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JAPAN / Politics
Dec 17, 2013

Ishin loses control of Osaka Prefectural Assembly

Osaka Ishin no Kai (One Osaka), a local political group that is part of Nippon Ishin no Kai (Japan Restoration Party), has lost its majority in the Osaka Prefectural Assembly after four members were expelled Monday for voting against the group's proposal to privatize a local railway.
BUSINESS
Dec 17, 2013

Osaka drops railway sale after nixing Lone Star

Osaka Prefecture has canceled the ¥78.1 billion sale of a commuter rail line after local lawmakers rejected U.S.-based Lone Star Funds as the winning bidder, according to a source.
BASEBALL
Dec 16, 2013

Oka looking to rein in knuckleball

The last few years have seen a small group of pitchers trying to master the knuckleball in an attempt to revive or extend their careers.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Dec 16, 2013

Abe shows totalitarian bent

The president of a Japanese university classifies the Abe administration as neither conservative nor liberal. Instead, he calls it 'totalitarian' and suggests that Japan is drifting away from European ideals based on democracy and individualism.
EDITORIALS
Dec 16, 2013

Defaulting to the old ways

The Abe administration seems to be reverting to an old energy policy by revisiting an old policymaking process, despite the March 2011 Fukushima nuclear plant disaster.
COMMENTARY / World
Dec 16, 2013

Turkey playing 'orientalism' card against West

For many years, most Western journalists defended the Turkish government against the the suspicions of secular Turks who worried about radical Islamic or authoritarian agenda. But the liberal reforms stopped several years ago.
Japan Times
WORLD / Politics
Dec 16, 2013

Two U.S. senators vow support in Ukraine

A showdown between Russia on one side and the United States and the European Union on the other drew closer Sunday, as two American senators told a crowd of hundreds of thousands of protesters that Ukraine's future lies to the west, not east.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Books
Dec 14, 2013

The Surprise of Haruhi Suzumiya

Released in English last month, "The Surprise of Haruhi Suzumiya" is the 10th in the (currently) 11-volume "Haruhi Suzumiya" series of light-novels, written by Nagaru Tanigawa and illustrated by Noizi Ito.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Politics
Dec 14, 2013

Japan, ASEAN tie up on flight rights

Japan and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations agreed Saturday to bolster cooperation on ensuring "the freedom of overflight and civil aviation safety," alluding to the risks posed by China's new air defense identification zone over the East China Sea.
COMMENTARY / World
Dec 13, 2013

In search of Himalayan Yetis and global citizens

The educated 'global citizen' is like the Himalayan Yeti: a figment of the imaginations of a few, not a living member of the political fauna of the world. It isn't something we should try to create.
COMMENTARY / World
Dec 13, 2013

Cameron eats humble pie in China

British Prime Minister David Cameron was feted by China's leaders during his recent three-day trip to the country, but much of his diet consisted of humble pie.
Japan Times
WORLD
Dec 13, 2013

Hoax photo of Mandela after death brings anger

The South African government said Thursday it would not release photographs of former President Nelson Mandela lying in state, and urged people to shun a hoax image purporting to be of the dead president that was posted on the Internet.
JAPAN / Politics
Dec 12, 2013

Government to promulgate new secrets law quickly

The government will promulgate the contentious state secrets law Friday, and Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's Cabinet will be tested in its ability to create viable independent overseers to check how the state classifies and declassifies information before the law takes effect within a year.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Dec 12, 2013

Higher-education stimulus would be sure bet for Japan

Making Japanese universities global as well as world class requires generous support not only for hiring foreigners but also — and far more importantly — for improving conditions for all faculty.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Tech
Dec 12, 2013

FCC faces outcry over allowing cellphone calls during flights

It didn't take long for Tom Wheeler, the new chairman of the Federal Communications Commission, to face controversy.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Dec 11, 2013

The noisy posters of the silent 1920s

When the Communists seized control of Russia in late 1917, they found themselves in a difficult position. According to Marxist theory, the revolution should have happened hundreds of miles further west in one of the more industrialized countries, such as Britain or Germany, with a working class that...
EDITORIALS
Dec 11, 2013

A political purge in North Korea

North Korea has announced that the uncle of leader Kim Jong Un has fallen from grace and been deprived of all titles for 'anti-revolutionary factional activities.' Expect North Korean officials to jockey with each other for Kim's favor.
Reader Mail
Dec 11, 2013

Surely the voters can do better

Regarding the Dec. 2 article "Secrecy law protests 'act of terrorism': LDP secretary-general": Day by day it is becoming clearer that the leaders of the Liberal Democratic Party have not really changed, as their true colors shine through with increasing radiance. Yet, once again a high-ranking member...
COMMENTARY / World
Dec 10, 2013

Mandela's final step to freedom

Nelson Mandela's life had many parallels with that of Mahatma Gandhi. Above all, Mandela was an eternal optimist who believed in the possibility of improvement and progress by appealing to the better angels of our nature.

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