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Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues
May 21, 2013

Fear and incarceration, from Kampala to Nagoya

"I was stopped by two men in a government-registered vehicle, blindfolded and dragged off the street. They took me away to a house in a place I did not know. I was forced into a room with blood all over the walls and floor, where two men lay. I couldn't tell if they were dead or alive. They had been...
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / THE FOREIGN ELEMENT
May 21, 2013

Ambivalent Japan turns on its 'insular' youth

Japan's decision to join the Trans-Pacific Partnership free-trade negotiations shows that at least some in government have accepted the fact that 'opening up' Japan is in the nation's best long-term interests.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / LABOR PAINS
May 21, 2013

Precedent backs (nearly) equal pay for equal work

In 2012, Japan had 51.73 million workers, of which 33.3 million were regular employees, or seishain, according to the latest survey by the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications. Contingent, or nonpermanent, workers (including part-timers, haken dispatch and shokutaku semiregular employees) numbered 18.43 million, over 35.5 percent of the workforce.
Japan Times
WORLD / FOCUS
May 21, 2013

Records offer rare glimpse into Justice leak probe

When the Justice Department began investigating possible leaks of classified information about North Korea in 2009, investigators did more than obtain telephone records of a working journalist suspected of receiving the secret material.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Voices / VIEWS FROM THE STREET
May 21, 2013

Yokohama: What do you think of the prime minister's 'Abenomic' strategy so far?

Businesses are getting better, and at least finance types are strong. But in my business salaries are not going up.
COMMENTARY / World
May 20, 2013

E-cigarettes blow fog into ban on D.C. Metro

Smoking is not allowed on Washington D.C.'s Metro system. But the prospects for e-smoking — which delivers nicotine but doesn't produce smoke — are as hazy as a cloud.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
May 19, 2013

Myanmar opening to U.S. influence — and business

T-shirts bearing images of U.S. President Barack Obama and Aung San Suu Kyi, Myanmar's prodemocracy leader, hang side by side in the shops just off busy Kabar Aye Pagoda Road in Yangon. It's a reminder of the history made in November when Obama became the first sitting U.S. leader to set foot in Myanmar,...
Japan Times
WORLD / Science & Health
May 18, 2013

Minds traumatized by disaster heal themselves

One of the largest earthquakes ever recorded hit on Boxing Day 2004. The resulting tsunami devastated huge swaths of the Indian Ocean coastline and left an estimated quarter of a million people dead across Indonesia, Sri Lanka, India and Thailand. Aid agencies quickly arrived to help battered and traumatised...
JAPAN
May 17, 2013

11 women in Diet decry Hashimoto

A bipartisan group of female lawmakers Thursday called for Osaka Mayor and Nippon Ishin no Kai (Japan Restoration Party) coleader Toru Hashimoto to retract and apologize for his abrasive comments justifying the sexual enslavement of females during the war and suggesting that U.S. servicemen in Okinawa...
JAPAN
May 16, 2013

TPP-fearing farmers get lip service?

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe sees participation in the Trans-Pacific Partnership as a way to bolster Japan-U.S. relations but the requirement to scrap tariffs across the board alarms farmers, who want assurances of a safety net to make up for, according to the latest government estimates, a loss in production...
JAPAN
May 16, 2013

Okinawa women's groups condemn Hashimoto justification of sex slaves

Women's groups and other parties in Okinawa Prefecture on Wednesday protested Osaka Mayor Toru Hashimoto's contentious remarks about the wartime sex slaves, with some calling for his immediate resignation.
JAPAN / History
May 15, 2013

Hashimoto takes flak for sex slave rationale

The backlash against Osaka political maverick Toru Hashimoto escalates over his remarks justifying Japan's wartime sex slave system and his suggestion that U.S. soldiers in Okinawa use more prostitutes.
COMMENTARY / World
May 15, 2013

Disarm Syria to stabilize it

At this stage, arming the opposition in Syria would not serve American interests. Instead, the U.S. should focus on working with Russia and others to disarm Syria.
JAPAN
May 14, 2013

Hashimoto struggles to keep Nippon Ishin no Kai relevant, distinct from LDP

The survival of Nippon Ishin no Kai is thrown into doubt as coleader Toru Hashimoto gropes for ways to keep it relevant and distinct from the ruling LDP.
JAPAN / Politics
May 14, 2013

Suga rushes to smother LDP's latest brush fire over war

Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga leaps into damage control mode after the LDP's policy chief says President Shinzo Abe disagrees with the findings of the Tokyo War Crimes Tribunal.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / THE FOREIGN ELEMENT
May 14, 2013

Turks in Kansai fear Inose gaffe indicative of wider ignorance about culture

'Stupid', 'shockingly provincial' and 'a sign of how little Japanese people really understand that part of the world' were among the reactions of Turkish residents in Kansai to Tokyo Gov. Naoki Inose's comments about Turkey and the wider Muslim world.
SOCCER / J. League
May 13, 2013

J. League's opening game stirs memories 20 years on

Players involved in the J. League's first-ever game share their recollections of the beginning of a new era for Japanese soccer.
BUSINESS / JAPANESE PERSPECTIVES
May 13, 2013

Upper House poll to test public will on economy, TPP and Constitution

The House of Councilors election will be held within three months, and the focus is on whether the split in the Diet — where the two chambers of the legislature are controlled by different camps — will finally be mended.
COMMENTARY / World
May 13, 2013

The changing map of Mideast political power

The eruption of the Arab revolts in 2010-2011 put power relations among Middle East countries in a state of flux. Both winners and losers have emerged.
COMMENTARY / World
May 11, 2013

Attacks in Iraq threatening gains from 'surge'

The places in Iraq where violence has erupted of late are eerily familiar, as many were strongholds of al-Qaida in Iraq at the outset of the American-led 'surge' in 2007.
Japan Times
LIFE / Lifestyle
May 10, 2013

Ideas to trump names on TEDxTokyo stage

TEDxTokyo is set to kick off its fifth annual event on May 11 at Hikarie Hall in Shibuya Ward, featuring a bevy of talented speakers, among whom are many you've likely never heard of.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
May 9, 2013

LA and Tokyo mix it up at Dublab

As cities, Tokyo and Los Angeles could not be more different. But as creative places, both cities resonate with one another as creative partners.
Japan Times
WORLD / EU SPECIAL 2013
May 9, 2013

Croatia set to become 28th EU member

Following the successful ratification of its European Union Accession Treaty by the national parliaments of the 27 Member States, the Republic of Croatia is set to join the EU as the 28th member on July 1 this year. This event will mark an end to the Croatian EU integration journey, which formally started...
Japan Times
WORLD / EU SPECIAL 2013
May 9, 2013

Europa House one-day event opens doors to all

The Delegation of the EU to Japan will open its premises to the public during the Europa House Open Day event on May 25.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / FOCUS
May 8, 2013

Britain's ports put wind in investors' sails

Methil port north of Edinburgh, once the focus of Scotland's coal exports, is set to tap a greener kind of energy as Samsung Heavy Industry Co. constructs the world's biggest wind turbine in the town's faded harbor.

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