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Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics / FOCUS
May 22, 2017

Three years after coup, junta deeply embedded in Thai life

On Friday evenings in Thailand, sandwiched between the evening news and a popular soap opera, is a prime-time program that has been running for three years, or ever since the military took power in a May 22, 2014, coup.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Jul 26, 2015

How Sony sanitized films to please China's censors

In a 2013 script for the movie "Pixels," intergalactic aliens blast a hole in one of China's national treasures — the Great Wall.
ASIA PACIFIC / Society
May 2, 2015

Asian students cram for SATs with bootleg tests

As students around the world crammed for Saturday's SAT college entrance exam, many in Asia were poring over old tests in hope the College Board would again reuse a test that has leaked ahead of time. These bootleg tests are widely available on Chinese websites to download for free.
Japan Times
BASEBALL / Japanese Baseball / HIT AND RUN
Mar 7, 2015

Tigers' Fujinami may be ready to roar

Shintaro Fujinami was included on Samurai Japan's roster for next week's games against Europe probably because the Hanshin Tigers can give the ball to Randy Messenger, coming off an excellent 2014, or stalwart Atsushi Nomi on opening day. Fujinami is probably the biggest name on the Japan pitching staff,...
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Markets
Feb 18, 2015

Number of IPOs in Japan projected to hit 17-year high

Nomura Holdings Inc. expects initial public offerings to double to their highest level in 17 years as the resurgent stock market attracts investors to entrants, including Japan Post Holdings Co.
Japan Times
WORLD / Politics
Jan 31, 2015

The 2016 White House race: a list of possible candidates

The calculus for the 2016 race for the White House has shifted after 2012 Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney decided not to run again. Here are a few of the possible contenders:
COMMENTARY / World
Oct 25, 2014

World's rapidly expanding millionaire club

Time was that 'being a millionaire' was a mark of unimaginable success. Not anymore.
Japan Times
Figure Skating / ICE TIME
Sep 23, 2014

Cost, travel, time no object for one passionate skating fan

One of the most rewarding aspects of being a sportswriter is the many opportunities you have to interact with athletes, coaches, executives and fans while covering events.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Dec 24, 2013

Defense spending hike covers pay: ministry

The Abe administration's draft budget adopted Tuesday includes ¥4.88 trillion in defense spending in fiscal 2014, a 2.8 percent increase from this year.
COMMENTARY / World
Dec 5, 2012

How to fight in Afghanistan with fewer U.S. troops

Kimberly and Frederick W. Kagan's recent commentary in The Washington Post, arguing for a force of 30,000 or more Americans in Afghanistan after 2014, is fundamentally wrong. Although their goals are sound — preventing terrorist attacks from the region on the United States — the writers' logic and...
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / Japan / Geoeconomic Briefing
Apr 18, 2023

Ahead of G7 Hiroshima summit, Japan should examine past contributions

Cooperating with NATO and getting the so-called Global South involved in global security is a vital next step.
Japan Times
WORLD
Apr 6, 2023

Ukraine has decimated its oligarchs, but now fears new ones

Key allies from Group of Seven nations are pressing the government in Kyiv to resume reform programs now.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Crime & Legal / FOCUS
Mar 24, 2023

Iwao Hakamata: The former pro-boxer fighting for exoneration, with help from his sister

The day of his arrest forever changed the course of Hakamata's life, but it was also the beginning of a long, drawn out fight for exoneration.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC
Jul 19, 2023

U.S. soldier in North Korea far from first American to flee to reclusive state

Numerous U.S. citizens — including soldiers, tourists, journalists and scholars — have been detained or crossed into North Korea since the Cold War.
A man stands atop a float holding a portable shrine at this year’s Sanja Festival in Tokyo.
PODCAST / deep dive
Jul 20, 2023

Why 2023 will be a deciding year for Japan’s iconic summer festivals

As the population gets older do we risk losing the summer festivals that make Japan unique?
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy holds a news conference during a NATO leaders summit in Vilnius, Lithuania, on July 12.
COMMENTARY / Geoeconomic Briefing
Jul 27, 2023

Volodymyr Zelenskyy: From a weak anti-war leader to a symbol of the fight for liberation

