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Japan Times
WORLD / Politics
May 3, 2014

Obama, Merkel vow broader Russian sanctions if Ukraine election derailed

U.S. President Barack Obama and German Chancellor Angela Merkel warned Russia on Friday it will face additional sanctions against key sectors of its economy if Moscow disrupts Ukraine's plan to hold elections on May 25.
JAPAN
May 2, 2014

Viewers target NHK chief Momii

A citizens' group launches a campaign against right-leaning NHK Chairman Katsuto Momii, demanding his immediate resignation and calling on viewers to stop paying their NHK subscription fees.
Japan Times
JAPAN / CHUBU CONNECTION
May 2, 2014

Matsusaka, Hida cows now shine in shoe biz

Leather shoes made out of high-quality hides from such cows as Hida and Matsusaka are becoming increasingly popular in Japan.
COMMENTARY / World
May 2, 2014

Freedom of expression under fire in America

If you can lose your job in the U.S. as Mozilla's CEO did — because those in charge found his politics repugnant — there are only two options available to those of us who need to earn a living: Keep our opinions to ourselves, or lie about them.
COMMENTARY / World
May 2, 2014

Third Obama disappointment seems imminent

In the trivial case of the Sino-Japanese dispute over the Senkaku/Diaoyu isles, there was no cause for President Barack Obama's recent warning to China that the U.S. considers the islands as falling under protection of its Security Treaty signed with Japan in the aftermath of the Second World War. A polite reference to the matter as one for peaceful settlement would have sufficed.
EDITORIALS
May 1, 2014

Beyond the OECD challenge

As Japan celebrates 50 years of membership in the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, which has seen Japan rise to one of the world's largest economies, the nation needs to respond to some tough challenges of its own.
Japan Times
WORLD / Politics
May 1, 2014

IMF approves $17 billion bailout for Ukraine amid risks

The International Monetary Fund's board signed off on a $17 billion two-year aid program for Ukraine on Wednesday to help the former Soviet republic's economy recover after months of turmoil.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Economy
Apr 30, 2014

Contractors feeling impact of 'Abenomics'

The construction industry is raising wages and selling bonds as Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's stimulus policies cause labor shortages and a need for funds.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / JUST BE CAUSE
Apr 30, 2014

Tackling the 'empathy deficit' toward non-Japanese

Sympathy is not the same as empathy, and that is one reason why discrimination against foreigners and minorities is so hard to combat in Japan. Japanese society is good at sympathy, but empathy? Less so.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Apr 30, 2014

A powerful look at 'exotic' and 'primitive' artworks

The "Power of Images" exhibition at the National Art Centre Tokyo is nothing less than an assault on the senses — a barrage of exotic and vivid anthropological oddities from the collection of the National Museum of Ethnology in Osaka.
JAPAN
Apr 29, 2014

Populist Hashimoto a true 'yankii'?

In Japanese politics, someone labeled a 'yankii' is something of a populist who disdains cosmopolitanism and intellectual elitism. But does that apply to outspoken Osaka Mayor Toru Hashimoto?
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Apr 29, 2014

Review: TM Network at Fuchu no Mori Art Theater

The fanks were out in full force on Saturday as J-pop trio TM Network launched its "the beginning of the end" tour.
Japan Times
WORLD / Politics
Apr 28, 2014

Obama announces new U.S. sanctions on Russia over Ukraine

U.S. President Barack Obama announces new sanctions Monday to stop President Vladimir Putin from fomenting the rebellion in eastern Ukraine, but said he was holding broader measures against Russia's economy 'in reserve.'
BUSINESS
Apr 28, 2014

No plans to revive usury, Aso says

The government has no immediate plans to relax consumer-finance regulations, Financial Services Minister Taro Aso said, days after a lawmaker said the ruling party will consider it.
COMMENTARY / World
Apr 28, 2014

Ukraine narratives spawn dangerous presumptions

Competing, starkly different U.S.-Western narratives are spawning dangerous presumptions with regard to the Ukraine crisis.
COMMENTARY / World
Apr 28, 2014

Governing China's 'dream'

This year's China Development Forum in Beijing revealed the clearest vision yet of how China's leaders intend to deliver the 'Chinese Dream' of improving people's livelihoods, constructing a better society and strengthening the military.
EDITORIALS
Apr 28, 2014

Stressing over test scores

The education ministry's new policy of letting municipal boards of education release the results of nationwide achievement tests for individual public schools risks distorting the approach to education in Japan.
Japan Times
WORLD / Science & Health
Apr 27, 2014

Jurassic-era Kryptodrakon from China fills gap in time

It was the start of something big — really big.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / ADOPT ME!
Apr 27, 2014

A cat named Harrison: All aboard!

Harrison is a bit shy but he's gradually warming to people. He may never be a cuddler but he is what is known as a 'soft-pawed cat' — one that is very gentle and highly unlikely to use his claws.
BUSINESS
Apr 26, 2014

LDP mulls reversal on consumer lending; interest rates would soar to 29%

The ruling Liberal Democratic Party may loosen restrictions imposed to block usury and coercive lending in the consumer finance industry.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Media / BIG IN JAPAN
Apr 26, 2014

Mini-revolutions may add up to a change

1949. The war was over. Slowly, a numbed populace rose from the dead. That year, 2.7 million babies were born — a record high, never surpassed.
EDITORIALS
Apr 26, 2014

Jazz Day to get its due in Osaka

Underscoring its long love affair with jazz, Japan this year will hold its International Jazz Day (April 30) in Osaka for the first time.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC
Apr 26, 2014

Boy who raised alarm on doomed ferry had no time to call parents

The frightened boy who first raised the alarm that a South Korean ferry with hundreds on board was sinking did not have time to call his parents, his father said, and was found dead not wearing a life jacket.

Longform

Tetsuzo Shiraishi, speaking at The Center of the Tokyo Raids and War Damage, uses a thermos to explain how he experienced the U.S. firebombing of March 1945, when he was just 7 years old.
From ashes to high-rises: A survivor’s account of Tokyo’s postwar past