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COMMENTARY / Japan
May 29, 2015

Changes to ODA Charter reflect new realities

Japan's strategy for distributing foreign aid has undergone a much-needed revamping to reflect today's realities.
COMMENTARY / World
May 29, 2015

Global financing has a go at global warming

Governments, regulators and market actors are starting to incorporate rules concerning sustainability into the financial system.
EDITORIALS
May 28, 2015

Juvenile crime and punishment

At a time when juvenile crime is decreasing, efforts to punish youthful offenders more harshly are misplaced.
JAPAN / Politics
May 27, 2015

Abe lays out scenarios for SDF dispatch if security bills pass

If contentious security reform bills are enacted by the Diet, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe says Japanese forces could hypothetically be dispatched to mine-sweeping operations in the Strait of Hormuz.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Voices / VIEWS FROM THE STREET
May 27, 2015

Views from Yokohama: Is technology making the world better or worse?

Luddites and tech fans are interrogated on the wide streets of Yokohama.
COMMENTARY / Japan
May 27, 2015

Should Japanese liberals support revising Article 9?

Rather than leave the interpretation of Article 9 to each administration, perhaps it should be revised so government policies could be placed under the potential constraints of judicial review.
Japan Times
WORLD
May 26, 2015

Galapagos volcano erupts, posing threat to rare pink iguanas

A volcano perched atop one of Ecuador's Galapagos Islands erupted in the early hours of Monday, the local authorities said, potentially threatening a unique species of pink iguanas.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
May 25, 2015

Why Beijing now puts up with Pyongyang's nuclear nuttiness

In the current 'cool war' environment, China sees North Korea's belligerence as a useful tool to be used against the U.S.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / Japan
May 25, 2015

Correctly understanding Japan's postwar history

Japan's mission should be to provide humanitarian solutions to the problems confronting the victims of conflicts rather than engage in war in the name of collective self-defense.
Japan Times
LIFE / Travel
May 23, 2015

Don't build castles in the air, go see Ehime Prefecture's real ones

I'm more than happy to start my day off on a literal high point, but as we tackle the steep incline up to Matsuyama's hilltop castle, I am beginning to doubt our chosen method of arrival.
COMMENTARY / COUNTERPOINT
May 23, 2015

The 'Abe Doctrine' transforms security policy

The ink was barely dry on the new Guidelines for Japan-U.S. Defense Cooperation, which were unveiled during Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's visit to Washington last month, when Sen. John McCain, chairman of the U.S. Senate Armed Services Committee, issued a wake-up call to the Japanese people. He said he...
EDITORIALS
May 23, 2015

Freedom of press declines worldwide

Freedom of the press is under attack in many countries around the world, including in Japan.
CULTURE / Music
May 22, 2015

Budamunk's 'The Corner' makes a play for local hip-hop heads

Back in 2008, a beat-making competition called Goldfinger's Kitchen was held in Tokyo's Shibuya district. In each round, contestants had 15 minutes to chop and flip a given sample on an MPC sampler as the crowd watched. When the 15 minutes were up, the contestants played back what they had created to...
JAPAN
May 22, 2015

Activist slams indifference to sexual exploitation of girls in 'JK' industry

An activist fighting the notorious "JK" industry has called on Prime Minister Shinzo Abe to initiate efforts to eradicate the increasingly knotty problem of sex trafficking involving high school girls in Japan, describing the nation as too indifferent toward curbing child prostitution.
WORLD / Science & Health
May 22, 2015

Antarctic glaciers once thought stable now thawing fast: study

Glaciers in part of Antarctica have started to thaw fast, adding to rise in sea level that threatens coasts and cities from New York to Shanghai, a team of scientists said in a study published on Thursday.
Japan Times
ENVIRONMENT
May 22, 2015

Oil-fouled California beach could take months to clean up; slicks spread offshore

Cleanup crews labored through a third day to scoop up patches of crude oil from a pipeline spill that closed two California state beaches and fouled offshore waters, shattering an environmental balance that U.S. Coast Guard officials said on Thursday may take months to restore.
Japan Times
WORLD / Science & Health
May 22, 2015

SpaceX capsule splashes down with cargo after five-week ISS stay

A Space Exploration Technologies Dragon cargo capsule made a parachute splashdown into the Pacific Ocean on Thursday, wrapping up a five-week stay at the International Space Station.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Companies
May 21, 2015

SoftBank veers from iPhone in shift to embrace all mobile devices

Since the iPhone debuted in Japan in 2008, SoftBank Mobile Corp. has been heavily promoting Apple smartphones, driving the growth of the telecom giant led by billionaire Masayoshi Son ever higher.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Society
May 21, 2015

Tokyo's Kita Ward adopts hearing and speaking aids to help legislators with disabilities

The Kita Ward Assembly, where deaf-mute Tokyo author Rie Saito was elected in the quadrennial unified elections in April, has become the first legislature in the nation to develop a system that allows lawmakers with hearing or speech impediments to participate in sessions in real time.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / SYMPOSIUM ON SOUTH KOREA
May 21, 2015

Examining Korea's 'Japanization'

The South Korean economy is facing slow growth on the back of an aging population and other factors. Some South Korean companies are recalling overseas production, which they once sought in China and other Asian countries with lower wages, while high student loans are lowering the quality of life for...
Japan Times
WORLD
May 21, 2015

Workers toil after massive oil pipeline spill fouls California beach, offshore area

Cleanup crews fanned out on Wednesday across an oil-fouled California beach to scoop up gobs of petroleum spewed from a ruptured pipeline in the largest oil spill to hit the pristine but energy-rich Santa Barbara coastline in nearly two decades.
COMMENTARY / Japan
May 20, 2015

The AIIB has little to offer Japan and the U.S.

Japan is wise not to join China's Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank, which could end up merely as a policy instrument for Beijing.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC
May 20, 2015

U.S., China ships in unplanned encounter

A U.S. combat ship used agreed codes for unplanned encounters when it met a Chinese vessel during a recent patrol of the contested South China Sea, according to the vice chief of naval operations.
COMMENTARY / Japan
May 19, 2015

Bring Japan's talents to bear

The Japanese government should strive to stem the growth of irregular jobs, which deprive people of the opportunity to grow and prosper.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
May 19, 2015

Obama should give Gulf states no special favors

American foreign policy should be about promoting America's security, and the U.S. does not need alliances in the Middle East to protect itself.
COMMENTARY / World
May 18, 2015

Is corruption key to China's economic growth?

China's 'selectocracy,' which promises promotions to the officials who prove most effective in promoting growth, could be the key to explaining the country's impressive economic track record.

Longform

A sinkhole in Yashio, which emerged in January, was triggered by a ruptured, aging sewer pipe. Authorities worry that similar sections of infrastructure across the country are also at risk of corrosion.
That sinking feeling: Japan’s aging sewers are an infrastructure time bomb