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COMMENTARY / Japan
Mar 22, 2015

Nothing will silence anti-coup Thais in Japan

It is difficult to estimate how many Thais who oppose the current military government in Bangkok reside in Japan, but clearly some of them have become more politically active than their counterparts living in Western countries.
COMMENTARY / World
Mar 8, 2015

Finance minister calls for public investment that enables India to meet growth ambitions

As the Indian Parliament opens opens the budget session, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley calls for increased public investment that enables India to meet its growth ambitions.
WORLD / Politics
Feb 9, 2015

Thai junta denies former prime minister Yingluck permission to travel

Thailand's military government has denied former Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra permission to travel overseas to ensure she is in the country to face criminal charges later this month, according to a government spokesman.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Feb 5, 2015

Thai general to solicit Japan

Thailand's self-appointed prime minister will pay an official visit to Tokyo on Sunday to sign a deal involving on a high-speed train project and to seek Japan's endorsement of his country's military government.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Jan 27, 2015

Washington suffers from a tolerance problem

For the next two years, the chances are good that the U.S. government will be almost completely paralyzed.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Jan 26, 2015

Protecting a tolerant society

How people who champion tolerance should deal with intolerant people who violently attempt to force certain values on others is one of the thorniest challenges for a pluralistic democracy.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Jan 9, 2015

U.S. economy, military remain strong

Amid the continuing trend of polarization into Democrat or Republican extremes, an increasing flow of immigrants and a waning, but still the strongest military presence, the U.S. will continue to be a superpower, but to a somewhat lesser extent, a group of academic experts recently concluded.
COMMENTARY / World
Dec 28, 2014

Cuba Derangement Syndrome strikes again

Cuba Derangement Syndrome, a recurring fever, afflicts U.S. senators and others who argue that U.S. diplomatic relations and economic interactions lead to legitimizing Cuba's regime.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Nov 28, 2014

Should Putin fear rebel leader who 'pulled the trigger of war' in Ukraine?

The ultranationalist who triggered Russia's military involvement in Ukraine views himself as a warrior in a bigger war against a godless West.
Japan Times
WORLD / Politics / FOCUS
Nov 27, 2014

Shadowy Chinese agency woos Taiwanese to win island back

Ever since a civil war split the two sides more than 60 years ago, China has viewed Taiwan as a renegade province that needs to be absorbed into the mainland. To that end, the Taiwanese businessmen working in China form a beachhead in a war of hearts and minds.
Japan Times
ENVIRONMENT / OUR PLANET EARTH
Nov 22, 2014

Climate change versus solution aversion

No doubt you are relieved to hear that climate change is no longer a concern. At least that's the consensus of powerful Republicans who will lead the newly elected majority soon to take control of both houses of the U.S. Congress.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Media
Sep 17, 2014

Der Spiegel magazine finds print and digital mix that works

With newspaper readership on the decline worldwide as the industry faces the print-to-digital transition, a German approach may serve as a reference for Japanese media seeking new tactics to attract customers.
Japan Times
WORLD / Politics
Sep 14, 2014

Ford's exit from Toronto mayoral race gives his older brother, the power behind the throne, a crack at the top job

The withdrawal of Toronto Mayor Rob Ford and the entry of his older brother in the election race has turned the spotlight from a volatile man who had admitted smoking crack cocaine to his less charismatic but steadier sibling, long seen as the power behind the throne.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics / ANALYSIS
Sep 11, 2014

China asserts paternal rights over Hong Kong in clash over democracy

Just days before China was set to deliver its edict on electoral reform in Hong Kong, Beijing's most senior official in the city held a rare meeting with several local lawmakers whose determined push for full democracy had incensed Beijing's communist leaders.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC / Crime & Legal
Aug 25, 2014

