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COMMUNITY / Issues / THE FOREIGN ELEMENT
Sep 2, 2013

Tin Man's throne: the rise and fall of a Roppongi royal

Gilbert Otaigbe is the current owner of Black Horse bar and nightclub in Roppongi. At the height of his success in the mid-2000s, he owned at least seven bars, clubs and restaurants.
Japan Times
WORLD
Aug 27, 2013

Chemical attack weakens drive to destroy world stockpiles

The shelling of suburban Damascus with a suspected nerve agent last week was potentially the third large-scale use of a chemical weapon in the Middle East and may have broken the longest period in history without such an attack.
COMMENTARY / World
Aug 17, 2013

Hope for amnesty bill as Thai protests return

The Thai government finds itself beset by renewed street protests as an amnesty bill, for those involved in political violence since 2006, is debated in Parliament.
COMMENTARY / World
Aug 13, 2013

The data mining of social media: Get used to it

Many people love the convenience of cellphones and ever more social media applications. What many don't focus on is how easily outsiders can invade their lives.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / THE FOREIGN ELEMENT
Jul 22, 2013

Police stonewalling over death of U.S. teen in Shinjuku prolongs family's ordeal

The family of Scott Kang had hoped that the release the autopsy report would shed some light on the U.S. teenager's death in Shinjuku in 2010 and bring them nearer to obtaining closure. Instead, it has reopened old wounds and raised fresh questions about the original police investigation.
COMMENTARY / World
Jun 28, 2013

U.S. corporate tax whinge

If the U.S. tax code is broken, then Congress should fix it, simplify it. But don't let the big corporations avoid paying their fair share of federal revenue.
Reader Mail
Jun 13, 2013

Medieval standard of decorum

In the June 4 article, "Rights groups tell Japan to fully tape interrogations of criminal suspects," reporter Tomohiro Osaki notes that "the U.N. Committee against Torture issued a statement pointing out that Japan's criminal justice system should do away with its traditionally strong reliance on confessions...
COMMENTARY / World
Jun 11, 2013

North Korean nuclear crisis

North Korea's nuclear and missile programs are a source of instability and tension in a region vital to global security and economic prosperity.
Japan Times
WORLD
Jun 4, 2013

Manning 'harvested' secret papers: prosecution

Opening the court-martial of U.S. Army Pfc. Bradley Manning, a military prosecutor charged Monday that he "harvested" a massive trove of classified information from secure networks and made it available to America's enemies by dumping it onto the Internet.
COMMENTARY / World
May 15, 2013

'The right path' for North Korea

In an interview, President Park Geun Hye says South Korea won't tolerate the North's nuclear weapons and provocations, but will keep the window open for dialogue.
WORLD
Apr 19, 2013

France, Britain accuse Syrian government of using chemical weapons

Britain and France have informed the United Nations that there is credible evidence that Syria's government has used chemical weapons on more than one occasion since December, according to senior diplomats and officials briefed on the accounts.
Japan Times
ENVIRONMENT / OUR PLANET EARTH
Mar 24, 2013

Be inspired: One person can help foster sustainable lives for millions

Last month, this column introduced Bangkok-based Midori Paxton, who is currently a regional technical adviser for biodiversity and ecosystems with the United Nations Development Programme — and who, I'm delighted to say, was a model student of mine here in Japan more than 20 years ago.
COMMENTARY / World
Mar 18, 2013

Anti-poverty programs show dubious success

Amid enduring poverty, rising inequality and lackluster growth in many developing countries, the success of past antipoverty policies looks dubious.
COMMENTARY / World
Mar 5, 2013

Mideast revolutions languish for Arab women

Though women across the Middle East participated actively in the Arab Spring protests that began in late 2010, they remain second-class citizens.
COMMENTARY / World
Mar 4, 2013

Italian election gives Europeans a reality check

For a while, Europe's political elites had convinced themselves the worst of the euro crisis had passed. Italy's latest election quashes this optimism.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Mar 3, 2013

Students convenient proxies in LDP's Pyongyang angst

Since returning to power late last year, the Liberal Democratic Party has said it will dismantle some of the social programs the Democratic Party of Japan implemented during its short reign.
ASIA PACIFIC
Feb 20, 2013

Chinese struggle in 'airpocalypse'

China's toxic air pollution is exacting a toll, as more people suffer coughing attacks and are forced to stay indoors, especially anywhere near Beijing.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Feb 17, 2013

Judo scandal casts doubt on Olympic bid

News stories don't exist in a vacuum. What often makes them "news" is a confluence of factors that provide a context of interest. Though the public thinks the current story about 15 female judo athletes (jūdōka) demanding fundamental changes to the way the national team is structured and run is a self-contained...
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Feb 16, 2013

China digs in history to bolster isle claims

Beneath its bellicose rhetoric, China has been quietly bolstering its territorial claims with ancient documents, academic research, maps and technical data.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Feb 10, 2013

Gold rush: Japan Inc. flocks to Myanmar

Political reforms are happening because the military/political leaders wanted to end their nation's isolation and benefit from having a more prosperous economy.
EDITORIALS
Feb 8, 2013

China's dangerous conduct

It is deplorable that Chinese warships recently locked their fire-control radar on an MSDF destroyer and an MSDF helicopter in the East China Sea.
COMMENTARY / World
Dec 3, 2012

Ceasefire tests five leaders

The diplomatic activities under the current Gaza ceasefire will test whether a quintet of leaders — each with his own domestic critics — can find a peaceful rather than a military solution to the Palestinian situation. The ceasefire language was direct but ambiguous: "Israel should stop all hostilities...
EDITORIALS
Nov 28, 2012

New global energy picture

Anew report hails a crucial shift in the global economy. If current trends continue, the United States will surpass Saudi Arabia as the world's largest oil producer by 2020. This development will not only transform the world's energy picture, but geopolitics as well.
SOCCER / PREMIER REPORT
Nov 3, 2012

Another week, another Chelsea row

Sometime in the next week the Football Association must decide who it believes — four English-speaking match officials or a player whose mother tongue is Portuguese and whose English is far from fluent.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives
Oct 6, 2012

Video journalist's work takes him to centers of the world's conflicts

Takeharu Watai has spent all of his two-decade career in video journalism as an independent. But he is conscious that public distrust of the mass media, particularly over its coverage of the Fukushima nuclear disaster and the nation's nuclear energy policy, has grown so strong that, by default, it extends...
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / THE ZEIT GIST
Jul 17, 2012

Refugee groups slam Japan's struggling resettlement plan

Much fanfare greeted the arrival at Narita in September 2010 of the first Burmese refugees to take advantage of Japan's decision to join the U.N.'s third-country resettlement program. Japan was the first Asian country to join the program, it was emphasized, under which the country would take in "less...
SUMO / SUMO SCRIBBLINGS
Jun 30, 2012

Amateur sumo in crisis: Europe and Japan go head to head

For the past 20 years amateur sumo has been bidding for full and formal IOC recognition. Making its way through the IOC's various levels of acceptance, it was, according to many, doing rather well.
EDITORIALS
Jun 18, 2012

Dousing the Flame

Reports of a new computer virus, dubbed "Flame," have raised alarms about a new era of cyber threats. While countries are increasingly reliant on cyberspace for their very survival — it is now part of the social, economic and security infrastructure — it remains a largely unregulated domain; worse,...

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