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November 23, 2024
 

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Eric Johnston

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Eric Johnston
JAPAN / Politics
Dec 3, 2013
Abe shelves effort to gain passage of Turkey, UAE nuclear export deals
Due to the clash in the Upper House over the contentious state secrets bill, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's government will not pursue approval in the current Diet session of two deals signed earlier this year to export nuclear reactor technology and know-how to Turkey and the United Arab Emirates.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Politics / ANALYSIS
Dec 1, 2013
China's new air zone at top of agenda for Biden's visit to Tokyo
When U.S. Vice President Joe Biden visits Japan on Monday, his most urgent task will be to assure Prime Minister Shinzo Abe that the U.S. stands firmly against China's new air defense identification zone.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Nov 29, 2013
Aussie LNG an energy lifeline — for now
With its nuclear power plants mostly idled since the March 2011 Great East Japan Earthquake, Japan continues its quest to increase imports of liquefied natural gas, especially from Australia.
JAPAN
Nov 28, 2013
Flip-flop: LDP Okinawa branch backs Nago base
Reversing a campaign pledge, the Okinawa chapter of the Liberal Democratic Party now supports replacing the Futenma base in Ginowan with a new airstrip in Nago, bowing to intensifying pressure from Tokyo, Okinawa-based LDP members and local businesses seeking to profit from constructing the new base....
Japan Times
JAPAN / KANSAI PERSPECTIVE
Nov 24, 2013
Bullet trains on a pro-nuclear curve
In the debate over the future of nuclear power, which provided about a third of Japan's electricity needs before the Fukushima disaster began in 2011, commentators for and against resuming its use have argued their case.
Japan Times
JAPAN / KANSAI PERSPECTIVE
Nov 24, 2013
Secrets bill raises fears among nuclear foes
In late 2005, U.S. government officials, invited by Japan, observed a counterterrorism drill at the Mihama nuclear plant in Fukui Prefecture and came away worried about the security situation at the complex.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Politics
Nov 20, 2013
Nago base rebuff heaps more pressure on Nakaima
With two months to go until its mayoral election, the Okinawa city of Nago said Tuesday it will formally request Gov. Hirokazu Nakaima not to approve an application to start dumping land into the sea off its Henoko coast for the planned replacement base for U.S. Marine Corps Air Station Futenma.
JAPAN / View from Osaka
Nov 16, 2013
Think caviar but brace for caveat
In one of the most memorable scenes of the late, and sorely missed, Juzo Itami's classic 1985 film "Tampopo" ("Dandelion"), Japanese businessmen enter a French restaurant. Confused by the exotic items on the menu, the elderly members of the party stick to what they know: sole meuniere, consomme soup...
JAPAN
Nov 8, 2013
Fukuoka issues warning on high PM2.5 levels
High levels of PM2.5 particulate matter were recorded Friday in parts of western Japan, prompting the city of Fukuoka to issue a warning amid growing concern that the pollution crisis in China will keep affecting Japan.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Nov 5, 2013
Tepco feeling heat over fuel removal
With Tepco getting ready to start removing more than 1,000 fuel rod assemblies from a cooling pool at Fukushima No. 1, global pressure is mounting to allow an international task force to monitor and assist the highly hazardous operation.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Politics
Nov 4, 2013
U.S. model not seen serving Japan's bid to keep its secrets
As Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's government pushes for a controversial new state secrets law, critics warn that the public's right to know will be greatly stifled because the bill, recently approved by the Cabinet, targets leakers of information the state deems critical to defense, diplomacy, terrorism...
Japan Times
JAPAN / KANSAI PERSPECTIVE
Oct 27, 2013
Hashimoto's relevancy beginning to fade
When the candidate backed by Osaka Mayor and Nippon Ishin no Kai (Japan Restoration Party) co-leader Toru Hashimoto was defeated in September by Sakai Mayor Osami Takeyama, a staunch Hashimoto foe, it marked what is widely seen as the beginning of the end of the whole Hashimoto-Nippon Ishin movement,...
Japan Times
JAPAN / Politics
Oct 27, 2013
The method behind the brashness
Osaka
Japan Times
JAPAN / EXPLAINER
Oct 21, 2013
Mercury still threat, Abe assurances or not
