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Japan Times
JAPAN / Media / Japan Pulse
Mar 14, 2020

Social media helps Japan's embattled parents connect over schools' closure

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s recommendation that all elementary, junior high and high schools in Japan close through the end of their April spring break in order to prevent the spread of a new coronavirus caught nearly everyone in the country off guard when the news broke in late February.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / Japan
Jan 26, 2020

What lies behind Shiori Ito's lonely #MeToo struggle

In Japan, feminist voices have been raised for #MeToo, but they are often barely heard.
JAPAN
Jan 26, 2020

Ambitious Zero Emission Tokyo plan wins praise, but begs for action

Just days before the new year, Gov. Yuriko Koike revealed the Zero Emission Tokyo Strategy, the capital's long-awaited plan to eliminate carbon emissions, transition to renewable energy and take the lead in the fight against global warming.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Politics / Outlook 2020
Jan 2, 2020

What will Abe do to cement his legacy?

If you look at Japan's 2020 political calendar now, it will look like it is going to be a relatively quiet one.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / Japan
Nov 25, 2019

Was Seoul's decision on GSOMIA strategic?

This is not the end of the Japan-South Korea dispute, but rather the beginning of a new round.
JAPAN / First Person
Oct 17, 2019

Typhoon Hagibis: A night in an evacuation shelter shows just how fragile Tokyo life can be

If you look at a map of Kitasenju in Tokyo's Adachi Ward, you will see that it's almost entirely surrounded by water.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Politics
Jul 22, 2019

Abe vows to push forward constitutional change despite failure of pro-revision forces to win Upper House supermajority

In a post-election news conference, Abe said his longtime goal isn't out of reach and he will to try to compromise with those working against him.
Japan Times
LIFE / Language / BILINGUAL
Jul 8, 2019

Get in tune with the sound of Japanese vocabulary

Certain Japanese words sound like they should represent an action, can you guess what a word means by how it's pronounced?
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Jun 21, 2019

How Japan turned against 'bazooka'-wielding central bank chief Haruhiko Kuroda

In late January 2016, the lights were on well past midnight on the seventh floor of the Bank of Japan's headquarters. Inside, a handful of bureaucrats were working on a shock plan.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Politics / Heisei Icons
Apr 25, 2019

Junichiro Koizumi: Maverick reformer left Japan all shook up

Junichiro Koizumi is regarded as the most accomplished politician of the Heisei Era, according to one survey.
JAPAN / YEN FOR LIVING
Apr 12, 2019

Is a lack of money behind Japan's drought of local political candidates?

In an Asahi Shimbun editorial published March 30, a week before nationwide elections were held for prefectural and municipal assemblies on April 7, the newspaper fretted about the state of local politics.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / Japan
Apr 1, 2019

The most famous person you've never heard of

Tokyo needs a strategic thinker/planner like the late Andrew W. Marshall and politicians who listen to his or her analyses.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Media / Japan Pulse
Mar 2, 2019

Reaction to Niigata bullying video reflects changing attitudes in Japan

A video of a first-year high school student in Niigata being bullied appeared online in mid-February and quickly became a topic of discussion. The clip shows a group of male students pushing, kicking and eventually striking the victim with a stick, all while throwing insults the victim’s way, too....
LIFE / Language / NEWS IN NIHONGO
Feb 4, 2019

Osaka comments on Nissin 'whitewashing' controversy

A Japanese news article sums up the issue of Naomi Osaka's anime avatar and its controversial color.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Jan 16, 2019

In rare ruling, court fines Japanese man who anonymously posted hateful anti-Korean remarks against teenager

A Kawasaki court has ordered a 66-year-old man to pay compensation and remove defamatory remarks from his blog that were targeted at a teenage Korean resident in greater Tokyo, lawyers representing the boy said Wednesday.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Politics
Jan 14, 2019

Tokyo set 30-day deadline for Seoul over talks on forced labor rulings, South Korean media reports

