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JAPAN / Politics
Mar 15, 2016

Without naming names, Japan video showcases effort to halt China maritime expansion

The Foreign Ministry releases a video highlighting Tokyo's own measures to help Southeast Asian nations match Beijing's maritime muscle.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC
Mar 15, 2016

Despite new sanctions, North Korea plans to conduct nuclear, missile tests soon: Kim

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un said his country will soon conduct a nuclear warhead test and a test launch of ballistic missiles capable of carrying nuclear warheads, the North's official KCNA news agency reported Tuesday.
JAPAN / Politics / EXPLAINER
Mar 14, 2016

How a U.N. committee riled Japan with its criticism of women's rights

Recent recommendations issued to Japan by the United Nations Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women sparked a sharp response from Tokyo.
COMMUNITY / Issues / LAW OF THE LAND
Mar 13, 2016

Making an impression in Japan: a hanko primer

Everything you wanted to know about chops, from cheapo ¥100-shop seals to the Privy Seal of Japan, which is wielded by the Emperor and hewn from pure gold.
ASIA PACIFIC
Mar 13, 2016

China to create 'international maritime judicial center' amid rising sea tensions

China will set up an "international maritime judicial center" in a bid to help protect its sea rights, the country's chief justice said Sunday, a move that analysts say Beijing could use to bolster its claims in the disputed South and East China seas.
Japan Times
LIFE / Lifestyle / CHILD'S PLAY
Mar 12, 2016

Learning from a neighborhood stroll

As winter makes its exit from the archipelago and the pink petals of spring begin to emerge, I feel an intense pang of nostalgia for my old neighborhood on Tokyo's east side. Sure, the city's cherry blossoms are beautiful in places like Yoyogi Park and Shinjuku Gyoen, but one of the nicest things to...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Mar 11, 2016

Needs of post-3/11 Tohoku stay in focus for filmmakers

The dramatic imagery that emerged from the disasters of the March 11 Tohoku earthquake and tsunami, documented so extensively by mainstream and social media, is hard to forget. However, there were and still are many stories to be told about the people who were left to pick up the pieces of their lives...
EDITORIALS
Mar 11, 2016

Upgrading anti-disaster measures

It's imperative that officials at the national and local level check regularly whether anti-disaster measures are adequate and up-to-date.
COMMENTARY / World
Mar 11, 2016

The world is witnessing a new interventionism

The consequences of Russia's intervention in Syria stretch far beyond the Middle East, heralding a new era in geopolitics.
ASIA PACIFIC
Mar 11, 2016

U.S. may need more missile defenses to counter growing threat: admiral

Current U.S. missile defenses can counter an attack on U.S. territory by North Korea or Iran but Washington will have to boost its response capacity if those countries keep expanding their missile forces, a top U.S. admiral said on Thursday.
Japan Times
JAPAN / 5-YEAR MEMORIAL OF GREAT EAST JAPAN EARTHQUAKE
Mar 11, 2016

Municipalities bundle IT services to ensure security

The Great East Japan Earthquake and tsunami destroyed nearly every piece of social infrastructure and lifeline in the Tohoku region on March 11, 2011. Power, water and gas supplies were all interrupted in Miyagi, Iwate and Fukushima prefectures, while communication lines in and out of the prefectures...
Japan Times
JAPAN / 5-YEAR MEMORIAL OF GREAT EAST JAPAN EARTHQUAKE
Mar 11, 2016

Maintaining remnants of disaster for future

Sept. 1, known as Disaster Prevention Day, was designated as such by the government in 1960. On this day every year, cities and towns nationwide, as well as schools, companies and even small community groups, run evacuation drills to prepare for natural disasters such as typhoons, landslides and earthquakes....
Japan Times
CULTURE
Mar 10, 2016

Looking for comfort in art following the Great East Japan Earthquake

In her film "Heart of a Dog," the American artist Laurie Anderson explores loss as exemplified by the death of a loved one. A recurring theme is the attack on the World Trade Center on Sept. 11, 2001, an incident that profoundly changed the way New Yorkers like Anderson confronted their environment....
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Voices / FOREIGN AGENDA
Mar 9, 2016

