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COMMENTARY / Japan / COUNTERPOINT
Aug 30, 2014

Richard Katz on the failures of 'Voodoo Abenomics'

Richard Katz, editor-in-chief at The Oriental Economist, is the author of "Voodoo Abenomics: Japan's Failed Comeback Plan," an article published in the July/August issue of Foreign Affairs magazine. Katz went into more detail about Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's "Abenomics" policy in a recent email interview...
Japan Times
WORLD / ANALYSIS
Aug 22, 2014

NATO's new challenge: 'ambiguous warfare'

Since Russia's annexation of Crimea in March, NATO has been publicly refocusing on its old Cold War foe, Moscow. The threats it now believes it faces, however, are distinctly different from those of the latter half of the 20th century.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Politics
Aug 20, 2014

Debate on foreigner voting rights reignites ahead of 2020 Olympics

The debate over voting rights for non-Japanese residents is flaring up again, amid a drive to attract more foreign workers ahead of the Tokyo Summer Olympics in 2020.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / THE FOREIGN ELEMENT
Aug 18, 2014

Challenges can't compare to the rewards of cross-cultural adoption in Japan

Five years ago, my Japanese husband and I adopted a 3-year-old boy who had been placed in an orphanage when he was a month old. His birth mother, too young to care for him, had likely decided that giving him up was his only chance for a better life. After we first took him home, he would barely acknowledge...
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.
COMMENTARY / World
Aug 18, 2014

Welcoming refugees to fill labor shortages

Why doesn't Japan, Canada and other governments admit more refugees for resettlement with a view toward addressing the governments' labor shortages?
EDITORIALS
Aug 14, 2014

Don't hide the harsh reality of war

As the number of survivors of the 1945 Hiroshima and Nagasaki atomic bombings falls below 200,000, it is becoming increasingly difficult for younger generations to understand the horror of war experienced by Japan's victims, whose average age is 79.
EDITORIALS
Aug 11, 2014

An A-bomb survivor takes on Abe

At a ceremony mark the 69th anniversary of the atomic bombing of Nagasaki, a 75-year-old woman survivor berates the Abe administration's decision to allow Japan to take part in conflict overseas under the auspices of collective self-defense.
Japan Times
WORLD
Aug 9, 2014

Yazidis aided by U.S. have long history of persecution in Iraq

The Iraqi mountain community that U.S. President Barack Obama is racing to defend numbers in the tens or hundreds of thousands, with roots in the 12th century and a history of persecution.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / LAW OF THE LAND
Aug 6, 2014

Think you've got rights as a foreigner in Japan? Well, it's complicated

If you imagine paying taxes in Japan entitles you to welfare, you may want to take a seat.
Reader Mail
Aug 6, 2014

Paying for the habit of a minority

Regarding the Aug. 1 article "Japan's smoking rate falls below 20% for first time, manufacturer says": It's time to add my two-pence worth. I'm taking this headline statement with a rather large pinch of salt, for the following reasons:
Reader Mail
Aug 6, 2014

Women breaking the status quo

A salute to the women featured in the July 31 Kyodo article "Female officials challenge status quo" and the July 31 Bloomberg article "Late hours thwart Abe's working moms."
Reader Mail
Jul 30, 2014

Contact keeping elders healthy

Regarding the closing quote from the article above, "Older people are squeezing money from the young and future generations under the current system": No elder-bashing, please!
Reader Mail
Jul 30, 2014

The name for a horrible practice

Cesar Chelala's July 29 article, "Safe alternative rites to female circumcision," was well written and interesting. I would like to comment on the headline, though.
BASKETBALL / BJ-LEAGUE NOTEBOOK
Jul 24, 2014

Ryukyu brings in Kent to try and fill Newton's shoes

The Ryukyu Golden Kings will begin defense of their title with a new veteran in the frontcourt in the post-Jeff Newton era.
EDITORIALS
Jul 24, 2014

