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Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Voices / FOREIGN AGENDA
Nov 27, 2013

'Disabled' in Britain, just 'foreign' in Japan

For myself, a British citizen who has cerebral palsy living in Japan, it is the liberatory power of being a foreigner here that leaves the deepest impression on me.
EDITORIALS
Nov 16, 2013

Wrongheaded cuts in salaries

The Finance Ministry's recent proposal to cut annual salaries and numbers of teachers at public elementary and junior high schools is mistaken and misguided.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Nov 14, 2013

Risky fuel removal about to start

The decades-long decommissioning of Fukushima No. 1 is about to take what Tepco says is 'an important step' as it starts cleaning out the reactor 4 spent fuel pool.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Stage
Nov 6, 2013

Wrestling with Verdi's 'foul truth'

Women wearing flashy East-meets-West dresses and men in dark suits frolic drunkenly in a hotel lounge. Behind them can be seen the ends of the hallways for each floor of guest rooms. Couples slip away from the group from time to time, disappear down a hallway and into a room. The whole set is a cylindrical...
JAPAN
Nov 6, 2013

IAEA experts to help check seawater

Two experts from the International Atomic Energy Agency will join seawater monitoring activities off the Fukushima No. 1 power plant on Thursday and Friday, according to the U.N. nuclear watchdog.
LIFE / Language / COMMUNICATION CUES
Nov 3, 2013

Increased women's power in the police

The Metropolitan Police Department has worked out guidelines in an effort to provide a good working environment for women so that women's abilities and viewpoints can be utilized, and has started to consider concrete measures to tackle this problem.
Japan Times
WORLD
Nov 3, 2013

Eyes everywhere: 9/11 attacks transform once underfunded NSA into an all-seeing technological powerhouse

The National Security Agency gathers intelligence to keep America safe. But leaked documents reveal the NSA's dark side — and show an agency intent on exploiting the digital revolution to the full.
BUSINESS / Economy
Oct 29, 2013

IMF offers guarded praise to 'Abenomics'

"Abenomics" has brought positive results, but challenges remain as to whether Prime Minister Shinzo Abe can implement structural reform to bring about sustainable growth, the International Monetary Fund said Tuesday in its first preliminary assessment of his economic policies.
Japan Times
WORLD / Science & Health
Oct 27, 2013

Scientists now creating 'app-style' life-forms

For scientist Jack Newman, creating a new life-form has become as simple as this: He types out a DNA sequence on his laptop, and clicks "send." And nearby in the laboratory, robotic arms start to mix together some compounds to produce the desired cells.
Japan Times
WORLD / Science & Health / FOCUS
Oct 25, 2013

Space trash tax eyed

Space is getting awfully messy. The amount of debris in Earth's orbit keeps multiplying each year, damaging satellites and putting astronauts in harm's way. If the problem gets severe enough, it could eventually make low-Earth orbit unusable.
Japan Times
JAPAN / EXPLAINER
Oct 21, 2013

Mercury still threat, Abe assurances or not

Earlier this month, delegates from over 130 nations gathered in Kumamoto to launch the Minamata Convention on Mercury. The U.N.-brokered treaty aims to limit mercury use and emissions. It comes at a time when the U.N. Environmental Program warns half of all global anthropogenic mercury emissions come...
WORLD / Science & Health
Oct 13, 2013

Defective gene gives some stronger, darker view of life

Some people just see the world more darkly than others.
Japan Times
WORLD / Crime & Legal
Oct 11, 2013

Illegal taps on oil pipeline wreaking havoc on Nigeria

The flames roared 20 meters above the Niger delta swamp for 48 hours; 6,000 barrels of crude oil spilled into the creeks and waterways around the village of Bodo and several people died.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Oct 7, 2013

Minamata mercury treaty finds skeptics

Delegates from about 130 countries will gather Wednesday in the Kumamoto Prefecture cities of Minamata and Kumamoto for a three-day meeting to finalize a new international treaty seeking to ban or greatly limit the use of mercury.
EDITORIALS
Oct 7, 2013

Inching toward collective self-defense

By agreeing to revise the terms of Japan-U.S. defense cooperation in view of China's buildup, the Abe administration risks discarding Japan's traditional 'defense-only defense' posture.
EDITORIALS
Oct 6, 2013

Japan must go green

In releasing the first part of its fifth assessment report on Sept. 27, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change said that temperatures are likely to rise by 0.3 to 4.8 degrees Celsius and sea levels could rise by 26 to 82 cm by the end of the 21st century compared with the latest 20 years.
EDITORIALS
Sep 30, 2013

North Korea's hard and soft tactics

Pyongyang's recent cancellation of a planned reunion for North and South Korean families suggests that it is using hard and soft tactics to gain diplomatic advantage.
Japan Times
BASEBALL / HIT AND RUN
Sep 24, 2013

Kato's attempt to change NPB doomed by lack of power

Ryozo Kato had the ideas to be the commissioner Japanese baseball needed, but not the muscle.
Japan Times
WORLD
Sep 22, 2013

Vetting firms 'rush' through security clearances

When Ileana Privetera started working for the contractor USIS, the firm that vetted National Security Agency leaker Edward Snowden and Washington Navy Yard shooter Aaron Alexis, it sounded like the perfect job. A mother, she would have flexible hours for her family, and she would be helping the country...
Japan Times
JAPAN / CHUBU CONNECTION
Sep 20, 2013

Animal shelters strive to reduce euthanasia

The Welfare and Management of Animals Law was revised Sept. 1 in an attempt to reduce the number of abandoned dogs and cats.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / INNOVATIVE CITY FORUM
Sep 17, 2013

Urban innovation, deregulation among keys to improving Tokyo

Global cities are competing with each other to be the most innovative by combining many kinds of intelligence, such as that of technology and of people with different talents.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / INNOVATIVE CITY FORUM
Sep 17, 2013

Can Tokyo move up to the top spot of the Global Power City Index?

The 21st century may be considered the era of cities, as opposed to the 20th century being the era of countries.

Longform

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