Tokyo and Seoul have been engaged in the intensifying dispute since October.
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Dec 22, 2018

Rationale for extending Japan's copyright protections unclear

Several weeks ago, I was surprised to read that a revision to the copyright law would go into effect on Dec. 30, extending the current protection period from 50 years after an author's death to 70 years. When the extension was first discussed as part of the original 12-member Trans-Pacific Partnership...
Japan Times
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Dec 15, 2018

Carlos Ghosn's arrest spurs debate on executive salaries in Japan

On Dec. 10, Masaaki Tanaka, former vice president of Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group, told a news conference he would step down as president and CEO of Japan Investment Corp., an entity set up by the government in September to develop new industries through capital investment.
Japan Times
BASKETBALL / B. League / B. LEAGUE NOTEBOOK
Oct 11, 2018

Revamped Levanga Hokkaido foundation includes key personnel from far-flung locales

As the B. League gains recognition on the global scale, the infusion of international players and coaches will continue to be vital.
Japan Times
WORLD / Politics
Sep 3, 2018

Democrats blast Trump move to withhold 100,000 pages of Brett Kavanaugh's records

Senate Democrats criticized the withholding of documents ahead of Tuesday's start of confirmation hearings for President Donald Trump's Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh, even as a top Republican predicted he would be approved by a healthy margin.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Tech
Aug 24, 2018

Europe's new GDPR data law upends global online advertising

Europe's new data privacy law has put a small army of tech firms that track people online in jeopardy and is strengthening the hand of giants such as Google and Facebook in the $200 billion global digital advertising industry.
JAPAN / Politics
Jul 24, 2018

LDP policy chief Fumio Kishida says he won't run in party leadership election, leaving two-way race between Abe and Ishiba

Kishida said he made the decision because he believes it is better for Abe to handle a number of ongoing issues facing Japan.
EDITORIALS
Jul 19, 2018

The lessons of Trump's European trip

Tokyo must recognize the reality of Trump's approach to foreign policy and insulate the bilateral relationship and Japan's security from the vicissitudes he can create.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Jun 23, 2018

Public remains ignorant of the hazards associated with smoking

“Secondhand smoke” describes the fumes in the air that result from someone smoking tobacco. “Sidestream smoke” (fukuryūen) comes off the tip of the cigarette itself rather than out of the mouth of the person smoking it. Since sidestream smoke is estimated to make up about 85 percent of environmental...
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
May 18, 2018

Tokyo High Court upholds ruling calling city of Saitama's refusal to publish pacifist haiku 'unfair'

The Tokyo High Court on Friday upheld a district court ruling that called "unfair" the city of Saitama's refusal to publish a haiku which referred to the Constitution and carried a pacifist message in its local newsletter .
JAPAN / Crime & Legal / Deep Dive
Mar 20, 2018

Children of condemned Aum guru Shoko Asahara reviled by society as criminals

In the early hours of May 16, 1995, police raided the Aum Shinrikyo cult's facilities in Kamikuishiki, Yamanashi Prefecture. At 9:45 a.m., cult founder Shoko Asahara, whose real name is Chizuo Matsumoto, was arrested and taken into custody.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / Japan / SENTAKU MAGAZINE
Mar 6, 2018

Did ¥550 million from Japan fill Kim's coffers?

It's likely that illicit money transfers were made from Japan to North Korea. But the FSA and the Finance Ministry are keeping mum on the incident.
JAPAN / Media / BIG IN JAPAN
Dec 16, 2017

Showa's not giving up without a fight

The government has decided that the 31st year of Heisei will end with the abdication of Emperor Akihito 120 days into 2019, on April 30. Then on May 1, Crown Prince Naruhito will become emperor and a new nengō (name of the period of reign) will be announced.

Longform

Bear attacks have dominated Japanese news headlines in recent months, with 13 people so far having been killed by the animals.
Japan’s bears have been on their killing spree for more than 100 years