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Japan Times
WORLD / Politics
Jul 7, 2014

Poroshenko heeds Ukrainians' call to arms as Russia, EU talk truce

In a country torn between Russia and western Europe, Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko's decision to resume an offensive against pro-Moscow rebels has carefully ignored both neighbors to show an ear acutely tuned to Ukrainian domestic politics.
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Jul 5, 2014

Fiery Shinjuku protest goes global without NHK

Until the Great East Japan Earthquake, social media didn't have much purchase on Japanese social life. But disasters are transformative, and in a country where the mass media is cautious about its role vis-a-vis the authorities, social media came into its own after the tsunami and meltdown.
Reader Mail
Jul 5, 2014

Flag the opinion of a nonresident

It's very useful to hear about perceptions of Japan from people living outside the country.
SOCCER / World cup
Jul 2, 2014

Maradona says coaching Venezuela is possibility

Argentine great Diego Maradona has said he could be the next coach of Venezuela, the only South American country that has never made it to the World Cup.
WORLD / Politics
Jul 1, 2014

Former Czech PM's aide guilty over scandal that toppled government

An ex-aide and now wife of former Czech Prime Minister Petr Necas was found guilty of abuse of power on Monday in a major scandal that exposed their extramarital affair and toppled the government a year ago.
JAPAN / JAPAN TIMES FORUM ON FEMALE SCIENCE MAJORS
Jun 30, 2014

Examining women's roles in Japan's corporate structure

Rikejo, or women majoring in the sciences, are currently under the spotlight in Japan. As the country faces a severe labor shortage, a declining birthrate and a rapidly aging population, there is a need to employ more female talent.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Society
Jun 29, 2014

Comic books champion debate on Fukushima disaster

Farmers in Fukushima try to convince skeptical visitors that their crops are safe from radiation. Blood trickles from the nose of a reporter who visits the area.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Jun 29, 2014

Indonesia candidate battles puppet image

When one of Indonesia's most powerful politicians wanted to be part of a new government, he did not approach Joko "Jokowi" Widodo, the front-runner in next week's presidential election.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Jun 28, 2014

Sexist remarks seen through a clouded lens

It's assumed that the heckling of Tokyo assembly member Ayaka Shiomura by some of her male colleagues on June 18 became a major news story in Japan only after the foreign press picked it up as an example of intractable Japanese sexism. The situation is more nuanced than how Western media described it,...
COMMENTARY / Japan / COUNTERPOINT
Jun 28, 2014

Abe's nuclear renaissance ignores stiff opposition

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's nuclear renaissance involves downplaying risks, restarting reactors, building new ones, and exporting reactor technology and equipment. A number of hurdles remain before he can rev up the reactors, but the summer of 2014 will probably be Japan's last nuclear-free one for decades...
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / WORDS TO LIVE BY
Jun 27, 2014

Beating life's challenges one artwork at a time

Artist Kengo Nawashiro, 26, loves drawing buildings and towers. His beautifully colored paintings of the Tokyo Skytree are printed on postcards and sold at art events. Nawashiro credits his success to renowned art educator Chieko Awata, who is a specialist in nurturing the talents of autistic children...
COMMENTARY / World
Jun 27, 2014

Putin ready to go to stealth mode in Ukraine

President Vladimir Putin's cancellation of his mandate to send troops into Ukraine pushed up Russian stocks and bonds this week. Now he is ready to enter the quiet phase of his Ukraine operation.
Reader Mail
Jun 25, 2014

Backhanded apology accepted

Regarding the June 24 article "Lawmaker apologizes for sexist jibe": It was appropriate that Tokyo Metropolitan Assembly member Akihiro Suzuki offered an apology to Your Party assembly member Ayaka Shiomura, the woman he and others heckled a few days earlier when she attempted to discuss the special...
JAPAN / Politics
Jun 25, 2014

Shiga governor race to hinge on public works, reactors

The race for the July 13 Shiga gubernatorial election will kick off Thursday with three candidates vying to replace Yukiko Kada, with the campaign expected to focus on public works spending and how to cope with nuclear reactors in neighboring Fukui Prefecture.
Japan Times
WORLD / Politics
Jun 24, 2014

Sunni uprising in Iraq wins support in gulf

The Sunni uprising in Iraq has received enthusiastic support from many Persian Gulf Arabs, despite official unease over the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant, branded a terrorist group by governments in the region.
JAPAN
Jun 23, 2014

Lawmaker apologizes for sexist jibe

A Liberal Democratic Party lawmaker apologized on Monday for shouting a sexist remark last week at a female colleague from Your Party during a plenary session of the Tokyo Metropolitan Assembly.
COMMENTARY / World
Jun 23, 2014

Stop this president from distorting rule of law

None of the policy disagreements roiling Washington at present is as important as the unchecked presidential aggrandizement of Barack Obama and his distortions of the rule of law.
COMMENTARY / World
Jun 23, 2014

Tea party hangs on to its seat at the kids' table

Despite its recent big win, the tea party wing in the U.S. Congress has no more than the ability to say no, to wreak havoc and to generally make House Speaker John Boehner's life miserable. Insiders still set the agenda.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / THE FOREIGN ELEMENT
Jun 23, 2014

Can Japan show the West how to live peacefully with Islam?

Uniting a colorful mix of expats, removed from the context of sectarian strife and the historical Western interference still haunting many Muslim countries, could the Japanese brand of Islam be a showcase for its peaceful essence?
Japan Times
WORLD / Politics
Jun 22, 2014

In parts of east Ukraine, a daily struggle to survive

Clutching empty plastic bottles, hundreds of people stand waiting for water in this besieged city, with the almost constant thud of artillery shells echoing in the distance.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Politics
Jun 20, 2014

'Patriotic wives' few in number — but loud

One by one, women take the microphone near the crowded Hachiko crossing in Tokyo's Shibuya shopping district on a hot and humid weekday, denouncing the pacifist Constitution, blasting China's "recklessness" and mocking the South Korean flag.
COMMENTARY
Jun 18, 2014

China's mixed messages to Taiwan, Hong Kong

China has released a document that fundamentally alters the meaning of its promise of 'one country, two systems' to both Hong Kong and Taiwan.
Japan Times
WORLD / Politics
Jun 18, 2014

Battling insurgency, Iraq's leaders make rare show of unity

Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki broadcast a joint appeal for national unity on Tuesday with bitter Sunni critics of his Shiite-led government — a move that may help him win U.S. help against rampant Islamists threatening Baghdad.
COMMENTARY / World
Jun 16, 2014

The blame for Iraq can wait

American efforts to assign immediate blame for Iraq's unraveling carry with them a whiff of the can't-do spirit — as if, unsure how to proceed in the world, we turn on each other instead.
COMMENTARY / World
Jun 15, 2014

Giving a resolute pro-India neighbor its due

It's an indication of the ham-handed manner in which Indian foreign policy is managed that even relations with Bhutan have seemed troubled in the past few years.
Japan Times
OLYMPICS / OLYMPIC NOTEBOOK
Jun 14, 2014

USOC chief calls for changes in bid voting

Larry Probst, the United States Olympic Committee chairman, won't win a popularity contest within the IOC anytime soon.
COMMENTARY / World
Jun 14, 2014

Chinese World Cup woes provoke self-doubt

China's long-suffering soccer fans keep looking for proxies at World Cup time, all the while grumbling under their breaths about the government's control-freak approach to choosing athletes for the national team and a lack of youth developmental leagues outside of the official system.

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