Search - news

 
 
Japan Times
WORLD
Jun 4, 2013

Manning 'harvested' secret papers: prosecution

Opening the court-martial of U.S. Army Pfc. Bradley Manning, a military prosecutor charged Monday that he "harvested" a massive trove of classified information from secure networks and made it available to America's enemies by dumping it onto the Internet.
Japan Times
JAPAN / EXPLAINER
Jun 4, 2013

A term for Abe's ilk? Well, nonliberal

Foreign media and overseas Japan experts largely use 19th- and 20th-century labels to describe Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and current Japanese politics led by his Liberal Democratic Party — "right-wing," "hawkish," "conservative" and "nationalist."
Japan Times
LIFE / Language / BILINGUAL
Jun 3, 2013

Shinto's kami and jinja seeking world acceptance

Ise Jingu (伊勢神宮, Ise Jingu Shrine) has recently published a sasshi (冊子, booklet) in English, titled "Soul of Japan — An Introduction to Shinto and Ise Jingu."
COMMENTARY / World
Jun 3, 2013

Going gracefully into the No. 2 spot is not what Americans had in mind

If the era of American dominance in international affairs is indeed coming to an end, then the main question is how well the U.S. is prepared for the No. 2 spot.
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Jun 2, 2013

Media polls on constitutional change reveal bias

In a democracy, the people's will is conveyed through representative government. Prime Minister Shinzo Abe wants to rewrite the Constitution, but Article 96 requires the approval of at least two-thirds of the national assembly to do that, so in order to hasten the process he first wants to change Article...
EDITORIALS
May 29, 2013

Mayor's spin deepens suspicions

Osaka Mayor Toru Hashimoto's attempt to spin his earlier remarks about Japan's wartime sex slave system deepens suspicions about his fitness for public office.
COMMENTARY / Japan
May 29, 2013

Abenomics vs. bad economics

The good news is that the Japanese economy and stocks are recovering. The bad news is that austerity hawks still view 'Abenomics' as a mere flash in the pan.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Voices / VIEWS FROM THE STREET
May 28, 2013

Osaka: What do you make of Mayor Toru Hashimoto’s comments about “comfort women” and his suggestion that U.S. forces in Okinawa use local brothels?

He's a perfect example of why 'diapers and politicians should be changed often, and for the same reason'! He's too incompetent for Osaka, and should be 'promoted' to national government. I've lived here for 30 years; I miss the old days when mayors and governors concentrated on administering Osaka and stayed out of the limelight. Hashimoto should take his showboating to Tokyo and leave Osaka under the radar.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC
May 27, 2013

Sibling spy case spotlights North Korean defectors

Earlier this year, one of the most prominent North Korean defectors, Yoo Woo Sung, walked out of his apartment building in Seoul and found four South Korean government vehicles waiting for him.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Media / BIG IN JAPAN
May 26, 2013

Xenophobia stretches from the street to the dinner table

The territorial disputes between Japan and its nearest neighbors over the islands of Takeshima (Dokdo in Korean) and the Senkakus (Diaoyu in Chinese) have gradually faded from the front pages; but this does not necessarily mean there have been no repercussions.
Japan Times
WORLD
May 25, 2013

Africa's Lincoln or a tyrant exploiting Rwanda's tragic story?

Paul Kagame is angrier than I've ever seen him. Rwanda's president is famously direct with his critics. His contempt for governments he's crossed swords with, led by the French, is only marginally less vitriolic than his view of human-rights groups daring to lecture him, the rebel leader whose army put...
Japan Times
WORLD
May 23, 2013

FBI kill man linked to Boston suspects

A Chechen man linked to one of the Boston bombing suspects is shot and killed in an unusual encounter with the FBI inside his apartment in Orlando.
JAPAN / Politics
May 23, 2013

As Hashimoto self-destructs, party also reels

Osaka Mayor Toru Hashimoto's remarks justifying the wartime 'comfort women' brothel system have caused major parties to distance themselves from his Nippon Ishin no Kai.
COMMENTARY / World
May 23, 2013

'Obama scandals' could actually hurt Republicans

Three current controversies about the Obama administration won't help Republican politicians if they cannot devise a popular agenda on health care and other issues.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Markets
May 18, 2013

JGB yield spikes raise alarm bells

Is it a sign of a full-fledged economic recovery or a looming catastrophe in the monetary making?
Japan Times
WORLD / Science & Health
May 17, 2013

Kepler space scope stuck as steering device fails

The Kepler space telescope, the celebrated discoverer of worlds around distant stars, may have found its last planet.
Japan Times
WORLD
May 15, 2013

Syria forum prompts guarded optimism

President Barack Obama and visiting British Prime Minister David Cameron expressed limited optimism Monday that an upcoming international conference on Syria will lead to a political solution to its civil war.
LIFE / Digital
May 15, 2013

Crude 3-D print tech will make a big bang

The news that a few jokers in Texas calling themselves Defense Distributed have succeeded in creating a working handgun using 3-D printing technology has thrown the cat into the pigeon coop. The reaction from legislators in the United States has been hyperactive. Democratic Congressman Steve Israel from...
Japan Times
WORLD
May 12, 2013

Technology changes odds in abductions

Just days after it first appeared in news reports, the unremarkable white house at 2207 Seymour Avenue in Cleveland was a tourist destination. Before that, it might as well have been invisible.
Japan Times
WORLD
May 11, 2013

Obama's Guantanamo hunger strike problem

When the military doctors force-feed Guantanamo Bay detainee Fayiz al-Kandari with a tube shoved into his stomach there are three stages to the pain.
JAPAN / Politics
May 10, 2013

Kawaguchi axed from Upper House panel

Former Foreign Minister Yoriko Kawaguchi is ousted as chairwoman of the Upper House Environment Committee as the opposition warms up for the election.
JAPAN / Politics
May 8, 2013

Bad feelings dominate Japan-South Korea public sentiment

Nearly 80 percent of South Koreans have a negative impression of Japan, while about 40 percent of Japanese have an unfavorable image of South Korea, according to the results of a bilateral poll released Tuesday.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
May 6, 2013

'Abenomics' meets curse of the second 100 days — will the mirage last?

The accomplishments of the first 100 days in office are a favorite benchmark for democratic leaders. It's thought to offer a preview of his or her worldview, ambition and political fortune.

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