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Japan Times
Figure Skating / ICE TIME
Aug 27, 2019

Yuma Kagiyama dazzles in France JGP win

Yuma Kagiyama opened the Junior Grand Prix season with a bang.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Politics
Aug 27, 2019

Abe confirms he will reshuffle Cabinet and LDP executive team in September

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe on Monday clarified his intention to reshuffle his Cabinet and the leadership team of his ruling Liberal Democratic Party in September.
BUSINESS / Economy / TICAD 7 Special
Aug 27, 2019

Corporate expansion in spotlight at Africa conference

The city of Yokohama is set to host The Seventh Tokyo International Conference on African Development (TICAD 7) from Aug. 28 through 30, as dozens of top leaders from African countries and international organizations will gather in Japan.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Aug 26, 2019

Japan conspicuously silent as protests and violent crackdown roil Hong Kong

In Hong Kong, what began as a peaceful demonstration against a contentious extradition law has descended into a violent police crackdown and engulfed the former British colony in a symbolic fight against China's authoritarian rule.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Aug 24, 2019

China's lame Twitter meddling in Hong Kong

Beijing's efforts to manipulate online opinion in Hong Kong and abroad have a long way to go.
Japan Times
WORLD / Politics
Aug 23, 2019

U.S. billionaire industrialist and conservative donor David Koch dies at 79

Billionaire industrialist David Koch, a driving force behind conglomerate Koch Industries who as one of the world's richest people became a major financier of conservative causes and political candidates, has died at age 79, his brother said on Friday.
JAPAN / Politics
Aug 23, 2019

Abe tied as longest-serving postwar Japanese leader with great-uncle Sato at 2,798 days

Saturday will be Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's 2,799th day in office.
Reader Mail
Aug 23, 2019

Maybe they're just looking for an edge

I agree with the letter by SDT Tokyo ("Lawmakers out of touch with reality" in the Aug. 11 edition) that holding the Tokyo Olympics during the month of August shows extraordinary lack of consideration for both athletes and spectators, but I wonder whether the lawmakers really "have lost touch with reality."...
Japan Times
JAPAN / Politics
Aug 22, 2019

South Korea decides to exit intelligence-sharing pact with Japan

South Korea's decision is “extremely regrettable,” a Japanese government source was quoted as saying.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / Japan
Aug 22, 2019

Japan's Indo-Pacific dream or nightmare?

Unfinished political reform, militarization, technological authoritarianism, the politicization of history and great power rivalry is stressing the Indo-Pacific region and Tokyo's attempts to inculcate a rules-based order into the region.
Japan Times
WORLD / Politics / FOCUS
Aug 21, 2019

Trump or Europe? New U.K. leader Boris Johnson to sample post-Brexit reality at G7 summit

Boris Johnson is about to feel the pinch of Brexit Britain's new global status: squeezed on one side by Europeans in no mood to yield, and on the other by a United States driving a hard bargain for its economic support.
Japan Times
WORLD / Politics
Aug 20, 2019

Johnson's opening Brexit bid lands flat with EU leaders

U.K. Prime Minister Boris Johnson's demand that the European Union reopen the Brexit divorce deal was rebuffed on Tuesday by the bloc, which said Britain had failed to propose any realistic alternative to an agreed upon insurance policy for the Irish border.
WORLD / Politics
Aug 19, 2019

Trump's appeals to white racist fears may be a tougher sell in 2020

U.S. President Donald Trump's anti-immigrant rhetoric and focus on the grievances of white voters helped him win the 2016 election. But a Reuters analysis of public opinion over the last four years suggests that Trump's brand of white identity politics may be less effective in the 2020 election campaign....
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Aug 19, 2019

To meet China challenge, the U.S. has to fight climate change

U.S. global warming policy undermines the geopolitical advances it's making on Beijing.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / How-tos
Aug 18, 2019

Plan your response before taking on passive prejudice at the office

What should you do when one of your Japanese colleagues makes a problematic comment? Sometimes it's best to keep things light.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / Japan
Aug 15, 2019

