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JAPAN
Nov 15, 2009

Abductees' kin hail Obama's North stance

needs to change its approach to international society," said Shigeru Yokota, whose daughter, Megumi, was taken to the reclusive country in 1977 at age 13. Yokota, who turned 77 on Saturday, and his wife, Sakie, 73, were among invitees to Suntory Hall in Tokyo where Obama touched on the abduction issue...
JAPAN
Nov 15, 2009

Hatoyama and Obama put off hard decisions

health insurance, and it didn't want to expose disagreements" with Japan. As concern grew over the diplomatic tensions between the U.S. and Japan, the two governments decided to set up a ministerial-level working group earlier in the week to "probe" Futenma's relocation. However, no deadline for reaching...
Japan Times
JAPAN
Nov 14, 2009

LDP loss media's fault: Mori

The long-ruling Liberal Democratic Party's historic defeat in the August general election can in part be blamed on the media and its manipulation of public opinion, LDP heavyweight Yoshiro Mori told The Japan Times in a recent interview.
JAPAN
Nov 14, 2009

Obama, Hatoyama prioritize alliance

Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama and U.S. President Barack Obama vowed Friday to bolster the bilateral alliance and cooperate on pressing global issues, including climate change and nuclear disarmament.
JAPAN
Nov 12, 2009

Base relocation remains thorn in side of Japan-U.S. ties

OSAKA — On April 12, 1996, Okinawa Gov. Masahide Ota was meeting with prefectural officials when Prime Minister Ryutaro Hashimoto telephoned with big news.
JAPAN / TIES IN THE BALANCE
Nov 11, 2009

Strong undercurrent as Obama comes to test the waters

First of two parts
JAPAN
Nov 11, 2009

Japan and U.S. to create high-level Futenma panel

The Japanese and U.S. governments agreed Tuesday to form a Cabinet minister-level "working group" to explore ways to resolve the stalled relocation of the U.S. Marine Corps Futenma Air Station in Okinawa, Foreign Minister Katsuya Okada announced.
JAPAN
Nov 6, 2009

Campbell talks up ties with U.S. but ducks queries on Futenma

Kurt Campbell, U.S. assistant secretary of state for East Asia and Pacific affairs, made a brief stop Thursday in Tokyo to talk up bilateral ties despite simmering discord over where to move U.S. Marine Corps Air Station Futenma.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Japan Pulse
Nov 5, 2009

Meiji University celebrates manga heritage

A national media arts center might never see the light of day but Meiji University is doing its part to preserve classic manga.
BUSINESS
Oct 30, 2009

Japan, U.S. trail in hiking interest rates

The global monetary policy divide is widening as the U.S. Federal Reserve, Bank of Japan and major counterparts lag behind Norway and Australia in raising interest rates, a trend that is set to continue into 2010.
JAPAN / HOT BUTTON HENOKO
Oct 19, 2009

Opposition to Futenma move won't go away

First of Two Parts
EDITORIALS
Oct 7, 2009

Olympics heading for Rio

The International Olympic Committee has decided to hold the 2016 Summer Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro. The Brazilian city beat Madrid with a 66-32 vote in the third and final round of IOC voting in Copenhagen. Tokyo, which sought to host the Summer Olympics for the second time — the first being in...
EDITORIALS
Oct 5, 2009

Comprehensive pension reform

Japan's pension system has many problems. It is complex. The Kokumin Nenkin pension system is for self-employed people, pensioners and jobless people. The Kosei Nenkin system is for workers at larger companies, and the Kyosai Nenkin system is for public servants and teachers. There is another system...
JAPAN
Oct 4, 2009

Lack of vision, flair sank bid: experts

As Tokyo lost the race to host the 2016 Olympic Games to Rio de Janeiro early Saturday, experts, while praising the bid's promises of secure funding and safety, criticized it as lacking vision and panache.
COMMENTARY / World
Sep 29, 2009

Why not try a trade system that optimizes each nation's interest?

Many of us thought that the World Trade Organization (WTO) was dead when the world financial and economic crisis demolished the myth of the benefits of free trade regimes, and that the poor of the world could rejoice. But suddenly, by some kind of voodoo trickery, it is back.

Longform

A small shrine perched atop rocks braves the waves hitting the shoreline during a storm in Shimoda, Shizuoka Prefecture. The area is under threat of a possible 31-meter-high tsunami if an earthquake strikes the nearby Nankai Trough.
If the 'Big One' hits, this city could face a 31-meter-high tsunami