Collective self-defense smokescreen

It is deplorable that Prime Minister Shinzo continues to avoid discussing the inherent dangers to Japan with regard to his Cabinet's recent reinterpretation of 'collective self-defense.'
Reader Mail
Jul 23, 2014

Pressures to bear with cold beer

Regarding the June 27 article "Drink responsibly when you're out with friends this summer": In 2007 my hometown's temperature reached 40.9 degrees Celsius. It was the hottest place in Japan. At my age, a well-chilled beer is absolutely indispensable for overcoming such sweltering weather. I think a lot...
Reader Mail
Jul 23, 2014

Confusing race with nationality

Regarding the July 14 front-page article "Rola altering DNA of pop culture": Japanese pop culture talents like "Rola," "Becky" and Jun Hasegawa are Japanese citizens despite being ethnically "half." The Nationality Law does not recognize half citizens. A person is either a citizen or not.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / LABOR PAINS
Jul 23, 2014

A democratically elected rep is every worker's legal right

The lack of a freely and fairly elected workers' rep could cost employees dearly in the long run.
Japan Times
WORLD / Politics
Jul 22, 2014

U.S. Vice President Biden says Putin has no soul: magazine

Vladimir Putin has no soul, U.S. Vice President Joe Biden concluded after meeting with the Russian leader at the Kremlin in 2011, according to an article in the New Yorker published online on Monday.
COMMENTARY / World
Jul 21, 2014

Overuse weakens sanctions

As the U.S. becomes more cautious about military intervention, financial sanctions are being seen as an increasingly attractive alternative in the pursuit of national security and foreign policy goals. But their overuse could spur a major effort to reroute financial transactions away from the U.S.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / How-tos / LIFELINES
Jul 20, 2014

Limits on 'stop and frisk' open to interpretation by Japan's police and courts

The rules that apply to 'stop and frisk' questioning are set down in the Police Duties Execution Act of 1948, but since the clauses are ambiguous and contradictory, there have been a lot of arguments about the legal limits on this kind of behavior,
Japan Times
JAPAN / CHUBU CONNECTION
Jul 18, 2014

Magazine draws attention to small firms' products overseas

Young owners of small and midsize businesses from Chubu and other regions are publishing their own English magazine, Indexrights, to market their products abroad.
Japan Times
BASKETBALL
Jul 17, 2014

Merger talks going slowly

Japan Basketball Association officials said that they would actively keep discussing how to overcome the differences between the nation's top two leagues in order to establish a new professional hoops circuit in two years.
WORLD / Society
Jul 14, 2014

Pope was told about 2 percent of priests are pedophiles: paper

About 2 percent of Roman Catholic clerics are sexual abusers, an Italian newspaper on Sunday quoted Pope Francis as saying, adding that the pontiff considered the crime "a leprosy in our house."
Reader Mail
Jul 9, 2014

The problem with change is Abe

I'll add my two pence worth on Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, the Liberal Democratic Party and LDP coalition ally New Komeito changing the interpretation of the Constitution's Article 9 so that the ban on collective self-defense is dropped.
Reader Mail
Jul 9, 2014

Disturbing SDF recruiting drive

Regarding the July 5 article "Timing is everything in the SDF's recruitment drive": The recruitment tieup between the Self-Defense Forces and the all-girl pop troupe AKB48 is awkward. Could it mean Japan will have conscription in the future?
Japan Times
BASEBALL / Japanese Baseball
Jul 5, 2014

Cruz settling in with Marines

Luis Cruz wanted to go home. He wanted to see his family again, wanted to be back in a familiar environment. He wanted to get away from that lonely hotel room in Fort Myers, Florida, that was a long way from his native Navojoa, which lies on the southern tip of Sonora, a Mexican state that shares its...

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Construction takes place on the Takanawa Gateway Convention Center in Tokyo, slated to open in 2025.
A boom for business tourism in Japan?