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Japan Times
JAPAN
Nov 15, 2002

Soga's husband, daughters request her prompt return

The husband and two daughters of Hitomi Soga, one of five Japanese abducted by North Korea who are now back in Japan, have said they want her to return to Pyongyang as soon as possible, officials of a Japanese weekly magazine that interviewed the trio said Thursday.
COMMENTARY
May 20, 2002

Too early to fete a new day for Myanmar

HONG KONG -- On May 7, Vietnam inadvertently hindered 50 million Myanmarese from learning that "at last Aung Sang Suu Kyi is no longer under house arrest." The Myanmar government's authoritarian habits prevailed at the very moment when hopes of future democracy were reborn.
JAPAN
Dec 11, 2001

Ministry denies role in pro-MBM report

The farm ministry on Monday defended itself against allegations by a weekly magazine that it encouraged farmers to feed cattle with meat-and-bone meal in the mid-1990s.
COMMENTARY / THE VIEW FROM NEW YORK
Jul 30, 2001

Is yellow journalism in vogue again?

Why do so many foreign commentators feel they can get away with anything they say about Japan?
JAPAN
May 4, 2001

Constitution turns 54 as battle lines drawn up for and against reform

Groups for and against revision of the Constitution held rallies in Tokyo on Thursday to mark the 54th anniversary of the supreme law amid increasing calls for its revision from political leaders, including Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi.
COMMENTARY / World
Apr 17, 2000

China clamps down on Hong Kong press

SYDNEY -- While the rest of the world debates the terms under which they might engage China, Beijing is busy trampling on its agreement with the British over Hong Kong's return to Chinese sovereignty. In the handover agreement, both parties agreed upon Hong Kong's mini-constitution, the Basic Law, as...
Japan Times
WORLD
Apr 3, 2023

A front company and a fake identity: How the U.S. came to use spyware it was trying to kill.

The Biden administration has been trying to choke off use of hacking tools made by the Israeli firm NSO. It turns out that not every part of the government has gotten the message.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / Japan
Feb 17, 2023

Off the record should mean off the record

An off-the-record remark may have take down a high-level Japanese bureaucrat. Such actions by journalists will only hurt journalism.
Japan Times
PODCAST / deep dive
Dec 16, 2022

Is it too late to save the Japanese giant salamander?

Environmental journalist Mara Budgen comes on the show to talk about the Japanese giant salamander, which is well-protected within Japan through various laws but is still at risk of becoming an endangered species.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC
May 2, 2022

Inside China’s 'zero-COVID' fortress, Xi admits no doubts

As the lockdown of Shanghai and outbreaks in Beijing and elsewhere batter the economy, China's leader keeps a distance from the politically charged issue.
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Dec 18, 2021

Sapporo faces uphill battle convincing public about 2030 Winter Games bid

About half of all respondents to a 2014 survey said they were worried about how much the Games would cost. A lot has changed since then.
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
May 1, 2021

Hate speech can’t be met with indifference and ignorance

When the head of DHC began making anti-Korean comments, many news outlets decided it was just better not to talk about it.
Japan Times
WORLD / Politics
Apr 24, 2021

After testing the world’s limits, Putin steps back from the brink

The Russian president went up to the brink — and then, with the eyes of the world upon him, stepped back from it.
Japan Times
WORLD / Science & Health / FOCUS
Dec 27, 2020

How a British COVID-19 vaccine went from pole position to troubled start

A review of records and interviews with scientists and industry figures gives a detailed account of what went wrong with the Oxford-AstraZeneca study.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Aug 18, 2018

Japan's bears are widely vilified and little understood

On Aug. 6, the BBC aired a story about four Ussuri brown bears being successfully transported from a museum in Hokkaido to a wildlife park in England. In the story, a British organization called Wild Welfare said it had become "concerned" about the animals' living situation at the Ainu Museum, where...
Japan Times
JAPAN / Media / BIG IN JAPAN
Mar 3, 2018

Anniversaries loom for gum producer Lotte and the Yoshiwara red-light district

In 1941, a 19-year-old Korean chemistry student named Shin Kyuk-ho traveled to Tokyo to study at a technical college. He remained in Japan following the war and, under the name Takeo Shigemitsu, founded Lotte Co. in 1948. The brand's name was inspired by Charlotte, the heroine of Johann Wolfgang von...
Japan Times
LIFE / Language / MORNING ENGLISH
Oct 16, 2017

Let's discuss the DP joining up with Kibo no To

In a dramatic move, the center-left Democratic Party decided Sept. 28 to effectively disband its Lower House caucus and join Kibo no To.
JAPAN / Politics / FOCUS
May 26, 2017

Strange Yomiuri story signals Maekawa being targeted for authenticating Kake papers

An unusual story in a conservative daily raises suspicions that a former education official is being targeted for verifying the documents behind Prime Minister Abe's latest influence-peddling scandal.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Politics
Feb 4, 2017

Mattis clarifies U.S. defense pledge, stays mum on host-nation support

Japan breathes a sigh of relief after visiting U.S. Secretary of Defense James Mattis reaffirms America's commitment to the bilateral security treaty and keeps quiet about host-nation support.
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Jan 21, 2017

Emperor's abdication highlights the inconvenience behind the country's Imperial naming system

For two weeks the media has been buzzing about the news that Emperor Akihito will abdicate before 2019.
JAPAN / Politics
Sep 26, 2015

As dust from security bills fight settles, Japan opposition — not Abe — facing crisis

Despite putting up a strong united front, it is the opposition that are struggling even though polls showed a majority of voters opposed the controversial security legislation.
BASKETBALL
Aug 21, 2015

Broncos signee Uhle, 22, dies in Atlanta

A prospective Saitama Broncos player for the upcoming season has died before his professional career began.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Media / DARK SIDE OF THE RISING SUN
Jan 31, 2015

Crime and punishment: Abe's Mideast crisis

In general, crime prevention is a good thing — it helps stop crime. By punishing people for minor transgressions, you stop them from committing larger misdemeanors and discourage crime overall. If the principle is applied blindly, however, it can produce some awkward results.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / THE FOREIGN ELEMENT
Dec 22, 2014

Jeers, apologies and silence: Japan's 2014 in quotes

First of all, we're sorry. Everybody is sorry. This was the year that everyone apologized and everyone was sorry about something. The Asahi Shimbun was sorry so many times (even when maybe they shouldn't have been) that we're omitting them from the list. There's not enough space.
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.
Masayoshi Son (front, center) poses with the members of the Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks after the team won the Pacific League championship at Kyocera Dome Osaka on Sept. 23.
JAPAN / Society / Regional Voices: Kyushu
Nov 18, 2024

Masayoshi Son’s aim for SoftBank Hawks remains, 20 years after buyout

This year, the team became Pacific League champions for the first time in four years. But its owner has loftier goals.
Digital minister Masaaki Taira, who has jurisdiction over a bill to introduce an “active cyberdefense” system, speaks during an interview in Tokyo on Tuesday.
JAPAN / Politics
Nov 13, 2024

Government set to postpone submission of cyberdefense bill to next year

The delay in the bill to introduce an "active cyberdefense" system follows the ruling bloc's election drubbing, which drained the prime minister's political capital.

Longform

Atsuyoshi Koike, the president and CEO of Rapidus, says there is a “sense of urgency” when it comes to Japan’s efforts in manufacturing semiconductors. “We have to make sure we are successful,” he says.
Atsuyoshi Koike’s big game: Fourth down and 2 nanometers to go