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JAPAN
Oct 8, 2014

New Japan-U.S. defense guidelines will stress global reach

Japan and the United States released an interim report Wednesday on revising their bilateral defense cooperation guidelines by the year's end, in which they call for more global military cooperation between the two countries that will "benefit the (Asia-Pacific) region and beyond."
JAPAN / Science & Health
Oct 8, 2014

Japanese tourist in India has Ebola symptoms: newspaper

A Japanese woman traveling in Imphal, the capital of the Indian state of Manipur, developed symptoms suggestive of Ebola infection, an Indian newspaper has reported.
COMMENTARY / World
Oct 7, 2014

India's nuclear risks and costs

The inevitable conclusion that nuclear weapons cannot help India solve the problems of poverty, illiteracy and malnutrition, and are irrelevant as security against any other country, should at least encourage India to champion the phased and verifiable goal of global nuclear disarmament.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Oct 6, 2014

India's illusory nuclear gains

The subcontinent's history since 1998 belies expectations at the time, in both India and Pakistan, that the nuclearization of weapons would prove to be a largely stabilizing factor.
LIFE / Language / COMMUNICATION CUES
Oct 6, 2014

Emperor Hirohito's annals released

The Imperial Household Agency has compiled the annals of the late Emperor Hirohito, known posthumously as Emperor Showa, into 61 volumes that portray him as being distressed that he could not stop his country from going to war, according to Kyodo News.
Japan Times
WORLD / Politics
Oct 5, 2014

Anti-EU U.K. Independence Party on cusp of winning first parliament seat

As he walks through the southeastern English seaside town of Clacton-on-Sea with a large banner for the anti-EU U.K. Independence Party under his arm, there is no doubt who 47-year-old builder Phil Drew will vote for in an election this week.
JAPAN / Media / BIG IN JAPAN
Oct 4, 2014

Unburdening oneself of life's possessions

Japanese often cite an old aphorism that goes, "Tatsu tori ato wo nigosazu" ("It is a foolish bird that defiles its own nest"). This can be taken to mean that a departing person should not leave behind a mess.
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Oct 4, 2014

Tourists may not warm to Japan's welcome

A former colleague of mine always made it a point to tell people coming to Japan for a visit to bring lots of handkerchiefs because the public restrooms didn't have towel dispensers. I always took a more positive view and emphasized that public restrooms in Japan were everywhere and open to everyone,...
Japan Times
JAPAN / CHUBU CONNECTION
Oct 3, 2014

Immigrant puts truancy in past with part-time classes

A young Japanese-Brazilian is carving out a new life for herself in Toyota, Aichi Prefecture, by aiding foreign students at a public junior high school.
Japan Times
WORLD / Science & Health
Oct 2, 2014

Ditch U.N. temperature target for global warming, study recommends

A temperature goal set by almost 200 governments as the limit for global warming is a poor guide to the planet's health and should be ditched, a study published in the journal Nature said on Wednesday.
EDITORIALS
Oct 1, 2014

The achievements of Takako Doi

People who respect the ideals of Takako Doi, the former head of the Social Democratic Party who died last month at 85, have a lot to learn from what she achieved and what she could not achieve in Japanese politics,
Reader Mail
Oct 1, 2014

Woman who took on 'dinosaurs'

Regarding the Sept. 28 article "SDP's Takako Doi, first female leader of major political party in Japan, dies at 85": I am sad about Takako Doi's passing probably because she was in her political prime when I arrived in Japan, and so her passing makes me reflect on my own age and mortality.
Reader Mail
Oct 1, 2014

What's Abe been crowing about?

Regarding the Sept. 25 article "20% of college dropouts cite financial difficulties as reason": It's a sad state of affairs when Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has fun globe-trotting and lauding himself over what he claims are his great economic achievements while the reality at home becomes more desperate....
Reader Mail
Oct 1, 2014

Recalling a quiet Afghanistan

Gwynne Dyer might have mentioned in his Oct. 1 article, "An imperfect Afghanistan," that before the intervention of major world powers, Afghanistan was not a perfect country but, as I and thousands of other visitors in the 1960s and the '70s can vouch for, it was peaceful and quiet — no land mines,...
ASIA PACIFIC
Sep 30, 2014

