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Japan Times
WORLD
Mar 23, 2014

Germans finally start poking fun at the Fuhrer

If Hitler were alive today, would he become a standup comic? Incredible though that may sound to anyone who lived through World War II, that is the scenario sketched out in "Look Who's Back," a satirical novel by Timur Vermes, which topped the best-seller lists in Germany after its publication in 2012...
COMMENTARY / World
Mar 21, 2014

Russia's wish to sideline self will shake up the alphabet

Russia is set to sideline itself from the global economy, and by doing so, it will usher in a new era in global relations. International sanctions are only the first consequence.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Media
Mar 15, 2014

Japan's future may be stunted by its past

Is time carrying us forward, or backward?
Japan Times
JAPAN / Politics
Feb 9, 2014

Tokyo voters split by priority shift to welfare

Media outlets at home and abroad are playing up the Tokyo gubernatorial election as an effective public referendum on whether Japan should ditch its atomic plants, focusing on the battle between anti-nuclear candidate Morihiro Hosokawa and ex-health minister Yoichi Masuzoe, who is backed by pro-nuclear...
EDITORIALS
Feb 6, 2014

Same old Thai stalemate

The political crisis in Thailand appears set to drag on as vote disruptions in Sunday's general election threaten to push back by several months the establishment of a new parliament.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Feb 6, 2014

James Bridle examines war in social-media age

How differently do you think the project would have been viewed if the images of drone-attack sites were printed in a book? Is the context of the social networking site Instagram important?
JAPAN
Feb 2, 2014

Momii's rise tests NHK's reputation

For millions of Japanese, and even Japan-watchers abroad, NHK is a trusted source of information: gray in tone perhaps, but neither black nor white on the issues. This assumption has been put to the test by new NHK Chairman Katsuto Momii, whose recent remarks have led many to wonder whether the public...
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Voices / COMMUNITY CHEST
Jan 27, 2014

Have your say on English education

Letters and online responses to the Jan. 6, 13 and 20 Learning Curve columns by Teru Clavel on English education.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Jan 23, 2014

Abe's way of thinking merits scrutiny before Tokyo's poll

Rational questions raised by Morihiro Hosokawa and Junichiro Koizumi ahead of the Feb. 9 Tokyo gubernatorial election could exert a big influence on the direction of the Abe administration.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Jan 10, 2014

Looming economic problems

The major uncertainty facing the world today, says George Soros, is not the euro but the future direction of China. The growth model that drove China's rapid rise appears to have run out of steam.
EDITORIALS
Dec 31, 2013

A year to become politically active

In 2014 the Japanese people risk having their rights to freedoms of the press, thought expression curtailed as a result of the state secrets protection bill that the Abe administration rushed through the Diet in December.
Japan Times
WORLD / Politics
Dec 29, 2013

British fears of migrant influx mirrored in Sofia

There are no anti-immigrant militia forces roaming the streets of Britain, but Bulgarian President Rosen Plevneliev sees clear parallels with the U.K. — indeed, in states across Europe — and he is deeply worried.
COMMENTARY / World
Dec 15, 2013

Time for Bangladesh to heal political wounds of the past

Bangladesh's rapid economic growth is at risk because of demonstrations and widespread anger over death penalties imposed on some Muslim leaders for their part in the 1971 war for independence.
Japan Times
WORLD
Dec 15, 2013

Anti-apartheid movement recalls struggle

Key figures in the British anti-apartheid movement have spoken of their sadness at the death of Nelson Mandela, whom they described as a reluctant poster boy of a campaign that ended up focusing the world's attention on the horrors of apartheid South Africa.
COMMENTARY / World
Dec 1, 2013

Ukraine halts NATO's bulge

Russia has real grievances against the U.S., since the promise made by George H.W. Bush to Mikhail Gorbachev that NATO would not be expanded to incorporate the former Warsaw Pact countries was not kept.
CULTURE / Music / STRANGE BOUTIQUE
Nov 26, 2013

