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Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives
Sep 21, 2020

When Hitoshi met Bob: A Tokyo love story

Bob Tobin couldn't speak a lick of Japanese. Hitoshi Ohashi couldn't speak any English. Still, they made things work.
Japan Times
WORLD
Sep 21, 2020

In SUVs and on planes, richest 1% drive climate-heating emissions

The coronavirus pandemic has, though, opened the door to new, progressive policies to help tackle climate change.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Sep 20, 2020

The buck stops with Putin

Those now accusing the Kremlin in Alexei Navalny's poisoning are unlikely to find any “smoking gun.” It doesn't matter: ultimately, the Kremlin is to blame.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Books
Sep 19, 2020

'The Cat and the City' author Nick Bradley: When writing fiction, 'there's no such thing as wasted living'

Nick Bradley's debut novel is a love letter to Tokyo brimming with details of everyday life that he absorbed during his years in Japan.
Japan Times
CULTURE / CULTURE SMASH
Sep 17, 2020

From the battlefield to manga to Zoom: A Kyushu samurai clan and its legendary warrior get an online outing

Sengan-en, the estate of a samurai clan, is going virtual in honor of the family's legendary warrior, Shimazu Toyohisa, and the manga modeled on him.
JAPAN / Politics / ANALYSIS
Sep 16, 2020

Suga expected to take back seat in shaping Japan's foreign policy

A dearth of diplomatic experience means he'll be relying heavily on key Cabinet ministers and his predecessor's playbook.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Sep 16, 2020

Will the coronavirus turn out green or brown?

This year's dip in greenhouse gases will make the world no more likely to achieve the goal of slowing climate change.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Sep 16, 2020

Wall Street fears a U.S. election with no clear winner

As it pertains to markets, it is less about the outcome of the election and more about the process.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / Japan
Sep 16, 2020

After Abe, will Japan return to a 'revolving door' premiership?

The speed with which Suga secured the support of the LDP's secretary-general and leaders of other major factions suggests that he should not be underestimated.
Japan Times
WORLD
Sep 15, 2020

Jack ‘Murph the Surf’ Murphy, heist mastermind, dies at 83

He called himself "Murph the Surf,” a tanned, roguish, party-loving beach boy from Miami, and he transfixed the nation in 1964 by pulling off the biggest jewel heist in New York City history — the celebrated snatching of the Star of India, a sapphire larger than a golf ball, and a haul of other gems...
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Sep 15, 2020

'Vaccine nationalism': Seductive and dangerous

Medecins Sans Frontieres warns that the global scramble to hoard vaccines by rich countries will feed a dangerous trend of 'vaccine nationalism.'
Japan Times
WORLD / Science & Health
Sep 15, 2020

Life on Venus? Astronomers see a signal in its clouds

Scientists detected a chemical — phosphine — in the thick Venus atmosphere, and they assert that something now alive is the only explanation for its source.
Japan Times
WORLD / FOCUS
Sep 14, 2020

Veterans fortify the ranks of militias aligned with Trump’s views

The role of veterans in the newly proliferating groups — which sometimes are steeped in racism — has increased over the last decade.
Japan Times
CULTURE
Sep 12, 2020

COVID-19 pandemic, and local politics, threaten the future of anime conventions

The coronavirus outbreak has altered the reality of mass gatherings worldwide, but canceling an event isn't something all organizers are in a position to do.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Sep 11, 2020

High crimes against journalism and decency

Jeffrey Goldberg's insane 'Trump called troops suckers' piece is a new low.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Sep 11, 2020

‘Mulan’ 1998: A moment of joy and anxiety for Asian American viewers

By the time 'Mulan” came out, Asian American activists were still reeling from the failure of 'All-American Girl” (1994-95), the first sitcom to feature a Korean American family.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC / FOCUS
Sep 10, 2020

‘Illegal thoughts’: How some exiled critics of Thai king are fueling a revolt

Protesters say writings and social media posts by the critics, including a Kyoto University professor, have helped to loosen the taboo on questioning the monarchy.
Japan Times
PODCAST / deep dive
Sep 9, 2020

Episode 64: The end of Shinzo Abe: What will his legacy be?

In part two of this two part look at the end of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's time in office, we look at Abe's legacy as Japan's longest-serving prime minister.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Sep 8, 2020

Straight talk about Taiwan and ‘strategic ambiguity’

A lack of clarity dissuades China from seeking reunification through force by leaving open the possibility of a U.S. response and dissuades Taiwan from reckless actions.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Sep 7, 2020

Trump promised a coal comeback but America’s miners need an energy revolution

Mining has always been physically risky, and right now the job is more insecure than ever.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / Japan
Sep 4, 2020

Rest of Asia will miss Abe more than Japan will

Asian democracies will have to hope that Japan continues down the path Prime Minister Shinzo Abe laid out.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Sep 4, 2020

Trump and Biden: Equally awful

The progressive case for voting third party or boycotting the election
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / Japan
Sep 3, 2020

The 1995 Okinawa rape that shook U.S.-Japan ties

Twenty-five years ago, on Sept. 4, 1995, a 12-year-old girl was abducted, beaten and raped in the village of Kin, Okinawa Prefecture, by three U.S. servicemen — two marines and a naval medic.
Japan Times
PODCAST / deep dive
Sep 2, 2020

Episode 63: The end of Shinzo Abe: What happened and who's next?

This is part one of a two part look at the end of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's time in office.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Sep 2, 2020

U.S. expats can’t renounce their citizenship fast enough

The swearing in of new citizens often makes news in the U.S., especially if it happens in unusual circumstances such as one party’s national convention. Much less reported are the many citizenship renunciations by Americans, and the travails leading up to these life decisions. Almost all those giving...
Japan Times
COMMENTARY
Sep 1, 2020

‘Debt trap' diplomacy is a card China seldom plays in Belt and Road initiative

It’s taken as a given that the Belt and Road initiative (BRI), China’s effort to close the world’s multitrillion-dollar infrastructure gap, is an attempt to extend Beijing’s influence throughout the world by means fair and foul. One of the most incendiary charges is that China uses BRI funds...
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Sep 1, 2020

China alone: Will the prospect of isolation thwarts Beijing's imperialist ambitions?

In his most recent New Year’s speech, Chinese President Xi Jinping declared that 2020 would be “a milestone.” Xi was right, but not in the way he expected. Far from having “friends in every corner of the world,” as he boasted in his speech, China has severely damaged its international reputation,...
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / Japan
Aug 31, 2020

Prepare for the next disaster with mutual support agreements

Organizations like schools and companies can stand ready to help each other immediately after a crisis hits.
Japan Times
WORLD / Crime & Legal
Aug 31, 2020

Mapping environmental crime seen as key to slowing Amazon forest losses

One group has estimated that 90 percent of all forest loss in the Amazon basin is illegal.

Longform

A man offers prayers at Hebikubo Shrine in Tokyo's Shinagawa Ward. The shrine is one of several across the country dedicated to the snake.
Shed your skin and reinvent yourself in the Year of the Snake