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Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Jan 30, 2020

Stiff Little Fingers' 'Inflammable Material' is still the definitive political punk album 40 years later

Stiff Little Fingers bring 'Inflammable Material' to Tokyo for two shows, letting fans hear the album, which deals with Northern Ireland's 'troubles,' in its entirety.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Jan 28, 2020

Age discrimination is bad for business

Not acting forcefully on ageism will increasingly carry a heavy cost for politicians.
Japan Times
OLYMPICS
Jan 27, 2020

Soccer player Shiho Shimoyamada helps blaze trail for Japan's LGBT athletes

Soccer player Shiho Shimoyamada has been encouraged by the response she has received since she became Japan's first openly gay professional athlete in February last year.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Jan 17, 2020

Round one to Trump in U.S.-China trade war

The U.S. president emerges with the economy intact and his credibility enhanced.
JAPAN / Media / BIG IN JAPAN
Jan 4, 2020

From hangover cures to prairie dogs, tabloids end 2019 with a bang

For their final issues of December, the weeklies — their covers trimmed in gold color (except for the Sunday Mainichi, which came out in yellow-orange) — typically publish two-week bumper issues with extra pages. This gives many of them leeway to write about lots of timely topics. For instance, journalist...
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC
Jan 2, 2020

3 in 5 Hong Kongers support protesters' demands, survey shows

Hong Kong's protest movement is supported by 59 percent of city residents polled in a survey conducted for Reuters by the Hong Kong Public Opinion Research Institute, with more than a third of respondents saying they had attended an anti-government demonstration.
SUMO / INSIDE SUMO
Dec 18, 2019

Hakuho more than deserving of special elder status

When you think of sumo, what's the first word that comes to mind?
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Dec 12, 2019

Disasters and downturn challenge New Zealand's Jacinda Ardern going into election year

New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern faces tough challenges as she heads into a general election campaign next year, with economic growth slowing, divisive referendums looming and a country reeling from disasters both natural and man-made.
Japan Times
LIFE / Language / WELL SAID
Dec 10, 2019

The grammar point known as 'to iu'

When you're trying to describe what something is in Japanese, the structure 'to iu' can come in very handy.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC / ANALYSIS
Dec 6, 2019

Stunning turnaround as Suu Kyi set to defend Myanmar against charge of Rohingya genocide

The last time Myanmar leader Aung San Suu Kyi traveled to Western Europe, she was feted as the freshly elected civilian ruler of a fledgling democracy who had brought an end to half a century of military dictatorship.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / Japan
Dec 3, 2019

Stimulus can fix a lot of policy errors

Japan's misguided consumption tax hike makes a big fiscal package inevitiable.
Japan Times
LIFE / Language / NEWS IN NIHONGO
Dec 3, 2019

Year-end, work-related drinking parties are falling into disfavor

A Kyodo article looks at the annoyance of mandatory end-of-year parties and outlines the best type to have — short and seldom.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / Japan
Nov 25, 2019

China's growing threat to academic freedom

Professor Nobu Iwatani's detention in China marked a potential new, dangerous phase in the CCP government's undermining of academic freedoms for its expansive regime security interests.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Nov 20, 2019

Europe and U.S. are refighting the Cold War

Trans-Atlantic dispute sheds light on the best approach to China and Russia today.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC
Nov 20, 2019

Hong Kong's next flashpoint: The first election since unrest began

Even as Hong Kong grapples with a violent university siege that has captivated the world, things could potentially get even worse this weekend if the government scraps the city's first exercise of democracy since the unrest began in June.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / Japan
Nov 18, 2019

Okinawa and the eradication of poverty

Okinawa Prefecture needs to focus its energy on raising the standards of living for its residents, and especially investing more in its children.
Japan Times
WORLD / Politics
Nov 9, 2019

Ex-NYC Mayor Bloomberg faces big challenges if he leaps into 2020 White House race

Former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg has the money and name recognition to shake up the Democratic presidential race, but he will face huge hurdles to the nomination if he makes the leap to become a formal candidate.
Japan Times
WORLD / Crime & Legal
Nov 6, 2019

Jury selection underway in trial of longtime Trump adviser Roger Stone

The criminal trial of President Donald Trump's long-time adviser, Roger Stone, began on Tuesday with the start of jury selection as he faces charges arising from former special counsel Robert Mueller's investigation that documented Russian interference to help Trump win the 2016 U.S. election.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Nov 1, 2019

What Brexit reveals about the EU

The bloc's biggest problem is indifference, not Euroskepticism.
Japan Times
WORLD / Politics
Oct 28, 2019

Argentina's Peronists sweep back into power as conservative President Mauricio Macri ousted amid economic crisis

Argentina's Peronists swept back into power on Sunday, ousting conservative President Mauricio Macri in an election result that shifts Latin America's No. 3 economy firmly back toward the left after it was battered by an economic crisis.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Oct 25, 2019

Russia-Turkey deal poses challenge to West

The Kremlin offers authoritarians a brokerage service based on cynical principles of mutual gain rather than values and allegiances.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Oct 15, 2019

U.S. blunder could bring order to chaos

The U.S. needs a cost-benefit analysis to decide whether the Middle East is still a priority.
Japan Times
WORLD / Crime & Legal
Oct 9, 2019

Democrats willing to risk 2020 chances to impeach Trump, poll shows

Most Democrats want to impeach U.S. President Donald Trump, even if that means weakening their party's chances of winning back the White House in the 2020 election, according to a Reuters/Ipsos opinion poll.
JAPAN
Sep 30, 2019

Japan's new Justice Minister Katsuyuki Kawai pledges reform with a focus on immigration

On Friday, newly appointed Justice Minister Katsuyuki Kawai promised to reform his ministry, including a pledge to more stringently enforce laws and regulations related to immigration.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / Japan
Sep 19, 2019

Who's leading the pack for post-Abe leadership

If Prime Minister Shinzo Abe lasts for another year or two, Toshimitsu Motegi will be best-postured to succeed him.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics / FOCUS
Sep 11, 2019

Hong Kong unrest gives Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen a timely boost

Heading into 2019, Tsai Ing-wen looked at risk of becoming Taiwan's first one-term president. Then came the unrest in Hong Kong.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Economy
Aug 30, 2019

U.S. Chamber of Commerce calls for halt to China tariffs and resumed talks

The largest U.S. business lobby urged President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping to withdraw new tariffs starting Sunday and return to talks in good faith to end an escalating trade war that is threatening the economy.
Japan Times
WORLD / Politics
Aug 27, 2019

Italy close to coalition deal as ex-PM meets party chiefs in bid to avert polls and rise of Matteo Salvini

A deal on forming a government in Italy between the 5-Star Movement and the opposition Democratic Party (PD) looked close on Monday after the PD indicated it had dropped a veto on Giuseppe Conte serving another term as prime minister.

Longform

A small shrine perched atop rocks braves the waves hitting the shoreline during a storm in Shimoda, Shizuoka Prefecture. The area is under threat of a possible 31-meter-high tsunami if an earthquake strikes the nearby Nankai Trough.
If the 'Big One' hits, this city could face a 31-meter-high tsunami