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JAPAN / Society
May 13, 2017

In Fukushima, a land where few return

The evacuation orders for most of the village of Iitate have been lifted. But where are the people?
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / WHY DID YOU LEAVE JAPAN?
May 13, 2017

Designer Yuri Suzuki chases his dreams through sound

As a boy in the 1980s, Yuri Suzuki fell under the spell of video games and his father's record collection. The family home was in bustling Shibuya Ward, near the border with Shinjuku, and the influence of global cultures within its walls was strong.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / Japan
May 12, 2017

Is the sun setting on the U.S. imperium?

U.S. policy on Asia seems adrift under the Trump administration.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / Japan
May 11, 2017

The road to revising the pacifist Constitution

Amending the pacifist Constitution might be in Japan's national interest, but Abe will require plenty of skill if he is to extract himself and the country from the political quagmire of constitutional revision.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
May 11, 2017

Local elections point to a May victory

A modestly improved majority in next month's general election would be enough for Prime Minister Theresa May to steamroller her version of Brexit and her domestic reforms through parliament.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Companies
May 11, 2017

Nissan predicts 19% profit drop on strong yen

Nissan Motor Co. announced Thursday that it forecasts a 19 percent profit drop for the current business year through March 2018, echoing gloomy forecasts given earlier by two other Japanese auto giants — Toyota Motor Corp. and Honda Motor Co.
WORLD / Politics
May 10, 2017

U.S. Senate Republican leader opposes new Russia investigation

The U.S. Senate majority leader, Republican Mitch McConnell, said on Wednesday he did not support any additional investigation into whether Russia influenced the 2016 U.S. election, saying as he opened the Senate that it would "impede" probes already under way.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
May 10, 2017

The North Korean crisis: why now?

Apart from U.S. President Donald Trump's need for a dramatic foreign policy initiative, is there any good reason why we are having a crisis over North Korea's nuclear weapons testing now?
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
May 9, 2017

Why I'm still happy Hillary lost

Despite U.S. President Donald Trump's dangerous flaws, the world is still better off without Hillary Clinton leading America.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
May 9, 2017

Liberal Moon seen as favorite as South Koreans vote for new president to succeed ousted Park

South Koreans flocked to polling stations to elect a new leader on Tuesday, with a high turnout suggesting voters are eager to move on from a corruption scandal that brought down the former president and shook the political and business elite.
COMMENTARY / World
May 8, 2017

Now the EU must change

The bloc's growing popularity is helping centrist leaders win, but without reform the effect won't last.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
May 8, 2017

Election poised to bring South Korea change following months of political upheaval

After one of South Korea's most tumultuous political periods in recent memory, voters appear ready for change.
WORLD / Politics
May 7, 2017

French go to polls in second round of election; opinion polls see Macron winning

After a tumultuous election campaign filled with scandal and surprises, the French public began to vote Sunday on whether a pro-European Union centrist or an anti-EU, anti-immigration far-rightist will lead them for the next five years.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Books
May 6, 2017

'Press Freedom in Contemporary Japan': Persuasive and important but incomplete

May 3 marks the United Nations' World Press Freedom Day, an annual reminder of the necessity of unfettered media in the maintenance of healthy societies.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Politics / FOCUS
May 5, 2017

Anti-Japanese rhetoric of South Korean presidential campaign won't survive geopolitical reality, experts say

Given the political realities of the region, experts aren't worried about the tough anti-Japanese rhetoric coming out of the South Korean presidential election.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / Japan
May 5, 2017

Japan must take lead in gender diplomacy

Japan must create work and life conditions for its talented female researchers to want to remain in their native homeland.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics / FOCUS
May 4, 2017

In the South, voters seeking 'Korea first' leader may head to polls in near-record numbers

Jason Lim, a 36-year-old South Korean engineer living in Washington, thinks it is important to maintain a solid alliance with the United States — but not at any cost.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Politics
May 3, 2017

Abe declares 2020 as goal for new Constitution

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said he hopes to see a revised Constitution take effect in 2020, revealing the clearest goal yet of his long-held ambition to amend the national charter.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
May 2, 2017

Software tycoon Ahn invokes France's Macron in bid for South Korean presidency

South Korean software tycoon Ahn Cheol-soo, who once led opinion polls in the presidential race, is finding his centrist approach and platform of championing markets drowned out by public demands for a clampdown on the country's scandal-hit elite.
EDITORIALS
May 1, 2017

A troubling election in Jakarta

Radical Islam appears to be ascendant in Indonesia — an extremely worrisome development.
COMMENTARY / COUNTERPOINT
Apr 29, 2017

Civil society across Asia is flowering but fragile

The proliferation of civil society organizations throughout Asia is having a significant impact on relations between the state and citizens, on the institutions of the state and on prevailing norms and values.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Apr 28, 2017

Japanese fighter jets conduct joint drill with U.S. carrier off Okinawa

Fighter jets from the Air Self-Defense Force linked up with aircraft from the USS Carl Vinson carrier strike group for joint drills Friday in waters east of Okinawa as the U.S. vessel steamed toward the Sea of Japan amid soaring tensions on the Korean Peninsula.
JAPAN / ANALYSIS
Apr 26, 2017

For Japan and U.S., joint drills could signal the start of a new 'normal'

As the impasse with nuclear-armed North Korea reaches a critical juncture, Japan and the U.S. have seen their security bonds grow ever closer, conducting new naval exercises.
EDITORIALS
Apr 26, 2017

The Democratic Party in disarray

The DP leadership needs to take the revolt and defection of its members seriously and rebuild the party before it's too late.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Apr 26, 2017

Abe's dreams and nightmares

The issue of North Korea is instructive for Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and Japan because the room for maneuver is limited and Japan is trapped.
EDITORIALS
Apr 25, 2017

A political earthquake rocks France

The May 7 presidential ballot will mark the first time in the modern French republic that no major party is represented in a presidential election.
EDITORIALS
Apr 24, 2017

Lower House electoral system needs an overhaul

Only comprehensive reform can resolve the Lower House electoral system's problems.
Japan Times
WORLD / Politics / ANALYSIS
Apr 24, 2017

Macron's advance in French runoff stalls populist wave in Europe

The populist tsunami that slammed into Britain last year, before sweeping across the Atlantic to the United States, may have faded on the shores of France on Sunday.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / Japan / SENTAKU MAGAZINE
Apr 23, 2017

The poverty of politics and tobacco policy

The government is caught in a trap of its own making — how does it stay in the business of selling tobacco while promoting public health?
Japan Times
CULTURE / Books
Apr 22, 2017

'Curse on This Country: The Rebellious Army of Imperial Japan': Of insubordination and the road to WWII

In "Curse on This Country: The Rebellious Army of Imperial Japan," multi-lingual Hebrew University senior lecturer Danny Orbach tracks nearly 80 years (1860-1936) of the influence of the Imperial Japanese Army's officer class on Japan.

Longform

An illustration features the Japanese signs for "ganbare" (good luck) and the Deaflympics, which will be held between Nov. 15 and 26.
A century of Deaf sport finds its moment in Tokyo