Five years on, Fukushima evacuees voice lingering anger, fear and distrust

Some of the thousands of uprooted Fukushima residents speak out about the ordeal that began five years ago and continues to exact a toll to this day.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Voices / FOREIGN AGENDA
Mar 9, 2016

Minamisoma mayor sees future for Fukushima 'nonnuclear' city in energy independence

Turning to the use of solar and wind power in tandem with energy-saving measures, Mayor Katsunobu Sakurai is aiming for his city to be energy self-reliant by 2030.
Japan Times
JAPAN / REVISITING 3/11
Mar 8, 2016

3/11 lesson: Prepare, at all costs, for the worst

Should a devastating earthquake hit central Tokyo tomorrow, the skyscraper office buildings of Mori Building Co. would be able to provide temporary shelter for about 10,000 people.
JAPAN
Mar 8, 2016

Funassyi character lends support and product license to Tohoku recovery groups

The pear-like character Funassyi may seem at first glance to be from another world, but the unofficial mascot of Funabashi, Chiba Prefecture, is starting to make a real difference in this one.
JAPAN / History
Mar 8, 2016

Suga slams findings of U.N. panel on discrimination, cites U.S., U.K. support for 'comfort women' deal

The view of a United Nations committee criticizing the recent "comfort women" agreement between Seoul and Tokyo is "extremely regrettable and unacceptable," Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga said Tuesday.
COMMUNITY / Voices / FOREIGN AGENDA
Mar 6, 2016

Immigration: the missing piece in the Tohoku recovery puzzle?

Entrepreneurship, reconstruction and tourism still may not be enough to save rapidly depopulating Onagawa.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Mar 6, 2016

Japanese bands plan overseas spring offensive

TV Asahi's weekly "Music Station" program has rarely served as a staging ground for exciting young domestic acts in recent years. It has been more of an opportunity to gawk at Johnny's boy bands and test how many members of AKB48 can fit on the interview bench.
Japan Times
JAPAN / GENERATIONAL CHANGE
Mar 6, 2016

Tohoku returnee taps biz expertise to revive tsunami-stunned Ishinomaki neighborhood

Like many other coastal areas devastated by the March 2011 earthquake and tsunami, when entrepreneur Takashi Tachibana, 46, first stepped into the remote Ogatsu district to help Ishinomaki, Miyagi Prefecture, it was chaos.
ENVIRONMENT / OLD NIC'S NOTEBOOK
Mar 5, 2016

Our new school's on song despite cabals

Almost exactly five years ago, on March 11, 2011, an earthquake followed by a devastating tsunami wreaked havoc in the northeastern Tohoku region. Here where I live amid the faraway mountains of Nagano Prefecture, all of us connected with the C.W. Nicol Afan Woodland Trust wondered what we could do to...
Japan Times
BASKETBALL
Mar 4, 2016

Struggling Chiba Jets fire Pavlicevic

The Chiba Jets have parted ways with head coach Zeljko Pavlicevic, the NBL club announced on Friday.
JAPAN / Politics / ANALYSIS
Mar 3, 2016

U.N. sanctions against North toughest yet, but critics say still not enough

The United Nations Security Council has unanimously approved the toughest sanctions against North Korea in two decades following its nuclear test and missile launch.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / THE FOREIGN ELEMENT
Mar 2, 2016

Upon re-entry back home after expat life, brace yourself for turbulence

Survey of Japanese returnees suggests two divergent emotional journeys for those heading back home after a stretch abroad.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Voices / VIEWS FROM THE STREET
Mar 2, 2016

How does the Tokyo Marathon compare to other races you've run?

Some of the 37,000 runners at Sunday's Tokyo Marathon offer their views on how the race sizes up against the global competition.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Mar 2, 2016

'Oyster Factory' dredges up the dreams and fears of Japan's rural workers

Japanese documentaries tend to be blandly inoffensive, especially those dealing with sensitive topics. Typically, a velvet-voiced narrator sets the scene and a sympathetic interviewer lobs questions to her subjects as gently upbeat music plays in the background.

Longform

After pandemic-era border regulations eased, Indian migrants began returning to Japan. Their population now stands at more than 50,000 across the country.
How remote work is rewriting the migrant experience in Japan