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COMMENTARY / World
Jul 29, 2014

Preparing for the next big solar storm

The probability of a solar storm striking Earth in the next decade with enough force to do serious damage to electricity networks, lasting perhaps for months, could be as high as 12 percent.
JAPAN
Jul 29, 2014

Expert pushes plan he says can quickly solve Futenma issue

Military analyst Kazuhisa Ogawa says that he has a plan that could solve the Futenma base mess in just two days.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / NOTEBOOK
Jul 29, 2014

Tropical resort getaway

COMMENTARY / World
Jul 28, 2014

Are future presidents doomed to mediocrity?

The idea that structural change in the U.S. presidency has somehow confined Barack Obama and future presidents to mediocre approval ratings just doesn't wash.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / THE FOREIGN ELEMENT
Jul 28, 2014

A trip around the Yushukan, Japan's font of discord

Often overlooked in discussions about Yasukuni is the divisive role played by the Yushukan, the war museum built within the shrine grounds to promote the 'Yasukuni doctrine.'
JAPAN
Jul 28, 2014

Tokyo government seeks public input on Shinagawa development plan

The public is being invited to weigh in on the plans for developing a 630-hectare area around Shinagawa Station in Tokyo into a hub for business and international exchanges.
Japan Times
WORLD
Jul 28, 2014

China adds East China Sea drills to spate of muscle-flexing exercises

China announced new military drills in the East China Sea, adding to exercises underway in other areas that may further disrupt domestic air travel and add to tensions with neighbors over territorial disputes in the region.
Japan Times
WORLD
Jul 28, 2014

Massachusetts monks tap ancient brewing tradition to sustain aging members

Tucked off a two-lane highway in a hilly, wooded section of central Massachusetts, a group of Roman Catholic monks has embraced a centuries-old tradition they hope can sustain their aging members in a world of rapidly rising health costs.
BUSINESS
Jul 28, 2014

As U.S. kicks off crude exports, Iran casts a shadow in Asia

The United States faces an awkward rival in its first attempts in 40 years to export crude oil — Iran.
BUSINESS / Markets
Jul 28, 2014

BofA sees China hand in Belgian Treasury binge

China is driving a jump in Belgian holdings of Treasuries and is a key reason for a plunge in yields even as the Federal Reserve trims its stimulus to support growth, according to Bank of America Merrill Lynch.
Japan Times
WORLD
Jul 28, 2014

China pushes soft power with hospital ship at RIMPAC

On a Chinese hospital ship off Hawaii, crew members demonstrate traditional massage techniques to U.S. sailors. The mood is one of collegiality, even after China opted out of Japan-led humanitarian drills at the world's largest international naval exercise.
SOCCER / J. League
Jul 27, 2014

Reds surrender first goal in 660 minutes in draw with Antlers

Urawa Reds saw their record run of clean sheets come to an end but stayed on top the J. League table after a 1-1 draw with Kashima Antlers on Saturday.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / YEN FOR LIVING
Jul 27, 2014

A modest proposal for alleviating the endangerment of Japanese eels

In Japan, most eel is consumed on one day of the year.
JAPAN / KANSAI PERSPECTIVE
Jul 27, 2014

Self-defense less collective at local level

After the Shiga gubernatorial election earlier this month, in which Taizo Mikazuki, the hand-picked successor to former Gov. Yukiko Kada, defeated the ruling coalition's candidate, certain media agencies and pundits suggested that collective self-defense had no impact on the race.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / LEARNING CURVE
Jul 27, 2014

Osaka bets big on TOEFL to boost English levels

The Osaka Prefecture Board of Education is pushing through a raft of initiatives to shake up English-language education, chief among them the introduction of TOEFL at top-performing high schools, which will be taught by an elite group of teachers earning approximately ¥8 million a year.
EDITORIALS
Jul 27, 2014

More time for a deal with Iran

The biggest question about the four-month extension of negotiations over Iran's nuclear program is what impact Russian President Vladimir Putin's behavior, Israeli-Palestinian hostilities and the U.S. elections will have on them.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Jul 27, 2014

What economic policies will fit the 'growth strategy'?

The Abe government has decided on its new economic growth strategy — the 'third arrow' of 'Abenomics' — but what of today's production systems, which are quite different from the models depicted in economics textbooks?
ASIA PACIFIC / Crime & Legal
Jul 27, 2014

Pakistani boy loses arms after row with landowner over cows: police

Pakistani police have arrested the son of a landowner for an assault on a 10-year-old boy that resulted in his injured arms being amputated, the latest case highlighting harsh treatment of villagers by so-called feudal families.
Japan Times
WORLD / Society
Jul 27, 2014

Pope Francis renews attack on mafia in Italian region scarred by toxic waste

Pope Francis called for nature to be protected from criminal abuse on Saturday during a visit in the southern Italian town of Caserta, near Naples, in a region long blighted by illegal toxic waste dumps and the pervasive grip of the Camorra mafia.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Jul 26, 2014

Art vs. morals debate plays out in the press

In her semiautobiographical feature film "Who's Afraid of Vagina Wolf?," Anna Margarita Albelo plays a struggling film director who makes ends meet by screening her movies in art galleries where she shows up dressed as a vagina. Though the story is mainly about relationships, the prominence of the female...
COMMENTARY / Japan / COUNTERPOINT
Jul 26, 2014

Japan's brand is floundering under Abe

Attending the Association of Asian Studies conference in Singapore last week, I realized that Japan's global image is not what it might be. Prime Minister Shinzo Abe says Japan is back, but doubts are spreading about the version of Japan he is promoting. It appears that Abe's energetic regional diplomacy...
Japan Times
ENVIRONMENT / OUR PLANET EARTH
Jul 26, 2014

As species die, what valuable knowledge dies with them?

In mid-June, The New York Times reported that U.S. President Barack Obama intends to use his executive authority to create the world's largest marine protected area in the south-central Pacific.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Books / ESSENTIAL READING FOR JAPANOPHILES
Jul 26, 2014

Long, Long Autumn Nights: Selected Poems of Oguma Hideo, 1901-1940

Some truths only a poet can utter. "Oh, God! / Give me talent / For insult and profanation / To revile You / and my enemies!"
COMMENTARY / World
Jul 26, 2014

Putin might have just killed Russia's brand

Has the downing of Malaysia Airlines Flight MH17 put Russia on its way to taking on the Soviet Union's one-time status as an object of fear and hatred?
Events / KANSAI: WHO & WHAT
Jul 25, 2014

Major festival in Shiga due near Lake Biwa

Biwako Hall in Shiga Prefecture will hold its Summer Festa on Aug. 2 and 3, featuring concerts, art workshops, a play, a documentary, an exhibition and dancing. Some are free.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal / Q&A
Jul 25, 2014

A closer look at the Supreme Court's welfare benefits ruling

Opinions are divided over how the Supreme Court ruling last week declaring permanent foreign residents of Japan ineligible for welfare payments will affect the foreign communities in Japan.

Longform

Koichi Tagawa’s diary entry from Aug. 9, 1945, describes the day of the atomic bombing of Nagasaki.
The horrors of Nagasaki, in first person