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Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / 20 QUESTIONS
Sep 13, 2014

Piet Boon: 'Never lose your sense of curiosity in the world'

Q: What motivates you to design something? A: Design should, in our opinion, enhance the quality of daily life.
COMMENTARY / World
Sep 13, 2014

Brazil's contradictory election candidate

Candidate Marina Silva has put together a set of policies and a coalition of supporters that are sometimes downright contradictory, but they may deliver her into the Brazilian presidency.
COMMENTARY / World
Sep 12, 2014

Abbas will fail at U.N. without Hamas' backing

How Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas reconciles three critical but faltering relationships — with Hamas, the U.S. and Israel — will determine whether Israelis and Palestinians resume talking or fighting in the months ahead.
COMMENTARY / World
Sep 12, 2014

Scotland can expect a huge hangover after vote

There will be a lot of hurt heads, a lot of tears and, without a doubt, an immense amount of anger that will last who knows how long if Alex Salmond's dream of an independent Scotland comes true. The referendum campaign has been thrilling but utterly divisive.
BUSINESS / Economy
Sep 11, 2014

BOJ adviser Kawai urges Abe to proceed with second tax hike

The Abe administration should proceed with the next consumption tax hike as planned to signal it is serious about reining in the world's biggest debt burden, an adviser to Bank of Japan Gov. Haruhiko Kuroda said.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Sep 11, 2014

Japanese youths becoming less engaged with U.S., observers warn

The U.S.-Japan relationship remains extremely close due to shared interests and common strategic concerns. But issues ranging from trade negotiations over the Trans-Pacific Partnership to a perception on the U.S. side that Prime Minister Shinzo Abe is too focused on the past, have created immediate political...
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics / ANALYSIS
Sep 11, 2014

China asserts paternal rights over Hong Kong in clash over democracy

Just days before China was set to deliver its edict on electoral reform in Hong Kong, Beijing's most senior official in the city held a rare meeting with several local lawmakers whose determined push for full democracy had incensed Beijing's communist leaders.
JAPAN / Politics
Sep 10, 2014

New Cabinet ministers' pasts coming back to haunt Abe

One week after Prime Minister Shinzo Abe reshuffled his Cabinet with an eye to the future, the past is coming back to haunt him: Revelations of controversial past statements and actions by his newly appointed ministers are drawing criticism abroad.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Voices / FOREIGN AGENDA
Sep 10, 2014

If the Japanese are so clean, why is there so much crap on my beach?

Do Japanese take their rubbish with them only when people are watching? The view from one small beach on the Miura Peninsula suggests that is the case.
WORLD / Politics
Sep 9, 2014

Fresh poll shows rival Scottish independence camps neck-and-neck

The rival campaigns in Scotland's fight over independence are running neck-and-neck nine days before the referendum, with a surge in support for those who wish to break away from the United Kingdom, a TNS poll showed Tuesday.
WORLD / Politics
Sep 7, 2014

Supporters of Scottish independence take a narrow poll lead for the first time

Supporters of Scottish independence have taken their first opinion poll lead since the referendum campaign began, which indicates a real possibility that they might win, according to a YouGov survey for the Sunday Times newspaper.
Japan Times
WORLD / Politics
Sep 5, 2014

A Scottish 'yes' vote may not be such a big change for the queen

Scotland's vote on independence this month means Queen Elizabeth II faces a division in her kingdom not seen since the days of her namesake, Elizabeth I, at the start of the 17th century.
EDITORIALS
Sep 4, 2014

Keep a close eye on new Cabinet

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has reshuffled executive posts of the Liberal Democratic Party and his Cabinet apparently with the aim of setting up his re-election as the Liberal Democratic Party's president in autumn 2015.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Sep 4, 2014

First lady Akie Abe speaks out ahead of consumption tax decision

First Lady Akie Abe said Thursday her husband's administration should consider cutting wasteful spending and boosting the economy before going ahead with a rise in the consumption tax to 10 percent.
Japan Times
WORLD
Sep 4, 2014

Scottish independence would mean harsh consequences for U.K., economist says

A Scottish vote for independence from the United Kingdom this month could have serious consequences for the Scottish and U.K. economies, Goldman Sachs said in a research note on Wednesday.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Sep 3, 2014

A quarter century of Japanese films in review

In 25 years of reviewing Japanese films and interviewing Japanese filmmakers for this newspaper, I've written 1 million words, give or take a few. This is clearly something no normal person would do, but for me it beats working.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Voices / FOREIGN AGENDA
Sep 3, 2014

Giving up your seat on a train is a public affair

A recent article in the media in Japan about the attitudes and behavior of able-bodied passengers toward reserved seating on trains reminded me of one of the few negative experiences I have endured as a disabled foreigner in Japan, and it pertains to the tricky art of acquiring use of the "priority seats."...
COMMENTARY / World
Sep 2, 2014

Joint resource development in South China Sea

Shared development of oil, gas and possibly other natural resources is the most promising option for reducing tensions in the South China Sea and should be the focus of efforts to improve diplomatic relations between China and its coastal neighbors.
JAPAN / Politics
Sep 2, 2014

Australia leaning toward buying Japan subs to upgrade fleet

Japan and Australia are leaning toward a multibillion-dollar sale by Tokyo of a fleet of stealth submarines to Canberra's military, in a move that could rile an increasingly assertive China, people familiar with the talks said.
Japan Times
MORE SPORTS
Sep 1, 2014

Seward out to have big impact in Japan

Kyoto University's football team recently revealed that it had acquired Adam Seward, a former NFL player, as its new linebackers coach — perhaps the biggest news before the Kansai collegiate season kicked off this past weekend.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / THE FOREIGN ELEMENT
Sep 1, 2014

St. Mary's International School in Tokyo rocked by sexual abuse claims

After Catholic boys school responds to account from 1960s, other former pupils allege systematic abuse by another teacher during the 1970s
EDITORIALS
Sep 1, 2014

A cease-fire in the Gaza Strip

Israel and Hamas have agreed to an indefinite cease-fire after 50 bloody days of fighting in the Gaza Strip. It is estimated that 10,000 buildings were destroyed by the Israeli assault, and entire neighborhoods razed. And for what?
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Sep 1, 2014

Hong Kong braces for protests as China rules out full democracy

Prodemocracy activists vowed on Sunday to bring Hong Kong's financial hub to a standstill after China's parliament rejected their demands for the right to freely choose the former British colony's next leader in 2017.
WORLD
Sep 1, 2014

Germany to send Iraqi Kurds enough weapons for 4,000 fighters

Germany will send enough weapons to arm 4,000 Kurdish fighters in northern Iraq battling against Islamic State insurgents, whose advances threaten to destabilize the Middle East, the defense minister said on Sunday.

Longform

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