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Japan Times
JAPAN / Politics
Jan 26, 2015

Diet session opens with focus on security as hostage crisis continues

The Diet opens with expectations for the Abe administration to focus on security legislation in his quest to get the Japanese military more 'proactively' involved overseas.
COMMENTARY / COUNTERPOINT
Jan 3, 2015

Revisiting controversy in the Year of the Sheep

The year 2015 will not be a quiet one for Japan or its people as the region marks the 70th anniversary of the end of the Fifteen Year War (1931-45), the Pacific War (1941-45) and Japanese colonialism in Korea and Taiwan.
COMMENTARY / World
Dec 16, 2014

What economics can learn from human beings

Legend has it that it's hard even to get bank staff to read the 'World Development Report' published annually by the World Bank. The report for 2015 should prove to be an exception, though, as it appears to help policymakers understand deeply ingrained habits or cultural settings.
JAPAN / Politics
Nov 23, 2014

LDP incumbents look to have electoral lock on nation's nuclear heartland

The political fate of Fukui's aging reactors has long been in the hands of powerful pro-nuclear Diet members, and the upcoming election is not expected to change that.
JAPAN / Politics
Nov 3, 2014

Wounded Abe grapples with tax jinx after BOJ easing move

Back in April when Shinzo Abe raised the consumption tax, he was betting he could break a jinx that has doomed prime ministers to losing their jobs.
Japan Times
WORLD / Society
Oct 30, 2014

In France, kebabs get wrapped up in identity politics

In a country whose national identity is so closely connected to its cuisine, France's hard right has seized on a growing appetite for kebabs as proof of cultural Islamization.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Economy
Oct 26, 2014

As Abe's political ratings fade, top official calls for delay in next sales tax hike

A top government official said Prime Minister Shinzo Abe should delay a planned consumption tax increase, the strongest sign yet that economic weakness is causing concern among those close to Abe ahead of his final decision on the levy.
Japan Times
WORLD
Oct 18, 2014

Russia, Ukraine near deal on gas supplies after tough Milan talks

Russia and Ukraine made progress on Friday toward resolving a dispute over gas supplies in time for winter, but European leaders said Moscow still has to do much more to prop up a fragile cease-fire and end fighting in eastern Ukraine.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Politics
Sep 3, 2014

Abe matches Koizumi by naming five women to lineup

Only once before Abe's Cabinet shake-up on Wednesday have there been five female ministers at the same time.
EDITORIALS
Sep 2, 2014

Put fiscal health ahead of politics

Ballooning budget requests by ministries for fiscal 2015 total more than ¥100 trillion for the first time, raising serious doubts about the Abe administration's commitment to fiscal discipline.
JAPAN
Aug 26, 2014

Conservative party to submit bill halting welfare for needy foreigners

Jisedai no To (Party for Future Generations) plans to submit legislation to the Diet this fall that would exclude poverty-stricken non-Japanese residents from receiving welfare benefits.
JAPAN / Politics
Jul 24, 2014

In Osaka, plan to merge wards faces stiff winds

Osaka Mayor Toru Hashimoto and his Osaka Ishin no Kai (One Osaka) political group formally approved a plan Wednesday evening to consolidate the city's 24 wards into five semiautonomous zones with their own elected leaders and assemblies rather than appointed officials.
COMMENTARY / World
May 28, 2014

Ukrainians are more European than the French

If the European ideal is to create a citadel of tolerance and universal human values, who are the true Europeans?
JAPAN / Politics
May 20, 2014

Divided coalition begins defense talks

The ruling coalition kicked off discussions Tuesday aimed at overcoming a fundamental division on whether the Cabinet should reinterpret the Constitution and upgrade Japan's defense posture in a changing security environment.

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