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JAPAN / Politics
Nov 11, 2013

FCCJ slams 'vague' state secrets bill as direct threat to journalists

The Foreign Correspondents' Club of Japan plans to lodge an official protest with the ruling LDP on Monday over a bill to protect state secrets.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Science & Health
Nov 9, 2013

Robot surgery gripes double

The number of adverse incident reports involving Intuitive Surgical Inc.'s robots has more than doubled this year, according to U.S. regulators, who just released a physician survey showing no consistent training exists for the machines, which are also used in Japan.
Japan Times
WORLD / Science & Health
Nov 9, 2013

U.S. insurers directed to treat mental health issues the same as physical ailments

The Obama administration issued a final rule Friday requiring insurers to treat mental health and substance-abuse problems the same way they do physical illnesses.
Japan Times
WORLD / Politics
Nov 7, 2013

Kerry works to keep Israeli-Palestinian peace talks on track

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry tried Wednesday to steady wavering peace talks between Israel and the Palestinians, amid visible cracks in the 3-month-old negotiations.
Japan Times
BASEBALL / MLB / NOTES ON A SCORECARD
Nov 5, 2013

Valentine unfairly left out in cold after Red Sox capture World Series

I wonder what Bobby Valentine thinks about the Boston Red Sox winning the World Series?
LIFE / Digital
Nov 5, 2013

Why the Obamacare website was doomed

One of the most dispiriting spectacles of the last month has been the botched launch of HealthCare.gov, the website created to implement President Barack Obama's landmark healthcare reforms. Obamacare had a desperately turbulent passage through Congress and survived various wrecking attempts by the Tea...
COMMENTARY / World
Oct 31, 2013

Pros and cons of continuing the money ride for the rich

It is time for the Fed to understand that the U.S., too, is part of the global economy and to consider whether it should continue running its money ride for the rich — aka quantitative easing.
JAPAN
Oct 31, 2013

Japan Times appoints advisers to improve coverage

The Japan Times announced Thursday that it has established The Japan Times Media Advisory Board, appointing four distinguished individuals living in Japan to improve the quality of the newspaper and its reportage.
JAPAN / Politics
Oct 30, 2013

Anti-nuclear Koizumi agitating for comeback?

Long out of the public eye, ex-Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi's recent rumblings against nuclear power are causing many to wonder if the most popular leader of recent decades seeks a political comeback.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Stage
Oct 30, 2013

Voices of Syria's war set to haunt Tokyo stage

The war in Syria has been making headlines for more than two years now, but it's made very little impact on the theater world in Japan. Next month, though, that's set to change with the Tokyo staging of "The Fear of Breathing," a hard-hitting British documentary drama about that ongoing multi-pronged...
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Oct 28, 2013

Mizuho offers denials as heads roll over mob loans

Mizuho Bank announces it will punish 54 present and former executives for lending money to organized crime groups but denies it colluded with yakuza.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Politics
Oct 27, 2013

The method behind the brashness

Osaka
Japan Times
WORLD / FOCUS
Oct 22, 2013

Russia eyeing NSA-like surveillance

Less than three months after granting asylum to National Security Agency leaker Edward Snowden, Russia is preparing to implement the kind of electronic surveillance that Snowden uncovered in the U.S.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / THE FOREIGN ELEMENT
Oct 21, 2013

Medical bills mount for 'fired' Tokyo English teacher fighting cancer and HIV

A British language school teacher in Tokyo is struggling to pay for his chemotherapy and cancer surgery after his Waseda University-linked former employer failed to renew his contract, citing his nonattendance due to illness.
COMMENTARY / Japan / SENTAKU MAGAZINE
Oct 20, 2013

Political winds buffet NHK

An NHK insider warns that the quality of Japan's public broadcasting system is threatened by a poor personnel appointment for which Prime Minister Shinzo Abe is pulling the strings.
BUSINESS / Economy
Oct 15, 2013

Aso keeps an eye on U.S. debt ceiling from a respectful distance

Japanese Finance Minister Taro Aso says it is up to the U.S. to resolve its debt impasse, not for Japan to fret over its investment in U.S. Treasuries.
COMMENTARY / World
Oct 13, 2013

Keep the government out of the Redskins' name

The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office should get out of the business of determining what is and isn't offensive. There is no hope of settling on a precise standard.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Oct 12, 2013

Busan is still Asia's film-fest gem, but its sparkle is fading

During the Q&A session after the screening of his new film "Stray Dogs" at the 18th Busan International Film Festival, which ran Oct. 3-12, Taiwanese director Tsai Ming-liang mentioned that not only was his previous film not distributed in South Korea, it wasn't even shown at BIFF. Tsai was one of the...
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Oct 12, 2013

Apologies for the apologies: the 'dogeza boom' on steroids

Japanese people like to apologize; or maybe "like" isn't the right word. As in English, many Japanese terms that have the meaning of an apology are used for the sake of perfunctory politeness, so a sincere apology requires effort, and there's no more powerful apology than dogeza, the act of prostrating...
SOCCER / PREMIER REPORT
Oct 10, 2013

World Cup place on line for mediocre England

England's national football team is like the English weather. Rarely very good, seldom that bad . . . a sort of middle line, occasionally hitting a high like beating Brazil (albeit in a friendly at Wembley) but generally a safe bet with few extremes.
JAPAN / Media / DARK SIDE OF THE RISING SUN
Oct 5, 2013

Has business blackballed the yakuza? Don't bank on it

The Financial Services Agency (FSA) publicly spanked Mizuho Bank last month by slapping it with a "business improvement order" for letting Japan's organized crime groups use its facilities. At least $2 million in illegal transactions were cited.
COMMENTARY / World
Oct 1, 2013

The 'why' of violence against women

Cultural attitudes regarding rape must change if we are to create a safer future for the next generation of women and girls.

Longform

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