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Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Oct 2, 2014

Film festival hopes to present refugees as more than just victims

From Syria to Afghanistan to South Sudan, conflict this year has pushed the number of people seeking refuge around the world to numbers not seen since World War II.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Oct 2, 2014

Ray of hope for democrats

For those Japanese who grumble about low voter turnouts in local and national elections, or who complain about the secretive character of political procedures, the open, democratic process of the recent Scottish referendum on independence was an object of envy.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Oct 2, 2014

The reluctant warriors against Islamic State

The British appeared so hesitant in joining the fight against Islamic State because of, among other things, the widespread public feeling that Britain should never again become involved in a Mideast war involving differences between Muslim sects.
Reader Mail
Oct 1, 2014

Woman who took on 'dinosaurs'

Regarding the Sept. 28 article "SDP's Takako Doi, first female leader of major political party in Japan, dies at 85": I am sad about Takako Doi's passing probably because she was in her political prime when I arrived in Japan, and so her passing makes me reflect on my own age and mortality.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Oct 1, 2014

Divided Chinese eye Hong Kong protests with admiration, anger

For some mainland Chinese in Hong Kong, the sight of thousands of people on the streets protesting for greater democracy is an alien one that has prompted comparisons with the relative lack of political freedom back home.
EDITORIALS
Sep 30, 2014

China's sentencing of a critic

lham Tohti, a moderate Uighur scholar who advocated for the rights of Muslim Uighurs, was sentenced to life in prison last week. Chinese leaders don't seem to realize that such severity will only deepen the resentment of separatists.
COMMENTARY / World
Sep 29, 2014

Labor's battle against exploitation by capital, 150 years ago and today

The first international labor organization was founded 150 years ago in London. Although capitalist globalization has weakened the labor movement today, it has also opened new avenues of communication that may yet facilitate workers' international cooperation.
COMMENTARY / World
Sep 29, 2014

New anti-Semitism in Germany isn't the same

It's not the old-style, neo-Nazi anti-Semites who are trying to burn down synagogues or calling the Jews out to fight these days, as they have a problem with the currently dominant strain of anti-Semitism — its carriers have darker skin.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Politics
Sep 28, 2014

Abe to shift gears as Diet session kicks off

After drawing a storm of criticism and causing controversy with his Cabinet's reinterpretation of the Constitution earlier this year, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and his Liberal Democratic Party now look ready to avoid contentious security issues and refocus on revitalizing rural economies during the extraordinary...
EDITORIALS
Sep 28, 2014

Lower House electoral reform

A panel of experts has begun discussions on addressing Lower House electoral reforms, particularly the vote-value disparity between rural and urban districts, after talks among the ruling and opposition parties failed.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Sep 27, 2014

Scotland's independence referendum inspires an Okinawan discussion

As sometimes happens when a news story that has nothing to do with Japan becomes topical worldwide, the Japanese media tried to find a local angle for the Sept. 18 Scottish referendum. The coverage fell into two categories: greater autonomy for Okinawa, and the use of referendums.
COMMENTARY / Japan / COUNTERPOINT
Sep 27, 2014

Hyperbole over Asahi affair tarnishes brand Japan

The Asahi Shimbun has been apologetic of late after it confessed to journalistic wrongdoing in several articles.
Japan Times
ENVIRONMENT / OUR PLANET EARTH
Sep 27, 2014

India and its incredible pollution problem

Incredible India! is the Indian government's marketing slogan to attract tourism. And I agree. India is truly incredible in countless ways, both captivating and heartbreaking.
JAPAN / Politics
Sep 25, 2014

New right-wing Sunrise Party aims to 'rebuild Japan's pride'

Conservatives were promised right-wing policies, an army, a new Constitution and the confiscation of voting rights from non-ethnic Japanese people on Thursday as two prominent rightists launched a new political party.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / Japan
Sep 25, 2014

