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WORLD / FOCUS
Jul 18, 2013

Germans direct NSA ire at Merkel

German Chancellor Angela Merkel grew up in a society where the government kept a Big Brother eye on its citizens. Now, critics say, she has assented to similar practices — this time coming from the U.S., not East Germany's fearsome secret police.
Japan Times
WORLD / Politics
Jul 14, 2013

Imminent birth puts spotlight on monarch

Aging monarchs in the Netherlands and Belgium stepped down this year to make room for the next generation of Europe's crowned heads. But in Britain, the impending birth of a royal baby will have heirs stacking up like planes at London's super-clogged Heathrow Airport.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Politics / GAME OF NUMBERS
Jul 10, 2013

Pro-nuke LDP's candidate quiet on Ehime reactor restart bid

On the far western edge of Shikoku, Ehime's Sada Misaki Peninsula juts out into the Seto Inland Sea. It's a long sliver of land home to several species of hawk and several varieties of the prefecture's famous "mikan" oranges.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC
Jun 27, 2013

Snowden's stay in H.K. filled with intrigue

The message was blunt and was delivered Friday night by a shadowy emissary who didn't identify himself but knew enough to locate Edward Snowden's secret caretaker: The 30-year-old American accused of leaking some of his country's most sensitive secrets should leave Hong Kong, the messenger said, and...
Japan Times
ENVIRONMENT / OUR PLANET EARTH
Jun 23, 2013

Jellyfish carry the sting of human overcrowding

It may not be immediately apparent what jellyfish, human population growth and our protein diet have in common. Take a closer look, though, and all three offer warning signs that dramatic changes are on the horizon for us and our planet.
COMMENTARY / World
Jun 17, 2013

Surveillance controversy illuminated by history

The American public at large is more accepting of the government's involvement in their lives than a 29-year-old former NSA contractor appears to believe.
COMMENTARY / World
Jun 12, 2013

Syria bleeds as West watches

The only proper response to those who fret about 'where do you stop?' if the international community intervenes in the Syrian conflict is 'when do you start
JAPAN
Jun 11, 2013

Japan may announce humanitarian aid for Syrian rebels at G-8 summit

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe could announce Tokyo's intention to provide humanitarian assistance to Syrian rebels at next week's Group of Eight summit in Britain, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga said Tuesday.
CULTURE / Japan Pulse
Jun 7, 2013

Tweet Beat: #tof2013, #ビフォーアフター, #rubykaigi

Events with hashtags attract tweets from attendees and beyond. Plus: the pro-wrestling dorm episode of 'Daikaizou Gekiteki Before After'!
Japan Times
WORLD
Jun 5, 2013

France 'certain' Syrian regime used sarin gas in civil war

The French government says it has confirmed the use of sarin gas by the Syrian government, and a U.N. panel reports that it has 'reasonable grounds' to believe chemical weapons have been used in the country's civil war.
Japan Times
WORLD
Jun 3, 2013

Liberal hawks mum on U.S. intervention in Syria

For interests on both sides of Syria's civil war, the past two weeks have been the time to increase the pressure. Hezbollah sent reinforcements to the troops of President Bashar Assad, and Russia reiterated its intention to furnish the regime with weapons. At the same time, Republican Sen. John McCain...
Japan Times
BASEBALL / Japanese Baseball
Jun 2, 2013

Severe sports training methods became taibatsu in time

The martial arts were the inspiration for the famous baseball team at the First Higher School of Tokyo, a late 19th century powerhouse that helped make yakyu, as baseball came to be known, the national sport of Japan.
COMMENTARY / COUNTERPOINT
Jun 2, 2013

Crony capitalism: corruption, disparities and stifled initiative

Crony capitalism is the scourge of contemporary Asia, lining pockets and diverting resources in ways that systematically undermine the public interest, accentuate disparities, sap innovative and entrepreneurial impulses — while also subverting governance.
COMMENTARY / World
May 31, 2013

Alcohol addiction could doom Putin's dreams

Russians' love for vodka has a long history. Legend holds that vodka arrived in Moscow in the 14th century, brought by Genovese merchants to Prince Dmitry Ivanovich.
Reader Mail
May 30, 2013

Jump-starting the use of English

Amy Chavez's May 25 column, "English education and English sheepdogs," gives a clear-cut reason why Japanese people usually have a lot of difficulties speaking English.
COMMENTARY / World
May 27, 2013

Hold the false prophets of doom accountable

Apocalyptic prophecies and the raucous festivities accompanying them are indisputably alluring. But imaginary cataclysms have real-world consequences.
Japan Times
ENVIRONMENT / OUR PLANET EARTH
May 26, 2013

Mr. Abe: Bag the nukes and heed the Keeling Curve

Dear Prime Minister Abe,
Japan Times
JAPAN
May 25, 2013

Ex-sex slaves won't meet Hashimoto

Two South Korean former 'comfort women' cancel their planned meeting with Nippon Ishin no Kai coleader Toru Hashimoto, saying via a representative that they don't want to be his political pawns.
COMMENTARY / World
May 22, 2013

Substitute question marks for exclamation marks

A terrible tragedy is unfolding in (fill in the name of your favorite trouble spot). Something must be done. This (choose from sending troops, air strikes, enforcing a no fly zone, arming rebels) is something. Therefore it must be done.
COMMENTARY / World
May 15, 2013

Misplaced pride in conspicuous consumption

Wouldn't you laugh at someone who paid more than 200 times as much as you did for a watch, and ended up with an inferior product? Some lawmakers don't get it.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Media / BIG IN JAPAN
May 12, 2013

Will Mount Fuji celebrate World Heritage status by blowing its top?

On May 1, Japan's Agency for Cultural Affairs announced it had received notification that Mount Fuji had been recommended for World Heritage status by the UNESCO-affiliated International Council on Monuments and Sites. Formal approval is expected at the World Heritage Committee meeting in Cambodia next month.
COMMENTARY / World
May 12, 2013

Problems with figuring poor countries' GDP cloud judgments about which policies work

Since we can't be sure whether one poor country's GDP is higher than another's, we should not use GDP alone to determine which policies lead to growth.
Japan Times
WORLD
May 11, 2013

Genesis of a brawl: Decades of Sherpa resentment fuel confrontation on Mount Everest

It's an irresistible contrast. On the one hand, modern mountaineering superstars with their blogs and sponsorship deals, scrapping with outraged Sherpas on the slopes of Everest. On the other, one of the defining images of the 20th century, the photograph of Tenzing Norgay and Sir Edmund Hillary standing...
COMMENTARY / World
May 11, 2013

Attacks in Iraq threatening gains from 'surge'

The places in Iraq where violence has erupted of late are eerily familiar, as many were strongholds of al-Qaida in Iraq at the outset of the American-led 'surge' in 2007.
WORLD / Politics
May 4, 2013

German chancellor urges U.K. to crack down on tax havens

The coalition's plans to crack down on Britain's tax havens were discussed April 13 at a meeting between British Prime Minister David Cameron and German Chancellor Angela Merkel, amid growing concerns in Germany.
Japan Times
WORLD
Apr 29, 2013

Perceptions of brothers don't fit neatly into pre-existing box

Chechen? American? Immigrant? Citizen? Muslim? Boston Marathon bombing suspects Tamerlan and Dzhokhar Tsarnaev may be all of the above, but how Americans attempt to come to grips with the attacks allegedly perpetrated by the brothers has much to do with how Americans identify them.
COMMENTARY / World
Apr 25, 2013

Rape and gender discrimination related in India

It is hard to equate India's rapid technological development with practices such as female feticide, the earliest manifestation of violence against women.

Longform

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