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Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC / Society
May 23, 2016

New Philippines leader Duterte plans to strongly push family planning law, aide says

In a move that could add to simmering tensions with the Catholic church, Philippine President-elect Rodrigo Duterte will aggressively implement the country's family planning law to push his economic growth agenda, one of his aides said Monday.
Japan Times
JAPAN / EXPLAINER
May 23, 2016

Much to lose, little or nil to gain in 'Brexit,' says Japan Inc.

Should the United Kingdom leave or remain in the European Union? With the world's fifth-largest economy set to make a historic decision about its future next month, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe expressed support for the U.K. to stay in the political and economic club of 28 countries during his Europe tour...
Japan Times
BUSINESS / FOCUS
May 23, 2016

G-7 finance meeting reveals sharper gap on currency tactics

Two days of talks last week between finance chiefs from the world's biggest advanced economies at a hot springs resort in Sendai were marked by some of the sharpest dissonance in years between the U.S. and Japan over exchange-rate policies.
Japan Times
WORLD / Politics
May 23, 2016

Sanders ratchets up feud with Democratic establishment's Clinton 'anointment process'

Democrat Bernie Sanders cranked up his fight with his party's leaders on Sunday, backing a challenger to the Democratic National Committee's chairwoman and accusing the party establishment of trying to anoint Hillary Clinton as the presidential nominee.
EDITORIALS
May 22, 2016

U.N. nuclear disarmament talks

Japan's position of calling for the abolition of nuclear weapons while relying on America's nuclear umbrella is contradictory and undermines its persuasive power.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Politics / KANSAI PERSPECTIVE
May 22, 2016

Osaka Ishin in existential crisis as election looms

A year after Osaka city voters rejected Osaka Ishin no Kai's most fundamental policy proposal in a referendum, the party finds itself heading south.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
May 21, 2016

Wrath awaits Japanese women who shun their childbearing 'destiny'

Back in the 1990s, actor Tomoko Yamaguchi often appeared in trendy dramas — TV shows that portrayed the lives of middle-class people who, whether married or not, only worried about what to buy and who to love. Once she turned 35, Yamaguchi was no longer considered suitable for such roles, but trendy...
Japan Times
JAPAN / Politics
May 21, 2016

G-7 finance leaders reject coordinated action to revitalize global economy

Japan was looking to hammer out a new fiscal package in the coming months, but its push for joint global fiscal action was rejected by its more cautious peers.
Japan Times
WORLD / Politics
May 21, 2016

Peru's Fujimori faces probe on money laundering ahead of election

Prosecutors in Peru are investigating potential irregularities in presidential candidate Keiko Fujimori's campaign finances, the attorney general said on Friday, confirming press reports based on leaked documents ahead of the June 5 election.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Companies
May 20, 2016

Cookpad's maverick founder stirs recipe for unrest

A spat is rocking one of Japan's most popular Internet companies after the founder moved to kick out the board, enraging staff and sending shares tumbling.
Japan Times
MORE SPORTS
May 19, 2016

Ex-coach Sato: Japan in safe hands

Former head coach for the Japan men's national volleyball team Gary Sato was thrilled to see his old team as he took in one of the two games that made up an exhibition series between Japan and the United States in Southern California on May 11.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Economy
May 19, 2016

Sucked into deflation again, Japan's $2 cup noodle binge is sign of the times

Japanese consumers cannot get enough of cup ramen, with spending on them surging by more than a quarter over the past year. That sounds like good news, but for a country still struggling to escape deflation it is a worrying signal.
ASIA PACIFIC
May 19, 2016

Chinese jets intercept U.S. military spy plane in an 'unsafe' manner

The Pentagon was investigating the "unsafe" intercept Tuesday of a U.S. spy plane by two Chinese fighter jets in the South China Sea, the Department of Defense said Wednesday.
Japan Times
BASKETBALL / ONE-ON-ONE WITH ...
May 18, 2016

Gunma's Hamilton happy to help others shine

The Japan Times has featured periodic interviews with players in the bj-league since 2006 in this long-running series. Gary Hamilton of the Gunma Crane Thunders is the subject of this week's profile. Because the league's final game was held on Sunday, this article wraps up the series in its current format....
Japan Times
BASEBALL / Japanese Baseball / NPB NOTEBOOK
May 17, 2016

Too early to worry about Otani's season, says Darvish

Hokkaido Nippon Ham Fighters ace Shohei Otani has just one win and a 3.34 ERA after eight starts, but former Fighters ace Yu Darvish says it's too early to worry about the 21-year-old right-hander.
ASIA PACIFIC
May 17, 2016

Chinese state media breaks silence, says Cultural Revolution must never be repeated

China must learn from the tumultuous, decadelong Cultural Revolution and never allow such an event to happen again, the ruling Communist Party's official People's Daily said on the movement's anniversary.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
May 16, 2016

Donald Trump can easily win in November

Hillary Clinton would be making a grave error if she underestimates Donald Trump's formidability as a politician.
Japan Times
LIFE / Language / BILINGUAL
May 16, 2016

In Japanese, the past tense is present where and when you least expect it

The Japanese past tense looks pretty easy to handle, but it can turn up in sentences about the here and now, as well as in adjectives and imperatives.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Voices / FOREIGN AGENDA
May 15, 2016

Rather than apologize, Obama should vow to halve the U.S. nuclear stockpile

What remains is that egregious, gaudy number: America's 7,000 nuclear weapons, a number that countries without nuclear arms see as a slap in the face.
Japan Times
WORLD
May 14, 2016

For Iran and Hezbollah, a costly week in Syria

A rebel onslaught on the town of Khan Touman near Aleppo last week delivered one of the biggest battlefield setbacks yet to the coalition of foreign Shiite fighters waging war on behalf of Syrian President Bashar al Assad.
Japan Times
WORLD / Politics
May 13, 2016

James Baker: A Trump presidency would make world 'far less stable'

Former Secretary of State James Baker told a U.S. Senate hearing that Donald Trump's foreign policy proposals would make the world a less stable place on Thursday, just as the Republican presidential candidate met with party congressional leaders.
Japan Times
WORLD / Politics
May 12, 2016

Poll puts Clinton and Trump in dead heat; demographics and Rust Belt appeal to be key election factors

Republican Donald Trump pulled even with Democratic rival Hillary Clinton in a Reuters/Ipsos opinion poll released on Wednesday, in a dramatic early sign that the Nov. 8 presidential election might be more hotly contested than first thought.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Politics
May 11, 2016

Japan, America welcome Obama Hiroshima plans; Pearl Harbor visit mooted

Experts discuss how the U.S. president's visit may be viewed; meanwhile Suga denies any plans for Abe to visit Pearl Harbor.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics / ANALYSIS
May 10, 2016

Duterte's South China Sea stance could shake up security ties with Japan, U.S.

Take a breath. Tough-talking Philippine president-elect Rodrigo Duterte is unlikely to ride a jet ski to plant a flag on a China-held island, as he promised in a stump speech.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
May 9, 2016

Putin strikes a defiant note with concert in Syria

Vladimir Putin is signaling to the world that his forces have not really withdrawn from Syria and that any peace will be made on Russian terms.
Japan Times
JAPAN / EXPLAINER
May 9, 2016

JCP uniting with other parties, tries to lose chains of Soviet-era stigma

The Japanese Communist Party is riding high.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Voices / FOREIGN AGENDA
May 8, 2016

Media show Kumamoto was woefully ill-prepared for disabled evacuees

It was heartening to see newspapers focusing on the difficulties disabled people face when disaster strikes, but far less heartening to hear what they had to say about the facts on the ground in Kumamoto.

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