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Japan Times
JAPAN
Jan 11, 2016

Japan's newest adults ponder politics on Coming-of-Age Day

Monday marked Coming-of-Age Day, bringing with it the usual festivities that saw Japan's 20-year-olds celebrate their newfound adulthood — each in their own way.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Nov 24, 2015

Sanders is a socialist and so are you

By global standards, Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Bernie Sander's campaign platform is mainstream policy, but in America it's viewed with deep suspicion bred of ignorance.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / COUNTERPOINT
Jul 11, 2015

The politics and pitfalls of war memory and apology

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's handling of history issues during this 70th anniversary of Japan's World War II defeat came under critical scrutiny at the recent Japanese Studies Association of Australia conference hosted by La Trobe University in Melbourne.
Japan Times
WORLD / Politics
May 14, 2015

The new office politics of funding the boss's causes

It wasn't long ago that politics, like religious orientation or sexual preference, was a taboo topic in the American workplace. Political beliefs were considered a private affair — off limits to the boss.
JAPAN / View from Osaka
Apr 18, 2015

Mind the gap: Nara election reveals voter values

In the wake of last Sunday's local elections, big city political reporters were quick to see the results as (1) a mandate for Prime Minister Shinzo Abe; and (2) a disaster for the Democratic Party of Japan.
EDITORIALS
Mar 31, 2015

Local politics matter

Races for this year's nationwide series of local elections kicked off with the start of official campaigns last week for gubernatorial elections in 10 prefectures on April 12 — the same day that local assembly seats in 41 prefectures and 22 major cities will also be contested.
EDITORIALS
Mar 9, 2015

A voice for 18-year-olds

It is hoped that lowering Japan's minimum voting age for elections from 20 to 18 — as the Diet now seems certain to approve in time for the Upper House election next year — will encourage political participation by more youths just as Japan faces a host of long-term policy challenges that will directly affect young people's future.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Politics
Feb 28, 2015

Local Politics: Heading for extinction?

"All politics is local."— former U.S. House Speaker Thomas "Tip" O'Neill
COMMENTARY / World
Feb 13, 2015

Presidential politics: all personality, no platform

Hillary Clinton may have everything she needs to run for U.S. president in 2016: money, name recognition, staff, organization — everything except ideas at the moment.
CULTURE / Music / STRANGE BOUTIQUE
Jan 27, 2015

Kuwata's left jab has nothing on the politics of ad money

If this column is going to be about one thing in 2015, it will be politics in music.
COMMENTARY
Jan 22, 2015

Hindu zealots drag down India's great-power destiny

A tussle is going on between the cultural and economic right wings of India's ruling party. The former helped to bring the Bharatiya Janata Party to power, but only the latter can ensure it retains power by using it for the common good.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Stage
Jan 21, 2015

Avignon chief sees culture and politics sharing the stage

"The Avignon Festival is not only about shows and theater, but also about thinking, searching and seeking to understand the world and its politics — and offering an opportunity for three weeks' intellectual life experience every year," Olivier Py, the event's artistic director, declared with passion...
COMMENTARY / World
Dec 28, 2014

Thai regime plays royal card to silence critics

The military regime in Thailand appears to be trying to silence political critics of the monarchy by charging them with lese-majeste offenses.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Nov 7, 2014

U.S. government up for sale

The dominating significance of the midterm American legislative elections just finished has been the occasion's dramatic confirmation of the corruption of the American electoral system.
COMMENTARY / World
Aug 18, 2014

Make no mistake about Thailand's problem

The Thai military has not played the role of 'democratic defender' following its recent coup. Instead, its intervention shows its desperate move to maintain power ahead of the imminent royal succession.
CULTURE / Books
May 17, 2014

The Politics Of Dialogic Imagination

"The Politics Of Dialogic Imagination: Power and Popular Culture in Early Modern Japan" attempts to ascertain the relationship that existed between well-known cultural portrayals and the configuration of social order in the late Edo Period (1603-1867). It peels back the layers behind the political effects...
Japan Times
JAPAN / Politics
May 13, 2014

