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JAPAN
Jan 24, 2010

U.N. rapporteur to North: Clean up rights act

A special rapporteur for the United Nations on human rights in North Korea has urged Pyongyang to take concrete measures to resolve the abductee issue as soon as possible and return the victims to their families.
BUSINESS
Nov 12, 2009

JAL retirees demand details on pension cut

A group of Japan Airlines Corp. retirees asked transport minister Seiji Maehara on Wednesday to provide a better explanation of the government's plan to cut JAL's pension benefits and urged that the issue be resolved via discussions and not through a special law.
COMMUNITY / Issues / THE ZEIT GIST
Jul 15, 2008

Human rights — strictly personal, strictly Japanese?

Go figure. Just a few weeks after I wrote about how Japanese courts try to avoid doing anything dramatic, on June 4 the Supreme Court ruled that a section of the Nationality Law was unconstitutional. Such rulings being so rare, I steeled myself for a big helping of highfalutin' Japanese legalese and...
Japan Times
Features
Jul 13, 2008

Japan's culture policy lingers in limbo

It's a fact that has long puzzled devotees and plain old tourists alike. Japan's manga and anime arts have been wowing the world for more than a decade, and yet the national government still hasn't got around to setting up a proper museum for their enjoyment, preservation and study.
COMMENTARY / COUNTERPOINT
May 4, 2008

Japan's media plays nursemaid to nation's immature democracy

A major Japanese newspaper publishes an article denouncing the prime minister. Reporters hold a rally to criticize his Cabinet. The government responds by banning sales of the edition of the newspaper that carried the article, indicting its author for violation of the Newspaper Law. Rightwing agitators...
JAPAN
Sep 27, 2006

New lineup a good indicator where policy emphasis will be

The new Cabinet lineup announced Tuesday shows where Prime Minister Shinzo Abe is placing his emphasis, such as the North Korean abductions, education and various reforms, and he wants his closest allies working in those areas.
JAPAN
Sep 12, 2006

Trouble looms as foreign labor floods in

OSAKA -- It's 2030, and Japan is facing an unprecedented social problem. For the past quarter-century, ever since the population began declining, the government has encouraged the hiring of foreign laborers. But measures to control immigration have failed, and in some towns and villages foreigners now...
BUSINESS
Mar 27, 2004

Diet passes 82 trillion yen '04 budget

The Diet on Friday passed the fiscal 2004 budget, which totals 82.11 trillion yen.
COMMENTARY / World
Jul 18, 2003

Discontent runs deep in Hong Kong

LONDON -- The way in which the administration in Hong Kong was forced to pull back from its proposed antisubversion legislation has rightly been hailed as a rare example of popular feeling making its impact on the unelected government of the former British colony. But it raises more fundamental questions...
COMMENTARY
Dec 3, 2002

Japan must do its part in war

The Japanese government, acting under a special antiterrorism law, decided Nov. 19 to extend Japan's logistic support for U.S. forces for six months through next May. The decision calls for dispatching a transport ship and an escort destroyer to deliver heavy machinery from Thailand to Qatar for airfield...
COMMENTARY
Oct 21, 2002

Keeping faith with the U.S.

Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi plans to meet with U.S. President George W. Bush on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum to be held in Mexico later this month. Koizumi sets great store on Japan-U.S. friendship. In a speech to the Council on Foreign Relations in New York in September,...
JAPAN
Jun 5, 2002

Opposition parties to demand Nakatani resign over info list

Secretaries general of the four biggest opposition parties agreed Tuesday to demand the resignation of Defense Agency chief Gen Nakatani over his agency's systematic compilation of information on individuals who made information disclosure requests from the agency.
COMMENTARY / World
Jul 6, 2001

Mahathir digs deep into old roots

KUALA LUMPUR -- Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad took two hours to deliver a 21-page address at the opening ceremony of the United Malays National Organization (UMNO) assembly on June 21. During the assembly's closing session two days later, he took another two hours to elaborate on the key...
BUSINESS
Jun 29, 2001

Bad-loan disposal urged over profits

How many bad loans did banks write off in fiscal 2000? How many years will it take for banks to dispose of all their bad loans?
JAPAN
Oct 25, 1999

Jospin's first visit to Japan slated for December

French Prime Minister Lionel Jospin will make his first official visit to Japan in mid-December for talks with Japanese leaders on international issues and ways to further strengthen bilateral relations, government sources said Monday.
JAPAN
Apr 6, 1998

