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COMMENTARY / Japan
Jun 26, 2015

Economic challenges ahead

The Abe administration should be taking a much more aggressive approach to getting the economy on a growth track.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / Japan
Jun 19, 2015

Grasping the key to innovation

Japan should make 'new combination' innovation the nucleus of its growth strategy.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Politics
Jun 18, 2015

National ruckus over security bills puts spotlight on Supreme Court

The verbal war over the national security bills is heating up now that Japan's constitutional scholars have clearly branded Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's reinterpretation of war-renouncing Article 9 and all legislation based on it as unconstitutional.
EDITORIALS
Jun 17, 2015

Stop dodging key security questions

The government and the ruling bloc should reflect on why public understanding of its security bills remain elusive.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / THE FOREIGN ELEMENT
Jun 10, 2015

Foreign same-sex couples here enjoy rights that Japanese don't

Gay and lesbian non-Japanese couples married abroad can register as spouses with authorities here, but Immigration has mixed messages for foreigners married to Japanese same-sex partners.
COMMENTARY / COUNTERPOINT
Jun 6, 2015

History is harsh unless you erase it

On his visit to the United States in April, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe addressed Congress and told them: "History is harsh. What was done cannot be undone."
EDITORIALS
Jun 3, 2015

Stop ducking security bill questions

The Abe administration is doing everything it can to avoid getting pinned down on the details of its security legislation — to the detriment of public understanding.
EDITORIALS
Jun 2, 2015

Abe can't duck history issue

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe must realize that his perception of Japan's wars in the 1930s and 1940s is an issue that cannot be skirted if ties with China and South Korea are to be improved.
COMMENTARY / Japan
May 27, 2015

Should Japanese liberals support revising Article 9?

Rather than leave the interpretation of Article 9 to each administration, perhaps it should be revised so government policies could be placed under the potential constraints of judicial review.
COMMENTARY / COUNTERPOINT
May 23, 2015

The 'Abe Doctrine' transforms security policy

The ink was barely dry on the new Guidelines for Japan-U.S. Defense Cooperation, which were unveiled during Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's visit to Washington last month, when Sen. John McCain, chairman of the U.S. Senate Armed Services Committee, issued a wake-up call to the Japanese people. He said he...
EDITORIALS
May 15, 2015

Defense bills remain problematic

The Abe administration's legislative package to expand the SDF's role finally reaches the Diet — but still remains poorly explained.
Japan Times
WORLD / EU SPECIAL 2015
May 12, 2015

Unity in policy making, peacekeeping

Japan Times
WORLD / EU SPECIAL 2015
May 12, 2015

Government, business leaders address climate change

The Delegation of the European Union to Japan held a symposium in which ambassadors of European countries and executives of major corporations discussed environmental measures in the EU.
COMMENTARY / Japan / SENTAKU MAGAZINE
May 11, 2015

Imperial family will pay close attention to Abe's statement

The Abe administration's effort to break away from the postwar regime is a defiant political move to file a formal objection to the postwar Imperial family and to put Japan's best 'knowledgeable and thinking people' into a subordinate position.
COMMENTARY / COUNTERPOINT
May 9, 2015

Academics fail Abe administration on history

On May 5, in an open letter in support of historians in Japan, an international group of 187 scholars (of which I am one) urged Japan to acknowledge and atone for the forced prostitution that occurred during wartime, stating: "Denying or trivializing" what happened to the "comfort women" is "unacceptable."...
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / Japan
May 8, 2015

We need to talk about Abe

Shinzo Abe is bent on making Japan a 'normal' country, but has he thought out the consequences of elevating the SDF to a full-fledged military?
Japan Times
JAPAN / EXPO MILANO 2015
May 3, 2015

Showcasing innovation, food culture

Sushi, tempura and teriyaki are probably some of the first things that come to mind when Japanese food comes up among foreigners.
JAPAN / Politics
Apr 30, 2015

Full text of Abe's speech before U.S. Congress

Following is a full text of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's speech at the U.S. Congress on Wednesday.
EDITORIALS
Apr 28, 2015

New regime for security alliance

The latest revision to the guidelines on Japan-U.S. defense cooperation potentially expands the scope of the Self-Defense Forces' joint operation with the U.S. military on a global scale in ways that transcend the original architecture of the postwar security treaty between the two countries.
COMMENTARY / COUNTERPOINT
Apr 25, 2015

Abe primed to shine in Washington's limelight

The bar is set low for Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's April 29 speech at a joint session of the U.S. Congress. Former U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage says everyone will be "looking to see if Mr. Abe can put history behind him." In his view, the key is speaking sincerely rather than repeating...
EDITORIALS
Apr 24, 2015

Blurry limits on SDF missions

Security legislation prepared by the Abe administration does not dispel concerns that the SDF's overseas missions could be expanded without limits.
Japan Times
LIFE / Digital / JAPAN TIMES BLOGROLL
Apr 20, 2015

Rachel & Jun

Husband-and-wife YouTube team Rachel & Jun first started making videos in 2012 as a fun way to keep in touch while they were apart. Now, with over 350,000 subscribers, the Japanese-American couple covers a variety of subjects, from what’s considered overweight in Japan to making mochi.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Apr 16, 2015

What Abe should tell Congress

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe should use his upcoming speech before the U.S. Congress as an opportunity to erase suspicions about his historical views.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Media / BIG IN JAPAN
Apr 11, 2015

Overseas observers spot something strange

Is Japan a strange country?
COMMENTARY / World
Mar 30, 2015

Taiwanese writer Chou Chin-bo as war victim

Recently I was asked to translate into English a short story that the Taiwanese writer Chou Chin-bo wrote in Japanese back in 1941. I was happy with this request. I was born in Taipei in 1942, but ever since my family was forced out of the island upon Japan's defeat in the war, in 1945, I have never...
EDITORIALS
Mar 26, 2015

A trilateral summit, maybe

Despite the agreement among Japan, China and South Korea to hold a trilateral summit at the earliest convenient time, it is unrealistic to think the relationship between Japan and the other two will thaw soon.
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.
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / BLACK EYE
Mar 18, 2015

From a minstrel no-show to a black beauty queen, in a week

From preventing a blackface TV broadcast to the nation embracing a black face as the embodiment of Japanese beauty, it's been quite a week.

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