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COMMENTARY / World
Jan 20, 2014

Model general whose best defense was offense

Had Ariel Sharon never entered politics, he would still be known around the world as a military commander and tactician whose methods diverged from normal military practices, even in the unconventional Israeli army.
COMMENTARY / World
Jan 20, 2014

Ambiguous fisheries law sets up in-your-face conundrum for China

The ambiguity of China's 'new' fisheries law courts conflict by setting up an in-your-face conundrum for its neighbors
COMMENTARY / World
Jan 20, 2014

Is Hollande crisis the sauce of everyday fare in France?

Is the domestic crisis of President Francois Hollande considered the sauce of everyday fare in French society today?
COMMENTARY / World
Jan 19, 2014

Time to speak up in defense of Thai democracy

Thailand, Southeast Asia's most developed and sophisticated economy, is teetering on the edge of the political abyss. Yet most of the rest of Asia appears to be averting its eyes from its anarchic unrest.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Media / BIG IN JAPAN
Jan 18, 2014

After Aum, post-9/11 lull, weeklies rediscover faith

March 20 will mark the 19th anniversary of the toxic nerve-gas attack on the Tokyo subway system by members of the Aum Shinrikyo (Supreme Truth) doomsday cult. That attack, which shook Japanese society to its very foundations, resulted in 13 deaths and thousands of injuries. Thirteen high-ranking Aum...
Japan Times
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Jan 18, 2014

Akie Abe opines but knows her place in his story

It's no secret that Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's most valuable public relations resource at the moment is his wife, Akie, whose candor contrasts vividly with the demure demeanor of most Japanese leaders' wives. The weekly magazine Aera has suggested that Akie's press ubiquity has been strategic in nature,...
Japan Times
JAPAN / Science & Health / NATURAL SELECTIONS
Jan 18, 2014

Cooperation vs. competition in space

Shadows of winter clouds
Japan Times
LIFE / Travel
Jan 18, 2014

Exploring the realm of Lewchew

When I told the Japanese woman with whom I'd struck up a conversation in central Tokyo's very handy Haneda airport that I was flying to Lewchew, she looked puzzled.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Books
Jan 18, 2014

"Henry Black: On Stage in Meiji Japan"

Former journalist Ian McArthur's study of Henry Black, a Briton who became a professional rakugo-ka (storyteller) in Meiji Era (1868-1912) Japan, is a reminder that many colorful characters from that turbulent time — especially foreigners — remain little known to contemporary readers.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Jan 17, 2014

A vision for Japan's future

Thanks to Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's 'Abenomics' initiative for national economic recovery, Japan's economy as well as its currency and stock markets started the New Year on a positive note for the first time in a long while.
COMMUNITY / Issues
Jan 15, 2014

Three cases, three paths to legitimacy for Supreme Court

When I began studying Japanese, one of my goals was to be able to read the Nihon Keizai Shimbun, Japan's version of The Wall Street Journal. Achieving that goal, however, meant realizing that it is possibly The Most Boring Newspaper on Earth.
Reader Mail
Jan 15, 2014

For starters, an encouraging word

Any foreigner who has lived in Japan for any length of time and struggled to learn Japanese knows that the language barrier looms large here. Those of us chipping away at it as English teachers know that our students often feel the same way, but one thing I've noticed is the power of a positive message....
COMMENTARY / World
Jan 13, 2014

Power without purpose in Moscow

By suppressing opposition in Moscow, Grozny and elsewhere, Putin has only put a lid on a boiling pot. Part of the Kremlin's difficulty stems from its remarkable lack of vision — a fundamental failure to understand what Russia is, will be, or can become.
Japan Times
WORLD
Jan 12, 2014

In Fallujah, al-Qaida fails to learn from its past

The details were barely reported at the time by the world's media: the killing on Dec. 21 in the west of Iraq's Sunni-dominated Anbar province of 24 Iraqi Army personnel, including the commander of the 7th Division.
Japan Times
WORLD
Jan 11, 2014

Ariel Sharon, Israeli 'bulldozer' who vacated Gaza, dies at 85

Ariel Sharon, the Israeli general and former prime minister as famous for his ferocity in battling Arab foes as for his turnaround decision to evacuate settlers and soldiers from the Gaza Strip, has died. He was 85.
BUSINESS
Jan 11, 2014

Did Soros just predict an economic crash in China?

