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COMMUNITY / Voices / HAVE YOUR SAY
Jun 7, 2011

'Flyjin,' 'sheeple,' angry people: readers' views

Debito Arudou's May 3 Just Be Cause column, headlined " Better to be branded a 'flyjin' than a man of the 'sheeple,'" provoked an online skirmish between contributors to the columnist's blog, Debito.org, and its self-proclaimed "debunker" site. Here are just some of the mails received at The Japan Times...
Japan Times
LIFE
Jan 31, 2010

Sorge's spy is brought in from the cold

Toshiko Tokuyama was 14 years old when she found out that her uncle had been a spy, and that he had just died in a prison in Tokyo. It was 1943 then, and she was too young to really know what the word "spy" meant, let alone allow it to alter her impression of the man she respected like a father.
CULTURE / Books
Aug 9, 2009

Contention over the tenno system

This collection of 14 essays by 12 scholars, ranging from academic, journalistic, speculative, to advisory, makes an excellent introduction to the scope of arguments presently made about tenno, Japan's "emperors."
JAPAN
Sep 30, 2008

Gagloev says he threw sumo bouts

Former sumo wrestler Soslan Aleksandrovich Gagloev, who was fired by the Japan Sumo Association for possessing marijuana in August, said he was forced to take bribes to throw matches during competition.
JAPAN
Oct 3, 2005

Livedoor to run news from Al-Jazeera

Internet service provider Livedoor Co. was set to start distributing news articles Monday from Al-Jazeera, the Qatar-based satellite TV channel known for airing messages purportedly coming from a global terrorist network, sources said.
COMMENTARY / World
Mar 17, 2005

Pyongyang under EU's wing

PALO ALTO, Calif. -- The European Union is increasingly showing a new independent stance on foreign-policy issues as the logic of its industrial and economic integration plays out in the international arena.
JAPAN
Jul 17, 2004

Pension bills littered with errors

The government acknowledged Friday that pension reform legislation enacted by the Diet last month contained as many as 40 technical flaws, and reprimanded bureaucrats in connection with the fiasco.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Apr 21, 2004

Hostages released into storm of criticism

Two days before her daughter was freed Thursday night by her captors in Iraq, 65-year-old Kyoko Takato was apologizing to the public, using words more befitting of the parent of a criminal.
JAPAN
Apr 3, 2004

Crackdown has publishers running scared

Yasunori Okadome last month suspended publication of his profitable monthly gossip magazine Uwasa-no-shinso (The Truth Behind Rumors), due to fears that a lawsuit could put him out of business for good.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / THE ZEIT GIST
Sep 23, 2003

Confessions of a foreign correspondent

These are not happy times for people who make a living writing about Japan. With the country apparently having become, as one magazine put it, the "Switzerland of Asia," i.e., rich but boring, foreign newspapers are shuttering their Tokyo bureaus as fast as they can move their correspondents to cover...
COMMUNITY / How-tos / LIFELINES
Jul 29, 2003

In search of senbei and more culture

Senbei fan Randall writes from California, reporting that around 1900 a Japanese gardener in San Francisco started serving cookies with thank you notes inside at that city's Japanese garden.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / THE WRITERS' SPIN
Apr 3, 2002

Tokyo should be more wary of remarks by fickle economists

Economists always disagree on how to mend Japan's flagging economy.
Japan Times
PODCAST / deep dive
May 31, 2023

G7 '23: Kishida's pumped from a Zelenskyy bump

Another year, another G7 summit done and dusted. How did Prime Minister Fumio Kishida do? Well, he’s thinking of an early election if that’s any indication.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC
May 5, 2023

China's aircraft carriers play 'theatrical' role but pose little threat yet

Analysts say China has made progress with its carriers, but has yet to master operating in difficult conditions or adequately protecting the vessels.
Japan Times
PODCAST / deep dive
Feb 8, 2023

I can't believe it's not meat! Is lab-grown beef on Japanese menus?