Look to pop culture if you want to blame someone for A-Chan's gay gaffe

All art is political. All pop culture is political.
COMMENTARY / World
Nov 18, 2013

Thai amnesty bill stirs a new round of unrest

The possibility of political violence will compel the Thai government to shelve an amnesty bill that would allow former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra to return home.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC
Nov 11, 2013

Taiwan’s ‘White Shirt Army,’ spurred by Facebook, takes on political parties

For decades this island has been bitterly divided into blue and green, the colors of its rival political parties. But that two-toned dichotomy has been upset in recent months by a sea of youths dressed in white.
JAPAN
Oct 28, 2013

Suga downplays LDP loss in Kawasaki poll

Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga on Monday downplayed the significance of an independent candidate winning the Kawasaki mayoral election the previous day after boasting no affiliation to the political machine, and the defeat of the presumed front-runner, a Liberal Democratic Party pick he campaigned...
Japan Times
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Oct 26, 2013

Get Koizumi: Nuclear village goes on offensive

This is a first for Japan: A political figure who not only undergoes a change of mind in public, but tries to make a difference after giving up the political power to do so.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Oct 22, 2013

Japan's 'helplessness' crisis

The biggest crisis in Japan's democracy today is that people know the prime minister is telling lies — intentionally or not — but they've given up even imagining alternative ways of politics.
COMMENTARY / World
Oct 22, 2013

Asia's (re)invitation to Obama

Mr. President, congratulations on handling the domestic crisis of the government shutdown and debt ceiling. The problem will recur, but most see you as a winner for holding your ground. Now, about that trip you canceled to Asia.
Japan Times
WORLD / Politics
Oct 6, 2013

Ginsburg's tough decision: to stay or go?

Who dreamed up this bit of kismet? How did the stars align to make this spot of New Mexico desert the best place in the world on a late summer evening to be Ruth Bader Ginsburg?
Japan Times
PRESS / Corporate Trends
Oct 1, 2013

Sayuri Daimon Named Managing Editor of The Japan Times

The Japan Times today announces the appointment of Sayuri Daimon as the new Managing Editor for The Japan Times. Daimon is the first woman to fill this role in the newspaper’s 116-year history.
COMMENTARY / World
Sep 10, 2013

With changing of India's guard comes new ideas

Behind India's economic gloom, a new generation is taking over, bringing with it fresh ideas and visions.
COMMENTARY / World
Aug 15, 2013

A political maelstrom in the South China Sea

However arbiters decide in the Philippines' complaint against China over conflicting claims in the South China Sea, it appears that China will simply refuse to abide by it.
JAPAN / Politics
Aug 12, 2013

Hashimoto advocate Sakaiya to advise Abe

Taichi Sakaiya, 78, the man credited with persuading Osaka Mayor and Nippon Ishin no Kai (Japan Restoration Party) co-leader Toru Hashimoto to trade the world of television punditry for the world of politics, has been appointed as an adviser to Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's administration.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / JUST BE CAUSE
Aug 5, 2013

Ol' blue eyes isn't back: Tsurunen's tale offers lessons in microcosm for DPJ

Spare a thought for Marutei Tsurunen, Japan's first European-born naturalized immigrant parliamentarian, who was voted out in last month's House of Councilors election.
Japan Times
JAPAN / EXPLAINER
Jul 29, 2013

Grip on Diet leaves no scapegoats for LDP

The Liberal Democratic Party won a landslide victory in the July 21 Upper House election and regained control of both chambers of the Diet, ending years in which the legislature was effectively divided and bills were held hostage.
Japan Times
WORLD / Politics
Jul 24, 2013

Weiner admits to more lewd photos

Anthony Weiner, the disgraced former congressman who polls suggest is a leading candidate for mayor of New York, admitted Tuesday that he engaged in a series of sexually explicit communications with a young woman on the Internet.

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