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EDITORIALS
Mar 31, 2016

Half-hearted decentralization effort

The poor results of the Abe administration's attempt to move national government functions out of Tokyo cast doubts as to how serious the administration is about pursuing its much-hyped policy of revitalizing regional economies by creating more jobs outside the capital.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / THE FOREIGN ELEMENT
Mar 30, 2016

Evidence mounts of missed red flags in case of former Tokyo teacher facing U.S. child rape charges

Fugitive 'Mr. Wonder' returned to Tokyo in the 1980s and visited St. Mary's International School, witness says.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Politics
Mar 28, 2016

Abe offers ¥600 million grant to Zimbabwe in bid to counter Chinese economic offensive

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe gave Zimbabwe President Robert Mugabe a ¥600 million welcome to Japan in the form of an aid pledge intended to lure more Japanese companies back to the former agricultural powerhouse and counter an aggressive foray by China. But the move could also raise eyebrows in the West....
JAPAN
Mar 20, 2016

French innkeepers share 'minpaku' woes with Japan hoteliers

Operators of hotels and inns wary of the government's plan to deregulate vacation rentals are saying in unison: Look at what happened in France.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / TELLING LIVES
Mar 16, 2016

Kyoto monk on a mission opens his doors to diversity

Business-savvy Zen abbot invites media attention, praise and criticism with his embrace of same-sex weddings.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Mar 11, 2016

Needs of post-3/11 Tohoku stay in focus for filmmakers

The dramatic imagery that emerged from the disasters of the March 11 Tohoku earthquake and tsunami, documented so extensively by mainstream and social media, is hard to forget. However, there were and still are many stories to be told about the people who were left to pick up the pieces of their lives...
Japan Times
WORLD
Mar 7, 2016

New Trump tower funded by rich Chinese who invest cash for visas

Throughout his presidential campaign, Donald Trump has attacked China and warned about the dangers of deficient immigrant screening.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Mar 5, 2016

National pride obscures harsh truth about Sharp deal

An object of pride for Japanese consumers during the 2000s was the so-called Kameyama flat-screen television set manufactured by Sharp. Named after the factory in Mie Prefecture where it was assembled, the LCD-TV came with a sticker attesting to its provenance, and many people who bought the model never...
Japan Times
JAPAN
Mar 2, 2016

Game app could teach children how to detect potential dangers of smartphones

As the use of smartphones grows in popularity with school children, educators are struggling with ways to teach young people how to recognize and handle the potential dangers they could face, and a smartphone game app called "Soul Negotiator" could be the answer teachers are looking for.
Japan Times
WORLD / Society
Feb 29, 2016

Chris Rock pulls no punches as host of one of the most socially conscious Academy Awards shows

Comedian Chris Rock launched his return stint as Oscar host on Sunday by immediately and unabashedly confronting the racially charged elephant in the room — the furor over the all-white field of performers nominated for Hollywood's highest honors.
COMMUNITY / Issues / LABOR PAINS
Feb 29, 2016

'Landmark' ruling sent Japan's foreign residents back to welfare limbo

Widely misunderstood 2014 case reaffirmed the decades-old stopgap that means noncitizens can receive support but can't appeal if their application is rejected.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Feb 22, 2016

Tsukiji workers demand answers over toxic soil at new site

Amid ongoing preparations to relocate Tokyo's world-famous Tsukiji fish market, wholesalers and consumers voice fury over the plan to move the market to a new site that has significant soil pollution problems.
Japan Times
WORLD
Feb 20, 2016

'To Kill a Mockingbird' author Harper Lee dies at 89

Harper Lee, who wrote one of America's most beloved literary classics, "To Kill a Mockingbird," and surprised readers with a second book about racial injustice in the South after living a largely reclusive life for decades, died at the age of 89 on Friday.
COMMENTARY / World
Feb 19, 2016

U.S. should stop lecturing China about North Korea

China has demonstrated it has yet to be convinced to destroy its own ally and strengthen America's position in Northeast Asia.
COMMENTARY / World
Feb 19, 2016

Apple-FBI legal battle isn't about encryption

Apple is standing up for iPhone users' privacy rights now, but there's no guarantee its stance won't change in the future.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Feb 17, 2016

Breaking into and out of Japanese show biz

Eiji Uchida's scabrous new comedy about the struggles of a down-and-out indie film director, "Lowlife Love" ("Gesu no Ai"), confirms what I have known for years: Japanese show business can be brutal to the weak or clueless. They end up used and discarded, like so many human Kleenexes.
Japan Times
WORLD / Politics
Feb 8, 2016

Rubio may find 'reasonable' Republican Kasich a New Hampshire spoiler

U.S. Republican presidential candidate John Kasich is polling in the low single digits nationally but may be poised to play the role of spoiler in Tuesday's New Hampshire primary by cutting into the support of higher-profile rivals such as Marco Rubio.
COMMENTARY / World
Feb 4, 2016

China's new role as a Middle East peacemaker

Can China's impact on the Middle East be more constructive than that of the United States?
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Feb 3, 2016

Travel ban fuels talk of Myanmar constitutional challenge

The party of Myanmar's Aung San Suu Kyi has instructed its lawmakers not to leave the capital, rank-and-file members said, fueling speculation of a legal bid to sidestep a clause in the constitution barring the democracy champion from the presidency.
Japan Times
WORLD / ANALYSIS
Feb 1, 2016

U.S. risks credibility gap by swatting China with international treaty it has never ratified

In the wake of Washington's second "freedom of navigation" operation near Beijing's man-made islets in the South China Sea, an often overlooked fact remains: The set of laws governing global maritime behavior that the U.S. has been touting has never been ratified by the Senate.
JAPAN
Jan 29, 2016

Third reactor restart spurs fears over shaky Kansai evacuation plans

Kansai Electric fires up a reactor at the Takahama plant in Fukui despite misgivings about the region's ability to respond to a nuclear accident.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Science & Health / NATURAL SELECTIONS
Jan 16, 2016

Murakami is right about jazz and the brain

"Music brings a warm glow to my vision, thawing mind and muscle from their endless wintering."
EDITORIALS
Jan 4, 2016

Expanding tourist accommodations

A shortage of accommodations threatens to hobble the nation's booming tourist industry.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / COUNTERPOINT
Jan 2, 2016

In Abe's Japan, a woman's place is on the margins

On Dec. 16, Japan's Supreme Court struck a blow for patriarchy by refusing to strike down the law requiring married couples to adopt one surname, a regulation that weighs disproportionately on women since in almost all cases they adopt their husband's family name. For career women, this requirement burdens...

Longform

Visitors walk past Sou Fujimoto's Grand Ring, which has been recognized as the largest wooden structure in the world.
Can a World Expo still matter? Japan is about to find out.