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COMMUNITY / Issues / LABOR PAINS
Dec 24, 2014

Standing up to the country's flagship carrier

An airplane crash in 1977 would inspire one JAL employee, Taeko Uchida, to get serious about union activism in a way that would decades later find her leading a legal and labor battle against Japan's flagship carrier.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / JAPAN LITE
Dec 24, 2014

Mastering the art of incense takes longer than you think

If you find all this incense as intriguing as I did and are ready to sign up to become a master in the Way of Fragrance, then I suggest you start right away, if not 20 years ago.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Dec 23, 2014

South Korea shows the way on 'womenomics'

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe says he wants to put more women to work to help make up for the country's shrinking population. Yet, of the 1,093 people who ran for office in recent snap elections, a mere 169 were women. Abe might want to study neighboring South Korea.
COMMENTARY / World
Dec 23, 2014

A tipping point for Pakistan?

The attack on an army school in Peshawar, Pakistan, was the Taliban's single deadliest in its history. The question now is whether it will turn out to be a turning point for Pakistan in its relations with the group.
COMMENTARY / World
Dec 22, 2014

U.S. sanctions are a tragedy for Cuba, farce for Russians

Western leaders imposing sanctions on Russia need to ponder whether they really want to turn Vladimir Putin's Russia into something like Castro's Cuba — only far bigger and more dangerous.
EDITORIALS
Dec 22, 2014

Change Olympic stadium design

A decision should be made soon on whether design changes are necessary to the new National Stadium planned for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics so that it conforms to the international Olympic spirit and stands as a legacy that future generations can be proud of.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / THE FOREIGN ELEMENT
Dec 22, 2014

Jeers, apologies and silence: Japan's 2014 in quotes

First of all, we're sorry. Everybody is sorry. This was the year that everyone apologized and everyone was sorry about something. The Asahi Shimbun was sorry so many times (even when maybe they shouldn't have been) that we're omitting them from the list. There's not enough space.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Voices / VIEWS FROM THE STREET
Dec 22, 2014

Tokyo: What's your worst Christmas memory?

An unscientific selection of views from around the capital suggests that Americans have more fun than Japanese at Christmas.
COMMENTARY / World
Dec 21, 2014

India and China slugging it out in South Asia

As India and China compete with each other for economic and political influence in South Asia, they are likely to concentrate more on their relative gains vis-u00e0-vis each other than on the absolute gains regional cooperation could bestow.
LIFE
Dec 20, 2014

Public protest in Japan: Power to the people?

"Freedom of assembly and association as well as speech, press and all other forms of expression are guaranteed." — Article 21, Constitution of Japan
BASKETBALL
Dec 18, 2014

FIBA chief Baumann strikes tough tone on JBA ban

FIBA secretary general Patrick Baumann repeatedly stated that the Japan Basketball Association's "lack of vision" is a fundamental problem stunting the sport's development throughout the nation.
EDITORIALS
Dec 18, 2014

Russia's downward slide

The decision by Russia's Central Bank to practically double interest rates in the middle of the night is a bad sign. The question now is how President Vladimir Putin will double-down to get Russia through a perfect economic storm.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / BLACK EYE
Dec 17, 2014

Japan and others gain from Jamaican brain drain

In the last part of this series on Jamaicans in Japan, Baye McNeil speaks to a teacher, author and poet in Yokohama and an attorney in Tokyo.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Economy
Dec 16, 2014

Unlocking growth potential is top task for Abenomics 2.0

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's election win strengthened his hand to move beyond the fiscal and monetary stimulus that brought an end to deflation in his first two years. The tougher task for "Abenomics 2.0" will be to boost Japan's growth potential.
COMMENTARY / World
Dec 15, 2014

Reducing the global threat posed by nuclear weapons

The best calculations show that even a limited nuclear warhead exchange between India and Pakistan would wreak havoc on food distribution networks, killing up to 1 billion people worldwide.
COMMENTARY / World
Dec 15, 2014

NASA's Mars capsule will never land on Mars

Rather than admit the many shortcomings of the Orion space capsule, NASA has boldly promoted its development as the first step in America's journey to Mars. But it will not be going to Mars.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Dec 15, 2014

Amid reform talk, hopes grow for short-term home rental market

Japan seems to have the right mix for developing a vibrant short-term home rental market: a rapidly growing tourism industry, a cheap currency and — unlike many countries — 8 million vacant homes.
Japan Times
WORLD / Crime & Legal
Dec 15, 2014

California city spotlights tough path to police reform

In 2000, police in the city of Oakland, California became a symbol of the worst of American law enforcement after a band of rogue officers known as "The Riders" were accused of beating suspects, planting evidence and falsifying reports.
EDITORIALS
Dec 14, 2014

Nuclear arms risks — a reminder

As the 70th anniversary of the nuclear attacks on two Japanese cities approaches, it is high time that Japan worked out its own idea for eliminating nuclear weapons and presented it to the international community.
COMMUNITY / Voices / VIEWS FROM THE STREET
Dec 14, 2014

Nagoya: What do you think of Abe's decision to call a snap election?

Voters and non-voters alike give their views on today's Lower House election, which was called by Prime Minister Shinzo Abe only two years after the last one.
EDITORIALS
Dec 13, 2014

Outer space belongs to science

Unfortunately a recently disclosed draft of Japan's new basic plan for space projects gives top priority to use of outer space for national security purposes.
Japan Times
WORLD
Dec 13, 2014

Storm brings floods, mudslides, tornado to California; tens of thousands lose power

A Pacific storm pounded Southern California with heavy rain and high winds on Friday, triggering flash floods, a small tornado and mudslides that prompted the evacuation of hundreds of homes, damaged dozens of others and disrupted passenger rail service along the coast.
COMMENTARY / World
Dec 12, 2014

A rude awakening for America

The American pivot to Asia was the product of people in Washington who only think in terms of military power — as in trying to annex Ukraine and Georgia to NATO and the EU. There are new ways of thinking in China and even Russia.
Japan Times
JAPAN / CHUBU CONNECTION
Dec 12, 2014

Takayama mobilizes to protect voters from bear attacks

Polling stations in one mountain city are bracing for an unusual kind of disruption on election day: bear attacks.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC / Science & Health
Dec 12, 2014

Hunting for pictures, and crocodiles, in remote Aboriginal country

We are deep in a forest crowded by Australian paperback trees, the air thick with humidity but eerily silent save for the screeching of tropical birds, when Marcus shouts: "Look, crocodiles!"
Japan Times
WORLD
Dec 11, 2014

South Korean wealthy no longer above law

The uproar that forced a Korean Air Lines executive to resign after delaying a flight because she was unhappy with the way nuts were served points to growing intolerance of corporate bad behavior in a country dominated by family conglomerates.
Japan Times
WORLD / Society
Dec 11, 2014

Suicides rise among young as Indian society modernizes; mental health problems go untreated

Pinki Chauhan, a straight-A Indian physics and math student, arrived at her university campus shortly after breakfast, poured gasoline over her wispy frame and lit a match.

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