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Events / Events Outside Tokyo
Aug 22, 2013

As sun sets on summer, head to Bali festival

Bad news for some (kids) and good news for others (parents), summer vacation is down to its final weeks. If you haven't traveled overseas or gone to the beach yet, visiting Enoshima this weekend will let you enjoy a little bit of both.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC / Crime & Legal
Aug 22, 2013

Bo Xilai's bribery trial begins with China courts in spotlight

The trial of former Politburo member Bo Xilai over bribery and embezzlement begings, with China's judiciary as much in the spotlight as the man at the center of the country's most politically charged case in 30 years.
Japan Times
ENVIRONMENT
Aug 21, 2013

Humans '95% likely' behind warming

It is all but certain that human activity has caused a steady increase in global temperatures over the past 60 years, leading to warmer oceans and an acceleration in rising sea levels, according to the most recent climate change report by an international U.N. panel of scientists.
Japan Times
WORLD
Aug 18, 2013

Was rodeo mask act more than just a case of clowning around?

As some people at the Missouri State Fair see it, the rodeo incident earlier this month in which a ringleader taunted a clown wearing a mask of President Barack Obama and played with his lips as a bull charged after him was neither racist nor disrespectful.
JAPAN / Politics
Aug 15, 2013

Abe proxy, Cabinet trio visit Yasukuni

Three Cabinet ministers went to war-related Yasukuni Shrine on Thursday to mark the 68th anniversary of Japan's surrender in World War II, while Prime Minister Shinzo Abe instead made a ritual offering in an apparent effort to avoid more diplomatic friction with China and South Korea.
Japan Times
CULTURE / CULTURE SMASH
Aug 13, 2013

Otakon celebrates 20 years of anime fandom in the U.S.

The American anime convention, Otakon ("Otaku Convention"), begins with a costume parade before it officially opens. Last week I had a bird's-eye view of the spectacle from my 14th-floor hotel room in Baltimore, Maryland. An endless army of imaginary characters trudged across the elevated concourse and...
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Aug 10, 2013

Aussie opposition regains poll lead

Australia's opposition has regained the lead over Prime Minister Kevin Rudd's government, with 52 percent of respondents in an opinion poll published Saturday saying they will support the coalition in the Sept. 7 national election.
WORLD
Aug 7, 2013

Iran ready for 'serious negotiations' on nuclear program, says new president Rouhani

In his first news conference since taking office, Iranian President Hasan Rouhani, the man known as the 'diplomat sheik,' reiterated his willingness to participate in nuclear negotiations with the international community but stopped short of saying he would welcome direct talks with the United States.
EDITORIALS
Aug 5, 2013

Mr. Bo Xilai, indicted at last

The trial of Chinese politician Bo Xilai is not just about misdeeds. It will show the world how serious China's new leadership is about tackling Communist Party corruption.
COMMENTARY / World
Aug 4, 2013

The new cultural counter-revolution in China

The Chinese Communist Party's promotion these days of Confucianism and Western classical music illustrates the profound transformation this country has made again.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Politics
Jul 31, 2013

Aso's Nazi-inspired quip rubs Seoul the wrong way

Outspoken Finance Minister Taro Aso causes another international stir by urging Japanese politicians bent on revising the Constitution to learn from the way Germany under the Nazis amended the Weimar charter.
Japan Times
WORLD / Science & Health
Jul 31, 2013

New rocket hopes to take off with launch from the skies

Start with the largest aircraft ever built, with a wingspan longer than a football field and a split fuselage fitted with six Boeing 747 jet engines — enough thrust to get 585,000 kg off the ground, about 190,000 kg more than a fully loaded 747. Sling a 36-meter, three-stage rocket below the aircraft,...
COMMENTARY / Japan
Jul 28, 2013

Fukushima: evolving fear into fact

Misinformation and flawed reporting about Fukushima radiation levels and reactor stability persisted even when scientific data had become readily available.
JAPAN
Jul 26, 2013

Tepco chief admits PR fiasco over water info

Tokyo Electric Power Co. waited too long to announce that radioactive groundwater from Fukushima No. 1 is reaching the Pacific Ocean, President Naomi Hirose admitted Friday.
JAPAN / Politics
Jul 26, 2013

Opposition disparate; foe common

Major opposition groups have been rocked by intensifying internal strife since the Upper House election, and with the secretaries-general of the Democratic Party of Japan, Your Party and Nippon Ishin no Kai (Japan Restoration Party) launching a nonpartisan policy study group next week, speculation is...
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...
Japan Times
MORE SPORTS
Jul 19, 2013

Spiker Kim may quit S. Korea team over contract dispute

South Korean volleyball superstar Kim Yeon-koung is threatening to retire from the national team unless she is released from a contract by her former club team Heungkuk Life Insurance.
BUSINESS
Jul 19, 2013

Detroit files for biggest municipal bankruptcy in American history

Detroit files the largest municipal bankruptcy in U.S. history, marking a new low in a decline that has left the Motor City bleeding revenue and choking city services.
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.
LIFE / Digital
Jul 16, 2013

A different metaphor for China's firewall

Two years ago, when it was discovered that a U.S. intelligence agency was pouring millions of dollars into a research project on "metaphor," some people thought it was a delayed April Fool's joke. This columnist begged to differ, on the grounds that metaphors are the way that most of us make sense of...
Japan Times
JAPAN / Science & Health / NATURAL SELECTIONS
Jul 13, 2013

Effects will become more obvious as Japan's climate changes

Residents of Japan's big cities, and of Tokyo in particular, are well aware of the heat-island effect — especially now with the onset of summer.
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Jul 13, 2013

Democracy hits the Web, but are the 'real' voters listening?

The Wall Street Journal posted an interesting article on its Japan Real Time blog regarding the Liberal Democratic Party's (LDP's) beef with broadcaster TBS, whom it accused of bias against the ruling party on its "News 11" program.
JAPAN
Jul 11, 2013

Did late No. 1 plant head avert or facilitate nuclear crisis?

When Masao Yoshida met reporters from major media outlets for the first time on Dec. 12, 2011, the then-chief manager of the Fukushima No. 1 plant left a strange impression on those present.

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