This week, Oscar Boyd gives us a review of his cultured chicken meal and runs down the environmental implications of such an endeavor, while Tomoko Otake gets us caught up on where Japan stands in the great race to replicate beef.
Japan Times
PODCAST / deep dive
Nov 16, 2022

Samurai Blues: The J. League, the World Cup and Japan’s place in global soccer

Sports writer Dan Orlowitz joins the show to catch us up on where Japan stands in the global soccer landscape and the controversies swirling around the host nation of Qatar.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Politics / Regional Voices: Okinawa
Oct 3, 2022

Persistent gender gap and use of social media key takeaways from Okinawa votes

On Sept. 11, multiple municipal elections were held simultaneously with the governor's election for the first time in Okinawa Prefecture's political history.
Japan Times
PODCAST / deep dive
Feb 24, 2022

Japan relaxes its border restrictions

Japan's strict border policies are finally relaxing — at least a little bit — and from March, new entrants will be allowed to come to the country once again.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC / FOCUS
Jan 11, 2022

'Colonial wine from new, authoritarian bottles': Hong Kong retools sedition law

The Hong Kong government is expanding its use of a long-dormant sedition law in what some lawyers and democracy advocates say is intensifying a squeeze on press freedom.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Nov 27, 2021

Reporter’s death puts spotlight on shifting media landscape

Cash-strapped news outlets are increasingly asking staff to do more and more work, some of which has nothing to do with journalism.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC
Jun 19, 2021

Apple Daily is running low on funds to print Hong Kong newspaper

The pro-democracy Apple Daily has enough cash on hand to continue operating as normal only for a couple of weeks, according to a person familiar with the situation.
Chinese leader Xi Jinping is seen on a screen during a video address for the Global Trade in Services Summit, at the media center for the China International Fair for Trade in Services in Beijing on Saturday.
BUSINESS / Economy
Sep 2, 2023

The U.S., allies see opportunity and risk in slowing China economy

The U.S. and other G7 nations increasingly see evidence of deep-seated structural problems that ultimately will strengthen the West’s hand.
Bank of Japan Gov. Kazuo Ueda meets with European Central Bank President Christine Lagarde and U.S. Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell at the Jackson Hole economic symposium in Moran, Wyoming, on Aug. 25.
COMMENTARY / World
Oct 25, 2023

As geopolitical risks grow, businesses are slow to respond

Businesses need to integrate geopolitical risk into their decision-making in an ever-transforming world.
The U.S. Navy guided-missile cruiser USS Monterey fires a Tomahawk land attack missile in April 2018.
JAPAN / Politics
Nov 18, 2023

U.S. approves deal to sell long-range Tomahawk missiles to Japan

The Pentagon said Friday that the U.S. State Department had signed off on the estimated $2.35 billion deal for 400 Tomahawk missiles.
Shintaro Tajima (left) and his son, Daisuke, pose in their forest in Hita, Oita Prefecture, in January. At their feet is wasabi growing in clusters.
BUSINESS / Companies / Regional Voices: Kyushu
Mar 18, 2024

Oita forestry firm signs carbon trade deal with Line operator

LY, which operates Line and Yahoo services, will purchase 1,500 tons of carbon credit per year from Tajima Forest for 10 years.
The Maritime Self-Defense Force’s Kaga destroyer has undergone the first stage of modifications to turn it into a de facto aircraft carrier for F-35B stealth fighter jets.
JAPAN / Politics / Regional Voices: Hiroshima
May 13, 2024

MSDF’s Kure base expanding mission as it marks 70th anniversary

The unit has increased its activities not only in national defense, but also in disaster relief operations and overseas missions.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu
WORLD / Politics
Nov 4, 2024

Netanyahu’s office accused of leaks to foil Gaza cease-fire

Opposition leaders and liberal commentators say it’s the latest example of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's manipulation of the public discourse around the war.
Staff from Aomori Bank and Michinoku Bank, along with family members, participate in the Aomori Nebuta Festival in August 2023, with a large float sponsored by Procrea Holdings behind them.
BUSINESS / Companies / Regional Voices: Tohoku
Jan 20, 2025

Rival regional Aomori banks merge to survive amid population decline

Aomori Bank and Michinoku Bank, which had long been rivals, merged this month to form Aomori Michinoku Bank.
OpenAI CEO Sam Altman and French President Emmanuel Macron at the AI Action Summit in Paris in February. The mood at the event was largely optimistic despite growing evidence that chatbots like OpenAI's ChatGPT are being used by malicious actors.
COMMENTARY / World
May 14, 2025

How much will we risk in the name of AI?

AI safety breaches are a very present danger. Evidence shows that leading chatbots are perpetuating Kremlin talking points, while many leaders tout optimism rather than concern.
Taiwan, under constant threat from AI-powered disinformation by authoritarian regimes, has emerged as a global leader in digital democratic defense.
COMMENTARY / World
Jun 30, 2025

Taiwan provides a model for digital defense of democracy

As the U.S. and others struggle to confront AI-driven disinformation, Taiwan’s resilience has become its latest key export.

Longform

Figure skater Akiko Suzuki was once told her ideal weight should be 47 kilograms, a number she now admits she “naively believed.” This led to her have a relationship with food that resulted in her suffering from anorexia.
The silent battle Japanese athletes fight with weight