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JAPAN / Media / BIG IN JAPAN
Feb 25, 2017

Is Abe attempting to fuse the church and state?

It was morning in the land of the gods. "The mountains and the waters serve our sovereign," wrote a seventh-century poet. "And she (Empress Jito), a goddess, is out on her pleasure-barge upon the foaming rapids."
COMMENTARY / World
Feb 25, 2017

Depressed by politics? Stop staring at phones

If we expect better from officeholders and candidates and activists, we have to demand better from ourselves.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC / Society
Feb 25, 2017

Amid land grabs and evictions, Cambodia jails leading activist

Even before a Cambodian judge sentenced land rights activist Tep Vanny to prison, her fellow campaigners said her fate had already been sealed.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Feb 24, 2017

'Premium Friday' drive kicks off to energize weary workers, feeble economy

The government-backed "Premium Friday" campaign kicked off on Friday with around 130 participating firms across the country encouraging employees to leave work early on the last Friday of each month.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Feb 24, 2017

Deepening Japan-India ties in an uncertain age

Japan and India are natural allies, and are ready to expand the scope of their economic, strategic and defense cooperation.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Feb 24, 2017

Trump factor has Japanese students rethinking study in U.S.

While Prime Minister Shinzo Abe appears to have succeeded in building cozy ties — at least for now — with U.S. President Donald Trump, the president's controversial executive orders and remarks have made some Japanese students aspiring to study in the U.S. think twice about their choice of destination....
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC / ANALYSIS
Feb 24, 2017

Beijing continuing 'steady pattern of militarization' in South China Sea

New satellite imagery appears to confirm a report earlier this week that China has nearly completed structures intended to house surface-to-air missile systems on its three largest outposts in the disputed Spratly chain of the South China Sea — "part of a steady pattern of Chinese militarization" there....
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC
Feb 23, 2017

North Korean state media lambastes key ally China for 'dancing to tune of U.S.'

North Korean state-run media on Thursday served up a scathing critique of China over its recent rebuke of Pyongyang's first missile test of the year and Beijing's decision to halt imports of coal from the hermit nation, saying the moves showed China "is dancing to the tune of the U.S."
COMMENTARY / World
Feb 23, 2017

Trump's assault on the liberal international order

It is an irony of history that the president with the least previous foreign policy interest and experience could end up having the biggest impact on global affairs in a century.
COMMENTARY / World
Feb 23, 2017

Trust big data? Try googling the Holocaust

Big data was supposed to usher in a more precise and rational world. It might be leading us into the swamp of 'alternative facts.'
Japan Times
BASKETBALL / B. League / B. LEAGUE NOTEBOOK
Feb 23, 2017

Under-appreciated Kanamaru has spotlight-worthy skills

Kosuke Kanamaru doesn't receive as much media attention as elite Japanese stars in other pro sports leagues in his native country.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Feb 23, 2017

Ryan Gosling and Emma Stone hope to dance their way to Oscars glory in 'La La Land'

It's Hollywood's weekend. The 89th Academy Awards will be held Feb. 26 and nominated for a record 14 Oscars is a musical ode to the award's hometown titled "La La Land."
COMMUNITY / Voices / COMMUNITY CHEST
Feb 23, 2017

In case you missed them: a year of responses to Community stories, part 1

The first in a series of selections of unpublished letters about Community stories from the year just passed.
Japan Times
MORE SPORTS
Feb 22, 2017

Conference attempts to address key problems in Japanese football

Many individuals in Japanese football circles have long known there are key issues that need to be addressed, but didn't have a place where they could have open dialogue about the problems.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Economy
Feb 22, 2017

Corporate Japan stacks up cash, skimps on pay raises

With profits soaring, Japanese companies' record-breaking cash pile rises ever higher. That's bad news for the economy, which is relying on exports to sustain a modest recovery as consumers struggle with stagnant wages.
Japan Times
WORLD
Feb 22, 2017

Flooding forces hundreds from homes in San Jose, California

Murky, waist-high floodwaters swamped neighborhoods along a rain-swollen creek in the northern California city of San Jose on Tuesday, prompting authorities to issue evacuation orders or advisories for more than 1,000 homes, city officials said.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC / Science & Health
Feb 22, 2017

China reports more severe form of bird flu, WHO says

China has detected an evolution in the H7N9 avian flu virus that is capable of causing severe disease in poultry and requires close monitoring, the World Health Organization (WHO) said on Tuesday.
JAPAN / Politics
Feb 22, 2017

Abe's golf diplomacy with Trump scores on the home front

Playing golf and dining al fresco in Florida with Donald Trump won Prime Minister Shinzo Abe plaudits from the Japanese public, suggesting a more pragmatic view toward engagement with the new U.S. president than in Europe and North America.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC
Feb 21, 2017

In first official comments, Beijing voices displeasure with U.S. carrier patrols in South China Sea

China voiced its opposition Tuesday to freedom of navigation patrols in the South China Sea by foreign countries that it says threaten its sovereignty — the first official comments by Beijing since a U.S. Navy aircraft carrier strike group began patrols in the strategic waterway.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Feb 21, 2017

China says North Korean coal ban shows its sincerity on U.N. resolutions

China's suspension of imports of North Korean coal shows it is sincere about implementing U.N. Security Council resolutions punishing North Korea over its nuclear weapons and missile programs, it said on Tuesday.
JAPAN
Feb 21, 2017

Government uses charter plane to forcibly repatriate 43 foreign nationals

The government forcibly deported 32 Thais, 10 Vietnamese and an Afghan who were alleged to have illegally stayed in Japan, the Ministry of Justice said Tuesday.
JAPAN / Society
Feb 21, 2017

Migrants exploiting refugee applicant loophole to work in labor-scarce Japan

Sayaka Hirose is a Tokyo-based immigration lawyer specializing in assisting Indonesians coming to Japan. She says that in the past two years her clients have been seeking legal advice on an issue she had never encountered before.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / Japan / SENTAKU MAGAZINE
Feb 21, 2017

How Trump's plans might deal a blow to Japanese firms

If Trump tries to realign the global structure of manufacturing industries that have become heavily concentrated in Asia, Japanese firms will be hit hard.

Longform

Tetsuzo Shiraishi, speaking at The Center of the Tokyo Raids and War Damage, uses a thermos to explain how he experienced the U.S. firebombing of March 1945, when he was just 7 years old.
From ashes to high-rises: A survivor’s account of Tokyo’s postwar past