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Japan Times
JAPAN / Politics
Jul 21, 2019

Voters express concerns over Constitution, sales tax and lack of viable opposition

Constitutional revision, a consumption tax hike and the future of the pension system were on the minds of voters as they took to polling stations across the country to cast their ballots in the triennial Upper House election on Sunday.
Japan Times
CULTURE
Jul 20, 2019

Mane attraction: Coastal parts of Fukushima Prefecture have a long-standing love of horses

Hundreds of armor-clad participants on horseback parade through the streets of Minamisoma, Fukushima Prefecture, during the Soma Nomaoi festival on a typically blistering hot day at the end of July every year.
JAPAN / Media / BIG IN JAPAN
Jul 20, 2019

New era aside, Showa nostalgia continues to keep rolling along

The new Reiwa Era is now into its third month and histories are starting to appear about the Heisei Era that preceded it. In late June, the publishing arm of the Mainichi Shimbun released a 384-page softcover book titled "Heisei-shi Zenkiroku" ("Chronicle 1989-2019"). The same week, the Nikkei Shimbun...
COMMUNITY / Voices / OVERHEARD
Jul 20, 2019

Rain, rain, go away

'We naturally assume that it's eventually going to stop raining but what if this is the new normal?'
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC
Jul 20, 2019

China-backed Dara Sakor project in Cambodia rings alarm bells in Washington

Along pristine Cambodian beaches, past parades of elephants in its largest national park, sits an area half the size of Singapore that is raising alarm bells among military strategists in the U.S. and beyond.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC
Jul 20, 2019

'Top Gun' sequel, co-produced by China's Tencent, drops Japanese and Taiwanese flags

Eagle-eyed viewers have spotted a curious discrepancy in the first trailer for "Top Gun: Maverick," the sequel to the beloved '80s classic "Top Gun," which Paramount debuted Thursday — the patches on the iconic leather jacket worn by star Tom Cruise no longer bear the Taiwanese and Japanese flags....
Japan Times
Rugby
Jul 20, 2019

Cheer song 'Daenzakura' unites players and fans

Music and sports are completely different fields. There are many situations, however, where their paths cross. Often it's music and songs that help cheer up fans and teams and allow supporters to develop strong bonds with the players and each other.
Japan Times
BASKETBALL / B. League
Jul 20, 2019

Jets sign former Eastern Kentucky standout Nick Mayo

Power forward Nick Mayo will begin his pro career with the Chiba Jets Funabashi, the two-time B. League championship runner-up squad announced on Friday.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Regional Voices: Fukushima
Jul 19, 2019

Growing foreign resident population in Fukushima Prefecture now numbers more than 14,000, says new report

Reflecting a nationwide trend of an increasing number of foreign residents in Japan, Fukushima Prefecture is also seeing its foreign community expand.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Regional voices: Chubu
Jul 19, 2019

Better known as a manufacturing center, Chubu region is turning its talents to nurturing startups

The Chubu region, with Nagoya at its center, has never been known as a land of startups. Although the area is recognized as one of the nation's largest manufacturing hubs, few IT startups have been established and many students in the region tend to prefer joining big companies to becoming entrepreneurs....
BUSINESS / Companies
Jul 19, 2019

AB InBev keeps Asia IPO hopes alive as Asahi buys Australian unit

Anheuser-Busch InBev NV said in a statement Friday it had agreed to sell its Australian operations to Asahi Group Holdings Ltd. for an enterprise value of 16 billion Australian dollars (¥1.2 trillion), and that it is still considering reviving an initial public offering for its Asian subsidiary.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Jul 19, 2019

From moon walk to space wars

Guaranteeing the freedom to navigate the stars has become no less essential to global peace than safeguarding the freedom to navigate the seas.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Jul 19, 2019

Trump's incoherent policy on India

The distance from hubris to delusion is short and the Trump administration is bent on covering it in a sprint in its India policy.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC / Science & Health
Jul 19, 2019

