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Japan Times
JAPAN
Feb 16, 2019

Air Self-Defense Force jets scrambled as Russian bombers and fighters skirt Japanese coasts

Air Self-Defense Force fighter jets were scrambled to intercept four nuclear-capable Russian Tupolev Tu-95MS strategic bombers and four Sukhoi Su-35S multirole fighter jets flying in two separate formations over the east and west coasts of Japan on Friday, the Defense Ministry said in a statement.
Japan Times
BASKETBALL / HOOP SCOOP
Feb 15, 2019

Longtime Timberwolves fan Mitsuaki Ono seeks to foster Japan relations with Minnesota

Like countless sports fans, Mitsuaki Ono can pinpoint a formative period in his life that cemented his fandom.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Feb 15, 2019

Reasons for cautious optimism in Hanoi

Despite the low odds of success for the second Trump-Kim summit, there is no alternative to diplomacy in the search for peace on the Korean Peninsula.
JAPAN / Politics
Feb 15, 2019

Abe's attacks on local governments yields backlash against his push to revise pacifist Constitution

Prime Minister Abe's dream of revising the Constitution gets harder after he claims 60 percent of Japan's local governments are resisting Tokyo's efforts to recruit new SDF members.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Companies
Feb 15, 2019

How Amazon scrapped its plans for a New York headquarters

More than a year of work to bring Amazon.com Inc.'s headquarters and tens of thousands of jobs to New York City ended on Thursday with a couple of phone calls.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Feb 15, 2019

Abide by the claw: Ruling tightens Norway's rights on Arctic snow crab and boosts its claim to oil

A court delivered a painful nip to European Union fishermen on Thursday by tightening Norway's grip on snow crab catches in the Arctic, a ruling that may also let Oslo claw more control of oil and gas from other nations.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Feb 15, 2019

In Myanmar, new parties challenge Suu Kyi's grip on power

New political groups are emerging to contest Myanmar's next election in 2020, aiming to challenge the hegemony of national civilian leader Aung San Suu Kyi after she has been weakened by escalating ethnic conflicts and slowing economic growth.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Economy
Feb 15, 2019

U.S. retail sales post largest drop since 2009 as jobless claims surge

U.S. retail sales recorded their biggest drop in more than nine years in December as receipts fell across the board, suggesting a sharp slowdown in economic activity at the end of 2018.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / Japan
Feb 14, 2019

The 100-year life and public pension reform

Is it possible for people who live to 100 to receive sufficient pension benefits for 35 years?
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Feb 14, 2019

Reality continues to leak from American life

The Green New Deal reveals Democratic progressives have embraced Trump's political style: A stew of frivolity and mendacity.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Feb 14, 2019

Can 'Big Brother' technology clean up palm oil's image?

Some of the world's major palm oil users, including Nestle, Unilever, and Mondelez, are trying out new satellite technology to track deforestation, as pressure grows on them to source the ingredient responsibly.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Feb 14, 2019

Gender-neutral Canadian activist shows solidarity with Japan's LGBT communities

Gemma Hickey entered Japan this week with something no Japanese national can obtain — a gender-neutral passport in which the gender category shows neither female nor male, but an "X."
Japan Times
WORLD / Society
Feb 14, 2019

Data ownership after death is 'a complete legal mess'

From photos to personal posts and private messages, social media users leave a long digital trail behind them. Who owns that data when they die?
JAPAN / Politics
Feb 13, 2019

Government slammed for singling out 'problematic' Tokyo Shimbun reporter in warning to press club

The government's handling of a Tokyo Shimbun reporter known for her assertive questioning style has come under heavy scrutiny, after it emerged that authorities issued a statement last year singling her out for criticism and urging the Japanese press to keep their questions "accurate" and "fact-based."...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Feb 13, 2019

Chai's 'Punk' is an irrepressibly upbeat victory lap

For a band that made its name by bucking kawaii conventions, Chai can be awfully cute. On its second album, misleadingly titled "Punk," the quartet takes the giddy sugar-rush of 2017's "Pink" and distills it into a mixture so potent, it should probably come with a health warning attached. They ought...
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC
Feb 13, 2019

Top U.S. military brass cautiously optimistic on North Korean diplomacy despite claim Kim won't relinquish his nukes

The top U.S. military commander for Asia and the head of American forces in South Korea have both expressed rare cautious optimism on diplomatic progress with North Korea while also reiterating earlier intelligence assessments that the country was unlikely to relinquish its nuclear arsenal.
Japan Times
WORLD / Politics
Feb 13, 2019

Acting Pentagon chief makes surprise Iraq visit to reassure Baghdad after latest Trump remarks

Acting U.S. defense chief Patrick Shanahan told Iraqi leaders that Washington understood its forces were in Iraq at Baghdad's invitation, aiming to steady relations after President Donald Trump said U.S. troops were needed to keep an eye on Iran.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Feb 12, 2019

'Gather: Gift'

Feb. 16-March 16
Japan Times
LIFE / Style & Design
Feb 12, 2019

Plastic fantastic: Examining the obsession over Japan's soft vinyl toys

It's a cold afternoon in mid-January and, inside a factory operated by Maruyama Toys in a quiet residential area in Tokyo's Katsushika Ward, Cory Privitera is making sofubi (soft vinyl toys).
ASIA PACIFIC
Feb 12, 2019

China's space debris cleanup may be cover story for arms against U.S. satellites, Pentagon says

China is developing sophisticated space capabilities such as "satellite inspection and repair" and debris cleanup — "at least some of which could also function" as weapons against U.S. satellites, according to the Defense Intelligence Agency.
Japan Times
WORLD
Feb 12, 2019

U.S.-led coalition warplanes hit last Islamic State enclave in eastern Syria

U.S.-led coalition warplanes struck Islamic State's last stronghold in eastern Syria and hundreds of civilians fled the besieged enclave on Monday as U.S.-backed fighters pressed their campaign to seize it.
Japan Times
WORLD / Politics
Feb 10, 2019

Thousands protest in Madrid against government's Catalonia policy

Thousands of people demonstrated in Madrid on Sunday against Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez's proposed talks to ease political tensions in Catalonia, in a protest organized by center-right and far-right opposition parties.
Japan Times
WORLD / Politics
Feb 10, 2019

Armed with new power, Democrats push for stricter U.S. gun laws

Democratic lawmakers are pushing stricter gun laws in statehouses across the country, emboldened by sweeping electoral victories in 2018 and confident that public opinion is on their side a year after the school shooting in Parkland, Florida.

Longform

After pandemic-era border regulations eased, Indian migrants began returning to Japan. Their population now stands at more than 50,000 across the country.
How remote work is rewriting the migrant experience in Japan