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Japan Times
WORLD / Politics
Mar 21, 2016

McConnell calls Obama justice pick Garland NRA foe, rules out 'lame duck' vote on nomination

U.S. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell on Sunday ruled out the possibility that the Senate could confirm President Barack Obama's Supreme Court nominee in a "lame duck" congressional session after the November presidential election.
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Mar 19, 2016

'Drop dead, Japan!' moms try to stay on message

Shiori Yamao is a University of Tokyo graduate, former public prosecutor, current Lower House lawmaker and mother. As a force for the opposition, she has been causing Prime Minister Shinzo Abe considerable grief over the past few months.
Japan Times
WORLD / Politics
Mar 18, 2016

Irking Turkey, Assad, Kurds declare north Syria federal autonomous zone

Syria's Kurdish-controlled northern regions voted to seek autonomy under a federal system on Thursday, angering both the Damascus government and neighboring power Turkey with a move that could complicate new U.N.-backed peace talks.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Mar 17, 2016

Hostage video of missing Japanese journalist Jumpei Yasuda raises fears of ransom

The video has sparked speculation of behind-the-scenes contact between his kidnappers and the government.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Companies
Mar 17, 2016

Toshiba probe stretches to U.S. as Westinghouse accounting comes under scrutiny

Toshiba Corp. is under investigation by the United States over allegations that it hid $1.3 billion (¥146 billion) in losses at its nuclear power operations, according to two people familiar with the matter.
Japan Times
LIFE / Language / BILINGUAL
Mar 14, 2016

Japanese go out on a limb for health (but not for love)

You could say that health has become a national obsession — one of the most obvious side-effects of Japan's super-aged society.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Markets
Mar 13, 2016

BOJ to debate exempting $90 billion in short-term funds from negative rates

The Bank of Japan's policy board is set to discuss this week whether to exempt $90 billion in short-term funds from its newly imposed negative interest rate, people familiar with the matter said, after the securities industry warned that investment money would be driven into bank deposits.
Japan Times
LIFE / Lifestyle / CHILD'S PLAY
Mar 12, 2016

Learning from a neighborhood stroll

As winter makes its exit from the archipelago and the pink petals of spring begin to emerge, I feel an intense pang of nostalgia for my old neighborhood on Tokyo's east side. Sure, the city's cherry blossoms are beautiful in places like Yoyogi Park and Shinjuku Gyoen, but one of the nicest things to...
EDITORIALS
Mar 11, 2016

Upgrading anti-disaster measures

It's imperative that officials at the national and local level check regularly whether anti-disaster measures are adequate and up-to-date.
EDITORIALS
Mar 10, 2016

The 3/11 disasters, five years on

The five years since March 2011 show that massive public spending alone won't rebuild people's lives.
COMMENTARY / World
Mar 10, 2016

Abenomics proves contagious

China's Xi Jinping and India's Narendra Modi need to stop the hollow rhetoric and get on with the hard task of economic reform.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Mar 9, 2016

Face of government in Fukushima aftermath blasts Abe push for nuclear power

In his trademark blue jumpsuit, the bleary-eyed Chief Cabinet Secretary Yukio Edano became the government's face of the Fukushima nuclear crisis as he faced the press every few hours. Five years later, he has stern words for Japan's atomic watchdog, the plant's operator and Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's...
ASIA PACIFIC
Mar 9, 2016

Kim says North Korea has mastered nuclear warhead minaturization

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has asserted for the first time that Pyongyang can field nuclear-tipped missiles, state media reported Wednesday. A North Korean newspaper printed photographs of him meeting staff at a missile facility with a spherical silver object on a stand that appeared to be a mock-up...
Japan Times
WORLD
Mar 7, 2016

Islamic State takes credit for suicide truck bomb blast deadly to 60 south of Baghdad

A truck bomb at an Iraqi checkpoint south of Baghdad killed at least 60 people and wounded more than 70 on Sunday, medical and security officials said, and Islamic State claimed responsibility for the blast.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Mar 6, 2016

Documenting Tohoku's long road to recovery

We profile three photographers who have worked tirelessly since the March 2011 earthquake and tsunami disaster to ensure the struggles of the region aren't forgotten
JAPAN
Mar 2, 2016

Academics, TV journalists slam minister's threat against 'biased' programming, fear media self-censorship

Journalists and academics join forces to openly criticize recent remarks by communications minister Sanae Takaichi.
JAPAN / Politics
Feb 29, 2016

Japan to provide Egypt with ¥2 trillion business project, take in 2,500 students

Japan has pledged to continue supporting Egypt’s democratic process five years after revolution swept the country and ousted Hosni Mubarak.
COMMENTARY / World
Feb 28, 2016

Clinton, Sanders and U.S. policy in the Middle East

For all the hand-wringing in the U.S. over the presidential election, Washington's wrongheaded policies toward the Middle East will continue unchanged.
LIFE / Lifestyle
Feb 27, 2016

Learning to embrace the halal industry

With an increasing number of Muslims residing in and visiting Japan, local governments and businesses in the private sector are eyeing ways to target the potentially lucrative market
Japan Times
LIFE / Travel / BACKSTREET STORIES
Feb 27, 2016

Sewing stitches of creativity in the streets of Kuramae

I'm knocking about Taito Ward's Kuramae area one chilly February morning, visiting an artisan friend, when he mentions a brand new chocolate shop has opened nearby. My ears perk up. Any good? "People are lining up," he says. I dash off to check it out, because it sounds like news. Never mind that I'm...
COMMENTARY / COUNTERPOINT
Feb 27, 2016

Does Tohoku's disaster tourism exploit or educate?

Disaster tourism can be an unsettling descent into voyeurism as visitors ghoulishly gawk at, and photograph, those caught up in catastrophe as if they're at a petting zoo. The concept has prompted widespread condemnation of insensitive tourists and travel companies exploiting disasters as marketing opportunities....
BUSINESS / Economy
Feb 26, 2016

Japan's government talks of postponing 2017 tax hike

The government is ready to postpone a scheduled hike in the consumption tax if the move looks like it would weaken the economy and reduce total tax revenues, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga told a regular news conference Friday.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Feb 24, 2016

Tepco admits it should have declared meltdowns at Fukushima plant much earlier

Nearly five years on, Tokyo Electric Power Co. admits its staff failed to follow damage assessment guidelines in failing to report the meltdowns almost immediately.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC
Feb 24, 2016

China seen locking in gains as fighter jets reported on isle in South China Sea

In the latest in a series of moves that is likely to stoke already heated tensions in the South China Sea, Beijing has sent fighter jets to an island where it has deployed surface-to-air missile batteries, U.S. media said Tuesday.
EDITORIALS
Feb 24, 2016

Opposition needs common platform

The opposition parties need to come up with a common policy platform that makes sense for voters.

Longform

A sinkhole in Yashio, which emerged in January, was triggered by a ruptured, aging sewer pipe. Authorities worry that similar sections of infrastructure across the country are also at risk of corrosion.
That sinking feeling: Japan’s aging sewers are an infrastructure time bomb