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Japan Times
SOCCER
Mar 5, 2019

England bids farewell to World Cup star Gordon Banks

Thousands of fans joined luminaries of English soccer for a final farewell on Monday to Gordon Banks, a steelworker's son who became one of the world's greatest goalkeepers and will forever be remembered for a miraculous save against Pele.
LIFE / Language / MORNING ENGLISH
Mar 4, 2019

Let's discuss Okinawa's referendum

With Okinawa having recently held a referendum on the relocation of a U.S. military base in the prefecture, we discuss the results.
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Mar 2, 2019

NHK's restructuring plan sparks concern over influence

In a recent post for the progressive website Common Dreams, consumer advocate and one-time presidential candidate Ralph Nader bemoaned public broadcasting in the United States. Created by the government "to provide serious programming without any advertisements," the Public Broadcasting Service and National...
Japan Times
WORLD / Politics
Mar 1, 2019

Trump ordered chief of staff to give Jared Kushner top-secret security clearance: NYT

U.S. President Donald Trump ordered his chief of staff in May to grant his son-in-law and adviser Jared Kushner a top-secret security clearance, the New York Times reported on Thursday.
Japan Times
WORLD / Politics
Feb 28, 2019

Move over ayatollahs: John Bolton turns tweets and talons on 'Guantanamero' Maduro

John Bolton, U.S. President Donald Trump's national security adviser, shakes stars-and-stripes maracas as he dreams of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro behind bars in an orange prison suit.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / TELLING LIVES
Feb 27, 2019

One family slides into action to create an outdoor ice rink

After a long day of Christmas Eve celebrations with seven of their eight children, five of whom were visiting from overseas, Christoph and Satoko Odermatt got to work.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Feb 27, 2019

Top U.S. government lawyer's presence at North Korea talks points to end-of-war declaration

In a potential sign that the U.S. is preparing to reach a deal in Hanoi with North Korea that could include a so-called end-of-war declaration and the opening of liaison offices in both countries, a top State Department lawyer who has handled key issues in East Asia is taking part in negotiations, sources...
Japan Times
JAPAN
Feb 27, 2019

After disaster-filled 2018, lessons from 1995 Hanshin quake resonate with foreign nationals and Kobe officials

The image of a resilient Japan rebounding almost immediately from natural disasters is one that has taken root across the world, but sometimes that image can obfuscate the trauma and the panic of actually living through a disaster.
COMMENTARY / World
Feb 25, 2019

How the Americans can escape the graveyard of empires

The key will be persuading both sides to accept a compromise that is far from perfect for either, but allows Afghanistan to move forward.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Feb 24, 2019

Emperor reflects on Japan's past, future and his 'endlessly long' quest to pin down role after 30 years on throne

Emperor Akihito said he has dedicated the past 30 years of his reign to an “endlessly long” quest to fathom out his role as the symbol of the state.
Japan Times
WORLD
Feb 23, 2019

'I was like a prisoner': Saudi sisters trapped in Hong Kong recall beatings

Two sisters from Saudi Arabia who fled the conservative kingdom and have been hiding out in Hong Kong for nearly six months said they did so to escape beatings at the hands of their brothers and father.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Feb 22, 2019

Hong Kong central banker Norman Chan to step down after a decade as China clouds outlook

Hong Kong's de facto central bank is bidding farewell to its chief after a decade, starting the search for a successor at a time when the city faces an outlook made uncertain by the slowing Chinese economy and the trade war with the U.S.
Reader Mail
Feb 22, 2019

Japan should build its own stealth fighter

I recently read some Japan Times articles about whether Japan should order F-35s from here in the U.S. or develop your own fighters, and I think it's important to encourage Japan to pursue its own aircraft when feasible.
JAPAN / History / FOCUS
Feb 21, 2019

Crown Prince Naruhito likely to stay close to the people upon becoming Japan's first emperor born after the war

In June 2011, three months after savage tsunami devastated Japan's northeast coastline, Crown Prince Naruhito and Crown Princess Masako were visiting Miyagi — one of the three hardest-hit prefectures — to get a firsthand look at the gut-wrenching aftermath of the disaster and commiserate with evacuees...
COMMENTARY / Japan
Feb 21, 2019

Abe's consumption tax hike has a target on its back

China's slowdown may provide an excuse to shelve next October's scheduled increase.
JAPAN / Politics
Feb 21, 2019

