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COMMENTARY / World
Feb 1, 2016

'China shock' for U.S. workers was avoidable

What policy steps could the U.S. and other industrialized countries have taken to blunt the worst effects of free trade with China?
LIFE / Language / COMMUNICATION CUES
Feb 1, 2016

'Hunk' Nagoya gorilla stars in recruitment drive

A famous gorilla in Nagoya is starring in a video to promote the city's municipal job recruitment effort.
Japan Times
JAPAN / CHUBU CONNECTION
Feb 1, 2016

Aichi service area to offer halal foods for Muslim travelers

The Okazaki service area on the Shin Tomei Expressway will start selling halal bento (boxed meals) when it opens in February to accommodate the needs of a growing number of Muslim tourists.
COMMUNITY / How-tos / LIFELINES
Jan 31, 2016

Bank remittance case suggests My Number may be tough to opt out of

A reader asks about the relationship between the My Number registration system and sending money abroad.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / COUNTERPOINT
Jan 30, 2016

Work-life balance in Japan leans in one direction

The concept of work-life balance is intrinsically appealing. People are so busy with work nowadays that they can't escape, tethered as they are to their jobs by smartphones. This situation generates stress and encroaches on private time with family and friends. Weekends? What weekends?!
COMMENTARY / World
Jan 27, 2016

Implications of the U.S. Navy's FONOP program

When the U.S. last fall sent a warship on a Freedom of Navigation Operation near a Chinese-occupied reef, the message was unfortunately both confused and confusing.
COMMENTARY / World
Jan 26, 2016

Russia learns stealth warplanes are hard to do

While the U.S. is building up its fleet of stealth warplanes, financial circumstances have prompted Russia to buy greater numbers of cheaper, non-stealthy jet fighters.
Japan Times
WORLD / Society
Jan 26, 2016

Gateway Greece threatened with Schengen ouster over unchecked refugee flood

European Union interior ministers urged Greece on Monday to do more to control the influx of migrants, some threatening to have it excluded from the continent's prized passport-free travel zone as the crisis increasingly divides bloc members.
COMMENTARY / Japan / SENTAKU MAGAZINE
Jan 25, 2016

Space development program a blackhole for public funds

Japan has poured huge sums of money into its space exploration effort, but with very little to show for it.
LIFE / Language / COMMUNICATION CUES
Jan 25, 2016

Latest 'Star Wars' makes biggest global debut

The new 'Star Wars' movie has set a global opening weekend box-office record, smashing past the previous holder, 'Jurassic World.'
Japan Times
JAPAN / CHUBU CONNECTION
Jan 25, 2016

Ise theme park uses ninja, samurai in G-7 tourist pitch

Ise Azuchimomoyama Bunkamura, a theme park in Ise, Mie Prefecture, that showcases traditional Japanese buildings and customs, is working on increasing the number of foreign visitors ahead of the Group of Seven summit in May.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / LABOR PAINS
Jan 24, 2016

Graduates needn't be hostages to advance contracts

For university seniors who have pledged to work for a firm after graduation, although there is no legal compulsion, there is social and ethical pressure not to back out of the deal.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Media / BIG IN JAPAN
Jan 23, 2016

Tabloids go nuclear on North's bomb test

On Jan. 6, North Korea once again stunned the world with a test of what it claimed was a hydrogen bomb, ratcheting up tensions in northeast Asia.
COMMENTARY / COUNTERPOINT
Jan 23, 2016

Hiroko Kuniya's ouster deals another blow to quality journalism in Japan

Hiroko Kuniya, the widely respected anchor for NHK's stellar "Close-up Gendai" news analysis program, has been ousted from her position after 23 years with the show. She now joins a growing list of prominent news presenters and commentators who have discovered the apparent perils of not kowtowing to...
BASEBALL / Japanese Baseball
Jan 23, 2016

Giants hurler Sugano aims for winning season

Tomoyuki Sugano returned to Japan recently after spending several days training in Hawaii. He told reporters at Narita Airport that his workouts yielded great results and allowed that "my condition is the best it's been in three years."
BASEBALL / BASEBALL BULLET-IN
Jan 23, 2016

Interpreters continue to play important role in NPB

If I had known then what I know now, I would have taken Spanish in high school instead of French. It is not that I remember any of the French (I failed the course), but there are very few — if any — professional ballplayers whose native language is Francais. Even a little Español would come in handy...
Reader Mail
Jan 23, 2016

Keep Twitter short and sweet, just like a haiku

Regarding the article "Twitter may allow much longer tweets" in the Jan. 7 edition, expanding the 140-character limit to 10,000 characters would make Twitter no longer Twitter.
COMMENTARY / World
Jan 21, 2016

Thai military risks weakening the monarchy

The Thai military's overuse of lese majeste law to prop up its own authority risks weakening the monarchy over the long term.
COMMENTARY / World / SENTAKU MAGAZINE
Jan 21, 2016

Chinese currency chaos

China's 'supply-side structural reform' to deal with production overcapacity includes the risky strategy of devaluing the yuan.
COMMENTARY / World
Jan 19, 2016

Foolishness over North Korea

The U.S. policy of diplomatically isolating Pyongyang is a failure and could be standing in the way of a solution to the impasse with North Korea.
LIFE / Language / COMMUNICATION CUES
Jan 18, 2016

China to build biggest cloning factory

The world's largest animal cloning factory is under construction in the northern port city of Tianjin
Japan Times
JAPAN / FUKUSHIMA FILE
Jan 17, 2016

Fukushima town hopes to translate kanji and sake into tourism cash

Residents of Kitakata, a northwestern Fukushima Prefecture city known for promoting antiquated Japanese kanji, are stepping up efforts to attract more tourists by linking the pictographs to sake breweries in the area.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / COUNTERPOINT
Jan 16, 2016

Asia is imperiled by COP21's climate cop-out

The nations of the world gathered at the Paris Climate Conference (COP21) last month to come to an agreement on the urgent mission of reducing greenhouse gas emissions. However, all they produced was an attractive vision statement that is more sham than solution.
Japan Times
WORLD / Crime & Legal
Jan 13, 2016

'El Chapo' tried to trademark name, sought biopic, was briefly in marine's sights after Penn meeting

Before his brazen jailbreak last year, notorious drug boss Joaquin "Chapo" Guzman instructed his lawyers to trademark his name, giving Mexican authorities their first clue he wanted to make a film of his life, local media said on Tuesday.
LIFE / Language / COMMUNICATION CUES
Jan 11, 2016

New Tokyo Olympic stadium design selected

A design by architect Kengo Kuma has been picked as the 2020 Tokyo Olympic main stadium, the government has announced.
Japan Times
JAPAN / CHUBU CONNECTION
Jan 11, 2016

Aichi Prefecture city rolls out new pay phones in disaster-prevention move

The city of Tahara in Aichi Prefecture is bringing back public pay phones in response to widespread mobile phone disruptions following the 2011 earthquake and tsunami.
Japan Times
BASEBALL / Japanese Baseball / NPB NOTEBOOK
Jan 10, 2016

New Hall of Famers Griffey Jr., Piazza familiar to Japanese fans

Ken Griffey Jr. and Mike Piazza were elected to the United States' National Baseball Hall of Fame last week to much fanfare. While both players spent the entirety of their Hall of Fame careers in North America, neither star is a stranger to Japanese baseball fans.

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