Citizens, LDP may forge compromise on disaster relief bill

Staff writer
JAPAN
Apr 10, 1997

Okinawa base lease bill clears Lower House panel

With the backing of major opposition parties, a government-sponsored bill aimed at giving Tokyo the power to continue forcibly leasing land for U.S. military bases in Okinawa easily passed a Lower House special committee without amendment April 10.
JAPAN
Feb 18, 1997

No law planned for NTT breakup, minister says

The splitup of Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Corp. through the formation of a holding company will not be handled by the creation of a separate taxation law, Finance Minister Hiroshi Mitsuzuka said Feb. 18.
PODCAST / deep dive
Jul 26, 2023

A tale of two Fujis: Bullet climbs, crowds and Lizzo

With the borders fully open, Mount Fuji is all booked up and Fuji Rock is back in full force. Drew Damron and Patrick St. Michel join us on the podcast to discuss Japan’s two favorite Fujis.
Former U.S. President and 2024 presidential hopeful Donald Trump attends one of his campaign rallies in Erie, Pennsylvania, on Saturday.
WORLD
Aug 1, 2023

Trump's bid to quash Georgia probe rejected by judge

The judge denied Trump's request to disqualify the lead prosecutor, block any potential indictments and throw out a special grand jury report.
An Air Koryo plane is reflected in a glass structure of the airport in Pyongyang in April 2017.
ASIA PACIFIC
Aug 22, 2023

North Korea sees first passenger flight in three years

An Air Koryo flight from Pyongyang landed in Beijing early Tuesday for the first time since the COVID-19 pandemic lockdowns began in 2020.
Prime Minster Fumio Kishida talks with his Cambodian counterpart, Hun Manet, as they arrive at the Association of the Southeast Asian Nations Summit in Jakarta on Thursday.
EDITORIALS
Sep 8, 2023

The ASEAN Summit gives us just more of the same

ASEAN needs to address problems internal divisions and maintain its role in the region.
Prime Minister Fumio Kishida's administration faces discontent within the ruling coalition, mounting frustration from conservative elements in the LDP and persistently low public approval ratings.
COMMENTARY
Oct 10, 2023

As cracks form, Kishida’s political ship takes on water

The Kishida administration faces discontent within the ruling coalition, frustration from LDP conservatives and and low public approval ratings.
A ball of fire erupts in Gaza City after an Israeli airstrike on Thursday.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Oct 13, 2023

China defends position on Hamas war in talk with Israel’s envoy

China’s special envoy on Middle East issues said the country condemns actions that lead to the death of civilians.
The Tokyo headquarters of the Family Federation for World Peace and Unification, also known as the Unification Church
JAPAN / Politics
Oct 15, 2023

Japan opposition seeks law on Unification Church asset protection

Despite differing views on method, the CDP and Nippon Ishin no Kai want to prevent the organization's money being deliberately moved overseas.
In Japan on a scholarship he fought hard for, Oscar Ruto found himself needing to take a break and headed into Tokyo for a weekend of partying.
COMMUNITY / Voices / FOREIGN AGENDA
Nov 27, 2023

'I wasn't always an alcoholic … and then I was'

As the party season draws near, it's important to deal with yearend stress in healthier ways.
U.S. President Joe Biden delivers remarks at a news conference in Nantucket, Massachusetts, on Friday. Biden will not attend a major United Nations climate summit that begins Thursday in Dubai.
WORLD / Politics
Nov 27, 2023

Biden to skip U.N. climate summit, White House official says

Climate activists are likely to be angered by the decision, but analysts said it was not typical for a U.S. president to attend every climate summit.
COP28 has kicked off in Dubai amid division, as there is no firm commitment from developed nations to help out less financially secure countries. 
COMMENTARY
Nov 29, 2023

The Global South has lost faith in COP28

The Global South, which bears the brunt of climate change despite contributing minimally to emissions, is frustrated.
A member of the Israeli security forces inspects humanitarian aid trucks arriving from Egypt on the Israeli side of the Kerem Shalom border crossing with the southern Gaza Strip on Friday.
WORLD
Dec 24, 2023

Without a truce, U.N. resolution may do little for Gaza, aid groups say

Humanitarian assistance is "impossible" to deploy in an active combat zone, they said.

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.