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Japan Times
BASKETBALL
Sep 10, 2014

Anatomy of a scam: Aomori targeted by fake agents

A trail of deceit has produced fake 2014-15 contracts for several American basketball players for the Aomori Wat's, The Japan Times learned during a one-month investigation of alleged fraudulent agents.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Economy / 'SUMMER DAVOS' SPECIAL 2014
Sep 10, 2014

Olympic Games expected to provide economic stimulus

Expectations are high for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Voices / FOREIGN AGENDA
Sep 10, 2014

If the Japanese are so clean, why is there so much crap on my beach?

Do Japanese take their rubbish with them only when people are watching? The view from one small beach on the Miura Peninsula suggests that is the case.
COMMENTARY / World
Sep 9, 2014

Raise U.S. defense spending now

The Obama White House and Congress are systematically reducing America's military power as if the Ukraine crisis, the expansion of the Islamic State's footprint and China's harassment of ships in disputed waters have not happened in the past year.
COMMENTARY / World
Sep 9, 2014

China's PLA is getting more bang for the buck

The U.S. on paper may outspend all its rivals to ensure 'military dominance,' but China and Russia, for example, get more bang for the buck with lower salaries and fewer benefits for their soldiers and, in many cases, would pay much less to transport military personnel and equipment to a conflict zone.
Japan Times
WORLD
Sep 7, 2014

Kiev church leader says Putin is under Satan's influence

Russian President Vladimir Putin has fallen under the spell of Satan and faces eternal damnation unless he repents, a top Ukrainian clergyman said Saturday in an unusually blunt statement that squarely blamed the Russian leader for the war in Ukraine.
Japan Times
ENVIRONMENT / OLD NIC'S NOTEBOOK
Sep 6, 2014

A tale of two parks, and their preservation

As I sit in my study here in Kurohime in the hills of northern Nagano Prefecture, through the window I can see 2,053-meter Mount Kurohime, a dormant volcano that's forested to the top.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Sep 5, 2014

In a NATO state of mind

Can social media really add anything to the fact that a nuclear power — governed by an unconstrained despot fueled by a dangerous brew of disappointment, resentment and contempt — is dismembering another nation?
COMMENTARY / World
Sep 5, 2014

Beijing's Humpty Dumpty mindset damages Hong Kong

Hong Kong people may soon be able to choose their chief executive, but they will not have a real democratic choice in who can be a candidate for office.
WORLD / Society
Sep 5, 2014

WHO calls for action to reduce global suicide rate of 800,000 a year

More than 800,000 people each year worldwide commit suicide — around one person every 40 seconds — with many using poisoning, hanging or shooting to end their own lives, the World Health Organization said on Thursday.
BASEBALL / Japanese Baseball / NPB NOTEBOOK
Sep 3, 2014

Fan-favorite Inaba jumping into sunset

Atsunori Inaba may have been Japan's most popular player among foreign fans during the 2013 World Baseball Classic. The quadrennial competition doesn't just bring 16 nations together, it allows the baseball cultures of various nations to come together. Prominent among these is Japan's ouendan.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / A TASTE OF HOME
Sep 2, 2014

Hankering for the grills and thrills of Greek cuisine

Few things in this world are more pleasurable than sinking your teeth into heavily herbed, charcoal-grilled paidakia, the fabled lamb chops adored and revered by the Greeks.
JAPAN / Politics
Sep 2, 2014

Australia leaning toward buying Japan subs to upgrade fleet

Japan and Australia are leaning toward a multibillion-dollar sale by Tokyo of a fleet of stealth submarines to Canberra's military, in a move that could rile an increasingly assertive China, people familiar with the talks said.
ENVIRONMENT
Sep 2, 2014

TV forecasters imagine climate change in 2050

Imaginary television weather forecasts predicted floods, storms and searing heat from Arizona to Zambia within four decades, as part of a United Nations campaign on Monday to draw attention to a U.N. summit this month on fighting global warming.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Sep 1, 2014

Putting an end to the Japan-Korea history wars

As another war of words heats up, Japanese and South Korean leaders need to step back, recognize where the real interests of their people lie, and stop obsessing about the past.
COMMENTARY / World
Aug 29, 2014

Three timelines shaping Mideast developments

To shape an effective strategy in the Middle East, it is essential to understand three distinct timelines that are shaping developments: the short-term timeline of daily struggles, the medium-term timeline of geopolitical shifts, and the long-term timeline of sociocultural transformation.
Japan Times
WORLD
Aug 29, 2014

43 Golan peacekeepers seized by Syria militants, 81 trapped, U.N. says

Militants fighting the Syrian army have detained 43 U.N. peacekeepers in the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights and trapped another 81 in the region, and the world body is working to secure their release, the United Nations said Thursday.
COMMENTARY / World
Aug 27, 2014

The difference between good and bad equality

The 'old' theory about inequality was that redistribution via the tax system weakened incentives and undermined economic growth. But the relationship between inequality and growth is far more complex and multi-dimensional than this simple trade-off suggests.
Japan Times
WORLD / Science & Health
Aug 26, 2014

Ebola fight needs $430 million to end outbreak: WHO

More than $430 million will be needed to bring the worst Ebola outbreak on record under control, according to a draft document laying out the World Health Organization's battle strategy.
COMMENTARY / World
Aug 25, 2014

Next time, China might have to face the fire

China's leaders should take advantage of the recent respite from instability and low confidence to redouble their economic reform efforts. Otherwise, they can expect alarm bells to begin ringing again.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Politics
Aug 23, 2014

Thousands march on Henoko base site

More than 3,500 demonstrators marched to U.S. Marine Corps Camp Schwab in Nago, Okinawa Prefecture, on Saturday in the largest show of anger to date against the new American base being built off Henoko Bay to replace Marine Corps Air Station Futenma in crowded Ginowan further southwest.
Japan Times
CULTURE / CULTURE SMASH
Aug 22, 2014

Haruki Murakami's Cool Japan

I was in New York last week to host a launch event for the English translation of Haruki Murakami's latest novel, "Colorless Tsukuru Tazaki and His Years of Pilgrimage." My good friend and Murakami translator Ted Goossen, professor at York University in Toronto, joined me, as did pianist Eunbi Kim, whose...
COMMENTARY / Japan
Aug 22, 2014

Put Japan's casinos where they're most needed

Japan would do better to steer gargantuan casino projects to regions that really need them — like economically depressed Okinawa or Tohoku, the northeast region that still hasn't recovered from the March 2011 earthquake.
Japan Times
WORLD / Science & Health
Aug 22, 2014

Africa tightens Ebola travel curbs as affected countries face food shortages

African countries tightened travel curbs on Thursday in an effort to contain the Ebola outbreak, ignoring World Health Organization warnings that such measures could heighten shortages of food and basic supplies in affected areas.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Aug 21, 2014

Call of humanity in conflict

In today's wars, there remains a lack of effective mechanisms for encouraging compliance around the globe with the 150-year-old Geneva Convention for helping the sick and wounded in conflict zones.

Longform

Members of the nonprofit group Japan Youth Memorial Association search for the remains of dead soldiers in a cave in Okinawa Prefecture in February.
The long search for Japan’s lost soldiers