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COMMENTARY / Japan
Aug 13, 2019

How to deal with the Islamic Republic

Japan should do what it can under existing laws and regulations. Nothing more and nothing less.
COMMENTARY / World
Jul 30, 2019

Boris Johnson and the triumph of gullibility?

New research suggests a startling explanation for the recent success of populist politicians.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Politics
Jul 22, 2019

John Bolton meets key officials in Tokyo amid U.S. push to build multinational force for policing the Strait of Hormuz

U.S. national security adviser John Bolton met with key diplomatic and security officials in Tokyo on Monday amid Washington's push to build a multinational force to safeguard commercial shipping in the Strait of Hormuz.
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Jul 20, 2019

Citizen campaigns seek to increase voter turnout in Upper House election

Thanks to Japan's fairness guidelines, NHK offers free air time to all political parties participating in national and regional elections, a service that earlier this month resulted in the leader of the Party to Protect Citizens From NHK, which advocates the elimination of NHK's mandatory viewing fees,...
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 / Politics
Jul 16, 2019

China says it will freeze out U.S. companies that sell arms to Taiwan

China's government and Chinese companies will cut business ties with U.S. firms selling arms to Taiwan, China's Foreign Ministry said Monday, declining to give details of the sanctions in a move likely to worsen already poor ties with Washington.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / Japan
Jul 11, 2019

Trump's disquieting disdain for Japan

Rising tensions between China and the U.S. have put Japan in a uniquely privileged position vis-a-vis both countries.
JAPAN / Media / BIG IN JAPAN
Jul 6, 2019

Friction growing in Osaka over rising foreign population

The guests from the gala Group of 20 conference may be gone, but Osaka continues to garner attention in the media.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / Japan
Jul 3, 2019

Abe wins, no matter what Trump does

U.S. President Donald Trump's comments play into the prime minister's efforts at constitutional revision, particularly with regard to Article 9.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Politics / G20 Osaka
Jun 26, 2019

World leaders' bilateral talks likely to carry more weight than G20 Osaka summit

Some of the planned one-on-one meetings, such as the Trump-Xi meeting, could have a heavy influence on the fate of a number of key global issues.
JAPAN / Media / BIG IN JAPAN
Jun 22, 2019

Japan's print media ponder wealth, poverty and pensions

One of my recollections from the bubble economy of the 1980s was a passage in a 1987 book titled "Hokokuron" ("The Theory of National Wealth"). Its author, the late economist Taiichi Sakaiya, stood out as one of the bubble era's most fervent cheerleaders.
Japan Times
WORLD
Jun 19, 2019

Mike Pompeo snubs his experts and blocks inclusion of Saudis on U.S. child soldiers list, say sources

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has blocked the inclusion of Saudi Arabia on a U.S. list of countries that recruit child soldiers, dismissing his experts' findings that a Saudi-led coalition has been using under-age fighters in Yemen's civil war, according to four people familiar with the matter.
JAPAN / Regional voices: Chubu
Jun 17, 2019

A year after stabbing, Japan's shinkansen wrestle with balance between safety and convenience

A year after a knife attack on a bullet train left one passenger dead and two wounded, authorities and railways are trying to take steps — especially visible ones — to prevent similar crimes.
JAPAN / Media / Japan Pulse
Jun 15, 2019

Examining the morbid fascination with violence on social media in Japan

Twenty-one-year-old Yuka Takaoka stabbed a man in an apartment in Tokyo’s Shinjuku district in late May, leaving him in a critical condition.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Jun 11, 2019

Press freedom: 'No one is above the law' is a slogan, not a policy

Blowing the whistle on state crimes is not a threat to national security; only to the reputation of ministers and generals.
Japan Times
WORLD / Politics
May 25, 2019

The downfall of Theresa May, the prime minister broken by Brexit

At 10:11 a.m., a devastated Theresa May walked back in through the black door of No. 10 Downing St., tears in her eyes. Once inside she found her husband, Philip, and the couple went through to the prime minister's private study together for a few moments alone.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / Japan
May 20, 2019

The Showa Era is growing distant

University students seem less concerned about war on the Korean Peninsula than their 1970s counterparts even though the chance of conflict is greater.
Japan Times
LIFE / Language / NEWS IN NIHONGO
May 20, 2019

Chadwick Boseman to play foreign-born samurai in film

The story of a black samurai known as 'Yasuke,' who served under warlord Oda Nobunaga in 16th-century Japan, will be made into a film starring African-American actor Chadwick Boseman, it was decided by May 7 [it was officially announced May 7]. The news was reported by U.S. entertainment media such as Deadline. The release date is undecided.
Reader Mail
May 17, 2019

Do more to ease tourist congestion

According to the news, the number of tourists is increasing in Japan to the point that it's actually causing a problem — "over-tourism." I can agree that there are a lot of tourists at sightseeing spots.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Economy / FOCUS
May 15, 2019

China vows 'people's war' as trade fight with U.S. takes nationalist turn

Among China's most surprising responses to the trade war has been its reluctance to use its vast state media empire to rally the home front. That's changed since U.S. President Donald Trump's latest tariff barrage.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Voices / FOREIGN AGENDA
May 12, 2019

The crush is coming: Make peace with the train

One false move on the Tokyo transit system can lead to a nasty lesson in survival of the slickest.
ENVIRONMENT
May 11, 2019

Reading the air: Tokyo still has work to do on air pollution

There are days when Makiko Ishikawa can barely breathe. Indeed, the 62-year-old Tokyoite has been short of breath for decades. In the early 1970s, she began feeling the effects of the miasma of vehicle exhaust along Shin-Ome Road, which ran by her home in the city of Musashimurayama in western Tokyo....
Japan Times
WORLD / Politics
Apr 26, 2019

Bolsonaro says 1,000 penis amputations in Brazil a year due to hygiene is 'ridiculous and sad'

Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro on Thursday expressed horror over the 1,000 penis amputations that he said occur each year in the country due to a lack of basic hygiene, a figure he called "ridiculous and sad."
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / Japan
Apr 11, 2019

Must Japan's humanities go global?

There's a need for Japan humanities perspectives to be heard more by foreign audiences abroad, to have greater influence in international scholarship and the global public sphere.
Japan Times
WORLD / Politics / FOCUS
Apr 6, 2019

Increasing influential U.S. national security adviser John Bolton tests boundaries — and Trump's patience

White House national security adviser John Bolton is expanding his influence in increasingly visible ways, pursuing his own long-standing foreign policy priorities at the risk of tensions with top administration officials — and even Donald Trump himself.
JAPAN
Apr 1, 2019

Top secret: A look at how Japan's new era name, Reiwa, was picked and kept under wraps

When Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga unveiled that Reiwa would be the name of Japan's next Imperial era on Monday, it was a moment that finally put an end to months of fierce media competition to get the scoop before the official announcement.

Longform

Mount Fuji is considered one of Japan's most iconic symbols and is a major draw for tourists. It's still a mountain, though, and potential hikers need to properly prepare for any climb.
What it takes to save lives on Mount Fuji