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Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
May 12, 2015

Obama's lesson in how to not make peace in Afghanistan

U.S. President Barack Obama's faltering strategy to win over the Taliban serves as a cautionary tale of how not to make peace with an enemy.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / Japan
May 8, 2015

We need to talk about Abe

Shinzo Abe is bent on making Japan a 'normal' country, but has he thought out the consequences of elevating the SDF to a full-fledged military?
COMMENTARY / World
Mar 8, 2015

Cameron's disappearing act

A German newspaper is leading a chorus of cruel comments about how British Prime Minister David Cameron shines nowadays by his absence on the international stage.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Feb 21, 2015

U.S. to fine Takata $14,000 a day for resisting air bag probe

Takata Corp. will be fined $14,000 for each day it fails to cooperate with a U.S. investigation into defects in its air bags that have led to millions of car recalls worldwide.
JAPAN / Society
Feb 20, 2015

Officials pull plug on teacher survey about LGBT students

The Tokyo Metropolitan Government's Education Bureau has halted an independent survey of how junior high and high schools cater to sexual minorities, citing problems with some of the questions.
COMMENTARY / World
Dec 18, 2014

Three 'geos' push the world but leave Russia in a cloud

All the colonial empires of the 20th century have given way to young nation-states and to a new kind of relations between a capital and its former colonies, yet official Russia goes on shedding tears about its disintegrated empire.
Japan Times
MORE SPORTS
Dec 5, 2014

Lewis brings storied career back to track as coach

It's too early to know if Carl Lewis will one day be considered a legendary track coach.
LIFE / Lifestyle
Nov 22, 2014

Can women really 'shine' under Abe?

The prime minister has vowed to help women break the glass ceiling in the workplace but critics have questioned his motivation.
Japan Times
JAPAN / IEC GENERAL MEETING IN TOKYO
Nov 4, 2014

Overview of the Tokyo General Meeting

The International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC) is holding its 78th General Meeting from Nov. 4 to 15 at the Tokyo International Forum. This is the first General Meeting to be held in Japan in 15 years. As it is being held the same year Junji Nomura was named IEC president, expectations are mounting...
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / How-tos / HOME TRUTHS
Oct 31, 2014

Homeowners resume debate on renewables

In September, Kyushu Electric Power announced it would stop buying energy from solar-power suppliers due to over-supply and a lack of transmission capacity, setting off a debate about Japan's dedication to renewable energy. While the decision to halt purchases of solar energy from any supplier whose...
COMMUNITY / Issues / LABOR PAINS
Oct 29, 2014

'Maternity harassment' verdict benefits women, men — and our humanity

The landmark quality of the Supreme Court ruling cannot be overstated. If women can be demoted for getting pregnant, then women who care about their careers will hesitate to have children at all.
Japan Times
LIFE / Travel / BACKSTREET STORIES
Oct 25, 2014

Dead reckoning in the haunts of Honancho

Halloween in Tokyo rarely gets scarier than the price of imported pumpkins, but I've heard that Honancho — a terminal station on the Marunouchi subway line — hosts an uber-spooky obakeyashiki (ghost house). Navigating the station's dank, barely-lit stairwell at Exit 2, I'm already apprehensive.
Japan Times
JAPAN / HOTEL SPECIAL 2014
Oct 24, 2014

One-of-a-kind Pokémon Hotel Experience

For young "Pokémon Trainers" around the world, The Peninsula Tokyo is now the newest hunting field to test their skills.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Tech
Oct 15, 2014

Japan Robot Week offers new approaches to nursing care

Japan Robot Week kicked off Wednesday with a major Tokyo exhibition showcasing new technologies for everything from communications and remote video monitoring to disaster response.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Oct 2, 2014

Ray of hope for democrats

For those Japanese who grumble about low voter turnouts in local and national elections, or who complain about the secretive character of political procedures, the open, democratic process of the recent Scottish referendum on independence was an object of envy.
JAPAN / Politics
Oct 1, 2014

Abductees' families warn official visit to Pyongyang may not yield answers

Some relatives of abductees say Tokyo should eschew North Korea's invitation to send officials to Pyongyang, believing it would yield few details on the fate of their loved ones.
JAPAN
Oct 1, 2014

Osaka mayor prepares to tackle anti-Korean group Zaitokukai

Osaka Mayor Toru Hashimoto is finalizing plans for a public debate with the right-wing, anti-Korean group Zaitokukai over the definition of hate speech and the need to balance freedom of expression with others' human rights.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Sep 30, 2014

tofubeats calls on pals for his 'First Album'

Yusuke Kawai tries to start a para para dance halfway through his Sept. 5 DJ set, but the inside of an Apple Store isn't an ideal space for this endeavor. Kawai, who records under the name tofubeats, is performing a special show at the recently opened Omotesando store. Half of the floor eagerly watches...
JAPAN / Politics
Sep 19, 2014

North Korea says abduction probe will take another year

Pyongyang tells Tokyo it is still at 'an early stage' of its re-investigation into possible Japanese abductees and plans to finish the probe in about a year.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Sep 2, 2014

Asia's best friends shape an axis

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi's watershed visit to Japan, and the bear-hug welcome from Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, have added concrete content to a relationship embodying Asia's emerging democratic axis.
Japan Times
WORLD
Aug 27, 2014

Poroshenko to seek cease-fire after ‘very tough’ talks with Putin

Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko promised after late-night negotiations with Russia's Vladimir Putin to work on an urgent cease-fire plan to defuse the separatist conflict in the east of his former Soviet republic.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / LEARNING CURVE
Jul 27, 2014

Osaka bets big on TOEFL to boost English levels

The Osaka Prefecture Board of Education is pushing through a raft of initiatives to shake up English-language education, chief among them the introduction of TOEFL at top-performing high schools, which will be taught by an elite group of teachers earning approximately ¥8 million a year.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Jun 19, 2014

Luna Sea rockers Sugizo and Inoran talk life at 25

"I don't think of this as a reunion. We didn't break up; we just paused our activities and came back to life," says Sugizo, guitarist and violinist of rock group Luna Sea. Sitting next to bandmate Inoran, he speaks calmly and softly, his eyes looking back at me through tinted sunglasses. "Words like...

Longform

Tetsuzo Shiraishi, speaking at The Center of the Tokyo Raids and War Damage, uses a thermos to explain how he experienced the U.S. firebombing of March 1945, when he was just 7 years old.
From ashes to high-rises: A survivor’s account of Tokyo’s postwar past