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COMMENTARY / Japan / SENTAKU MAGAZINE
Aug 31, 2014

Abe faces roadblock this fall

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe appears to be approaching a roadblock this fall in the form of defeat in the Okinawa gubernatorial election, possible chaos over the relocation of Futenma air station and mounting sentiment throughout Japan against U.S. military bases.
BASEBALL / Japanese Baseball
Aug 28, 2014

Sawamura fires two-hitter against Tigers

Hirokazu Sawamura let out a shout and thrust both arms in the air. The Yomiuri Giants pitcher had been bitten in his first two starts against the Hanshin Tigers, but the third time turned out to be the charm.
COMMENTARY / World
Aug 28, 2014

Two-headed Russian eagle mulls moves at crossroads

The bicontinental nature of Russia is reflected in its national symbol, a double-headed eagle looking in two directions. That eagle finds itself in a precarious spot now that it must look around for as many non-Western partners and openings for business as possible.
EDITORIALS
Aug 27, 2014

Deng Xiaoping's lasting legacy

Seventeen years after his death, Deng Xiaoping's grip on China remains as tight as ever.
WORLD / Politics
Aug 26, 2014

Scotland's pro-independence leader steamrolls final TV debate before referendum

Scotland's pro-independence leader Alex Salmond won a final TV debate on Monday just over three weeks before a historic breakaway referendum, but it wasn't clear if his combative performance would help him catch up in the polls.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Voices / FOREIGN AGENDA
Aug 25, 2014

Use them or lose them: There's more at stake than language in reviving Ryukyuan tongues

With the last speakers of the Ryukyuan languages dying out, an identity is vanishing too.
JAPAN / Politics / KANSAI PERSPECTIVE
Aug 24, 2014

Osaka merger drags on Hashimoto's return to Nagatacho

Osaka Mayor Toru Hashimoto may be moving forward with plans to once again become a notable player in Nagatacho by tying up with Yui no To (Unity Party).
EDITORIALS
Aug 24, 2014

Don't bank on nuclear restarts

Power companies are moving again to raise their electricity rates to get out of dire financial straits caused by the increased cost of importing fuel to run more thermal power plants while their nuclear power reactors remain idled.
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Aug 23, 2014

Criminal notoriety for the sake of fame

Hirofumi Watanabe, the man convicted Thursday of threatening publishers, stores, universities and basically anyone or anything that had something to do with the popular manga "Kuroko no Basuke (Kuroko's Basketball)," has enjoyed a peculiar sort of celebrity since he was arrested in December. Prior to...
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Aug 22, 2014

U.S.-Israeli affair almost over

Today the endorsement of Israel and financial support from the American Jewish community remain important but diminishing factors in American politics. Sympathies, especially among younger Jews, have moved leftward.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC
Aug 22, 2014

Some South Korean ferry mourners tire of activists seizing their cause

South Korean families who lost loved ones in April's ferry disaster are demanding accountability from the government, but some have grown weary of strident activists adopting their cause for political ends.
Japan Times
WORLD
Aug 22, 2014

National Guard to withdraw from riot-torn Ferguson as tensions ease

Missouri Gov. Jay Nixon ordered the withdrawal on Thursday of National Guard troops from riot-torn Ferguson, where tensions have eased after sometimes violent protests were staged nightly since police killed an unarmed black teenager.
WORLD
Aug 21, 2014

Adversaries seize chance to lecture U.S. on Ferguson unrest

Governments scolded by the United States over their human rights records have seized on racial unrest and a police crackdown in the Missouri town of Ferguson to wag their fingers back in disapproval.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Voices / VIEWS FROM THE STREET
Aug 18, 2014

Tokyo and Saitama: Would you ever consider adopting a child?

Raul Montero
COMMENTARY / World
Aug 18, 2014

Australia should take lead on global no-first-use convention

There are good reasons why Australia is a credible candidate for leading the push for a global convention to enshrine a universal no-first-use policy for nuclear weapons.
Japan Times
WORLD / Politics
Aug 18, 2014

Scottish independence campaign gains ground despite TV debate flop

Support for an independent Scotland has risen slightly in the last month even though Alex Salmond, the fiery nationalist leading the breakaway campaign, failed to win a high-profile TV debate, two opinion polls showed on Sunday.
COMMENTARY / World
Aug 15, 2014

Race- and religion-based politics slows Asia's progress

How fitting it would be if, on his next return visit to Asia, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry — on behalf of America's first African-American president — helped to push the region, including China, to move beyond the racial and ethnic stereotypes that are constraining economic growth.
COMMENTARY / World
Aug 15, 2014

The bill for Putin's policy will be high

Virtually every retaliatory move against the West proposed by Vladimir Putin as a result of the Ukraine crisis has backfired on Russia and left it in a far weaker financial position.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Aug 14, 2014

Pixies to bring 'Indie Cindy' to Summer Sonic

Sat on the upper deck of his band's tour bus, Pixies frontman Black Francis shrugs his shoulders and screws up his face. This is, I've come to realize, how the man born Charles Thompson IV tends to field questions before, if and when the fancy takes him, forcefully making his point — a technique strangely...
Japan Times
JAPAN
Aug 13, 2014

Barren rocks fuel South Korean passions in islet spat with Japan

Holding a notepad full of questions, 15-year-old Ko Yu-jeong rushes up to a South Korean diplomat after his speech, asking how she can better argue the case for her country's control of a set of islets also claimed by Japan.
COMMENTARY / World
Aug 11, 2014

Threat from Putin's Russia

The threat that Russian President Vladimir Putin poses to peace in Europe underscore that NATO member countries have gone too far in running down their defense expenditures.
BASEBALL / Japanese Baseball
Aug 9, 2014

Ishikawa perseveres with Swallows

On a somewhat muggy Friday night in Yokohama, Masanori Ishikawa strode to the center of the diamond at Yokohama Stadium, bent down and bounced the rosin bag around in his hand a few times — seemingly every pitch later that night was accompanied by a puff of white — and proceeded to make his 20th...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Aug 7, 2014

The robots return in 'Transformers: Age of Extinction'

Filmmaker Michael Bay thinks there's something interesting about Japanese samurai that sets them apart from English knights.
Japan Times
WORLD
Aug 7, 2014

Synthetics strike fear in the heart of world diamond industry

Diamonds are a girl's best friend — but only if they are natural.
WORLD
Aug 7, 2014

A third of Germans fear NATO-Russia war over Ukraine, poll finds

One in three Germans thinks a war could break out between Russia and NATO over the conflict in Ukraine, according to an opinion poll published on Wednesday, a finding that helps explain the country's cautious approach to the crisis.
Japan Times
WORLD
Aug 6, 2014

In Scotland, pro-independence leader flunks TV debate

The leader of Scotland's campaign for independence failed to turn a U.S.-style television debate into a victory for his cause on Tuesday, six weeks before Scots vote on whether to break up the United Kingdom.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Voices / FOREIGN AGENDA
Aug 6, 2014

After the romance of expat life fades, the dream lives on

Some foreign residents in Japan might be living a dream on paper, but many are plagued by the question of if and when to return home.

Longform

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