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Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Dec 21, 2015

Putin up close and personal: not a pretty picture

Vladimir Putin splits the world into friends and loyal allies on one side, and enemies and those who only deserve to be manipulated on the other.
Reader Mail
Nov 20, 2015

Pondering Paris terrorist attacks

The news "Terrorist attacks rock Paris" in the Nov. 15 edition blew our minds and frightened the world. It was the second-most shocking news to me after the terror attack on the Twin Towers in New York in 2001.
JAPAN / Politics
Nov 12, 2015

DPJ on the rocks amid calls for merger with Ishin no To

Japan's largest opposition party appears to be in danger of falling apart as some core members demand it merge with Ishin no To (Japan Innovation Party).
JAPAN / Media / BIG IN JAPAN
Oct 17, 2015

Councilors get loud on library revamps

As testimony to their characteristically low profile, Japan's public libraries seldom make the news, although two recent exceptions come to mind.
JAPAN / Science & Health
Oct 7, 2015

Nobel winner Kajita says he was 'unusually blessed' with talented people around him

A day after winning the Nobel Prize in physics, Takaaki Kajita said he felt like he was walking on air as he expressed appreciation to his mentors and colleagues who he says were instrumental in his research.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Sep 21, 2015

Hillary is so sorry she wasn't sorry sooner

Hillary Clinton forgot a fundamental lesson of life: If everyone knows you messed up, the sooner you apologize the sooner it becomes old news.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC
Sep 8, 2015

BBC plan to broadcast radio programs to North Korea unlikely to happen

The BBC has unveiled a proposal to launch a radio service in North Korea, but the U.K. government will never fund it without a dramatic shift in foreign policy, experts say.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC
Aug 13, 2015

Huge explosions in China's Tianjin port area kill 17, hurt 400

Two massive explosions caused by flammable goods ripped through an industrial area in the northeast Chinese port city of Tianjin late on Wednesday, killing 17 people and injuring as many as 400, official Chinese media reported.
Japan Times
WORLD / Politics
Aug 8, 2015

Trump main attraction as Republican debate smashes U.S. television record

The Republican candidates' debate on Fox News Channel attracted 24 million viewers, more than double the prior record for a presidential primary forum, with social media data suggesting combative billionaire Donald Trump was the main attraction.
JAPAN
Jul 16, 2015

Government considering changing Olympic stadium construction plan in face of huge cost

The government is considering modifying the construction plan for the new National Stadium, exploring ways to curb the unexpectedly high construction costs of ¥252 billion, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga said Thursday.
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Jun 27, 2015

Okinawa's lobbyist-in-chief scores a subtle win in Washington

Chie Mikami's new documentary, "Ikusabanu Todomi" (which loosely translates as "Bring the War to an End"), is about the protests against the new U.S. Marine Corps base in Henoko, Okinawa. Her previous film, "Hyoteki no Mura" ("The Targeted Village"), was about protests against the deployment of the controversial...
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Jun 12, 2015

Dick Costolo quits Twitter helm in another shake-up amid slow growth; shares briefly surge

Twitter Inc. Chief Executive Officer Dick Costolo abruptly announced he was stepping down on Thursday amid increasing scrutiny of the company's slow user growth and inability to attract advertisers at the same rate as its competitors.
Japan Times
WORLD / Crime & Legal
Jun 12, 2015

Woods near prison focus of manhunt for escaped killers

Hundreds of law enforcement agents hunting for two upstate New York prison escapees focused their search on Thursday on a heavily wooded area just a few miles from the maximum security facility where they broke out last week, police said.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC
May 5, 2015

North Korea parades detainees for TV cameras; South pleads for their freedom

South Korea on Monday urged Pyongyang to release four of its citizens being held by the North, including two men who told CNN they spied for the South, and a 21-year-old New York University student.
Japan Times
WORLD / Crime & Legal
May 5, 2015

Gunman in Texas attack on Muhammad cartoon event on FBI radar for years

Federal agents for years monitored one of the two gunmen shot dead after opening fire with assault rifles at a heavily guarded Texas exhibit of caricatures of the Prophet Muhammad.
COMMENTARY / World
Apr 15, 2015

Why do Americans hate free-range parenting?

Why has America gone lunatic on the subject of unattended children?
ASIA PACIFIC / Crime & Legal
Apr 6, 2015

Environment reporter arrested in China over suspected extortion

Beijing police have arrested an environmental reporter and his associates in an apparent extortion scandal, as China works to crack down on corruption in the news media.
Japan Times
PRESS / Corporate Trends
Apr 2, 2015

The Japan Times On Sunday again honored in International design competition

JAPAN / Politics
Mar 23, 2015

Okinawa governor threatens to pull plug on landfill work for Futenma replacement

Okinawa Gov. Takeshi Onaga tells the Okinawa Defense Bureau to suspend 'any act that changes the status quo of the seabed' and warns he may revoke permission for land reclamation unless the bureau stops the work within a week.
JAPAN / Media / DARK SIDE OF THE RISING SUN
Feb 28, 2015

The candy, the whip and freedom of press in Japan

We are familiar with the carrot-and-stick approach in the West, but the phrase in Japan is "ame to muchi" — literally, the candy and the whip.
COMMENTARY / World
Feb 24, 2015

China may be stalling out, and that's alright

China's shrinking population and the slowing of migration to cities means there are enough jobs to go around even as its economic growth slows.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Society
Feb 21, 2015

'You should never hide negative information': Edano

At 2:46 p.m. on March 11, 2011, then-Chief Cabinet Secretary Yukio Edano was sitting in an Upper House committee along with then-Prime Minister Naoto Kan and his Cabinet. Without warning, the room they had gathered in began to shake violently, and looks of concern intensified on lawmakers' faces. Edano...
JAPAN / Politics
Feb 19, 2015

DPJ lawmakers grill Momii over his performance as NHK chairman

The nation's largest opposition party has identified a new target for attack: the gaffe-prone, apparently pro-government chairman of public broadcaster NHK.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Jan 28, 2015

Jordan reportedly offers to swap would-be bomber for captured pilot; no mention of Goto

Jordanian state-run television reported Wednesday that Amman was ready to release an Iraqi failed suicide bomber on death row if the Islamic State group freed a captured Jordanian pilot, citing a government minister in the Middle East country.
JAPAN
Jan 26, 2015

Radio report, voiceprints muddy waters as officials deliberate over hostage crisis

After the Islamic State group reportedly confirmed via radio that it had killed Japanese hostage Haruna Yukawa, both Japan and Jordan were saying little Monday about how they might respond to its demand that a suicide bomber jailed in Jordan be exchanged for the second hostage, Kenji Goto.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Jan 23, 2015

Hostages in limbo as deadline passes

The presumed 72-hour deadline for paying the exorbitant ransom demanded by the Islamic State group apparently expired at 2:50 p.m. Friday without any hint about what would happen to the two Japanese hostages in its grasp.

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