Earlier this month, delegates from over 130 nations gathered in Kumamoto to launch the Minamata Convention on Mercury. The U.N.-brokered treaty aims to limit mercury use and emissions. It comes at a time when the U.N. Environmental Program warns half of all global anthropogenic mercury emissions come...
JAPAN / View from Osaka
Oct 19, 2013
Will Olympic glory carry beyond Tokyo?
If Tokyo's reaction to winning the 2020 Olympics, especially among the cash-strapped TV stations and other media types who rely on bread and circuses-type events to pay the bills, made you feel like Alice in Wonderland or a character in a Samuel Beckett play, you're not alone.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Politics
Oct 9, 2013
Nakaima defies Nago base plan advocates
Okinawa Gov. Hirokazu Nakaima resisted pressure Tuesday by Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida and Defense Minister Itsunori Onodera to allow the Futenma base relocation to move forward.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Oct 7, 2013
Minamata mercury treaty finds skeptics
Delegates from about 130 countries will gather Wednesday in the Kumamoto Prefecture cities of Minamata and Kumamoto for a three-day meeting to finalize a new international treaty seeking to ban or greatly limit the use of mercury.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Oct 4, 2013
Defense, diplomacy chiefs sidestep SOFA
Thursday's agreement between the United States and Japan to revise defense cooperation guidelines touched on a number of core issues, such as transferring U.S. Marines to Guam, building a contentious replacement in Okinawa for the Futenma base, and cooperating on ballistic missile defense and cybersecurity....
Japan Times
JAPAN / Politics
Sep 27, 2013
Nippon Ishin's future seen riding on Sakai mayor race
Sunday's mayoral contest in Sakai, one of Japan's most independent-minded cities, is expected to decide not only the fate of a plan to merge Osaka prefectural cities into a single administrative entity, but also the fate of national-level efforts to create a new opposition party.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Sep 24, 2013
TPP, Hague treaty, Senkakus to top agenda for Kennedy
At her Senate hearing last week, Caroline Kennedy, tipped to be the next U.S. ambassador to Japan, faced numerous questions about the Trans-Pacific Partnership pact, tensions over the Senkaku Islands, and what she would do about nearly 400 cases of American children allegedly abducted to Japan.
Japan approves ¥21.9 trillion stimulus plan
The policy chiefs of the Democratic Party for the People, Liberal Democratic Party and Komeito — Makoto Hamaguchi (left), Itsunori Onodera (center) and Mitsunari Okamoto — shake hands after reaching an agreement on an economic stimulus package on Wednesday.
Tokyo Metro’s overseas efforts begin in earnest with London deal
Tokyo Metro will soon have a role in the running of London's Elizabeth Line, a major train route serving the U.K.’s capital city and environs.
Saitama court bans demonstrations over anti-Kurd hate speech
Kurdish people in Japan in 2015. A court injunction has banned acts that defame the Japan Kurdish Cultural Association and are disrespectful, such as putting up banner flags or handing out fliers with hate speech like “Refugees should go back to their home countries.”
China reinstates visa-free travel for Japanese nationals
Beijing Daxing International Airport
U.S. aircraft carrier returns to Japan carrying navy’s ‘most capable fighter’
U.S. 7th Fleet Commander Vice Adm. Fred Kacher speaks to reporters shortly after the arrival of aircraft carrier USS George Washington at Yokosuka naval base in Kanagawa Prefecture on Friday.
Shohei Ohtani wins National League MVP award
Shohei Ohtani celebrates after hitting a three-run home run against the Padres during the National League Division Series at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles last month.
The slow-burn success of ‘A Samurai in Time’
A 19th-century warrior gets struck by lightning and wakes to find himself in 21st-century Kyoto in Junichi Yasuda’s surprise hit “A Samurai in Time.”
Around a quarter of Japan married couples in their 20s met through dating apps
A survey released by an organization promoting “Good Couples Day” shows that 24% of couples in their 20s met their marriage partner through a dating app.
'Tokyo Swindlers': Get deep into the minds of real estate con artists
In Ko Shinjo's "Tokyo Swindlers," a group of con artists manipulates real estate giants into falsified deals within the highly competitive, quick market.
Japan, U.K. and Italy discuss inviting more countries to joint fighter project
A new concept model of a next-generation fighter jet to be jointly developed by Japan, Britain and Italy is on display in Farnborough, Hampshire, in July.

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