Ferguson's lone black councilman keeps low profile amid protests

In many ways Dwayne James is a beacon of hope in Ferguson, which has been torn apart by racially charged riots. The only black councilman in a predominantly black town, James is widely respected even by political opponents and talked of as a candidate for mayor.
COMMENTARY / World
Aug 11, 2014

Never trust a realist when it comes to politicians

If you're looking for one big reason the U.S. seems to be on the wrong track, try the marginalization of idealism that coincided with the collapse of the peace movement and the American Left at the end of the Vietnam War in the early 1970s.
COMMENTARY / World
Jul 21, 2014

The real victims of U.S. sanctions on Myanmar

Myanmar's opening attracted much interest not only from Asian neighbors but also from those in the West that once considered the country a pariah.
Japan Times
WORLD / Politics
Jul 8, 2014

Kurds dream of independence amid Iraq chaos

A grave, freshly dug and adorned with pebbles, is the modest tribute to one more sacrifice in the long history of struggle for an independent Kurdish state.
Japan Times
WORLD / Politics
Jun 29, 2014

Reclusive cleric takes charge in Iraq crisis

Najaf is far from Baghdad's palaces and the battlefields of northern Iraq. Its mud-brick houses, dirt alleys and concrete office blocks project little in the way of strength or sway. But it is here, where Iraq's most influential clerics work from modest buildings in the shadow of a golden-domed shrine,...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Stage
Jun 18, 2014

NNTT reprises hit 'Rokumeikan' opera based on Mishima play

Midway through the second act of the opera "Rokumeikan," Countess Asako, the wife of Count Kageyama, the conservative government leader, turns to her former lover Einosuke Kiyohara, who heads the progressive opposition party, and emotes in song: "No, we do not talk of politics; it is of love we speak."...
JAPAN / View from Osaka
Jun 14, 2014

Is 'rational' Toru Hashimoto acting irrationally?

Just how little influential political or intellectual opposition in Japan is there to fundamentally conservative politics and economic theories touting the wisdom of the corporate mentality? Well consider this: Toru Hashimoto, the mayor of Osaka and co-founder of Nippon Ishin no Kai (Japan Restoration...
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
May 24, 2014

Thai military races to rescue, but braces for backlash

If Gen. Prayuth Chan-ocha's decision to stage Thailand's latest in a long list of coups was as impulsive as he suggests, then the stern-faced military chief has a Herculean task managing the fallout and deciding what happens next.
EDITORIALS
May 19, 2014

Hope beats fear in India election

While the prospect of a strong Indian government led by Narendra Modi appeals to those who decry the horse-trading that has sapped the energy of previous Delhi governments, others worry that Modi could prove to be a Hindu nationalist who ratchets up tensions in South Asia.
COMMENTARY / World
May 12, 2014

How the mainstream loves to betray its heroes

Americans Donald Sterling, Cliven Bundy and Phil Robertson have more in common than dumb opinions about blacks. They're examples of working classism at work.
COMMENTARY / World
May 5, 2014

Is Modi too big a man for India?

The biggest problem with the rise of political superhero Narendra Modi is that it follows the 'Big Man' model, which is flawed many times over in the case of diverse India.
JAPAN / View from Osaka
Apr 19, 2014

America: the superpower ally that's far, far away

Japan is, at heart, politically as well as geographically, a country of small towns. One of these is home to the Japanese-American political relationship.
COMMENTARY / World
Apr 15, 2014

India's election will not be decided on old lines

A great rage and discontent is blowing across India's landscape of thwarted modernization. Whoever rides this angry tiger into the country's highest office following the current election will have to pacify it quickly.
WORLD / Politics / ANALYSIS
Apr 5, 2014

U.S. election donations cap removed by ruling

A U.S. Supreme Court ruling that struck down the overall cap on federal election contributions is sending ripples across American politics, as states have begun backing away from their own restrictions on donations and lawyers are forecasting a new wave of challenges to campaign finance laws nationwide....
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.

Longform

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Japan’s bears have been on their killing spree for more than 100 years