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WORLD
Dec 7, 2015

Turkey says it won't send more troops to Iraq unless Baghdad gives its OK

Turkey shelved military plans to send more troops to support allies in northern Iraq, after the government in Baghdad said it may appeal to the United Nations to secure the withdrawal of Turkish soldiers deployed recently to the country.
Reader Mail
Dec 4, 2015

How to reduce Halloween litter

I am writing this letter in response to the article in the Nov. 1 issue about garbage provisions at Halloween in Tokyo's Shibuya district ("Halloween revelers get litter bags").
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Nov 30, 2015

Memo to Moscow: Syria is Turkey's Ukraine

Ankara is determined to make it clear that no solution for Syria can be reached unless Turkish interests are fully taken into account.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC
Nov 30, 2015

On China's fringes, cyberspies raise their game

Almost a year after students ended pro-democracy street protests in Hong Kong, they face an online battle against what Western security experts say are China-sponsored hackers using techniques rarely seen elsewhere.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Nov 23, 2015

Islamic State is an existential threat to the West

Western leaders are wrong: Islamic State does pose an existential threat.
WORLD
Nov 17, 2015

G-20 leaders stick to 2% extra growth goal despite hurdles, widen focus to pressing issues

The leaders of the world's largest economies stuck to a goal of lifting their collective output by an extra 2 percent by 2018, even though growth remains uneven and weaker than expected globally, they said in a statement Monday.
Japan Times
WORLD / Politics
Nov 16, 2015

Focus on wiping out Islamic State in Syria, Obama urges Putin

U.S. President Barack Obama vowed on Sunday to step up efforts to eliminate Islamic State and prevent more attacks like those in Paris, while urging Russia's Vladimir Putin to focus on combating the jihadist group in Syria.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Nov 11, 2015

Syrian crisis: Are we near the beginning of the end?

With the Syrian regime proving far stronger than Western countries expected, a political settlement to the horrible civil war may finally be within reach.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Nov 3, 2015

How the TPP can transform Japan's economy

Regardless of whether or not the TPP is implemented, Japan's farmers must change their approach if they want to secure their futures rather than hope that subsidies will continue forever.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Companies
Oct 31, 2015

How analysts calculate China's true — and huge — burden of bad loans

Corporate investigator Violet Ho never put a lot of faith in the numbers on bad loans that are reported by China's banks.
Japan Times
WORLD
Oct 29, 2015

U.S. Navy's foray into China-claimed seas reportedly followed foot-dragging by White House

The U.S. naval challenge to China's territorial assertiveness in the South China Sea this week came after months of frustration within the Pentagon at what some defense officials saw as unnecessary delays by the White House and State Department in approving the mission.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Voices / FOREIGN AGENDA
Oct 28, 2015

Imagining a Japan that thinks beyond blood and binary distinctions

Could the Brave Blossoms serve as a model for a multicultural Japan of the future?
Japan Times
Figure Skating / ICE TIME
Oct 27, 2015

Lack of strength only thing holding Miyahara back

"Exquisite performance, beautiful skating skills, lovely likeness. When she lands the jumps it's as though the blades are kissing the ice. It's so soft. Hardly any sound."
Japan Times
JAPAN / EXPLAINER
Oct 13, 2015

Japan may empower courts to handle more cross-border divorce suits

After 18 months of deliberations, the Legislative Council of the Justice Ministry has drawn up an outline for legal revisions aimed at resolving a problem many failed marriages face: whether the Japan-based spouse can file for divorce here rather than overseas.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC
Oct 8, 2015

China uses intimidation tactics at U.N. to silence critics

In a cafe lounge at the United Nations complex in Geneva, a Tibetan fugitive was waiting his turn earlier this year to tell diplomats his story of being imprisoned and tortured back home in China.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / LEARNING CURVE
Oct 7, 2015

Red flags and exit strategies: advice for English teachers in Japan

It's important for new instructors in Japan to know when they are being exploited, and, if so, how to improve their lot or extricate themselves from the situation as painlessly as possible.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Media / BIG IN JAPAN
Oct 3, 2015

Japan's elderly can't live off happy memories

Around the first week in December, lifelong-learning company U-Can sponsors an event that designates the top buzzwords of the year. Almost certain to be in the running for first place this year is "karyū rōjin" (low-class elderly people), a term that has been spreading like wildfire since summer.
JAPAN / Politics
Oct 2, 2015

Lobby group urges Japan to join peers by accepting more Syrian refugees

A group focused on the interests of refugees in Japan urges the government to take in more asylum seekers from Syria to avoid looking bad on the international stage.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Politics
Sep 26, 2015

Nation's youth are attempting to establish a new political norm

"Tell me what democracy looks like!"
Japan Times
JAPAN
Sep 26, 2015

Residents of Russian-held isles disputed by Japan await diplomatic resolution

Russian residents of an island chain at the center of a dispute that has held up a Japanese-Russian treaty to formally end World War II hope a diplomatic solution will lure tourists and investment to help refurbish rickety infrastructure.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / THE FOREIGN ELEMENT
Sep 23, 2015

Neither here nor there: the families torn between Nigeria and Japan

Caught between instability in Nigeria and isolation in Japan, African immigrants fear the loss of their children's love.
COMMENTARY / World
Sep 21, 2015

Vilifying China a bad campaign tactic

The more heated the anti-China rhetoric is in the U.S. presidential campaign, the more likely Beijing is to respond in kind.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Sep 17, 2015

Thousands gather outside Diet in heavy rain for last chance to protest security bills

Thursday's heavy rain failed to douse the rage of thousands of demonstrators who gathered in front of the Diet building in Tokyo to protest the controversial security legislation that is expected to pass by week's end.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Politics
Sep 16, 2015

Japan waits to see whether new Australian leader will rock the boat on defense

Japan watches anxiously after one of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's closest Asia-Pacific allies in ousted in a party leadership vote.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Sep 16, 2015

Student protests continue quest to block security bills

Student protesters continued to cry foul over what they call "unconstitutional" security legislation Wednesday in a last-minute effort before the bills' expected Diet passage later this week.
JAPAN / Politics
Sep 15, 2015

Security bills won't allow for Hormuz minesweeping, Abe says

The administration does not view minesweeping operations in the Strait of Hormuz as one of the possible actions that the Self-Defense Forces would carry out if the national security bills are enacted, according to Prime Minister Shinzo Abe.
Japan Times
WORLD
Sep 9, 2015

Hungary's Orban plays for high stakes with tough stance on migrants

Hungary's fiery Prime Minister Viktor Orban has always relished a fight, be it with foreign bankers, international lenders or the European Union over policy toward Russia.
Japan Times
WORLD / ANALYSIS
Sep 7, 2015

Rich gulf Arab nations' refugee response questioned

When Iraq invaded Kuwait in 1990, fellow Persian Gulf states raced to shelter thousands of displaced Kuwaitis. Fast forward 25 years, and the homeless from nearby Syria's war have found scant refuge in the Arab world's richest states.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Sep 3, 2015

Trump makes a lot of sense on foreign policy

Donald Trump may be the most sensible Republican in the race, at least on foreign policy.

Longform

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