Shifting away from direct negotiations with Russian President Vladimir Putin, Ukraine's leader has called for weapons and galvanized national unity in the face of war.
Migrants sit onboard an inflatable boat before attempting to illegally cross the English Channel to reach Britain, off the coast of Sangatte, northern France, on July 18.
WORLD
Aug 4, 2023

Migrant boat rescue missions do not encourage crossings, study shows

The finding contradicts claims that ships that save migrants in the Mediterranean incentivize people to risk their lives trying to get to the EU.
Children from nongovernment controlled territories who attended a Russian-organized summer camp and were then taken to Russia wait for departure to Kyiv, after returning via the Ukraine-Belarus border, in Volyn region, Ukraine on April 7.
WORLD
Aug 10, 2023

Kremlin aide who took Ukraine minors to Russia tied to neo-Nazism

Russia claims its deportation of Ukrainian children, described by international prosecutors as illegal, is to protect them from "Nazism."
Former Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra waves after arriving at Don Mueang airport in Bangkok on Tuesday.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Aug 22, 2023

Thailand's Thaksin returns to jail after years in exile

Thaksin, who was found guilty in absentia in four corruption cases and still faces 10 years in prison, was taken into custody by the police.
Yuko Obuchi (left), picked as the Liberal Democratic Party's new election campaign chief, poses for a photo with Prime Minister Fumio Kishida and other LDP executives at the party's headquarters in Tokyo on Wednesday.
JAPAN / Politics / Notebook
Sep 13, 2023

What Kishida’s reshuffle says about female participation in politics

Political family ties of most of the female appointees speaks to the difficulty women face in entering the political arena.
New Foreign Minister Yoko Kamikawa is seen in formal attire to attend an attestation ceremony after a Cabinet reshuffle in Tokyo on Wednesday.
JAPAN / Politics
Sep 13, 2023

In Kishida's Cabinet reshuffle, two changes stand out

It will be the first time in 20 years that a woman has been foreign minister, while the new defense chief arrives amid dramatic shifts in defense posture.
Prime Minister Fumio Kishida and members of his new Cabinet at the Prime Minister's Office in Tokyo on Wednesday
COMMENTARY / Japan
Sep 14, 2023

More flash than substance in Kishida’s Cabinet reshuffle

The reshuffle was consistent with past Liberal Democratic Party practices and portends a continuation of status quo policies and initiatives.
Emperor Naruhito greets newly appointed reconstruction minister Shinako Tsuchiya during the attestation ceremony at the Imperial Palace in Tokyo on Wednesday following Prime Minister Fumio Kishida's Cabinet reshuffle.
EDITORIALS
Sep 15, 2023

Kishida's Cabinet shuffle will make little difference

It will take more than new faces — and inexperienced ministers — to address the issues that bedevil the Kishida government and the country.
Liberal Democratic Party election strategy committee Chair Yuko Obuchi speaks to reporters in Tokyo on Sept. 13.
JAPAN / Politics
Sep 21, 2023

Scandal-tainted Yuko Obuchi's appointment could backfire on Kishida

Obuchi still faces questions over a nearly decade-old political funds scandal, and last week she was hit with fresh allegations of financial impropriety.
Leaves of marijuana plants from which hemp fibers are extracted at Japan's largest legal marijuana farm in Kanuma, Tochigi Prefecture, on July 5, 2016
PODCAST / deep dive
Sep 21, 2023

Does a university cannabis scandal point to a larger trend?

A drugs scandal at Japan’s biggest university draws attention to a troubling statistic: Cannabis use among young people is on the rise.
Oil pump jacks in Tatarstan, Russia, on June 4
BUSINESS / Companies
Sep 21, 2023

Oil companies cautious about drilling as energy transition looms

Instead of spending big to boost output, oil companies are boosting dividends or buying back shares to reward investors.
U.S. Sen. Dianne Feinstein speaks to reporters on Capitol Hill in Washington in December 2014.
WORLD
Sep 29, 2023

Long-serving U.S. Democratic Sen. Dianne Feinstein dies at 90

Feinstein was a Washington trail-blazer who among other accomplishments became the first woman to head the influential Senate Intelligence Committee.
Paramilitary personnel at a security checkpoint ahead of the G20 summit in New Delhi on Sept. 8.
WORLD / Politics
Oct 3, 2023

Indian police launch raids on journalists and activists

Those raided are reported to be connected to the English-language news website NewsClick.

Longform

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