in mind why voters backed him to begin with: his apparent decisiveness and determination to challenge old ways of doing things.
JAPAN / Politics / DECISION 2014
Dec 3, 2014

Campaigning for election kicks off as Abe's approval rating dips

Official campaigning for the Dec. 14 Lower House election kicked off Tuesday, with 1,191 candidates across the country angling for one of the chamber's 475 seats.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Dec 2, 2014

U.K.'s immigration distraction

If the British public truly opposes immigration, they are probably referring to non-EU immigration.
COMMENTARY / World
Dec 2, 2014

Ferguson protesters put cause at risk

By escalating their tactics, Ferguson protestors risk changing the public mood from one of apathy to opposition to their cause.
Japan Times
WORLD / Politics
Dec 2, 2014

Russia can play good cop too, in its fight for regional influence

There were 76, but they were dubbed the 'Russian 100' —lifesavers flown in from Moscow within hours of an appeal for help from Serbia as the heaviest rainfall in more than a century inundated the Balkans in May.
COMMENTARY / World
Dec 1, 2014

Is the European Union too rigid to survive?

Uncompromising attempts to bind Europe together may instead hasten its abrupt and unmanageable dissolution, with unknown consequences.
JAPAN / Politics
Dec 1, 2014

Party chiefs spar at press club debate

Leaders of the ruling and opposition parties squared off during a debate at the Japan National Press Club in Tokyo on Monday, a day before official campaigning got underway for the Dec. 14 Lower House election.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Nov 29, 2014

Newspapers take sides on 'Abenomics'

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's dissolution of the Diet has become another point of contention between right- and left-leaning entities in Japan. One of the more revealing responses involved a website set up by a member of a nonprofit organization called Bokura no Ippo ga Nihon wo Kaeru (Our One Step Will...
EDITORIALS
Nov 28, 2014

Foot-dragging on vote-disparity fix

The parties and lawmakers need to set aside their own interests and bring the gap in the value of votes within constitutionally acceptable levels.
Japan Times
WORLD / Politics / FOCUS
Nov 27, 2014

Shadowy Chinese agency woos Taiwanese to win island back

Ever since a civil war split the two sides more than 60 years ago, China has viewed Taiwan as a renegade province that needs to be absorbed into the mainland. To that end, the Taiwanese businessmen working in China form a beachhead in a war of hearts and minds.
WORLD / Politics
Nov 27, 2014

Merkel hits diplomatic dead end with Putin

After nine months of non-stop German diplomacy to defuse the crisis in Ukraine, Chancellor Angela Merkel decided in mid-November that a change of tack was needed.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Nov 26, 2014

Yokudo: Lingering but confused gaze of indie director

Major film festivals, with their hurry-hurry schedules, are places to polish your sound bites, not launch into nuanced disquisitions. People want your opinion in 25 words or less. When someone asked me what I thought of Kiki Sugino's "Yokudo (Taksu)" after a screening at last month's Busan International...
Japan Times
WORLD
Nov 26, 2014

Missouri governor orders more National Guard troops after Ferguson erupts

Missouri Gov. Jay Nixon ordered more National Guard troops to Ferguson after chaos erupted when a grand jury declined to indict a white police officer for killing an unarmed black teenager.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Nov 25, 2014

Abe not laughing after online stunt pokes fun at snap election call

An online stunt by a student activist who made light of the Abe administration's surprise decision to call an election has drawn sharp criticism from the prime minister.
COMMENTARY / World
Nov 25, 2014

What global warming? Pass me a blanket

Unfortunately for proponents of climate change, people subconsciously use the current local temperature as a clue to whether global temperatures are increasing.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Nov 24, 2014

Like Japan, South Korea embroiled in textbook battle

A 17-year-old Korean girl tortured to death for opposing Japanese colonial rulers nearly a century ago has become the latest touchstone of the nationalism that is shadowing Asia's economic rise.
Japan Times
WORLD / Politics
Nov 23, 2014

UKIP victory sets stage for EU upheaval

Some 16,867 voters in southeast England ushered in a season of European political tumult that in an extreme scenario could lead to Britain exiting the European Union, Greece quitting the euro or Catalonia seceding from Spain.
Japan Times
LIFE / Digital
Nov 22, 2014

Konami's winning take on 'the beautiful game'

Soccer, more than any other sport, is the world's game. Played by millions, it is unquestionably the most popular sport on the planet.
Japan Times
SOCCER / PREMIER REPORT
Nov 21, 2014

Welbeck move benefited both Arsenal, Man United

It is almost three months since Manchester United sold Danny Welbeck to Arsenal for £16 million because Louis van Gaal did not think the striker was good enough to play for the Reds.

Longform

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