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Japan Times
WORLD / Politics / ANALYSIS
Jul 21, 2013

U.S. state officials balk at defending 'unconstitutional' laws

Once state legislation is passed, it's usually up to the governor and attorney general to see that the law is implemented. But in a number of high-profile cases around the U.S., top state officials are balking at defending laws on gay marriage, immigration and other socially divisive issues, saying the...
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Jul 20, 2013

Ando's joy brings up an old taboo

The morning after TV Asahi's evening news show "Hodo Station" ran an interview with figure skater Miki Ando on July 1, the media was buzzing over the revelation that Ando had given birth in April. The baby was not the ostensible reason for the interview, which focused on her athletic activities, and...
EDITORIALS
Jul 20, 2013

Global corruption

More than half of the people surveyed by a Berlin-based nonprofit group believe that global corruption, mostly political, has worsened the past two years.
COMMENTARY / World
Jul 20, 2013

Misconceptions about how Wal-Mart operates

Wal-Mart's supporters laud its low prices while its opponents charge that it exploits workers and pollutes the environment. The truth is more complex.
WORLD / Politics
Jul 19, 2013

McCain threatens to block Dempsey from second term over Syria policy

Washington THE WASHINGTON POST
COMMENTARY / Japan
Jul 17, 2013

Japan's voters set themselves up for a disappointing result

Japanese voters seem ready to hand Prime Minister Shinzo Abe one of the bigger blank checks in memory on Sunday, but what's most noticeable is their silence.
WORLD / Crime & Legal
Jul 16, 2013

Declassify Yahoo data decision: FISA court

The secret surveillance court that approved the U.S. government's broad collection of millions of Americans' telephone and email records called Monday for the White House to declassify and release as much as it can of one of the court's early legal decisions sanctioning that collection.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / THE FOREIGN ELEMENT
Jul 15, 2013

Trolls or media watchdogs?: Japan's foreign-born defenders

Have the foreign media got it in for Japan? Do they unduly focus on, and sensationalize, Fukushima radiation leaks, alleged racial intolerance and the self-aggrandizing policy pronouncements of the reborn Liberal Democratic Party?
Japan Times
WORLD
Jul 14, 2013

Somali-American is caught up in U.S. counterpropaganda campaign

Two days after he became a U.S. citizen, Abdiwali Warsame embraced the First Amendment by creating a raucous website about his native Somalia. Packed with news and controversial opinions, it rapidly became a magnet for Somalis dispersed around the world, including tens of thousands in Minnesota.
Japan Times
WORLD / Politics
Jul 14, 2013

Imminent birth puts spotlight on monarch

Aging monarchs in the Netherlands and Belgium stepped down this year to make room for the next generation of Europe's crowned heads. But in Britain, the impending birth of a royal baby will have heirs stacking up like planes at London's super-clogged Heathrow Airport.
COMMENTARY / COUNTERPOINT
Jul 13, 2013

Kono Statement: Hit-and-run Abe vandalizes 20th anniversary

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe is pursuing dead-end diplomacy in East Asia at precisely a time when Japan most needs to shore up relations with neighbors so as to position itself well for China's ongoing rise. Alas, he doesn't grasp that regional reconciliation over history should be his calling card, not...
Reader Mail
Jul 13, 2013

The old man and his reputation

While telling us of the important contributions he has made to the consumption of whiskey in Japan, both by his own efforts in that direction and by the good advice he says he gives its makers, C.W. Nicol, in his July 7 article 'Water of life' helps to keep spirits up," also refers to "good old Bill...
JAPAN
Jul 12, 2013

Feelings about Japan depend on who's polled, and where

Public sentiment about the economy and the direction Japan is taking has improved somewhat since last year, according to a study by the Washington-based Pew Research Center.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Jul 11, 2013

'Bernie'

Based on real-life events in Carthage, Texas, "Bernie" showcases Jack Black's uncanny powers of observation, and director Richard Linklater's ability to lay on the cynicism so thick you hardly notice it. Black visited with the title character, Bernie Tiede, in prison to study his mannerisms, speech...
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Tech
Jul 11, 2013

