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COMMENTARY / World
Apr 18, 2016

Electric cars take a back seat to SUVs in China

The Chinese government is determined to make the smog-choked country a leader in eco-friendly electric cars, but consumers prefer big gas guzzlers.
COMMENTARY / World
Apr 18, 2016

How Brazil can save itself

If President Rousseff's likely impeachment could move Brazil forward if it helps bury beliefs and values that have been holding the country back.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Books
Apr 16, 2016

'Six Four' is a haunted, complex novel by Japan's heavyweight crime writer

Prior to writing crime novels, Hideo Yokoyama worked at the Jomo Shimbun newspaper in Gunma Prefecture for 12 years, first as a police reporter and then as a desk editor. The police beat, and the relationship between the police and press is central to the complex machinations in "Six Four," Yokoyama's...
COMMENTARY / World
Apr 15, 2016

Why China's latest power play may roil Russia

The Sino-Russian rivalry is back in the spotlight, thanks to a recent Chinese proposal for an anti-terror alliance in Central Asia.
JAPAN / Politics
Apr 14, 2016

Okinawa, Tokyo begin working-level talks over future of Futenma base

Okinawa and central government officials began working-level talks Thursday under a court-mediated settlement deal that calls for both sides to find a solution to the long-stalled issue of relocating U.S. Marine Corps Air Station Futenma.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Apr 14, 2016

Global education experts urge Japan to look beyond rote learning

The teaching methods of Kazuya Takahashi, 35, using Lego blocks and speaking entirely in English, may not be the norm in the Japanese education system.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / THE FOREIGN ELEMENT
Apr 13, 2016

Japan's Taiwanese residents thrive in a state of 'hidden inbetweenness'

Ethnic minority exists under the radar yet civic groups have top-level political pull in both Japan and Taiwan.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Apr 13, 2016

No end in sight to once-booming Brazil's crises

No one knows where the Latin American nation's mix of economic disappointment and political disillusion is leading.
EDITORIALS
Apr 12, 2016

Insight into the global shell game

A trove of documents from a Panamanian law firm is rattling politics around the world.
COMMENTARY / World
Apr 11, 2016

War returns to the Caucasus region

The frozen war between Armenia and Azerbaijan in the Nagorno-Karabakh region has thawed, with serious implications for the region.
Japan Times
WORLD / Politics
Apr 11, 2016

Keiko Fujimori heads to Peru runoff presidential poll after bagging most first-round votes

Keiko Fujimori won the first round of Peru's presidential election on Sunday, though the race to be her opponent in the June runoff was locked in a virtual tie between two contenders, three exit polls showed.
Japan Times
WORLD / Politics
Apr 10, 2016

Daughter of former strongman Fujimori favored in first round of Peruvian presidential vote

Peruvians are expected to favor Keiko Fujimori in the first round of a presidential election on Sunday, although critical voters who have not forgiven the authoritarian rule of her father are likely to ensure a June runoff.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Apr 7, 2016

A tricky Edward Snowden moment for China

The Panama Papers have cast an unwelcome spotlight on the financial affairs of China's elite.
COMMENTARY / World
Apr 6, 2016

Chinese firm wants to turn the world's lights on

The idea of an electricity 'supergrid' that can power the world is now technically feasible and the chairman of the world's wealthiest power company wants to make it a reality.
Japan Times
WORLD / Politics
Apr 6, 2016

Son-in-law of Trump is a real estate investor, newspaper owner and effective informal adviser

Before introducing Donald Trump to a dozen Republican lawmakers at the Washington law offices of Jones Day, Sen. Jeff Sessions paused to acknowledge the man he said had facilitated the closed-door talks.
WORLD / Politics
Apr 5, 2016

Trump hints at blocking money transfers in bid to force Mexico to fund wall plan

Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump would try to force Mexico to pay for his proposed wall along the U.S. border by blocking remittances from immigrants in the United States in a move that could cripple the Mexican economy, The Washington Post reported Tuesday.
COMMENTARY / World
Apr 5, 2016

'Trumpanomics' amounts to fantasy over fact

Donald Trump's math-challenged budget is awash in glaring contradictions.
WORLD
Apr 5, 2016

Just 10% of global military spending could make big impact on poverty: think tank

World military spending rose 1 percent in 2015, the first annual increase in four years, a Stockholm think tank said Tuesday as it estimated 10 percent of this could cover the costs of global goals aiming to end poverty and hunger in 15 years.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Apr 4, 2016

The terms of the Iran nuclear deal keep changing

U.S. President Barack Obama accepted an agreement in July that allowed Iran to keep in place the industrial-sized nuclear program it had built in defiance of the United Nations. This gives Iran a loaded gun with which to blackmail the rest of the world.
COMMENTARY / World
Apr 4, 2016

Arab security state is badly in need of reform

The experience of Arab states in transition shows that technocratic approaches to security-sector reform are inadequate.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Apr 4, 2016

Trade realities take a beating in U.S. politics

In this bitter U.S. presidential campaign, one area of agreement unites the major candidates: they're all against big trade deals.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / COUNTERPOINT
Apr 2, 2016

Japan's inescapable 'comfort women' problem

Tokyo and Seoul may believe they have resolved the "comfort women" problem after signing a joint agreement in December, but it's wishful thinking and confronts mounting evidence that this diplomatic deceit is already unraveling and falls short of the grand gesture needed to restore dignity to these victims...
WORLD
Apr 2, 2016

China Party journal denounces critics seeking to discredit anti-graft drive

A top magazine of China's ruling Communist Party lashed out at critics of its ongoing anti-corruption campaign, saying foreign media and individuals from home and abroad were intentionally trying to discredit the effort as a political "power struggle."
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Mar 31, 2016

Ryuichi Sakamoto offers his thoughts on politics, Japan and how his music will change 'post-cancer'

"The Professor" is back in town. Last weekend, Ryuichi Sakamoto took the stage at Tokyo Opera City for the debut concert of the Tohoku Youth Orchestra, a 105-strong ensemble of young musicians from Iwate, Miyagi and Fukushima prefectures, which counts him as its musical director.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Mar 31, 2016

ASEAN's destructive elites

Just as India, Japan and the U.S. have been helping to shepherd Myanmar through its transition, they should take a more proactive role in saving Malaysia and Thailand from their elites' self-destructive behavior.
COMMENTARY / World
Mar 30, 2016

South Korean lessons for a slowing China

No major economy has tried to change growth engines mid-flight, but South Korea provides a template for China.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Mar 29, 2016

How Sharp is denting the Japan brand

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe should use his bully pulpit to shakeup corporate Japan and bolster competitiveness.
Japan Times
WORLD / Politics
Mar 29, 2016

Clinton to rip Trump, Republicans over snub of Obama's top court pick

Democratic front-runner Hillary Clinton will assail the prospect of a Donald Trump-appointed U.S. Supreme Court justice on Monday, her campaign said, as she seeks to regain momentum from party rival Bernie Sanders, the winner of three weekend nominating contests.

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