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EDITORIALS
Feb 3, 2018

Victims of the eugenics law

The government has a moral duty to quickly compensate victims of the eugenics law.
ASIA PACIFIC
Jan 30, 2018

China Eastern, Xiamen Airlines cancel Taiwan flights amid routes row

China Eastern Airlines and Xiamen Airlines said on Tuesday they had cancelled 176 round-trip flights to Taiwan added to their schedules to meet demand over the Lunar New Year, amid a row between Beijing and Taiwan over flight routes.
EDITORIALS
Jan 28, 2018

Right to reside for widows and widowers

The Justice Ministry should ensuring equal treatment to all married couples irrespective of their legal status.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Politics
Jan 24, 2018

Abe confirms plan to attend Winter Olympics despite tension with South Korea over 'comfort women' pact

The announcement puts an end to speculation he may forgo the trip to protest Seoul's recent move to revisit the 2015 deal on the comfort women issue.
Japan Times
SPORTS / MAN ABOUT SPORTS
Jan 23, 2018

NBA the latest to botch All-Star Game format

The one-upmanship never ends between the NBA, NHL and NFL regarding who can come up with the most ridiculous All-Star Game format.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC
Jan 23, 2018

Bad rap: China takes aim at hip-hop, saying 'low-taste content' must stop

China's censors have a new target in a widespread clamp-down on popular culture: the country's nascent hip-hop scene, which resonated with Chinese youth last year on hugely popular television show "Rap of China."
Japan Times
WORLD / Politics
Jan 23, 2018

Trump signs bill reopening U.S. government as immigration fight looms

U.S. President Donald Trump signed a government spending bill Monday evening that ends a three-day partial shutdown, White House official said. But that leaves the fight over a politically charged immigration proposal unresolved for at least another three weeks.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / Japan
Jan 22, 2018

Why is Japan populist-free?

Japan's middle-class mentality helps keep the dangerous populist politics roiling other countries at bay.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / The Big Questions
Jan 21, 2018

Redesigning and refining the perception of luxury

For the past 23 years Guido Tarchi has weaved among Tokyo's crowds, surrounded by the city's architectural jumble where the everyday harmonizes with the extravagant.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Media / Japan Pulse
Jan 20, 2018

Stranded Niigata train incident highlights flaws in social media

Thanks to social media, anyone can log in to Twitter these days and comment on the fate of people who are stuck inside a stranded train from the comfort of their own homes. Is this what the world has become?
Japan Times
JAPAN / Politics
Jan 19, 2018

One year later, Abe's gamble on the unpredictable Trump appears to be paying off

Before U.S. President Donald Trump took office on Jan. 20 last year, Japanese officials were anxious, even obsessed, with a nightmare scenario that could not be ruled out — an incoming American leader who could shake up the balance of power in the Asia-Pacific region and vastly damage domestic interests....
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Jan 16, 2018

Facebook's new mission may be impossible

Mark Zuckerberg's company is imitating Snap in trying to focus on interactions with 'friends and family.' But can the media genie be bottled up again?
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Voices / FOREIGN AGENDA
Jan 14, 2018

Japan still has much to learn from Martin Luther King's nonviolent struggle

Could Dr. King's nonviolent methods work in Japan, a country with a completely different relationship between government and citizen than in America?
Japan Times
JAPAN
Jan 12, 2018

Japan toughens screening rules for refugees; automatic work permits ditched

The Justice Ministry gets tough on immigrants seeking refuge in Japan with new rules designed to weed out those who are primarily seeking jobs.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / Japan
Jan 11, 2018

People of Japan, take a clear stance

Japanese are all too often reluctant to offer an opinion — on anything.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / BLACK EYE
Jan 10, 2018

Time for Japan to scrub off that blackface — for good

Oops, they did it again: offensive makeup for laughs on TV. But some Japanese viewers are far from amused.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Jan 9, 2018

Nuclear arms: Look ahead to 2018 in hope, not back at 2017 in anger

The biggest positive story line of 2017 was a new nuclear ban treaty adopted July 7.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Jan 9, 2018

Putin is 'un-Wolffable,' and that's no compliment

Americans have it good. Here's a mental exercise: Try to imagine the 'Wolffing' of Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Voices / COMMUNITY CHEST
Jan 7, 2018

Much for Japan Times Community readers to crow and squawk about in year of the rooster

A selection of unpublished letters about Community stories from the first half of 2017.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Jan 6, 2018

Japan spends scant energy on renewables

Dec. 11, 2017, marked the 20th anniversary of the Kyoto Protocol, a treaty signed by 84 countries who committed to limit the release of greenhouse gases, which are considered the cause of global warming. Japan, of course, was one of the signatories, and a Dec. 14 feature in the Asahi Shimbun reviewed...
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / Japan
Jan 4, 2018

Don't renegotiate 'comfort women' deal

Renegotiation efforts, no matter how well-intentioned, would undermine the agreement of 2015, with no guarantee of success and much risk of failure.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Tech
Jan 4, 2018

Security flaws affecting chips from Intel, AMD and ARM could put virtually all phones and computers at risk

Security researchers on Wednesday disclosed a set of security flaws that they said could let hackers steal sensitive information from nearly every modern computing device containing chips from Intel Corp., Advanced Micro Devices Inc. and ARM Holdings.
Japan Times
JAPAN / FINDING COMMON GROUND
Jan 3, 2018

Filipinos and Nepalese face challenges in Japan even as their communities grow

While Japan tends to be uneasy about immigration, it is simultaneously host to many non-Japanese people working hard to make lives for themselves, including sizable communities from the Philippines and Nepal.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Jan 2, 2018

Imagine a Palestinian movement led by Gandhi

Renouncing violence would go a long way toward reviving negotiations with Israel.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Politics
Jan 1, 2018

2018 seen as make-or-break year for Abe's constitutional revision quest

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe faces what is perhaps the biggest dilemma of his political career: whether to call the nation's first-ever referendum on revising the postwar Constitution.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Media / Japan Pulse
Dec 30, 2017

Debate grows over the plight of foreign staff at convenience stores in Japan

Launched in 1993, Japan's Technical Internship Training Program for foreign nationals hasn't had the best reputation. The program was created to help visitors from developing nations live and work in Japan for as long as three years under the protective umbrella of Japan's labor laws.
Reader Mail
Dec 29, 2017

It's wise for Australia to be suspicious of China

I found Ramesh Thakur's opinion piece on Australia's approach to its foreign policy with China interesting, though with questionable arguments ("Australia charts a flawed foreign policy course" in the Dec. 8 edition).
EDITORIALS
Dec 27, 2017

Consensus needed on revising the Constitution

Government discussions on amending the Constitution should not be driven by time frames or political considerations.

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