Decluttering the Japan-South Korea debate

Accusations that Prime Minister Shinzo Abe stands to gain politically by getting tough with South Korea miss the mark.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Aug 14, 2019

'Cherry Blossoms and Demons': Swan song remains an ugly duckling

The late Kirin Kiki maintained such an industrious work schedule that moviegoers have had multiple chances to pay their last respects since she passed away last September. "Cherry Blossoms and Demons" is her actual swan song, albeit one that all but the most ardent fan can probably skip.
Japan Times
WORLD / Politics
Aug 12, 2019

Guatemala election winner Alejandro Giammattei sets sights on changing U.S. migrant deal

Guatemalan conservative Alejandro Giammattei secured a crushing victory in a presidential election Sunday, and promised to seek better terms for his country from an unpopular migration deal agreed with Washington under duress last month.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Aug 10, 2019

Japan-South Korea trade spat gains little traction among youth on social media

The diplomatic rift between Tokyo and Seoul widened earlier this month after Japan removed South Korea from its "whitelist" of preferred trading partners. The apparent reason given for the move is national security: Japan says some strategic materials it sells to South Korea are making their way to third...
EDITORIALS
Aug 10, 2019

Ebola continues to rage in Africa

The world must do more to combat this outbreak and prevent future ones.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC / FOCUS
Aug 10, 2019

China paid for positive news coverage, using Taiwan media to win hearts and minds on island

The articles on the website of the leading Taiwan newspaper were gushing about a new Chinese government program to lure Taiwanese entrepreneurs to the mainland.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Aug 10, 2019

Chinese reports on U.S. diplomat in Hong Kong 'have gone from irresponsible to dangerous,' State Department says

Official Chinese media reports about a U.S. diplomat who met with student leaders of Hong Kong's pro-democracy movement "have gone from irresponsible to dangerous" and must stop, U.S. State Department spokeswoman Morgan Ortagus said on Friday.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC / Science & Health
Aug 9, 2019

Huge Pakistan mine shows the power of coal

In the flat scrubland of Pakistan's scorching Thar Desert, hundreds of workers have been toiling for two years in the vast open pit of the Sindh Engro Coal Mining Co. Taking three-hour breaks during the hottest part of the day and living in a makeshift village of shipping containers, they are digging...
Japan Times
WORLD / Politics
Aug 9, 2019

NRA slams U.S. presidential candidates after shootings, warning against better background checks

The National Rifle Association accused U.S. presidential candidates on Thursday of trying to politicize the deadly mass shootings in Ohio and Texas, warning against enhanced background checks for gun buyers a day after Republican President Donald Trump embraced the idea.
COMMENTARY / World
Aug 8, 2019

Taiwan might save the day for Hong Kong

Beijing will be wary of overreacting to protests because of the effect that would have on its biggest goal: reunification with the 'renegade province.'
JAPAN
Aug 7, 2019

Rising Japan political star Shinjiro Koizumi and Christel 'omotenashi' Takigawa to marry, with baby on way

Wedding preparations are underway for Lower House member Shinjiro Koizumi, 38, a prominent politician who is widely seen as a potential future prime minister, and TV personality Christel Takigawa, 41.
ASIA PACIFIC
Aug 7, 2019

China boycotts Taiwan's movie awards

China's film regulator on Wednesday said it was suspending mainland Chinese movies and their personnel from participating in Taiwan's annual Golden Horse Awards this year, without giving a reason.
JAPAN / Politics / FOCUS
Aug 6, 2019

With pro-constitutional revision forces just shy of the necessary seats, the DPP may be the party to tip the scales

A tug-of-war between the pro- and anti-revision forces has been playing out within the DPP, with leader Yuichiro Tamaki wavering between the two sides.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / Japan
Aug 5, 2019

The danger in Abe's constitutional amendment proposal

If there is to be any amendment to the Constitution, the substance of the Abe Cabinet's 2014 reinterpretation of Article 9 to allow collective self-defense should be made part of the proposal or withdrawn entirely.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Aug 5, 2019

The West has problems, but so do Russia and China

Protests in Hong Kong and Russia show the limits of what many see in the West as autocratic power.

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