Apple's e-book 'conspiracy' said violated antitrust law

A U.S. judge ruled Wednesday that Apple conspired to raise e-book prices, handing the tech giant a bruising loss that could ripple throughout the industry and force companies to rethink how they meet consumer demand for digital products.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Politics / GAME OF NUMBERS
Jul 9, 2013

Tech-savvy candidates hope to reach young voters via online campaigns

For Kan Suzuki, a tech-savvy Upper House member, the Internet is a powerful campaign tool that he can use to help him win a third term at a time when his party is facing so much adversity.
COMMENTARY / World
Jul 8, 2013

Ellsberg: Leaker Snowden made the right call

Edward Snowden made the right call in fleeing the United States after leaking classified documents about NSA surveillance. So says the 1971 leaker of the 'Pentagon Papers.'
Japan Times
WORLD
Jul 7, 2013

Giffords tries gentler touch on guns

It was day two of Gabrielle Giffords' whirlwind nationwide tour to revive the push for tougher gun laws. The former congresswoman's husband, Mark Kelly, woke up early, placed his black case of firearms into the car trunk and raced across a vast stretch of Alaskan highway to practice target shooting....
Japan Times
WORLD / Politics
Jul 7, 2013

Wave of state abortion laws returns issue to national prominence

As a member of the Wisconsin State Assembly years ago, Republican Scott Walker pushed two key measures to limit abortions. Neither was successful.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / CLOSE-UP
Jul 6, 2013

Yoko Narahashi: From Hollywood to Hirohito

From "Empire of the Sun" to "The Last Samurai," and from "Memoirs of a Geisha" to "Babel" — when Hollywood film directors have turned their cameras to the Land of the Rising Sun, there is one person they have insisted on having by their side: Yoko Narahashi, a casting agent, producer, sometimes director...
COMMENTARY / World
Jul 6, 2013

America's revolutionary declaration of dissent

One cause of the growing American fury in this political age is that a large, distant federal establishment is not terribly well-suited to give ear to ordinary dissent.
Reader Mail
Jul 6, 2013

Luxury train a new beginning

The June 23 editorial "All aboard the luxury train" conjured up the allure of travel by train in Japan. It is true that Japan's train system is the envy of the world and has been symbolized by the Shinkansen with its safety, punctuality and speed. But I believe that the bullet train system lacks a certain...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Jul 4, 2013

'Dark Skies'

The always charming Keri Russell ("Waitress") pairs up with mild-mannered Josh Hamilton ("The Bourne Identity") as a couple thrown head first into a swamp made up of various story components from the "The X-Files" — and left floundering in the muck.
Japan Times
BASKETBALL / BJ-LEAGUE NOTEBOOK
Jul 4, 2013

Former Tokyo players train with ex-coach Hill in Texas

Former members of the Tokyo Apache have strengthened their friendship in recent days in Texas.
JAPAN
Jul 4, 2013

Abe aside, war apology stands: Suga

Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga on Thursday reaffirmed that the Cabinet of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe upholds the position set out by the 1995 apology issued by then-Prime Minister Tomiichii Murayama, which admits that Japan waged wars of aggression.
CULTURE / Music / MONEY AND MUSIC
Jul 3, 2013

Japan's festival industry is stuck in a fine kettle of fish

Are summer festivals killing Japan's live-music market?
Japan Times
JAPAN / Politics / MAKING THEIR CASE
Jul 3, 2013

Your Party stands against tax hike, nuclear plants

Your Party will stress its call to freeze the upcoming consumption tax hike and promise to abolish all nuclear power plants by 2030 when the campaign for the Upper House officially starts Thursday, party leader Yoshimi Watanabe said.
Japan Times
WORLD / FOCUS
Jul 2, 2013

Boehner 'soft' approach boon, bane

When someone crosses John Boehner, he or she can expect a couple of reactions from the House speaker. Sometimes it is a thwack on the back and a disapproving shake of his head, quickly followed by a begrudging smile to indicate that all is forgiven. Sometimes it is a fake yell and then a shrug. One recalcitrant...

Longform

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