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Japan Times
JAPAN / View from Osaka
Jul 20, 2019

Four Kansai issues stirring up Upper House election

While the sensitive issue of constitutional revision and the looming consumption tax hike to 10 percent in October dominate media discussion of what's important in the Upper House election Sunday, there are other problems and issues, some especially acute in the Kansai region, that shouldn't be forgotten....
JAPAN / Politics
Jul 20, 2019

Taro Kono rips Seoul for refusal of wartime labor panel under '65 pact, calls ambassador 'extremely rude'

The foreign minister lambasted the ambassador for rejecting an arbitration panel on wartime labor proposed under the 1965 pact that normalized bilateral ties and settled war compensation issues.
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....
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC
Jul 19, 2019

Myanmar military units linked to Rohingya atrocities accused of committing new abuses

When 35-year-old Ah Hla went to a police station in western Myanmar in late April hoping to see her husband among the prisoners, she didn't know if he was still alive.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Politics
Jul 19, 2019

In Akita, close Upper House race serves as symbol for fierce battle between ruling and opposition camps

The campaign office of the Liberal Democratic Party's Matsuji Nakaizumi, an incumbent running in Sunday's Upper House election, features something rather unusual: Dozens of endorsement posters signed by top party heavyweights.
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....
WORLD / Society
Jul 18, 2019

After #MeToo, U.S. women seen reporting less workplace harassment

From leering and unwanted touching to being asked for sexual favors, U.S. women say they suffer less sexual harassment in the workplace since #MeToo brought the issue to the fore, but sexism has increased, researchers said on Wednesday.
JAPAN
Jul 18, 2019

Japan may take South Korea wartime labor dispute to ICJ, NHK reports

The case cannot go to trial, however, without agreement from South Korea, Kyodo News reported.
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

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
JAPAN / The Argument
Jul 16, 2019

Should Japan allow females to ascend the throne?

Two months into the Reiwa Era, talk about imperial succession has calmed, but there is still an issue that will be revisited in the coming months — the question of whether a woman should be able to ascend the Chrysanthemum Throne.
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
BUSINESS
Jul 16, 2019

Trump sees slowing Chinese growth pressuring Beijing on trade as U.S. tariffs have 'major effect'

U.S. President Donald Trump on Monday seized on slowing economic growth in China as evidence that U.S. tariffs were having "a major effect" and warned that Washington could pile on more pressure as bilateral trade talks sputtered along.
Japan Times
WORLD / Crime & Legal
Jul 16, 2019

Trump aide Kellyanne Conway expected to snub House panel's subpoena

White House counselor Kellyanne Conway is expected to skip a House hearing Monday on whether she violated a law prohibiting administration officials from engaging in political work while on the public payroll, according to two Republican congressional officials.
Japan Times
WORLD / Politics
Jul 15, 2019

Italy's Matteo Salvini struggles to contain fallout from Russia funding report

Italy's Deputy Prime Minister Matteo Salvini's efforts to quell the fallout over reports his League Party was soliciting Russian financing suffered a setback when the country's prime minister contradicted his recollection of events.
EDITORIALS
Jul 14, 2019

Inappropriate sales by Japan Post Insurance

A probe must be conducted to get to the bottom of the scandal and steps taken to ensure it doesn't happen again.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Jul 14, 2019

Japan weighs possible SDF dispatch to Strait of Hormuz as U.S. seeks coalition

Officials from major political parties debate whether Self-Defense Forces personnel should take part in a U.S.-proposed coalition to safeguard strategic waters near the Strait of Hormuz.
Japan Times
WORLD
Jul 14, 2019

Power restored in New York after blackout on anniversary of 1977 outage

A power failure on Saturday left a chunk of New York City in darkness, affecting 62,000 customers on Manhattan's West Side on the anniversary of a historic 1977 blackout.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Media / BIG IN JAPAN
Jul 13, 2019

Working harder in a bid to save labor is proving exhausting

The utopia of utopias is "Utopia" by Sir Thomas More (1478-1535). Its best feature is leisure. There are no idle nobles; everyone works. A burden shared is a burden lightened. Utopians "do not wear themselves out with perpetual toil from morning to night, as if they were beasts of burden." They work...
Japan Times
BASKETBALL / NBA
Jul 13, 2019

Summer League players help boost NBA abroad

After an NBA Board of Governors meeting earlier this week, commissioner Adam Silver addressed the media, and that gathering in New York included an assessment of the rise in Japanese players during the ongoing NBA Summer League.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Tech
Jul 13, 2019

U.S. regulators approve $5 billion penalty for Facebook to settle latest privacy issues: source

The U.S. Federal Trade Commission approved a roughly $5 billion settlement with Facebook Inc. this week over its investigation into the social media company's handling of user data, a source familiar with the situation said on Friday.

Longform

Figure skater Akiko Suzuki was once told her ideal weight should be 47 kilograms, a number she now admits she “naively believed.” This led to her have a relationship with food that resulted in her suffering from anorexia.
The silent battle Japanese athletes fight with weight