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JAPAN
Aug 13, 1997

Parties and politicians jockey for power

Staff writer
JAPAN
May 9, 1997

Fiscal reform is paramount, JR West chief says

OSAKA -- Prime Minister Ryutaro Hashimoto's government must concentrate on implementing fiscal reform above all other proposed streamlining initiatives, the chairman of West Japan Railway Co. said in a recent interview.
Japan Times
WORLD
May 18, 2023

At the G7 summit in Hiroshima, all eyes will be on ‘Ukraine, Ukraine, Ukraine’

Discussions on the issue will come at a crucial time for the G7 grouping itself, which has struggled to define its purpose and goals in recent years, as well as for the host country.
Japan Times
WORLD
Apr 3, 2023

A front company and a fake identity: How the U.S. came to use spyware it was trying to kill.

The Biden administration has been trying to choke off use of hacking tools made by the Israeli firm NSO. It turns out that not every part of the government has gotten the message.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / Japan
Feb 6, 2023

Japan-South Korea talks fail to inspire hope of breakthrough

Senior diplomats from Japan and South Korea make limited progress in wartime labor talks.
JAPAN / Explainer
Jan 27, 2023

Defense spending rise puts spotlight on redemption rule of JGBs

Some in the LDP argue that the extra funding can be secured by changing the redemption period of government bonds from 60 to 80 years.
JAPAN
Dec 13, 2022

Controversy grows over proposed use of Tohoku funds to cover defense spending

The government is eyeing using a special tax designed to finance reconstruction costs for areas affected by the March 2011 Great East Japan Earthquake.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World / Geoeconomic Briefing
Sep 22, 2022

The war in Ukraine offers valuable lessons on changing global relations

With Sweden and Finland applying to join NATO, and other countries getting closer to Russia, the conflict has had a significant effect on international politics.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Aug 16, 2022

Troops, noodles and familial love: China lays out its ideal Taiwan

Alongside its flashy display of power, China has been laying out its most forceful vision — political, economic, cultural — of a unified future.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Politics / FOCUS
Aug 14, 2022

Japan's pro-constitutional reform parties struggle to get on the same page

The four parties remain apart in their positions on not only the top issue of amending the war-renouncing Article 9 but also on less controversial items.
Japan Times
WORLD / Crime & Legal
Jul 30, 2022

In fighting gun crime, Canada has an American problem

A recent case has highlighted the leading role Texas plays in the smuggling of guns used for violence in Canada, and how firearms tracing can help combat that trade.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Jun 29, 2022

The death of the WTO has only been delayed

For the organization to recover its relevance, China and the U.S. both need to make more serious compromises.
BUSINESS / FOCUS
Jun 13, 2022

Amid geopolitical tensions, Japan firms put focus on economic security

Mitsubishi Electric, NEC and Hitachi are just some of the companies that have set up divisions to internally coordinate on supply chain resilience and the assessment of geopolitical risks.
Japan Times
WORLD
Apr 1, 2022

Russia wants gas payments in rubles. Will buyers make the switch?

The move is in retaliation against Western sanctions imposed on Russia over its invasion of Ukraine.
Special Supplements / Ainu language special
Feb 21, 2022

Respected comic book spurs hope for indigenous tongue

In 2009, UNESCO in its “Atlas of the World’s Languages in Danger” designated the Ainu language as being critically endangered. As the most dire of the five categories — only extinct is worse — used in the report, it highlighted the precarious state that had befallen the language.
JAPAN / Explainer
Feb 2, 2022

Dispute over northern islands shapes Tokyo’s stance on Ukraine crisis

Russia-Japan relations are centered on the decadeslong dispute over four islands northeast of Hokkaido that Russia occupies and Japan claims.
Japan Times
CULTURE / TV & Streaming
Nov 20, 2021

First Asian American muppet arrives on ‘Sesame Street’

Ji-Young, a guitar-playing Korean American character, will bring rock music and conversations about racism to the long-running children's show starting this month.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / Japan
Nov 12, 2021

Japan’s new foreign minister isn’t a pro-China ‘panda hugger’

While we must see how Hayashi handles Japan's foreign policy in the months to come, one thing is certain, China should not be optimistic that Hayashi will be different from his predecessors.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / Japan
Oct 20, 2021

The LDP says the party will double Japan’s defense spending. Can it?

Abe waited until after the 2013 Upper House election to roll out his new National Security Strategy. The Kishida government will probably do the same.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC
Oct 11, 2021

‘Starting a fire’: U.S. and China enter dangerous territory over Taiwan

The self-ruled island has moved to the heart of a deepening rivalry between the two superpowers, with the potential to ignite military conflagration and reshape the regional order.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Crime & Legal / Regional Voices: Okinawa
Jun 14, 2021

Okinawa activists fear land-purchase bill will hit anti-base movement

Residents are asking the government to provide an explanation as to why the legislation is necessary.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC / EXPLAINER
Jun 6, 2021

What's behind surging tensions in the Taiwan Strait?

In recent months, China has ramped up its military activities near the island as the threat of conflict in a dispute with a long and complicated history grows.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Books
Jun 6, 2021

'Prelude to Pearl Harbor': With diplomatic lines drawn and soft power spent, a standoff emerges

Author John Gripentrog looks at the events and attitudes that paved the way to the Second World War in “Prelude to Pearl Harbor: Ideology and Culture in US-Japan Relations 1914-1941.”
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / Japan
May 29, 2021

Understanding Japan’s ‘positive list’ approach to security

The new legislation eliminated the need for special measures laws for the types of operations the SDF had engaged in since 2001 and added new provisions for limited collective self-defense.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / Japan
Mar 24, 2021

What can Japan do in a Taiwan-China clash?

In the “two-plus-two” meeting that took place last week, the Japanese and U.S. governments unequivocally called out China, highlighting the country's unilateral and unlawful attempts to change the status quo in the Indo-Pacific. Since then, there has been much debate on what this means for the region, especially in the context of Taiwan.
JAPAN / Politics / FOCUS
Jan 28, 2021

In trying week, Suga fails to quell disquiet at the Diet over coronavirus response

During days of debates, the ruling LDP was forced to concede ground on criminalizing noncompliance with virus measures but will press on with fines, Go To programs and the Olympics.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC / FOCUS
Sep 16, 2020

Secret Tibetan military force raises stakes in India-China clash

The rare recognition of a secretive Indian military unit with Tibetan soldiers threatened to escalate a border dispute that has killed dozens since May.

Longform

A small shrine perched atop rocks braves the waves hitting the shoreline during a storm in Shimoda, Shizuoka Prefecture. The area is under threat of a possible 31-meter-high tsunami if an earthquake strikes the nearby Nankai Trough.
If the 'Big One' hits, this city could face a 31-meter-high tsunami