George Soros probably shouldn't expect any warm invitations to Beijing — not with the much-reviled short seller warning of a giant Chinese crash.
COMMENTARY / World
Jan 10, 2014

Focusing on the business of Korean reconciliation

Despite its flaws, including an Orwellian feel, the Kaesong Industrial Complex, a joint venture of the North and South Korean government, helps to build an environment of collaboration. Pyongyang's recent announcement that it will open another 14 special economic zones is a positive development.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Jan 10, 2014

Diplomatic dustup a worrying sign for Japan-China relations

It's tempting to roll one's eyes at the respective invocations of 'Harry Potter's' Lord Voldemort by the Chinese and Japanese ambassadors to Britain in a diplomatic tit-for-tat, but the exchange is a troubling sign.
JAPAN
Jan 10, 2014

Japan urged to embrace U.S.-style think tanks

Right before Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's Cabinet approved the nation's new long-term National Security Strategy in mid-December, the independent think tank Rebuild Japan Initiative Foundation, composed of prominent Japanese and American scholars, compiled its own approach.
CULTURE / Film
Jan 9, 2014

'Dangerous Liaisons'

Dangerous Liaisons" is compelling, not necessarily because of its content but because this is a Chinese movie adapted from an 18th-century French novel by Pierre Choderlos de Laclos. It has exactly zero working-class characters, not counting the occasional maid. That's an event in itself. A decade ago,...
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Voices / VIEWS FROM THE STREET
Jan 8, 2014

Has Abenomics improved things for you or the country over the past year?

I can't really say that things have improved for the country as I don't often have the chance to follow politics. But, based on what I feel about my family, things have improved in the last year. I'm not sure if it's because of Abenomics, but some things have changed for the better.
COMMENTARY / World
Jan 7, 2014

Time to relegate 'moral laws' to history's dustbin

Nothing lasts forever — especially in the U.S. with its 50 percent divorce rate — and it's clear that same-sex marriage will eventually be the law of the land.
Japan Times
WORLD
Jan 5, 2014

The outbreak of the Great War: 100 years on

On New Year's Day 1914, a respected weekly literary publication carried a long article penned by an author referred to only as A Rifleman. Entitled "Letters on War" and published in The New Age, an influential radical magazine in Britain, the three-page piece argued forcefully in favor of military conflict....
Japan Times
WORLD / Politics
Jan 5, 2014

NYC mayor targets growing income gap

The 18 cm of snow dumped over New York on his second day in office is not the only blizzard Bill de Blasio, the newly installed mayor, is having to negotiate. He is also heading into a political blizzard over his plans to tackle inequality by raising taxes on the very rich.
Reader Mail
Jan 4, 2014

Abe looks set to reinvent a personal Japan

Regarding the Jan. 1 article "Abe's quest to revive, reshape nation rides on the economy": The headline seems turned the wrong way. Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's real revival target is not Japan's consumer economy, but rather Japan's economic prowess internationally.
Reader Mail
Jan 4, 2014

Mandela's dream not fully realized

Regarding Jennifer Kim's Dec. 15 letter, "Can't see Mandela as a 'peace icon," and Jim Makin's Dec. 22 letter, "Mandela halted vengeful politics": Nelson Mandela was a great admirer of Martin Luther King Jr. In his Nobel Peace Prize acceptance speech (Dec. 10, 1993, Oslo), he recalled at the very end...
COMMENTARY / World
Jan 3, 2014

Business tie-ups that help the Himalayan poor

The private sector can be a powerful partner in any endeavor just as it is with commercial satellite launches. This must include the fight against poverty in Hindu Kush-Himalayas.

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