Moon landing's 'Dish' telescope still transmitting from Australia

It is known as "The Dish" and it soars above a nondescript paddock in rural Australia. Without it, hundreds of millions of people would never have seen all of the generation-defining footage of Neil Armstrong walking on the moon 50 years ago.
Reader Mail
Jul 19, 2019

Automakers can help save bicyclists' lives

I am a Canadian citizen whose main mode of travel is the bicycle. The Japanese auto industry has an opportunity to save many of the world's cyclists from injury and death.
Reader Mail
Jul 19, 2019

MSDF can project Japan's goodwill

About the July 15 story on the subject of Japan considering joining a task force to protect the Strait of Hormuz ("SDF to the Mideast? U.S. plan stirs debate"), I would like to encourage Japan to become more involved in peacekeeping and natural disaster response.
Reader Mail
Jul 19, 2019

The folly of U.S. overseas bases

In the late 1970s, Newsweek magazine reported that the U.S. Defense Department had launched a curious study of the kind usually conducted by an academic institution: Why did the great empires in history such as the Romans, Mongol, British, etc. all fall? The cause, the study found, was an inflated budget...
Reader Mail
Jul 19, 2019

Lack of good faith at Hanoi summit

An expert on foreign relations, Kuni Miyake knows full well that John Bolton's ultimatum of "no concessions without denuclearization" made peace talks in Hanoi totally impossible ("Is John Bolton our last hope?" in the July 9 edition).
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / Japan
Jul 18, 2019

The virtuous cycle keeping Abe in power

Shinzo Abe's instincts in setting the politcal agenda and deciding the timing of elections have kept him in good stead.
EDITORIALS
Jul 18, 2019

The future draws closer

As a civilization, we must begin to grapple with the legal and ethical dimensions of direct interfaces between humans' brains and computers.
Figure Skating / ICE TIME
Jul 18, 2019

The story behind Shoma Uno not teaming up with Eteri Tutberidze

World and Olympic silver medalist Shoma Uno, who recently returned from a one-month training stint in Russia with renowned coach Eteri Tutberidze, did not become a full-time member of her team because he would not consent to requirements that were compulsory to joining it, The Japan Times has learned....
Japan Times
JAPAN / Politics
Jul 18, 2019

With pacifist Constitution at stake, apathy reigns in Japan ahead of Upper House election

Politically speaking, the upcoming Upper House election is a huge deal for Prime Minister Shinzo Abe. After all, it's a vote that could determine the fate of his long-held ambition to amend the postwar pacifist Constitution.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Jul 17, 2019

Kitri: Sisters are doin' it for themselves

Monami Kida can't remember the last time she had an argument with Hinano, her younger sister and partner in the classical-meets-pop project Kitri.
JAPAN / Politics
Jul 17, 2019

Ahead of Upper House vote, Komeito and Abe remain apart on revision of pacifist Constitution

While Prime Minister Abe touts constitutional revision as the focal point of Sunday's election, that topic is conspicuously absent from campaign speeches by the LDP's coalition partner, Komeito.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC
Jul 17, 2019

North Korea likely suffering worst downturn since 1990s famine

How much are sanctions hurting Kim Jong Un? North Korea's economy hasn't been in such bad shape since his father was battling floods, droughts and a famine that some estimates say killed as much as 10 percent of the population.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Jul 16, 2019

Move over Trump: China's tweeting diplomats open fresh front in propaganda fight

Tweets from Chinese diplomats abroad, including seasoned Ambassador to the United States Cui Tiankai, have opened a fresh front in Beijing's increasingly assertive approach to diplomacy and propaganda and may be a sign of things to come.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Jul 16, 2019

George Porter Jr.: The man bringing the funk to Fuji Rock

If the Beatles are Liverpool's fab four, The Meters are New Orleans' funky four.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Jul 16, 2019

Yokoyama Kazan: The Edo Period influencer

The Edo Period painter Yokoyama Kazan's imaginative works depicting Kyoto, inspired not only artists but also intellectuals and writers, including the novelist Natsume Soseki.

Longform

Koichi Tagawa’s diary entry from Aug. 9, 1945, describes the day of the atomic bombing of Nagasaki.
The horrors of Nagasaki, in first person