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Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / LABOR PAINS
Oct 7, 2013

The Special Dismissal Zone: where legal protections no longer apply

The government's Special Employment Zone wheeze has already been dubbed the Special Dismissal Zone, or kaiko tokku, by the media.
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.
Japan Times
WORLD
Oct 5, 2013

NSA sought to unmask users of Net-privacy tool

On Nov. 1, 2007, the National Security Agency hosted a talk by Roger Dingledine, principal designer of one of the world's leading Internet privacy tools. It was a wary encounter, akin to mutual intelligence gathering, between a spy agency and a man who built tools to ward off electronic surveillance....
Japan Times
CULTURE / Entertainment news
Oct 4, 2013

Beatlemania: 'The screamers' and other tales of fandom

The first time Scottish concert promoter Andi Lothian booked the Beatles, in the frozen January of 1963, only 15 people showed up. The next time he brought them north of the border, to Glasgow Odeon on Oct. 5, they had scored a No. 1 album and three No. 1 singles, and it was as if a hurricane had blown...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Oct 2, 2013

Melt-Banana: Being 'stupid' isn't so bad when it comes to touring

For Melt-Banana, the flip side of popularity overseas is that it is often regarded as a band who has never really lived up to its potential at home.
COMMENTARY / World
Oct 1, 2013

Business partnerships in the fight against poverty

The private sector must be a critical partner if we are to sustainably lift people out of poverty. It is small- and medium-size enterprises that consistently drive job creation and economic growth.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Voices / VIEWS FROM THE STREET
Sep 30, 2013

Tokyo: How do you feel about the capital hosting the 2020 Olympics?

Enthusiasm tinged with ambivalence greets the news that the city has been chosen to host the 2020 Summer Olympics — at least among this unscientific sample of Tokyoites.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / JUST BE CAUSE
Sep 30, 2013

Triumph of Tokyo Olympic bid sends wrong signal to Japan's resurgent right

International events undermine Japan's democracy. Shame on the International Olympic Committee for being a party to it.
Japan Times
WORLD
Sep 26, 2013

Syrian rebel groups ally to create Islamic state, reject West

U.S. hopes of winning more influence over Syria's fractious rebel movement faded Wednesday after 11 of the biggest armed factions repudiated the Western-backed opposition coalition and announced the formation of a new alliance dedicated to creating an Islamic state.
COMMENTARY / World
Sep 24, 2013

Brazilians demand long-term change in slums

Brazilian demonstraters want the government to invest in public transportation, better schools and hospitals instead of hosting mega-events such as the 2014 World Cup.
COMMUNITY / Voices / COMMUNITY CHEST
Sep 23, 2013

Let the world help at Fukushima No. 1

Readers' mails on the Fukushima fiasco and the late, great Mary Sisk Noguchi, Kanji Clinic columnist and friend to Japanese learners around the world.
COMMENTARY / World
Sep 22, 2013

Indonesian woes, ASEAN problems

Some fear Indonesia is heading for crisis as second-quarter growth dropped below 6 percent. But the recent appointments of top policymakers offer hope.
EDITORIALS
Sep 18, 2013

Mr. Abe's ominous defense moves

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's approach to changing the government's traditional position on the right to collective self-defense undermines the foundation of Japanese democracy.
JAPAN
Sep 18, 2013

Hiring more women seen as answer to economic malaise

Imagine our current discussions about women and the workplace — Can women have it all? How do women lean in? — taking place in a country with one of the worst gender-equality ratios in the world.
COMMENTARY / World
Sep 17, 2013

Beijing sees a victory as UNSC role gets a boost

China has every right to be pleased with the U.S.-Russia agreement on Syria, which has returned the United Nations to center stage.
Japan Times
LIFE / Lifestyle
Sep 16, 2013

Self-harm blogs can pose problems for those fighting depression

Self-harm blogs shelter in a dark, desperate corner of the Internet that few of us will ever see. But 14-year-old Anouschka, a baby-faced blogger, has lived here for months, collecting photos of slashed wrists and razor blades, reading grim, adolescent poems about death and loneliness — and meeting...
Reader Mail
Sep 14, 2013

Make use of chemical conventions

Regarding the Sept. 12 article "Obama gives Syria diplomatic option to avoid U.S. strike": In a plan jointly developed just over a week ago with Dr. Gordon Thompson, who directs the Institute for Resource and Security Studies in Cambridge, Massachusetts (before U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry's door-opening...
Japan Times
JAPAN
Sep 3, 2013

JET alumni advocates for Japan

Clifton Strickler never thought of coming to Japan until he met his boss at the University of Texas while engaged in an undergraduate work-study. His boss lived in Naha, Okinawa Prefecture, teaching English with the Japan Exchange and Teaching Program.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC / FOCUS
Sep 3, 2013

Nukes, terrorists, intel gaps: U.S. 'black budget' shows extent of distrust toward Pakistan

The $52.6 billion U.S. intelligence arsenal is aimed mainly at unambiguous adversaries, including al-Qaida, North Korea and Iran. But top-secret budget documents reveal an equally intense focus on one purported ally: Pakistan, which appears at the top of charts listing critical U.S. intelligence gaps.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / THE FOREIGN ELEMENT
Sep 2, 2013

Tin Man's throne: the rise and fall of a Roppongi royal

Gilbert Otaigbe is the current owner of Black Horse bar and nightclub in Roppongi. At the height of his success in the mid-2000s, he owned at least seven bars, clubs and restaurants.
Japan Times
JAPAN / INTERPRETATION & TRANSLATION
Sep 2, 2013

Focusing on people, not just words

English interpreters in Japan may often be regarded as those who convert English into Japanese or vice versa. However, Mutsumi Katayama, who has worked for more than 20 years as a freelance professional interpreter, focuses more attention on interpersonal communication.
WORLD
Aug 31, 2013

Secret documents detail U.S. war in cyberspace

The Obama administration's cyber operations sometimes involve what one leaked budget document calls 'field operations' abroad, commonly with the help of CIA operatives or clandestine military forces, 'to physically place hardware implants or software modifications.'
BUSINESS / Economy
Aug 31, 2013

Most on Abe's expert panel approve plan to hike sales tax

The government's expert panel on the planned consumption tax hike wrapped up discussions Saturday with more than 70 percent of its members supporting the plan as it now stands, saying Japan will suffer a much bigger economic blow if the tax isn't raised.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives
Aug 30, 2013

Organizer of annual writers' workshop helps others find artistic way

John Gribble gives a part of every day to creating. Whether it's pinpointing the perfect word for a poem or plucking out a ditty on a guitar, his life and livelihood in some way proves creative. As a poet and teacher, Gribble has spent the last 20 years in Japan organizing others to find their artistic...
EDITORIALS
Aug 28, 2013

A crime against humanity in Syria

The Syrian government should allow U.N. inspectors full access to the battlefield where last week's chemical-weapons attacks to place, and ensure that all their questions are answered.

Longform

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