McCarthyism, Japan-style

The inordinate attacks by right-wing media and politicians on the Asahi Shimbun after the newspaper retracted and apologized for past reporting errors on two controversial topics does not bode well for the spirit of future press inquiry in Japan.
COMMENTARY / World
Sep 25, 2014

Why Ukraine's cease-fire will stick this time

The war in eastern Ukraine appears to be ending, as the cease-fire now in place no longer relies on good faith but rather on a convergence of interests.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Stage
Sep 24, 2014

Kyoto Experiment marries form to cutting-edge content

Kyoto Experiment, the city's monthlong international performing-arts festival that debuted in 2010 and has been growing in popularity in the vanguard of contemporary performance every year since, is now set to embark on its fifth and most radical edition.
Japan Times
WORLD / Politics
Sep 24, 2014

Queen 'purred' when told of Scottish 'no' vote: Cameron

Britain's monarch is famously above politics, but Prime Minister David Cameron was overheard on Tuesday saying that Queen Elizabeth II had "purred" with happiness when he phoned her to inform her Scotland had voted to reject independence.
WORLD / Politics
Sep 22, 2014

U.K.'s Cameron shifts tack on constitutional shake-up to mollify Scots

Scotland will get more autonomy with no "ifs or buts," Prime Minister David Cameron's office said on Sunday, after Scottish leader Alex Salmond accused him and other politicians of tricking Scots out of independence.
COMMENTARY / World
Sep 22, 2014

U.K. stays intact, promising more powers to nationalists

The No-to-independence campaign in Scotland was greatly helped by the publication of a joint pledge by all three U.K. party leaders that there would be speedy legislation conferring extensive new powers to the Scottish parliament.
COMMENTARY / World
Sep 22, 2014

Union could unravel over devolution pressure

If the Scottish nationalists had won, they'd have started a risky, costly transition to independence, but the final destination would have been clear. The unionists' victory avoids that short-term pain but prolongs the constitutional uncertainty.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Sep 22, 2014

North Korea dashes hopes of Japanese parents over abductees' fate

Three times a day, 88-year-old Kayoko Arimoto makes a ritual offering of food to the daughter she hasn't seen for 31 years. On her birthday, it's rice with red beans followed by cake.
Japan Times
WORLD / Politics
Sep 21, 2014

After Scottish vote, U.K. faces monumental shift in governance — and all that comes with it

When 3.6 million Scots voted Thursday on whether to leave or stay within the United Kingdom, they were answering one simple question: Should Scotland be an independent country?
JAPAN / History / THE LIVING PAST
Sep 20, 2014

Can simplicity survive contact with complexity?

Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Sep 19, 2014

A Hillary candidacy is a depressing thought

American women of a certain age are thrilled by the prospect of a possible President Hillary Clinton. Others see her as a throwback to another time, one that's never coming back.
COMMENTARY / World
Sep 19, 2014

Russians love their kids, but that won't stop a war

The idea that a common understanding is always within reach of all humans is seductive. That's why it has been so difficult for an army of Western experts to predict Russian President Vladimir Putin's behavior. In reality, Putin has no objections to being perceived as an aggressor.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Sep 19, 2014

Obama picking targets while missing the point

Even if President Barack Obama cobbles together a plan to destroy the Islamic State, the problems bedeviling the Persian Gulf, and the greater Middle East more broadly, won't be going away anytime soon.
EDITORIALS
Sep 18, 2014

Time to bridge the vote-value gap

Time is running for lawmakers to correct the 'unconstitutional' vote-value gap between constituencies for the next triennial election of the Upper House. Discord with the Liberal Democratic Party over the matter doesn't help.
COMMENTARY / World
Sep 18, 2014

Corruption exists; it's the response that matters

Contrasting approaches to fighting recent cases of political corruption in the U.S. and China underscore how China remains more a nation ruled by one party than by law.
EDITORIALS
Sep 16, 2014

Repairing Japan-China ties

The leaders of China and Japan need to take quick action to repair mutual ties that have unraveled since the Japanese government two years ago nationalized three of the Senkaku Islands — over which China also claims sovereignty.

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