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COMMENTARY / World
May 29, 2014

World Cup without succor

International sports events such as the upcoming World Cup Championship in Brazil have become a severe burden on host countries. Haven't we had enough of this slapstick?
Reader Mail
May 28, 2014

Helping hand from the military

As a Thai citizen who has been observing the political situation in Thailand closely, I understand that most Japan Times readers might not accept the military coup in Thailand, but this is the best decision Thailand can come to at the moment.
BUSINESS
May 27, 2014

Coup fallout: Sony joins Panasonic in avoiding travel to Thailand

Sony Corp. and Panasonic Corp. are among companies advising workers against traveling to Thailand, as evidence mounts that political turmoil in the country is undermining business activity there.
COMMENTARY / Japan
May 27, 2014

Nationalistic sentiment keeps Abe's popularity ratings high

The Abe Cabinet continues to enjoy an approval rating of more than 50 percent, according to a recent survey, because of the knock-on effect of 'Abenomics,' the dearth of other viable leaders and, like it or not, nationalist sentiment.
COMMENTARY / Japan
May 27, 2014

Taking aim at Japan's gender problem

Media coverage of the rise and fall of Japanese scientist Haruko Obokata illustrates the problem with the third arrow of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's economic policy — and its otherwise laudable goal of expanding the participation of women in positions of power.
COMMENTARY / Japan
May 27, 2014

Recent events in Asia could be tipping points

Russia's struggle to conclude a long-term gas-supply deal with China seems to suggest that China is happy to see Russian President Vladimir Putin poke his finger into the West's eye but that China is more interested in turning Russia into the sort of vassal state that Putin seeks for Ukraine.
Japan Times
WORLD / Politics
May 26, 2014

UKIP victorious in EU vote

Britain's U.K. Independence Party stormed to victory Sunday in European elections, riding a tide of Euroskepticism and anxiety about immigration to beat Prime Minister David Cameron's Conservatives and the opposition Labour Party, partial results showed.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
May 24, 2014

Thai coup leader insists on reform before election

Thai Army chief Gen. Prayuth Chan-ocha set out his plans for the country on Friday, a day after seizing power in a coup, saying reforms were needed before an election can be held and enlisting the help of the civil service.
Japan Times
ENVIRONMENT / OUR PLANET EARTH
May 24, 2014

Youth seek new ideas to solve old problems

Young researchers today are in a pickle. Most of them have assumed that peer-reviewed science is fundamentally accepted until new, equally legitimate research proves those findings wrong. However, that was before politicians became self-declared experts on everything under the sun, from science to religion....
Japan Times
WORLD / Politics
May 24, 2014

U.K.'s anti-EU party makes big gains in local elections

Britain's Euroskeptic UKIP party has made its strongest ever gains in local elections, harnessing discontent with immigration and established politicians to grab support from Prime Minister David Cameron's Conservatives and the opposition Labour party.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
May 23, 2014

A 'reluctant' leader, army chief Prayuth takes center stage in Thai political drama

Just months before his retirement, Thai Army chief Gen. Prayuth Chan-ocha has taken on a responsibility he may much rather have dodged.
COMMENTARY / World
May 23, 2014

Modi's foreign policy agenda

When Shinzo Abe led his party to a landslide victory in Japan's 2012 general election, he broke from protocol by taking a congratulatory call from Narendra Modi, then a state leader in India. The mutual respect between the two strongly nationalist prime ministers could pay handsome dividends.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
May 23, 2014

Schools shut; TV stations silent as Thai Army enforces coup

Schools were shut, international television stations were off the air and channels broadcast military logos and patriotic music on Friday, a day after Thailand's military seized control following a six-month political stalemate that has sapped economic growth.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC / Crime & Legal
May 23, 2014

Businessman linked to China's ex-security czar is sentenced to death

A former mining magnate with suspected ties to the family of China's retired security czar Zhou Yongkang was sentenced to death on Friday on charges of leading a gang on a crime spree spanning two decades.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
May 22, 2014

'Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom'

The Great Man theory of history has long been a controversial one: is history shaped by exceptional men who enact change through sheer force of will, or is it the result of larger forces, like class, economics and technological progress?
Japan Times
CULTURE / Stage
May 21, 2014

'The Bee' stings Paris audience

With its title "The Bee," this work co-written in 2006 by leading dramatist Hideki Noda and Irish playwright Colin Teevan immediately brought to mind Franz Kafka's "Metamorphosis" and the ghastly, unbidden and unexplained changes to which the protgonist of that seminal novella is subjected.
COMMENTARY / World
May 21, 2014

Thailand must stop preferring bullets over votes

There is no military solution to Thailand's former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra. Every time soldiers step up to restore order in the short run, they set back Thai democracy in the long run.
Japan Times
PRESS / Publications
May 20, 2014

"Konnichiha, Nihongo! (Vietnamese Edition)" on sale now

Full of simple, ready-to-use expressions for living in Japan
JAPAN / EXPLAINER
May 19, 2014

Getting to the heart of Abe's vision for Japan's military

The hottest buzzwords in politics these days are "the right of collective self-defense," now that Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's advisory panel on security has released its much-awaited recommendations for reinterpreting the Constitution.
COMMENTARY / World
May 19, 2014

Trash troubles pile up in China's Garbage Era

Chinese consumers, as much if not more than industry or the government, are at the root of the country's solid-waste problem. Yet protests over garbage incinerators, as an alternative to landfills, are turning violent.
JAPAN
May 17, 2014

Why Kansai's corporate captains are trumpeting TPP

Several years ago, at the Kansai Economic Seminar, an annual snoozefest of pompous platitudes and pretentious, paternalistic pontificating by the old men who run Kansai's major corporations, one senior leader called for entering the Trans-Pacific Partnership negotiations.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
May 17, 2014

Dying for democracy: 1980 Gwangju uprising transformed South Korea

As South Korea marks the 34th anniversary of the Gwangju uprising, we examine the massacre's influence on national identity and the country's struggle for democracy.
COMMENTARY / COUNTERPOINT
May 17, 2014

Tiananmen's silver year: from protest to massacre

Twenty-five years ago on June 4 the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) turned on Chinese citizens in a ruthless display of violence, not for the first time, slaughtering many in the streets of Beijing to crush a pro-democracy movement lead by university students.
EDITORIALS
May 17, 2014

Casino gambling bad bet in Japan

Letting the gambling industry operate in Japan would be a terrible bet, as the bulk of gambling tax revenue would be offset by expenditures for treating addictions and fighting crime.
COMMENTARY
May 17, 2014

Democrats can't get traction on inequality

President Barack Obama has made any number of speeches about the rich who don't pay their fair share, but nationwide this has not translated into big gains for the Democrats who are pushing it.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics / FOCUS
May 17, 2014

Huge expectations for India's Modi, some wariness

About a year ago Narendra Modi sat down with some of India's best and brightest to mount what one election strategist called a "shock and awe" campaign.
SOCCER / PREMIER REPORT
May 16, 2014

Arsenal desperate to end trophy drought with F.A. Cup

Arsene Wenger admitted that it was "a dream" to watch the F.A. Cup final when he was a kid.
COMMENTARY / World
May 16, 2014

The once-mighty U.S. is in decline: Get used to it

Like fourth-century Romans, Americans are beginning to realize that they are no longer citizens of an unrivaled superpower. And they're kind of freaking out about it.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
May 15, 2014

'Disconnect'

Nicholas Carr, in his eye-opening book "The Shallows: What the Internet Is Doing to Our Brains," has poignantly observed how "When we're online, we're often oblivious to everything else going on around us. The real world recedes as we process the flood of symbols and stimuli coming through our devices."...

Longform

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