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Japan Times
JAPAN / 70 YEARS OF PEACE AND PROSPERITY
Jan 2, 2015

As Abe pulls to the right, few go with him

How far has Japan shifted to the right? Is it trying to shed its legacy of postwar pacifism? Experts give their opinions on the LDP's latest moves as the new year opens.
COMMENTARY / World
Jan 2, 2015

Still no insurance for mental illness

The U.S. remains a country in its infancy when it comes to mental health care, despite the undeniable turning point marked by the enactment of the Affordable Care Act in 2013.
ASIA PACIFIC / Society
Jan 2, 2015

With steady jobs scarce, South Korean students linger on campus

It's been a year since Seoul media and communications student Lee Woong-hee finished his studies, but the 26-year-old plans to skip his class graduation ceremony in February because he thinks retaining his student status will help him finally land a job.
JAPAN / History
Jan 1, 2015

Donald Keene reflects on 70-year Japan experience

My first visit to Japan was very short, only a week or so in December 1945. Three months earlier, while on the island of Guam, I had heard the broadcast by the Emperor announcing the end of the war. Soon afterward, I was sent from Guam to China to serve as an interpreter between the Americans and the...
Japan Times
JAPAN / Society
Jan 1, 2015

Looking back on, preserving traditional New Year's activities

"Shogatsu," the term for the New Year's holidays in Japanese, is a time when people take the first three days of the New Year off to spend time relaxing with their families and engaging in traditional activities to remind themselves of their heritage.
WORLD / Science & Health
Dec 31, 2014

New Year's resolutions may be more procrastination than motivation

Goals set because people feel they should make them are less likely to be accomplished, experts say, while aspirations that don't rely on the calendar to achieve them are a safer bet.
EDITORIALS
Dec 30, 2014

Bad feelings toward the neighbors

An overwhelming majority of people in Japan harbor negative sentiments toward Asian neighbors that the government calls 'partners responsible for the peace and prosperity of the region.' What is Prime Minister Shinzo Abe going to do about that?
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC / Society
Dec 29, 2014

Sharia law forces gays into hiding in Indonesia's Aceh

Overwhelmed by fear, members of the main gay rights group in the Indonesian town of Banda Aceh started burning piles of documents outside their headquarters in late October, worried that the Sharia police would raid them at any moment.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Dec 28, 2014

'Plant hunter' on quest to shake up horticulture with rare trees, flowers

From the isolated Socotra Islands off Yemen in the Arabian Sea to the dry forests of Argentina, Seijun Nishihata has traveled to 33 countries over the past 13 years to track down unique plant species for clients all over the world.
EDITORIALS
Dec 27, 2014

2014: a year of conservative gains

The year 2014 was full of unexpected events, but none helped to jolt Japan's economy, politics or society out of a sense of being stalled.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Dec 25, 2014

A realistic agenda for voters to prevent the worst results

One wonders if the Japanese are realistic enough to vote against political parties and candidates in order to prevent the worst results even if they don't see candidates of their choice.
Japan Times
WORLD
Dec 25, 2014

Protests flare after Missouri police killing of armed black teen

Protests flared into early Thursday in the St. Louis suburb where a white policeman fatally shot a black man who brandished a gun at a gas station on Tuesday night.
COMMENTARY / World
Dec 23, 2014

Job insecurity explains why Kim can't take a joke

North Korea's 30-something dictator Kim Jong Un's over-the-top reaction to Sony's satire 'The Interview' is rooted in his manifest insecurity about his grip on power and his need to maintain his cult of personality.
EDITORIALS
Dec 20, 2014

End the global slavery scourge

Representatives from diverse religious faiths have signed a declaration of their collective will to end modern-day slavery by 2020. Is this a first step toward removing one of the most heinous practices in human history?
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Dec 19, 2014

Broken U.S. moral compass

The most disturbing and basic question with regard to the maintenance of Guantanamo and any one of the so-called Black Sites in recent years is why American officials seemed to want so badly to torture when to do so was known — even to the CIA — to be so unprofitable.
Japan Times
WORLD / Society
Dec 19, 2014

South Africa struggles to tackle obesity

At lunchtime outside South Africa's biggest shopping mall, hungry workmen in hard hats pour out of a building site to buy cheap loaves of bread and jumbo bottles of fizzy drinks.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Stage
Dec 17, 2014

Silence is golden in art-comedy for all

"I've been drawing pictures for as long as I can remember," Kentaro Kobayashi said when I asked him how he came to be such a versatile and popular entertainer.
Japan Times
WORLD
Dec 16, 2014

Police storm Sydney cafe to end hostage siege; gunman, two others dead

Heavily armed Australian police stormed a Sydney cafe on Tuesday and freed a number of hostages being held there at gunpoint, in a dramatic end to a 16-hour siege in which three people were killed and four wounded.
WORLD
Dec 15, 2014

Hundreds missing after boat sinks in Lake Tanganyika

More than two hundred people were believed missing after a boat sank in Democratic Republic of Congo's waters on Lake Tanganyika on Thursday night, a senior Tanzanian official said on Sunday.
Japan Times
JAPAN / History
Dec 13, 2014

Tokyo Station at 100: all change

“Tokyo Station is not just a station, it is a symbol of Japan. It has always been a part of progress in rail technology but it's much more important than that. It is a landmark that represents Japan.'
COMMENTARY / Japan / COUNTERPOINT
Dec 13, 2014

Abe's secrets law undermines Japan's democracy

On Dec. 10, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's new special secrets law took effect despite overwhelming public opposition.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / 20 QUESTIONS
Dec 13, 2014

Donna Burke: 'Being a late bloomer is way better than peaking and burning out early in life'

Australian singer on paper party hats, accents and lengthy karaoke songs
ASIA PACIFIC
Dec 13, 2014

Indonesia rescuers dig for scores missing in deadly mudslide

A landslide destroyed a remote village in Indonesia, killing at least 17 people, an official said on Saturday as rescuers used their bare hands and sticks to search through the mud for scores of missing in the absence of heavy lifting equipment.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Politics / DECISION 2014
Dec 12, 2014

Ishikawa aims to become first openly gay member of Lower House

Openly gay politician Taiga Ishikawa says that winning a Diet seat in Sunday's election would empower him to change politics and help Japanese society recognize its diversity.
EDITORIALS
Dec 11, 2014

Worries about secrets law linger

As Japan's state secrets law finally takes effect a year after it was enacted, much of the concern that many people had about the legislation remains unaddressed.

Longform

Figure skater Akiko Suzuki was once told her ideal weight should be 47 kilograms, a number she now admits she “naively believed.” This led to her have a relationship with food that resulted in her suffering from anorexia.
The silent battle Japanese athletes fight with weight