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OLYMPICS
May 8, 2021

Runner Hitomi Niiya doesn't feel athletes should get priority for vaccines

The IOC on Thursday announced a deal with Pfizer Inc. to provide doses tou00a0those participating in the Tokyo Games.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Apr 8, 2021

Baseball deserves to lose its antitrust immunity

It never truly had any legitimate usefulness; the antitrust exemption, which no other professional sport enjoys, is as nonsensical a thing as exists in the law.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Sep 30, 2019

Record high 85% of Japanese view China unfavorably, despite improving ties between Beijing and Tokyo

Although bilateral ties between Beijing and Tokyo are on the mend, a new survey has found that a record high 85 percent of Japanese have unfavorable views of China — a stunning contrast with Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's talk of creating a "new era" of friendship with Japan's top Asian rival.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Jun 15, 2019

Why it's risky to call e-cigarettes unsafe

Sure, it would be better if no one smoked any nicotine products, but the CDC's repetition of that message blurs important distinctions.
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 Times
WORLD / Politics / ANALYSIS
Jun 5, 2018

Trump says he can pardon himself. Nixon was told he couldn't

U.S. President Donald Trump is asserting a power to pardon himself that not even Richard Nixon tried to claim before resigning the presidency in 1974, and that the Justice Department has said isn't constitutional.
JAPAN / Politics
Jun 19, 2017

A contrite Abe takes blame for support plunge

Taking a recent plunge in his Cabinet's support rate to heart, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe admits that his government's recent handling of alleged favoritism scandals was at fault for stoking voter distrust.
JAPAN / EXPLAINER
Dec 26, 2016

Abdication panel leans toward one-off deal after Emperor Akihito's rare video

A government panel appears ready to propose that a special temporary law be enacted to allow Emperor Akihito, 83, to abdicate, given his advanced age.
JAPAN / Politics
Oct 31, 2016

More Japanese view U.S. as in decline and threat to nation, survey shows

A new study by the Pew Research Center has shown that while 72 percent of Japanese retain a favorable view of the United States, 61 percent see America in decline on the global stage.
JAPAN / Politics
Oct 8, 2016

Unknown quantity: How the outcome of the presidential election in November could affect Japan-U.S. relations

"Jesus! Where will it end? How low do you have to stoop in this country to be president?" — Hunter S. Thompson, "Fear and Loathing: On the Campaign Trail '72"
COMMUNITY / Issues / LABOR PAINS
Mar 27, 2016

Bearded train driver, out-of-pocket teacher and CV faker: How would they fare in court?

A look at three shiny new news items from the gossip columns that take on a different sheen when examined under the piercing light of labor law.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Mar 2, 2016

Why N.Y. judge's decision is huge win for Apple

A New York judge's ruling is a milestone in the ongoing debate over privacy and national security.
Japan Times
WORLD / Society / FOCUS
Jun 27, 2015

Legal battles remain for U.S. gay rights despite momentous ruling

The U.S. Supreme Court's declaration on Friday of a right to same-sex marriage resolved a momentous question, yet the ruling left many others unanswered and is likely to spark future legal battles over gay rights.
COMMUNITY / Voices / FOREIGN AGENDA
Mar 16, 2015

Japanese activists fight against the tide to save whales and dolphins

Homegrown foes of dolphin hunts and 'research whaling' face off against a daunting array of powerful interests.
EDITORIALS
Jan 15, 2015

Deplorable rejection of a retrial

A Nagoya court uses a depolorable rationale to reject the eighth request for retrial of an 88-year-old death row inmate convicted of fatally poisoning five women in 1961.
COMMUNITY / Our Lives
Oct 29, 2014

Town hall meetings: Abandon logic, all ye who enter here

The first thing you want to do when you get to the meeting room, whether it be summer or winter, is open all the windows. This is because you'll have to throw all logic out the window. Open as many as possible, 'cause there's a lot of logic to heave.
Japan Times
WORLD / Politics
Apr 3, 2014

Supreme Court's rejection of U.S. campaign funding limits opens door for big-money donors

The U.S. Supreme Court on Wednesday struck down a key pillar of federal campaign finance law by allowing donors to give money to as many political candidates, parties and committees as they wish.
Reader Mail
Apr 2, 2014

Recent death sentences in Egypt

Regarding the March 27 AP article, "Anti-Islamist fervor prompts harsh Egypt court sentences": Commenting on reactions from foreign quarters to a Minya criminal court decision referring death sentences against 529 defendants, implicated in acts of sabotage, to the Mufti of the Republic for his opinion,...
Japan Times
JAPAN / Politics
Feb 17, 2014

Abe put Japan on back foot in global PR war with China

Japan is losing its global PR war with China because it can't muzzle its nationalist leaders, hide their revisionist agendas or stop them from visiting Yasukuni Shrine.
Japan Times
JAPAN / GENERATIONAL CHANGE
Dec 1, 2013

Crusader for social activism brings Change.org to Japan

The woman who brought Change.org to Japan says the online petition platform is just the ticket to get the normally reticent Japanese to become more active in achieving social change.
COMMENTARY / COUNTERPOINT
Aug 3, 2013

Where's the love? Japanese feel unhappy, unloved and pessimistic

The results of a Pew Opinion survey released in July 2013 found that the public mood in Japan is improving but remains "mostly one of dissatisfaction." However, that dissatisfaction is 10 percent lower than the level registered in 2007 during Shinzo Abe's first spell as premier.
EDITORIALS
Jul 7, 2013

Step toward equality under the law

The U.S. Supreme Court walked a fine line in ruling that same-sex couples are entitled to federal benefits. It washed its hands of the most polarizing point.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Politics / JAPAN-CHINA SYMPOSIUM
Apr 30, 2013

Japan, China at risk of losing sight of true interests

As Japan deals with China, the nation needs to get an accurate picture of what the giant neighbor is and where it is headed, rather than be swayed by what could be a larger-than-life image of the new economic and military power in East Asia, China watchers said at a recent symposium in Tokyo.
EDITORIALS
Apr 10, 2013

Loosen the lay judge gag

It is disappointing that a Justice Ministry review panel so far doesn't give strong support to the idea of loosening the gag order imposed on lay judges.
Japan Times
BASKETBALL / HOOP SCOOP
May 29, 2011

Evessa's Washington is greatest player in bj-league history

Six years is a long, long time in professional sports. In a word, it's an era.

Longform

Members of the nonprofit group Japan Youth Memorial Association search for the remains of dead soldiers in a cave in Okinawa Prefecture in February.
The long search for Japan’s lost soldiers