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Japan Times
COMMENTARY / COUNTERPOINT
Aug 8, 2015

Abe's security laws nothing like same-sex marriage

In every intensely fought political battle there are moments of incongruous absurdity, but in the current tumult facing embattled Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, it doesn't get more ludicrous or desperate than the parallel drawn between the U.S. Supreme Court's decision affirming same-sex marriage and the...
COMMENTARY / World
Aug 7, 2015

Yet again, Tony Abbott shows he’s out of touch

A successful leader most needs sound judgment. Australia's Prime Minister Tony Abbott singularly lacks this quality.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Politics
Aug 6, 2015

Exclusion of nonnuclear principles from Abe's Hiroshima speech causes stir

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's failure to include a pledge to observe the country's three nonnuclear principles in the annual memorial speech on Thursday remembering the victims of the Hiroshima atomic bomb attack is causing speculation the exclusion may be political.
JAPAN / Politics
Aug 6, 2015

Abe advisory panel cites wartime 'aggression' but fails to address recent revisionism

A key advisory panel to Shinzo Abe published its report Thursday on Japan's modern history and postwar reconciliation, strongly criticizing the wartime "aggression" against other Asian countries but touching little on recent controversies over what is widely regarded as the prime minister's revisionist...
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Voices / FOREIGN AGENDA
Aug 5, 2015

Mount Koya sites exemplify 'parallel universe' where war criminals are martyrs

Japanese leaders who continue to condone the country's wartime actions inhabit a 'parallel universe' whose version of WWII history is at odds with the rest of the world's.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Aug 4, 2015

Turkey's democracy is being quietly stolen

If President Recep Erdogan succeeds in using a rekindled Kurdish conflict to secure his presidential powers, it will be difficult for Turkish democracy to survive in any meaningful sense.
JAPAN / Politics
Aug 4, 2015

In surprise move, government to suspend Nago construction for one month

In a surprise move, the central government will suspend for one month all ongoing construction work related to building a replacement facility for U.S. Marines Air Station Futenma.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Aug 3, 2015

A few more pennies won't perk up Japan's economy

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe needs to tap into the audacity he's displayed elsewhere if he is to enact the reforms necessary to turn Japan's economy around.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Media / BIG IN JAPAN
Aug 1, 2015

A political turning point for Japan's youth

July 15, 2015, will go down in Japanese history. As what, though? The day democracy's decline became irreversible? Or the day democracy's decline was reversed?
Japan Times
JAPAN
Jul 29, 2015

Architect blames government for high cost that doomed Olympic stadium design

The architecture firm that came up with the design for the main Olympic stadium is blaming the central government for the soaring cost estimates that doomed its design.
COMMENTARY / Japan / SENTAKU MAGAZINE
Jul 29, 2015

U.S. Congress' egocentric strategem in the TPP talks

With the passage of the Trade Promotion Authority Act, the U.S. will become increasingly self-centered in pursuit of its national interests in international trade negotiations, including the TPP.
BUSINESS / Economy
Jul 29, 2015

Retail sales fall for first time in three months

Retail sales nationwide declined for the first time in three months in June, sapping an economy that analysts say struggled last quarter amid sluggish exports and production.
Japan Times
WORLD / Politics
Jul 29, 2015

Scrapping deal would fast-track Iran to nuclear bomb, Kerry warns Congress

Secretary of State John Kerry intensified efforts on Tuesday to beat back criticism of the Iran nuclear deal and convince U.S. lawmakers that rejecting it would give Tehran a fast track to a weapon and unlock billions of dollars from collapsed sanctions.
COMMENTARY / World
Jul 28, 2015

Why little Estonia's not worried about Russia

Estonian President Toomas Ilves wants to turn his tiny country into a digital pioneer to save the rest of Europe from Luddism and red tape.
BUSINESS / Economy
Jul 27, 2015

Japan's economy shrank last quarter, top forecaster says

The Japanese economy likely contracted last quarter, dragged down by weak consumer spending and a slump in exports, according to a top forecaster.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Jul 26, 2015

Abe's move to beef up military role brings Asia closer to war

Given the unrelenting chauvinism that pervades Japan's political establishment, it is no wonder that in East Asia there is serious concern about the resurgence of Japanese militarism — and hence the prospect of war in Asia.
EDITORIALS
Jul 26, 2015

Alarmist defense white paper

By highlighting the threat posed by China, the government appears to be using the white paper to drum up public support for the Abe administration's controversial security legislation.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Jul 26, 2015

How Sony sanitized films to please China's censors

In a 2013 script for the movie "Pixels," intergalactic aliens blast a hole in one of China's national treasures — the Great Wall.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Jul 23, 2015

How the government stacks its panels with 'yes men'

The government pays the highest respect to the opinions of scholars whose thoughts are deemed useful to it and pays no attention to those who hold opposing views.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Jul 23, 2015

Did Putin sell out Greece to Western leaders?

Did Vladimir Putin withdraw Russia's support for helping Greece exit the euro to score points with the West?

Longform

Dangami House is a 180-year-old former samurai residence of the Kato clan, who ruled over Ozu, Ehime Prefecture, until the Meiji Restoration.
A house, a legacy and the quiet work of restoration in rural Japan