Activist seeks to tap power of youth for political change

The world's top economies and financial watchdogs have repeatedly warned Japan to take action against its snowballing debt, but it's the younger generations of Japanese who stand to be most affected by the repercussions as a shrinking and rapidly aging population bleeds social security dry.
COMMENTARY / World
Dec 31, 2013

Pope Francis and the meteor

If, as researchers believe, a city-killer meteor arrives about once a century, then Earth is due. But we're not close to ready, and NASA lacks the money for a serious response system.
CULTURE / Books
Nov 30, 2013

Contemporary Japanese Politics: Institutional Changes and Power Shifts

The electoral reforms that were introduced by successive Japanese administrations throughout the 1990s radically shifted the balance of power among bureaucrats, legislators, and the prime minister and the Cabinet. The factional politics that once formed the bedrock of the Liberal Democratic Party was...
COMMENTARY / World
Sep 24, 2013

The irresistible rise of the Muslim middle class

The Muslim world's current turmoil is rooted in neither religious ideology nor sectarian struggle, but rather in increasingly assertive middle classes want a say in politics.
Reader Mail
Apr 25, 2013

Polarization in modern politics

I found the April 18 Bloomberg article by Cass R. Sunstein, "Why well-informed people are also close-minded," very interesting. The problem here is figuring out what phrases like "well-informed" and "political knowledge" actually mean.
COMMENTARY / World
Jan 28, 2013

A weakened Bibi will moderate Israeli politics

The surprising setback suffered by the right in Israel's recent general election will have important ramifications for Israel's domestic politics and foreign policy alike, particularly its Middle Eastern diplomacy.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / THE VIEW FROM EUROPE
Dec 3, 2012

The best-kept secret in Japanese politics is that policies don't matter

Political parties in Japan are busy preparing for the Dec. 16 Lower House election. Each day, voters face new or newly merged parties, most of them determined to become part of the "third political force" or "third pole" forming to challenge the ruling Democratic Party of Japan and its two rivals —...
COMMENTARY
May 28, 2012

The politics of victimhood

When a group of gay activists engaged in an angry confrontation with Opposition Leader Tony Abbott, who was having dinner with a major columnist in a Melbourne restaurant, the journalist noted how those demanding tolerance of diversity had shown an ugly face of extreme intolerance uncharacteristic of...
Japan Times
JAPAN
Sep 17, 2009

Hatoyama ushers in new era in politics

Japan saw the dawning of a new political era Wednesday as Democratic Party of Japan President Yukio Hatoyama became prime minister, ending five decades of almost unbroken rule by the conservative Liberal Democratic Party.
COMMENTARY / World
May 4, 2009

Indonesian Islamic politics sees changing of the guard

SINGAPORE, OPINION ASIA — The current spotlight is on the search for a future coalition in Indonesia, but attention should also be given to the fact that the polls have led to a historical change of guard among the ranks of Islamist parties. This change concerns not only the Unity Development Party...
COMMENTARY / World
Oct 7, 2008

'New politics' of Thai opposition

SINGAPORE — Somchai Wongsawat, Thailand's 26th prime minister, has assumed the top position amid an unresolved political crisis. Unfortunately, the appointment of Somchai guarantees the continuation of massive protests by the People's Alliance for Democracy (PAD), which accuses the new premier of being...
COMMENTARY
Aug 29, 2008

Pioneers who pushed cinema into politics

MADRAS, India — When Indian Telugu film star K. Chiranjeevi entered politics recently in the south Indian state of Andhra, it merely affirmed a widely held belief that cinema and public affairs are firmly linked to each other. Chiranjeevi, who has acted in 138 movies, said it was the former state chief...
COMMENTARY / World
Apr 22, 2008

Mixing sports and politics

PARIS — "Do not mix sports and politics!" That defiant cry from China's rulers to the threat of a boycott of this summer's Beijing Olympic Games does not stand the test of reality. Sport and politics have always been closely linked.

Longform

Bear attacks have dominated Japanese news headlines in recent months, with 13 people so far having been killed by the animals.
Japan’s bears have been on their killing spree for more than 100 years