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EDITORIALS
Feb 3, 2016

Zika raises alarm bells

Globalization and the virtually free movement of individuals means that diseases will spread around the world with new and surprising ease.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Feb 3, 2016

'Children of Iron' turns the parent-trap formula on its head

Mom and Dad decide to divorce and their kids try to bring them back together — it's a familiar story here, on screens big and small. And it's not hard to understand why: The kids nearly always succeed, making for a happy ending. Veteran hitmaker Yoji Yamada uses it for his first comedy in two decades,...
JAPAN / Politics
Feb 2, 2016

UR housing authority at center of Amari scandal contradicts Shukan Bunshun story

The semi-governmental housing corporation at the center of the scandal that forced Akira Amari to step down as economic minister has denied that his secretaries pressured it to favor a Chiba construction firm in a dispute, contradicting the magazine that broke the story.
Japan Times
Figure Skating / ICE TIME
Feb 2, 2016

Fernandez improving, but still not in Hanyu's class

World champion Javier Fernandez made history last week when he won his fourth consecutive European title in Bratislava. In accomplishing the feat the Spaniard became the first skater since Czechoslovakia's Ondrej Nepela in 1972 to capture the Euro crown four straight times.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Feb 2, 2016

Japanese Supreme Court hears its first case on dementia liability

The family of a 91-year-old man with dementia who was killed by a train after wandering onto railway tracks argued Tuesday before the Supreme Court that holding them liable for disrupting train services would essentially deny that healthy and disabled people can coexist in society.
EDITORIALS
Feb 2, 2016

Will Kuroda's gamble work?

The latest BOJ step appears to point to the limits of what the central bank alone can do to achieve its goal of ending deflation.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Markets / FOCUS
Feb 1, 2016

BOJ market magician Kuroda pulls another rabbit from his hat

The Bank of Japan continues to push the boundaries of monetary policy.
Japan Times
WORLD / Society
Feb 1, 2016

Women to be able to pray at Western Wall as Israel approves mixed-sex site

The Israeli government approved on Sunday the creation of a mixed-sex plaza at Jerusalem's Western Wall to accommodate Jews who contest Orthodox curbs on worship by women there.
Japan Times
JAPAN / GENERATIONAL CHANGE
Jan 31, 2016

NPO founder fights to reverse plight of Asia child sex victims

When Sayaka Murata visited Cambodia while in university, she was shocked to see a little girl around 5 or 6 years old among those who had been rescued after being tortured by electric shock and forced into the sex trade.
BASEBALL / Japanese Baseball / NPB NOTEBOOK
Jan 31, 2016

Fighters head west for spring camp

While most Japanese teams headed south to begin "spring" camp and ride out the final few weeks of winter, the Hokkaido Nippon Ham Fighters took a distinctly different track and flew west instead.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Jan 31, 2016

Ningen Isu explores death, lust on new album

When the members of hard rock band Ningen Isu left the stage at Ozzfest Japan in 2013, they thought that was it for their Ozzfest experience. Little did the "Japanese Black Sabbath" know, Ozzy Osbourne himself would soon be calling them back for an encore.
BUSINESS
Jan 31, 2016

Three scientists on shortlist to appear on first Scottish plastic banknote

Royal Bank of Scotland has named three Scottish scientists — two men and one woman — on the shortlist of candidates to appear on its first plastic £10.00 ($14.00) note.
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Jan 30, 2016

NHK may need to rethink its 'taiga' formula

An article that appeared in December in the Yomiuri Shimbun weighed the prospects for the 2016 edition of NHK's year-long historical taiga drama series, which premiered Jan. 10. "Sanada Maru" is the title of the 55th marathon show, and the name of a fortification added on to Osaka Castle to protect it...
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Economy / ANALYSIS
Jan 30, 2016

Kuroda's negative interest rates shock as BOJ heralds return to currency war

The yen dropped the most in more than a year after Bank of Japan Gov. Haruhiko Kuroda unexpectedly adopted negative interest rates, risking another round of competitive devaluations.
Japan Times
WORLD / Politics
Jan 30, 2016

U.S. to withhold some Clinton emails with 'top secret' information

Seven private email chains of former U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton will be withheld from the public in their entirety because they contain top secret information, the U.S. State Department said Friday.
WORLD
Jan 29, 2016

Tropical Asia braces for Zika virus; Thailand appears clear

Tropical Southeast Asian countries said on Friday they were bracing for the mosquito-borne Zika virus, with Malaysia saying it could "spread quickly" if introduced, but Thailand appeared to be bucking the trend with just a handful of cases a year.
JAPAN
Jan 29, 2016

Third reactor restart spurs fears over shaky Kansai evacuation plans

Kansai Electric fires up a reactor at the Takahama plant in Fukui despite misgivings about the region's ability to respond to a nuclear accident.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink
Jan 29, 2016

The future of rice farming in Japan

Rice has been at the center of Japan's economy and culture for centuries. But changes are afoot. There is growing concern among Japanese farmers that the country's rice-producing capabilities are diminishing in the face of international trade pacts such as the Trans-Pacific Partnership. In fact, all...
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Jan 29, 2016

Putin's son-in-law boosted by $1.75 billion Russian state loan

The son-in-law of Vladimir Putin stands to benefit from $1.75 billion in cheap finance from the Russian state, a Reuters examination of public documents shows. The money will help fund a petrochemical project at a company in which Kirill Shamalov, husband of Katerina Tikhonova, the Russian president's...
JAPAN
Jan 29, 2016

Despite new design, controversy may dog Tokyo's Olympic stadium long after last lap is run

When a fresh design for the new National Stadium was chosen last month, many believed it would finally put an end to months of chaos over its construction. They were wrong.
Japan Times
WORLD / Crime & Legal
Jan 29, 2016

'Affluenza' teen flown back to Texas, placed in juvenile detention

The American teenager derided for a defense of "affluenza" in the killing four people while driving drunk arrived back in Texas on Thursday after being deported from Mexico and was placed in juvenile detention.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / AEC SPECIAL
Jan 29, 2016

Contributing to Southeast Asian development

ASEAN is currently attracting much attention as a major growth center in the global economy. With a market of more than 600 million people and an abundant young labor force, whose working-age population will peak in the second half of the 2040s, ASEAN has achieved remarkable economic growth with its...

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