Chinese receive limited coverage of 'illegal' Hong Kong protests

On a day when front pages of newspapers in Hong Kong and around the world carried stories on prodemocracy protesters confronting riot police in the city, the lead article in China's official People's Daily focused on a new book of President's Xi Jinping's speeches.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Sep 30, 2014

tofubeats calls on pals for his 'First Album'

Yusuke Kawai tries to start a para para dance halfway through his Sept. 5 DJ set, but the inside of an Apple Store isn't an ideal space for this endeavor. Kawai, who records under the name tofubeats, is performing a special show at the recently opened Omotesando store. Half of the floor eagerly watches...
JAPAN
Sep 29, 2014

Is the Asahi a scapegoat of nationalist media or victim of own missteps?

One of the nation's leading newspapers has been in crisis mode of late — a situation that may bode ill for liberal journalism at a time when nationalism appears to be making public inroads.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC / Science & Health
Sep 29, 2014

As Indian orbiter reaches Mars, at home, red tape binds space firms

As India celebrated becoming the first Asian nation to reach Mars, S.M. Vaidya, head of business at conglomerate Godrej's aerospace division that made the spacecraft's engine and thruster components, sounded surprisingly downbeat.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Media / BIG IN JAPAN
Sep 27, 2014

Tales from the city show cracks in the system

Why are people unhappy? Think back to just about any historical period you like, from the remote past to times within living memory; imagine people then looking at us now and saying, "How dare you be unhappy? You haven't earned the right!"
Japan Times
JAPAN / CHUBU CONNECTION
Sep 26, 2014

Campaigners fight to save derelict Mie silk mill but owner cites lack of cash

One of Japan's last surviving silk mills is rapidly falling into disrepair and could collapse despite a local campaign to save it.
EDITORIALS
Sep 24, 2014

New Komeito's raison d'etre

Natsuo Yamaguchi, the just re-elected chief of New Komeito, and other party leaders should realize that if the party fails to ensure that Japan stays on the pacifist road with respect to the passage of new legislation, it will lose its raison d'etre.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Sep 23, 2014

Irrational bias for Ukraine

The irrational bias for Ukraine in its standoff with pro-Russia rebels suggests there is something sick in the Western mentality that blocks sensible judgement where Russia is concerned.
WORLD / Politics
Sep 22, 2014

U.K.'s Cameron shifts tack on constitutional shake-up to mollify Scots

Scotland will get more autonomy with no "ifs or buts," Prime Minister David Cameron's office said on Sunday, after Scottish leader Alex Salmond accused him and other politicians of tricking Scots out of independence.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / THE FOREIGN ELEMENT
Sep 22, 2014

Kaikoura and Taiji: a tale of two whaling towns

The success of a New Zealand whale-watching eco-tourist destination could hold lessons for the ailing Wakayama port tarred by association with the 'Cove' dolphin hunt.
LIFE / Language / COMMUNICATION CUES
Sep 22, 2014

Melbourne found most livable city

Melbourne tops the ranking as the world's most pleasant city to live in for the fourth year running, according to an Economist Intelligence Unit poll.
COMMENTARY / Japan / SENTAKU MAGAZINE
Sep 21, 2014

Rather than boon for Japan, U.S. shale oil is still rip-off

Japan's national wealth is draining away as its trading companies keeping paying premium prices for the oil on offer from the U.S. and the Middle East.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Sep 19, 2014

Obama must get Congress to approve conflict

Today's issue for the U.S. is not whether the president should declare war but only whether he should even seek congressional authorization, for the protracted use of force against the Islamic State.
Japan Times
JAPAN / CHUBU CONNECTION
Sep 19, 2014

Aichi mountains provide dramatic setting for terra-cotta amphitheater

In the mountains of Mihama, Aichi Prefecture, a curious art space is emerging. Ceramics artists Ximena Elgueda and Steven Ward are building "The Mountain Plaza," a terra-cotta amphitheater.
Japan Times
WORLD / Politics / ANALYSIS
Sep 18, 2014

Ignored and fed up, U.K. regions call for Scottish-style devolution

Scotland's chance to vote for independence has lit hopes in other regions of Britain that a reworking of political ties might boost their chances of self-rule too.

Longform

Bear attacks have dominated Japanese news headlines in recent months, with 13 people so far having been killed by the animals.
Japan’s bears have been on their killing spree for more than 100 years