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WORLD
Dec 12, 2015

Islamic State can make fake Syrian passports: U.S. report

A U.S. government report has warned that the Islamic State group has the ability to create fake Syrian passports, a federal official confirmed on Friday.
WORLD
Dec 8, 2015

IED tossed at bystanders at downtown Moscow bus stop; three wounded

Three people were injured in central Moscow late Monday after an improvised explosive device was thrown at a group of bystanders at a bus stop, police said, according to Russian news services.
JAPAN / History / JAPAN TIMES GONE BY
Dec 5, 2015

Germans torpedo Yasaka Maru; Men spending more on booze; Japan, ROK restore ties; South Korea to allow singing in Japanese

100 YEARS AGOFriday, Dec. 24, 1915
Japan Times
JAPAN / Media / DARK SIDE OF THE RISING SUN
Dec 5, 2015

A quick lesson on sexual harassment in schools

When you find criticism of your country disturbing, the best way to dismiss it is to find a flaw in the critique and use it to justify dismissing the rest of the evidence as well. Sometimes it works, but only if people don't really do their homework.
Japan Times
WORLD / Politics
Dec 4, 2015

California massacre triggers heated Senate gun control debate but GOP control ensures inaction

One day after a mass shooting in California that killed 14 people and wounded 21, Republicans and Democrats in the U.S. Senate jousted on Thursday over gun control but again failed to advance legislation addressing the violence.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / How-tos / LIFELINES
Dec 2, 2015

Life after work in Japan: tackling readers' pension questions

Among the questions that Japan Times readers send to the Lifelines column, a perennial topic is navigating the Japanese pension system. Here are some answers.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Dec 2, 2015

'Persona Non Grata' a dramatic nod to Sugihara's legacy

Refugees are much in the news now, though the U.S. media commonly refers to the Syrians struggling to enter Europe as "migrants." The reason: Together with genuine refugees fleeing from slaughter are so-called economic migrants seeking a better life in the West — and a news article is not always the...
Japan Times
WORLD / Crime & Legal
Dec 2, 2015

Chicago mayor ousts top cop over white officer's videotaped killing of black teen

Chicago's police chief was ousted on Tuesday following days of unrest over video footage showing the shooting of a black teenager and the filing of murder charges against a white police officer in the young man's death.
WORLD
Dec 1, 2015

Elusive Iranian general denies rumors of his demise in Syria

The commander of foreign operations by Iran's elite Revolutionary Guard has shrugged off reports of his death or injury in fighting in Syria, an Iranian news agency said Monday.
Japan Times
WORLD
Dec 1, 2015

A lotta hot air: Loquacious leaders make for a long day at climate summit

Clearly His Royal Highness Prince Moulay Rachid of Morocco is unaccustomed to being told to stop talking.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Nov 29, 2015

When no one knows the killer in their midst

Families and friends of the perpetrators of the Paris terrorist attacks professed no inkling that anything unusual was afoot — a phenomenon that repeats itself time and time again in extremist attacks.
Japan Times
WORLD / Science & Health
Nov 29, 2015

Tut tomb may conceal Egypt’s lost queen; new evidence headed to Japan for analysis

Chances are high that the tomb of ancient Egypt's boy-king Tutankhamun has passages to a hidden chamber, which may be the lost last resting place of Queen Nefertiti, experts said on Saturday.
JAPAN
Nov 27, 2015

Niigata editor suspended after pseudonymous, slanderous tweets come to light

A head of the news section at a regional newspaper has been punished with unpaid, indefinite suspension after slandering a lawyer and other people on a social network service website, the newspaper revealed Friday.
SUMO / SUMO SCRIBBLINGS
Nov 25, 2015

Kitanoumi’s death overshadows Harumafuji’s triumph

On Sunday, when yokozuna Harumafuji was presented with the Emperor's Cup for the seventh time, the world of sumo was still reeling from the news that Sumo Association Chairman Kitanoumi had died 48 hours earlier from complications related to rectal cancer aged only 62.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Voices / FOREIGN AGENDA
Nov 25, 2015

Japan: surprisingly, sensibly and endearingly low-tech

The common image of Japan abroad as a high-tech country is severely out of step with the everyday experience of those of us who live here.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Nov 25, 2015

Putin has misjudged his erstwhile ally Erdogan

Having already underestimated him once with deadly results, the best way for Putin to figure out how Erdogan will respond to any further Russian moves is probably to imagine how he himself would react. The two men have a lot in common.
Japan Times
WORLD
Nov 25, 2015

Paris attack architect returned near Bataclan amid shootout, planned to blow self up in business district

The ringleader of the Paris attacks returned to the scene of the shootings and was near the Bataclan concert hall while police were still trying to oust the gunmen who killed 89 people there, the Paris prosecutor said on Tuesday.
Japan Times
WORLD / Society
Nov 25, 2015

Sweden, Norway toughen border controls, demand EU action on asylum seeking throngs

Sweden will introduce tighter border controls and asylum rules, in a bid to reduce the number of asylum seekers reaching the country and force other EU states to take in more refugees, the government said on Tuesday.
CULTURE
Nov 21, 2015

Yukio Mishima's enduring, unexpected influence

Forty-five years ago this week — at just after 10 a.m. on the bright, cold morning of Nov. 25, 1970 — a telephone rang at the Tokyo home of popular enka singer Hideo Murata. On the line was author Yukio Mishima, a man who in the short space of his 45 years had lived life more fully than perhaps seemed...
BUSINESS / YEN FOR LIVING
Nov 21, 2015

Without tackling Japan's labor mismatch, Abe's GDP target is just a pipe dream

The government urgently needs to address the mismatch between the jobs available and the people who are looking for employment.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Nov 19, 2015

Japan's State Guest House could soon be open to tourists

As part of campaign to attract more overseas tourists to Japan, the government is planning to open the State Guest House in Tokyo's Minato Ward to general visitors as early as April next year, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga said Thursday.
JAPAN / Politics
Nov 18, 2015

Japan lawmakers want to revisit controversial conspiracy law in wake of Paris attacks

Several influential lawmakers have proposed adopting a previously rejected law that would give the government a stronger hand to address terrorism.

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