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Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / THE ZEIT GIST
Dec 4, 2007

Taking liberties? Readers respond

The Community Page received an unprecedented number of responses to the "Taking Liberties" series that ran in this section last month. Following are some examples.
ENVIRONMENT / OUR PLANET EARTH
Jan 25, 2006

Saving our environment one step at a time

Having ended 2005 with a rant (see below), let me begin 2006 on a more positive note by introducing some valuable environmental education resources.
JAPAN
Apr 1, 2004

High court rescinds weekly's injunction

The Tokyo High Court on Wednesday revoked a lower court injunction against the publication of a magazine that carried a story on the divorce of former Foreign Minister Makiko Tanaka's daughter, citing freedom of expression and the public's right to know.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Jun 22, 2022

Hong Kong is unrecognizable after two years under new security law

The landscape for free expression in Hong Kong after Beijing enacted the National Security Law has become increasingly desolate, and conditions are set to worsen.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC / FOCUS
Jan 11, 2022

'Colonial wine from new, authoritarian bottles': Hong Kong retools sedition law

The Hong Kong government is expanding its use of a long-dormant sedition law in what some lawyers and democracy advocates say is intensifying a squeeze on press freedom.
JAPAN / Media / BIG IN JAPAN
May 29, 2021

Can a celebrity wedding set the mood for romance?

Yui Aragaki and Gen Hoshino announced they will be getting married, proving the idea that you can't find romance after 30 is an outdated one.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Mar 29, 2021

Will the U.S. end its ambiguity over Taiwan?

Tokyo should think seriously about Japan's options to deal with a Taiwan contingency.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Tech
Mar 17, 2021

Clubhouse’s founder is in a state of perpetual motion

Over the past 15 years in Silicon Valley, the Clubhouse chief executive officer has explored the depths of how technology can be used to connect people in new ways.
Japan Times
WORLD
Nov 14, 2020

Al-Qaida’s No. 2, accused in U.S. Embassy attacks, is secretly killed in Iran

Israeli agents shot Abu Muhammad al-Masri on the streets of Tehran at the behest of the U.S., intelligence officials have confirmed.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Jun 19, 2020

As China’s global media influence grows, so does the pushback

Beijing's campaign to control narratives about China the world over is attracting more attention — and opposition.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Politics
Jun 29, 2018

Mattis reaffirms U.S. commitment to defense of Japan, in Tokyo meeting

He also agreed with Defense Minister Itsunori Onodera to strive for the removal of all of North Korea's nuclear weapons and ballistic missiles.
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Jun 24, 2017

Sticky bonds of the media and government

Last month, the United Nations Human Rights Council released a report critical of the Japanese government. The author, David Kaye, expressed concern over the way the media is pressured by the authorities to support their policies. The government objected to the report, saying it has never tried to sway...
JAPAN / Media / BIG IN JAPAN
Feb 25, 2017

Is Abe attempting to fuse the church and state?

It was morning in the land of the gods. "The mountains and the waters serve our sovereign," wrote a seventh-century poet. "And she (Empress Jito), a goddess, is out on her pleasure-barge upon the foaming rapids."
Japan Times
JAPAN / Media / BIG IN JAPAN
Dec 10, 2016

Editors thrive on controversy — but it can bite back

In the early hours of Jan. 17, 1995, the Great Hanshin Earthquake struck southern Hyogo Prefecture and the surrounding areas, causing more than 6,000 deaths and seriously damaging infrastructure.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World / THE VIEW FROM NEW YORK
Sep 27, 2016

'No refuge could save the hireling and slave'

Is the U.S. national anthem racist or are the lyrics of the third stanza merely misunderstood?
Japan Times
SOCCER
Aug 5, 2016

Jennings predicts jail time for Blatter

For decades, British investigative reporter Andrew Jennings has exposed corruption at the highest levels in global sports.
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.
COMMENTARY / Japan / THE VIEW FROM NEW YORK
Oct 28, 2015

Who saved Kyoto from the atomic hellfire?

Many Americans have been given credit for sparing Kyoto from bombings, both conventional and atomic, during World War II, but it turns out that an old secretary of war was responsible.
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Oct 28, 2012

Hashimoto needs a much thicker skin

There is a breed of political reporter that thrives on misanthropy. These journalists have no use for empathy when trying to understand issues or individuals. They are only stimulated by acrimony, by the need to reveal the darkest impulses of human endeavor. H.L. Mencken, the most eloquent of this ilk,...
COMMUNITY / Voices / HAVE YOUR SAY
Jun 5, 2012

'It's just because ... foreigners know best': readers' views

Some readers' views on John Spiri's May 1 Zeit Gist column, "It's just because . . . foreigners know best":
JAPAN
Jan 1, 2004

SDF dispatch decision like a double-edged sword

When Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi voiced his unequivocal support of the U.S.-led war on Iraq in March, he was left with little choice but to commit Self-Defense Forces troops to the country's postwar reconstruction effort.
JAPAN
Sep 14, 2003

LDP candidates all favor revisions to Constitution

The four candidates for the presidency of the governing Liberal Democratic Party each appeared positive Saturday about the possibility of revising the war-renouncing Article 9 of Japan's Constitution.
Japan Times
PODCAST / deep dive
May 24, 2023

Japan's up for fusion — just don’t call it 'nuclear'

The Japanese government sets out guidelines to encourage private sector competition in the field of fusion power. Will a nuclear-wary public get on board?
JAPAN / Explainer
Jul 4, 2023

How to tell if an international school in Japan is reputable

The recent closure of an international preschool in Tokyo has put the spotlight on whether international schools deliver what they promise.
Japan Times
WORLD / ANALYSIS
Dec 31, 2022

Xi and Putin meet again, two strongmen in a weak moment

Since Russia's invasion of Ukraine began in February, Putin has been isolated and highly dependent on China to maintain a semblance of diplomatic and financial stability.
JAPAN / Politics
Aug 24, 2022

Kishida denies ties as magazine links backer to Unification Church

In a politically awkward development for Kishida, a magazine has reported a chairman of a branch of a Kishida support group is under scrutiny for his ties with the church.
PODCAST / deep dive
Nov 9, 2023

Japan’s 'four-eyed tax hiker' and the curse of Colonel Sanders

Baseball writer Jason Coskrey and editor Joel Tansey discuss the Hanshin Tigers’ Japan Series victory; Gabriele Ninivaggi explains how the prime minister hopes to get a home run with his tax plan.
As China struggles with a slumping stock market and a collapsing real estate sector, commentary and even financial analysis Beijing deems negative are blocked.
BUSINESS
Jan 31, 2024

China’s censorship dragnet targets critics of the economy

The government's new information campaign about the economy is wider than usual censorship, with efforts now extending to mainstream commentary.
Chinese Premier Li Qiang speaks during the 54th annual meeting of the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, in January.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Mar 4, 2024

China scraps premier's briefing, breaking years of convention

The decision removes a rare platform for investors to learn more about the nation’s policy direction under President Xi Jinping.
James Manyika, who heads Google’s technology and society team, delivers the keynote address at Google I/O in Mountain View, California, in 2023. OpenAI, Google and Meta ignored corporate policies, altered their own rules and discussed skirting copyright law as they sought online information to train their newest artificial intelligence systems.
BUSINESS / Tech
Apr 8, 2024

How tech giants cut corners to harvest data for AI

The companies’ actions illustrate how online information has increasingly become the lifeblood of the booming AI industry.

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.