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JAPAN / Politics
Jul 19, 2017

Inada faces flak over renewed claims of SDF-related cover-up

The Defense Ministry was hit again Wednesday by another apparent data cover-up scandal involving Defense Minister Tomomi Inada, prompting opposition lawmakers to further step up their calls for her immediate resignation.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Politics
Jul 14, 2017

Abe's support rate slides to under 30%, poll says

Public support for Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, battered by a smoldering scandal and a perception that he is taking voters for granted, has fallen below 30 percent, the lowest since he returned to power in 2012, a survey released on Friday showed.
EDITORIALS
Jun 23, 2017

Glaring gaps in the Kake Gakuen probe

Discrepancies between what the education ministry documents state and the explanatiions offered by officials suggest a further probe is merited
JAPAN / EXPLAINER
May 29, 2017

Brewing Kake Gakuen scandal points to alleged Abe favoritism

On Thursday a former top ministry official dropped a bombshell in a hastily held news conference in Tokyo.
COMMUNITY / Issues / LAW OF THE LAND
Nov 9, 2016

So-called egalitarian Japan is still honor-bound

Abolished and later resurrected system of awards may shape as well as reflect trends in society.
EDITORIALS
Nov 4, 2016

Getting a better grip on GDP data

The government is on the right track in trying to develop better methods to collect and analyze economic data.
JAPAN
Sep 21, 2016

Japan to scrap troubled ¥1 trillion Monju fast-breeder reactor

The government opts to cut its losses, pulling the plug on the project after years of mishaps, cover-ups and waste.
EDITORIALS
Mar 25, 2015

Broadening SDF missions abroad

An outline of a package of security legislation planned by the Abe administration fails to set clear restrictions on the scope of the Self-Defense Forces' overseas missions.
COMMENTARY / World / SENTAKU MAGAZINE
Nov 14, 2014

Why Abe will likely opt to call a snap Lower House election

Successive resignations of two female Cabinet members dealt a blow to the administration of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe. But should the opposition camp be credited for its attack that forced them to step down or did the administration manage to minimize the impact by counteracting quickly?
JAPAN / EXPLAINER
Oct 27, 2014

'Comfort women' issue refuses to go away

"Comfort women," as Japan refers to the females who were forced into sexual servitude for the nation's wartime forces, have been a constant source of controversy since the early 1990s, when the media started to take a serious look at their ordeal.
COMMENTARY / Japan / SENTAKU MAGAZINE
Oct 19, 2014

Abe's inner circle sprouting horns over next tax bump

A major battle appears to be brewing between the office of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and the Finance Ministry — the most powerful bureaucracy in Japan — over whether to raise the consumption tax from the current 8 percent to 10 percent next fall.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Politics / ANALYSIS
Aug 22, 2014

Polarizing Abe learns the long game

Shinzo Abe is one of Japan's most polarizing prime ministers in decades. He may also have a good shot at becoming that rarity in Japanese politics — a long-serving leader.
EDITORIALS
Jul 2, 2014

Abe guts Article 9

With its Cabinet decision to allow Japan to exercise collective self-defense, the Abe administration has effectively gutted Article 9.
Japan Times
WORLD / Society / FOCUS
Jul 1, 2014

Beijing quietly tightening grip on Hong Kong

Since Britain handed back colonial Hong Kong in 1997, retired primary school teacher and Falun Gong devotee Lau Wai-hing has fully exercised the freedoms China promised this city of 7.2 million.
JAPAN / Politics
Oct 25, 2013

Talks on body to deal with security begin

The Diet started deliberations Friday on a bill to establish a Japanese version of the U.S. National Security Council, an entity designed to enhance the government's ability to deal with national security and manage crises.
Japan Times
LIFE / Digital / ON: GAMES
Sep 23, 2013

'Rain' reveals it gameplay while 'Wind Waker' goes HD

We're playing in the rain
BUSINESS / Economy / ANALYSIS
Jun 14, 2013

Proof of 'Abenomics' pudding is in execution

The third pillar of 'Abenomics' approved by the Cabinet may have lacked the impact of its two predecessors, but everything will hinge on the steady execution of all three.
JAPAN / Politics
May 23, 2013

As Hashimoto self-destructs, party also reels

Osaka Mayor Toru Hashimoto's remarks justifying the wartime 'comfort women' brothel system have caused major parties to distance themselves from his Nippon Ishin no Kai.
COMMENTARY / Japan / SENTAKU MAGAZINE
Feb 11, 2013

Movers of Abe's diplomacy

Who are the key figures helping Prime Minister Shinzo Abe personally lead Japan's diplomacy rather than defer to the defense and foreign ministries?
COMMENTARY / COUNTERPOINT
Feb 10, 2013

Abe's 'unpredictable past' runs counter to his people's remorse over wars

“They were remarks made to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the end of World War II. But since then we have welcomed in the 21st century.'
Japan Times
JAPAN / EXPLAINER
Dec 25, 2012

LDP returns with all its old baggage

They're baaaack. After warming the opposition bench for more than three years, the Liberal Democratic Party has returned to power, hungrier and more eager than ever to rule.
EDITORIALS
Sep 23, 2012

The endorsement that wasn't

The Noda Cabinet on Wednesday failed to endorse its new energy strategy announced five days before, which said that Japan will mobilize all available policy resources to achieve "zero operation" of nuclear power plants in the 2030s.
JAPAN
Mar 23, 2012

Foes to sales tax hike in DPJ impede bill

The administration and the Democratic Party of Japan failed again Thursday to form a consensus among party members on the contentious consumption tax hike, postponing until next week a planned Cabinet meeting to formalize the bill.
JAPAN
Feb 29, 2012

Noda tax quest one dimensional?

Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda has cleared numerous political hurdles since taking office in September, but his goal of raising the consumption tax and reforming the social security system may prove insurmountable as he wages a two-front battle.
JAPAN
Sep 1, 2011

Noda's key first task: filling Edano's shoes

Prime Minister-elect Yoshihiko Noda is looking to form an administrative team that satisfies loyalists of disgraced Democratic Party of Japan kingpin Ichiro Ozawa and his own allies, and one main task will be picking a right-hand man to fill the shoes of Yukio Edano, the departing chief Cabinet secretary....
COMMENTARY / World
Feb 19, 2011

Bracing for Pakistan's 'Mubarak moment'

ISLAMABAD — Pakistan's domestic situation is becoming increasingly precarious. Indeed, serious questions are being raised as to whether the country can survive in its present form.

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