American activist against the Futenma relocation plan questioned at Kansai airport for two hours upon arrival

An American activist who has collected over 210,000 signatures for a petition calling for the suspension of land reclamation work to relocate U.S. Marine Corps Air Station Futenma within Okinawa Prefecture was questioned by authorities for almost two hours shortly after his arrival in Japan on Tuesday....
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Feb 21, 2019

Telling the musical story of Japan's ambient era

At the time, the Japanese music scene of the 1970s felt pretty flat to Daisuke Hinata. "But (then) Yellow Magic Orchestra (YMO) and Plastics came out, and we thought the market would open up for more new sounds," the Los Angeles-based musician tells The Japan Times. Along with three Japanese classmates...
SOCCER / J. League / J. LEAGUE NOTEBOOK
Feb 20, 2019

F. Marinos boss Ange Postecoglou seeks consistency in 2019

One of the many intriguing storylines heading into the 2019 J. League season is how much progress Yokohama F. Marinos can make after a season that thrilled and frustrated in equal measure.
Japan Times
WORLD / Crime & Legal
Feb 20, 2019

Trump denies asking Matthew Whitaker to change hush-money probe and tap recused ally to take over

President Donald Trump denied a New York Times report that he asked then-Acting Attorney General Matthew Whitaker to intervene in a federal investigation of hush-money payments to the president's alleged former mistresses during the 2016 election campaign.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC / FOCUS
Feb 19, 2019

North Korea's 'socialist utopia' needs mass labor, but growing market economy threatens model

In January, thousands of North Korean students traveled to Mount Paektu, a sacred site where the ruling family claims its roots and where leader Kim Jong Un is building a massive economic hub in the alpine town of Samjiyon.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Feb 18, 2019

Corporate governance is improving, but not by enough

Poorly run companies are under international and domestic pressure to adopt global standards of capitalism.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Companies
Feb 18, 2019

In era of AI and apps that track, could Recruit be Japan's top contender for global internet domination?

It was one of the most infamous companies in Japan, rocking the nation with a corporate scandal that ousted a prime minister and then nearly collapsing under a mountain of debt.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Regional Voices: Okinawa
Feb 17, 2019

Okinawan fishermen reel in two live oarfish, eat portion of one

Two rare deep-sea oarfish caught in fixed nets off Toya port on the southwest side of Okinawa stunned the local fishing community last month for simply being alive.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Books
Feb 16, 2019

'Japan Story': History enlivened at every turn with flashes of wit

Christopher Harding's comprehensive 'Japan Story' is an ultra-progressive account of modern Japanese history, ushering the often-ignored maverick women, socialist thinkers and doubters of the state version of modernity to the front.
JAPAN / History / Heisei Icons
Feb 14, 2019

Sadako Ogata: Waging peace on war

A 1993 photograph of a diminutive, sexagenarian woman surveying the front lines of conflict has left an indelible mark on the international community as a true example of commitment to humanitarian aid.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Feb 13, 2019

Chai's 'Punk' is an irrepressibly upbeat victory lap

For a band that made its name by bucking kawaii conventions, Chai can be awfully cute. On its second album, misleadingly titled "Punk," the quartet takes the giddy sugar-rush of 2017's "Pink" and distills it into a mixture so potent, it should probably come with a health warning attached. They ought...
Japan Times
JAPAN / Society
Feb 13, 2019

LGBT couples to file lawsuit on Valentine's Day in push for equal marriage rights in Japan

Last fall, Ai Nakajima, 40, tied the knot in Germany with her long-time partner, Kristina Baumann, a 32-year-old from Berlin. But in Japan, where they live, Nakajima and Baumann share the fate of all same-sex couples in committed relationships — the denial of the right to formally marry their partners....
EDITORIALS
Feb 10, 2019

Response to child abuse long overdue

The officials responsible for the welfare of children need to sort out their priorities in their efforts to stop child abuse.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Feb 10, 2019

The art of video games: We're not just playing around anymore

As comment on the gaming industry, and by extrapolation, the human condition, 'In a Gamescape' at the NTT Intercommunication Center at times pretty merciless. But visitors should still play it out.

Longform

Bear attacks have dominated Japanese news headlines in recent months, with 13 people so far having been killed by the animals.
Japan’s bears have been on their killing spree for more than 100 years