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JAPAN
Oct 3, 2014

North Korea envoy says door is open on nuclear issues, rights, abductees

North Korea is ready to resume six-party talks on its nuclear program but must maintain its readiness in the face of joint U.S.-South Korean military exercises, a senior envoy in Geneva said on Thursday.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Books
Sep 27, 2014

Read up on books about books about Japan

Revving up the metabolism of culture with the pulse of new artistic voices, a good literary journal doesn't usually have much to do with profit — it's all about circulation. Japanese literary journals enjoy a healthy transmission here, thanks to the financial backing of big publishing firms. How do...
COMMENTARY / World
Aug 4, 2014

Indians face a dilemma over Israel

The conflicting demands of continuing to strengthen ties with Israel while courting other states in the region, especially Iran, will remain a tough task for Indian diplomacy.
EDITORIALS
Jun 3, 2014

Now Pyongyang must deliver

North Korea's new promise to reinvestigate the decades-ago abductions of Japanese nationals as Japan eases sanctions and provides humanitarian aid is a positive move. Tokyo's challenge is ensuring that Pyongyang follows through on its pledge this time.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Voices / COMMUNITY CHEST
May 26, 2014

Letters: Kikokushijo encounter trouble upon re-entry

Japanese returnees and others discuss the trials and tribulations facing those educated abroad if and when they attempt to settle back in Japan.
COMMENTARY / World
Apr 7, 2014

Language of Indian politics

Even those Indians who are assumed will automatically vote their caste in the current election have choices and will make a number of fairly sophisticated mental trade-offs.
ASIA PACIFIC
Mar 26, 2014

Struggling, Malaysian Airline may need government bailout

Even before the loss of its Flight MH370, Malaysian Airline System (MAS) was bleeding cash, prompting talk that it may need another financial rescue from state investor Khazanah Nasional Bhd, its majority shareholder.
COMMENTARY / World
Mar 16, 2014

Singh: missing for a decade

It would be interesting to know just what Prime Minister Manmohan Singh — in office for a decade but rarely in power during that time — thinks the job requires beyond being a sycophant toward the first family.
EDITORIALS
Mar 7, 2014

Don't reopen old wounds

If the Abe administration tries to weaken or scrap the 1993 'Kono statement,' the perception is likely to strengthen in the international community that it is bent on whitewashing Japan's wartime behavior and, even today, lacks respect for the honor and dignity of women.
COMMENTARY / Japan / SENTAKU MAGAZINE
Feb 25, 2014

Will Constitution survive Abe?

Conservative hawks who are close allies of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe express irritation over the failure of the move to amend the Constitution to have gained as much momentum as they had hoped.
COMMENTARY / World
Feb 11, 2014

U.K. must not be left behind in the global drugs debate

Britain owes it to its own young people to help countries such as Colombia break the stranglehold of the drug lords once and for all, writes Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg,
JAPAN / Politics
Dec 13, 2013

Abe rubs elbows with ASEAN chiefs

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe meets with the top leaders from Indonesia, Brunei, the Philippines and Singapore, expressing concerns about China's setting of a new air defense zone over the East China Sea.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Nov 21, 2013

New Ai Weiwei film details the art of persecution

Timing, as they say, is everything, and for aspiring filmmaker Alison Klayman, that meant being in Beijing filming China's most well-known contemporary artist, Ai Weiwei, at precisely the moment the Chinese government decided to throw him in jail.
COMMENTARY / World
Sep 6, 2013

U.K.'s response to Syrian crisis

Prime Minister David Cameron badly mishandled the issue of whether Britain should take part in a punitive attack on the Assad government for its alleged use of chemical weapons.
COMMENTARY / World
Aug 13, 2013

Hope amid Mideast turmoil

No one put the chances of reviving the Israel-Palestine peace process at more than minimal. Yet it has happened. Now is not the time for despair in the Middle East.
COMMENTARY / World
Jul 11, 2013

Who'll stand for spied-on?

By hearing only the state side of the story, the U.S. secret surveillance courts lose the appearance of impartiality. Court disputes need to have adversaries.
COMMENTARY / Japan
May 27, 2013

ASEAN-China good will hunting

Clues to the character of China's new leadership have emerged from their interaction with other Asians. A greater confrontational posture with Japan looms.
EDITORIALS
Apr 21, 2013

Monitoring workers by smartphone

Employers' ability to monitor employees' actions and whereabouts via smartphones fitted with GPS apps is not a positive step in Japanese workplaces.
Japan Times
WORLD / Crime & Legal
Mar 25, 2013

Supreme Court reflects 'modern marriage'

There's a widow who was a pioneer of the "modern marriage," and one who never wed. Two who have been divorced.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Jan 4, 2013

Child custody injustices hard to fix

On May 6, 2010, Yasuyuki Watanabe, an internal affairs ministry bureaucrat, came home to find his wife and 2-year old daughter gone, along with their clothes.
EDITORIALS
Dec 4, 2012

Tokyo gubernatorial issues

Nine candidates have announced their candidacy for the Tokyo gubernatorial election, which will be held on Dec. 16, the same day as the Lower House election. Since Tokyo is the nation's capital and the center of Japan's political, economic and intellectual activities, the result of the gubernatorial...
JAPAN / EXPLAINER
Jul 31, 2012

SOFA a source of sovereign conflicts

The July 23 arrival of MV-22 Osprey tilt-rotor transport aircraft at U.S. Marine Corps Air Station Iwakuni in Yamaguchi Prefecture and plans to deploy them this fall to Okinawa have fueled stiff opposition from local governments nationwide.
Japan Times
JAPAN
May 4, 2012

Conservatives call for revising Constitution

The time has come for political parties to overcome their differences and join hands to revise the Constitution to suit the times, including by establishing of an "army" to protect Japan, its people and its territory, conservative lawmakers said Thursday.
COMMENTARY / World
Nov 3, 2011

Japan has viable options on the TPP conundrum: Why not use one?

U.S. President Barack Obama will soon head to Hawaii for the 2011 Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation Forum, November 8-13. Hosted by the United States, it and eight other APEC economies are holding talks to reach broad outlines of a Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) trade agreement.

Longform

Mount Fuji is considered one of Japan's most iconic symbols and is a major draw for tourists. It's still a mountain, though, and potential hikers need to properly prepare for any climb.
What it takes to save lives on Mount Fuji