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Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics / FOCUS
Apr 23, 2018

PAS Islamic party aims to hold key in upcoming Malaysian election

The outcome of next month's election in Malaysia may hinge on the performance of a party that has strived for decades to turn the country into an Islamic state and enforce harsher penalties on Muslims for adultery, theft and drinking alcohol.
Japan Times
MORE SPORTS
Apr 22, 2018

Versatile Trashaun Nixon impresses at running back as Frontiers down Pirates

The X League champion Fujitsu Frontiers lost two offensive weapons — MVP quarterback Colby Cameron and longtime ace running back Gino Gordon — after last year's national championship-winning season.
Reader Mail
Apr 20, 2018

Abstinence-only sex education doesn't work

Robert Austenfeld's proposal in his Letter to the Editor in the April 15 edition ("Why not teach abstinence in schools?"), seems nothing more than a thinly veiled attempt to project his own personal and religious beliefs into the debate on the use of abortion in Japan.
Reader Mail
Apr 20, 2018

The need to stamp out sontaku

In his opinion piece "Preventing another Moritomo scandal" on April 14, Ichiro Asahina said politicians should focus on "more important issues," such as North Korea and work-style reform. But how can a government paralyzed by successive scandals effectively tackle such issues?
Japan Times
BASKETBALL / B. League / B. LEAGUE NOTEBOOK
Apr 19, 2018

Readers weigh in on top underrated players

It's often easy to identify the superstars in sports.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC
Apr 18, 2018

Taipei accuses Beijing of 'saber rattling' as live-fire drills kick off in Taiwan Strait

Taiwan's defense ministry said on Wednesday that Beijing was using "cheap verbal intimidation and saber rattling" to threaten Taiwan, as China's military began live-fire drills in the sensitive Taiwan Strait amid growing tension.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Politics
Apr 17, 2018

With Trump golf outing, will Abe find himself in the bunker or on the green?

Yes, they will hit the links again after all. The question is, will Prime Minister Shinzo Abe find himself in the bunker or on the green when he meets U.S. President Donald Trump this week?
Japan Times
LIFE / Language / WELL SAID
Apr 16, 2018

If it's an explanation of how to use 'nara' you're looking for, here it is

Introducing how to use Xu306au3089u3001Y, meaning 'if X, Y' or 'if it is the case that X, Y.'
Japan Times
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Apr 14, 2018

Japan struggles to fashion casino guidelines that satisfy the public

On April 3, the ruling coalition adopted a plan for integrated resorts featuring casino gambling that it will submit for Diet approval during the current session, although some media organizations think that won't happen. The public still isn't comfortable with the idea of casinos and the coalition's...
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / WHY DID YOU LEAVE JAPAN?
Apr 14, 2018

Ryoko Hori: The art of massage and crafts

Born and raised in Osaka, Ryoko Hori, 37, moved to Tokyo to study fashion design at the age of 18. As a student she was lucky enough to work for the famous clothing brand Issey Miyake, but she wanted even more experiences in life. She had never been abroad, so after her graduation in 2003, she decided...
Japan Times
WORLD
Apr 14, 2018

Huge Chinese statue of Karl Marx erected in his German birthplace

A massive statue of Karl Marx, the founding father of communism, was erected in his birthplace on Friday after the southern German city of Trier decided to accept the bronze sculpture from China despite concerns over the country's human rights record.
ASIA PACIFIC / Crime & Legal
Apr 14, 2018

Myanmar 'seriously concerned' over war crimes prosecutor's move on Rohingya jurisdiction

The government of Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi expressed "serious concern" Friday over a move by the International Criminal Court prosecutor seeking jurisdiction over alleged deportations of Rohingya Muslims from Myanmar to Bangladesh.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Apr 13, 2018

The Orwellian danger of Facebook

Is Mark Zuckerberg really in control of Facebook? Or is he a sorcerer's apprentice that cannot handle the invention?
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Apr 12, 2018

Ex-Speaker John Boehner morphs from strong marijuana foe to pot industry adviser

The U.S. marijuana industry has a new spokesman: John Boehner.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Voices / FOREIGN AGENDA
Apr 11, 2018

Pick up a secondhand book in Japan and unearth a mystery

Perhaps the greatest pleasure to be derived from shopping at secondhand book stores in Japan comes from never knowing what might turn up between their pages.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Apr 10, 2018

Vietnam activists question Facebook on suppressing dissent

Vietnamese human rights activists and independent media groups have written to Mark Zuckerberg, Facebook Inc.'s chief executive, questioning whether the social media platform was helping suppress dissent in the communist country.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Apr 10, 2018

U.S. media never ever gives peace a chance

American political culture has devolved from the Vietnam era, when pacifists were marginalized, to a knee-jerk bellicosity in which they don't exist as part of the debate.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Apr 10, 2018

Britain prepares for a Norwegian Brexit

May and Corbyn can accept the Norway model, but what about their followers?
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Apr 10, 2018

Europe must learn to work with its autocrats

Hungary's Viktor Orban may have pushed the boundaries of the acceptable, but he's at home in some mainstream European parties
Japan Times
SOCCER / World cup
Apr 9, 2018

Japan names Akira Nishino to replace Vahid Halilhodzic just two months before World Cup

Akira Nishino will lead Japan at this summer's World Cup in Russia after the Japan Football Association confirmed Monday that it had fired manager Vahid Halilhodzic just two months before the tournament begins.
Japan Times
SOCCER / PREMIER REPORT
Apr 6, 2018

Mighty Man City given reality check by Liverpool

Manchester City has collected compliments and plaudits almost on a weekly basis this season and rightly so, though the premature if inevitable claims about Pep Guardiola's team being the best English side of all-time took a severe dent when Liverpool thrashed — not too strong a word — the visitors...
EDITORIALS
Apr 5, 2018

Local consent for nuclear plant restarts

The dissatisfaction of many municipalities that are denied any say in restarting nuclear power plants — even though they face the same risk from possible accidents and the duty of ensuring safe evacuation of their residents — should not be left unaddressed.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Apr 5, 2018

Wanted: A British Ministry for Asian Affairs

If post-Brexit Britain's future lies in Asia, that is where its hard resources and its soft diplomatic power must be redeployed.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Voices
Apr 4, 2018

Readers' views on intercultural insensitivity, Japanese schooling, English gaps and an inspirational Indian

Some readers' responses to recent stories on the Community pages:
Japan Times
JAPAN / Politics
Apr 2, 2018

Assemblies from Niigata to Tottori criticize handling of Moritomo probe as threat to democracy

Municipal and prefectural politicians are calling the document-tampering scandal a threat to Japan's democracy and ratcheting up calls for key figures to testify in the Diet.
Japan Times
WORLD / Politics
Apr 2, 2018

Mexico is no 'piñata,' election front-runner says after Trump's threatening tweets

Mexico's presidential front-runner launched his campaign close to the U.S. border on Sunday, demanding respect for Mexicans hours after U.S. President Donald Trump again threatened to scrap a key trade pact and erect a wall between the countries.

Longform

Totopa in Tokyo’s Shinjuku Ward was picked by consultants TTNE as the best sauna of the year.
Japan’s sauna movement: Relax, refresh, repeat