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 Eric Johnston

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Eric Johnston
Japan Times
JAPAN / KANSAI PERSPECTIVE
Jan 22, 2017
Kyoto making great climate strides but little progress seen beyond its borders
Two decades after the advent of the Kyoto Protocol to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, its namesake city is planning to commemorate the agreement this year with a number of events while moving forward with its own plan to achieve targeted greenhouse gas reductions by 2020.
Japan Times
JAPAN / KANSAI PERSPECTIVE
Jan 22, 2017
A railroad runs through it: Nara wants help keeping popular ancient ruins serene and intact
Strolling around the ancient ruins of Nara's Heijokyo Palace site, a 2,500-hectare area of footpaths and open green fields, it's easy to imagine that one is back in the distant past, walking on ground first tread 1,300 years ago when it was Japan's first true city.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Politics / GAUGING TRUMP
Jan 20, 2017
Echoes of 1980s trade war seen in Trump comments on Japan
As a presidential candidate, Donald Trump surprised and angered many in Japan with comments about how unfair Japan's trade policies were.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Jan 20, 2017
Record 9.4 million foreign tourists visited Osaka in 2016
Over 9.4 million foreign tourists visited Osaka last year, the largest number ever, Osaka tourism authorities announced earlier this week.
Japan Times
JAPAN / View from Osaka
Jan 14, 2017
Kansai sizes up ways to work with a Trump administration
In 3½ weeks, Kansai's business leaders will gather in Kyoto for their annual summit. Some of the world's most recognizable firms will send their top executives to the two-day retreat. There, they will rub shoulders with local politicians, academics, and "business consultant" types who, like fortune...
JAPAN / Politics
Jan 11, 2017
LDP team charged with drafting casino rules to have first meeting this month
The team, led by Lower House member Takeshi Iwaya, will examine a host of issues related to establishing integrated resort facilities, which include casinos and hotels.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Dec 29, 2016
Japan looks to Singapore for ideas as Diet debate over new casino law looms
What are the odds that the public can be convinced of the case for legalized casino gambling?
Japan Times
JAPAN / Politics
Dec 28, 2016
Abe offers 'everlasting condolences' at Pearl Harbor as Obama praises partnership in peace
Abe's historic visit to Hawaii wraps up with addresses from himself and U.S. President Barack Obama.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Politics
Dec 27, 2016
In Hawaii, Abe looks to remember war, reinforce U.S. relationship
Prime Minister Shinzo Abe arrived in Hawaii Monday morning local time for a two-day visit that appears to be as much about shoring up his credentials as a statesman and trying to address concerns about the future of U.S.-Japan relations under Donald Trump as it is about remembering the past.
Japan Times
JAPAN / KANSAI PERSPECTIVE
Dec 25, 2016
Train, casino, reactor woes to grab Kansai headlines in '17
A casino, an expo, tourists, trains, and old nuclear power plants. These are just some of the major issues the Kansai region faces in 2017.
Japan Times
JAPAN / KANSAI PERSPECTIVE
Dec 25, 2016
Route pick just tip of the iceberg for Hokuriku bullet train project
The decision by the ruling parties to support a Hokuriku Shinkansen Line route from Tsuruga, Fukui Prefecture, to Kyoto via the town of Obama has sparked relief, hope and disappointment in the Kansai region and western Japan.
Japan Times
JAPAN / View from Osaka
Dec 17, 2016
Kansai towns gear up for the 'Pork Barrel-ympics'
Aware that voters outside of the capital may lack the degree of anticipation for the 2020 Olympics that can be felt among Tokyo politicians and corporations who will directly profit from the games, and sensitive to rumors that taxpayers elsewhere will get stuck with a post-Olympics tax bill, the government...
Japan Times
JAPAN / Politics
Dec 17, 2016
With Abe-Putin detente, former residents of Russian-held islands off Hokkaido hope to get easier access
Former residents of four islands off Hokkaido that were seized from Japan by Russia in the last days of World War II greeted with cautious optimism Friday's announcement that efforts would be made to simplify visits to their ancestor's gravesites. They also offered specific suggestions on what such efforts...
JAPAN
Dec 12, 2016
Japan's Olympic host towns aim to promote educational and sports exchanges
The 2020 Olympic and Paralympic Games are taking place in Tokyo. But under a central government plan to build national support for the games, residents from Hokkaido to Kyushu will have the opportunity to see and interact with the athletes coming from around the world.
JAPAN / Politics
Dec 7, 2016
Nippon Ishin, a party with Osaka roots, to establish a political school in Tokyo
Nippon Ishin no Kai, the political party with Osaka roots, will establish a political school in Tokyo on Dec. 18 with an eye toward training candidates for next summer's Tokyo metropolitan assembly election.
JAPAN / Politics
Dec 6, 2016
Regions hop on casino bandwagon, but move blasted amid gambling addiction fears
As the Liberal Democratic Party and conservative opposition's Nippon Ishin no Kai rush to pass legislation to legalize casino gambling, regional governments from Hokkaido to Kyushu, which see it as a potential gold mine for local revenue and jobs, are making plans to host such facilities.
Japan Times
JAPAN / History
Dec 3, 2016
Memories of 1941 Pearl Harbor attack continue to affect U.S., Japan in Asia
On Dec. 7, 1941, Japan bombed Pearl Harbor, bringing the United States into World War II. The attack, carried out at dawn by Japanese fighter planes launched from aircraft carriers, was a then relatively new form of naval warfare that shocked the American public.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Nov 29, 2016
Japanese students rank near top in global math and science survey
Nation's fourth-graders No. 5 in math, No. 3 in science; eighth-graders rank fifth in math and second in science.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Politics / KANSAI PERSPECTIVE
Nov 27, 2016
Kansai firms more concerned with Asian markets than Trump's TPP pullout
For Kansai business leaders, Asia, particularly East Asia, has long been far more important economically than the United States.
Japan Times
JAPAN / KANSAI PERSPECTIVE
Nov 27, 2016
Fukushima aftershock renews public concern about restarting Kansai's aging nuclear reactors
The magnitude-7.4 aftershock that rocked Fukushima Prefecture and its vicinity last week, more than five years after the mega-quake and tsunami of March 2011, triggered fresh nuclear concerns in the Kansai region, which hosts Kansai Electric Power Co.'s Mihama plant in Fukui Prefecture.

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