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COMMENTARY / Japan
Nov 9, 2015

Weighing Japan's options in the South China Sea

Rather than send Japanese ships to conduct freedom of navigation patrols in the South China Sea, Japan should continue to focus its efforts on maritime capacity building in Southeast Asia.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Nov 9, 2015

Putin's Fortress Russia takes an economic toll

Hit by Western sanctions over the Ukraine crisis, Vladimir Putin has adopted an isolationist policy that is crippling the Russian economy.
BUSINESS / YEN FOR LIVING
Nov 7, 2015

No relief in sight for Japan's poor single-parent families

How can Japan's single mothers have both the highest poverty and employment rate among the OECD group of developed nations?
Japan Times
JAPAN / Society
Nov 5, 2015

Tokyo's Shibuya and Setagaya wards issue first same-sex partnership papers

Eight couples in Tokyo's Shibuya and Setagaya wards were on Thursday issued with certificates recognizing their same-sex partnerships as equivalent to marriage on the first day of the long-awaited policy change.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Nov 4, 2015

Myanmar's opposition expects better ties with China if it wins election

Myanmar's opposition, led by Aung San Suu Kyi, expects warm ties with China if it wins Sunday's parliamentary elections — good news for its northern neighbor, which has seen its influence wane amid tensions with the current government.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Nov 2, 2015

Justice Ministry panel begins first comprehensive review of sex crime laws in over a century

A Justice Ministry panel on Monday began reviewing what critics call Japan's lax criminal penalties against rapists and other sex offenders, in the nation's first comprehensive effort in more than a century to overhaul laws on sex crimes.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Crime & Legal / GENERATIONAL CHANGE
Nov 1, 2015

Entrepreneurial lawyer takes legal services into Internet age

Becoming a lawyer used to be the ultimate status symbol in Japan. Bar exams were extremely hard to pass, so hard that once they obtained the license, lawyers were pretty much guaranteed a successful life afterward.
WORLD / Science & Health
Oct 30, 2015

Zap happy: electric eels innovative in subduing hapless prey

A new study has detailed how electric eels can double the voltage of their jolts by adjusting the positions of the positive and negative poles of their electric organ.
JAPAN / Politics
Oct 29, 2015

Tensions rise between Osaka LDP, senior party officials after Suga-Matsui meeting

Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga flared tensions after meeting with Osaka Gov. Ichiro Matsui, who is running against an LDP candidate in next month's polls.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / THE FOREIGN ELEMENT
Oct 28, 2015

OVERSEAs Japanese show solidarity with activists back home

OVERSEAs is a loose collective that aims to unite Japanese-speaking people who want to support specific domestic causes from outside the country.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / TOKYO MOTOR SHOW 2015
Oct 28, 2015

Toyota showcases a look at vehicles of tomorrow

Toyota Motor Corp. will present its vision for the future of mobility at this year's Tokyo Motor Show, where three very different new concept cars will be revealed.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Oct 23, 2015

Japan's so-called visa overstayers tell of life in legal limbo

Eight children petition the Tokyo Regional Immigration Bureau for clemency to allow their families to stay in the country so they can continue their lives.
Japan Times
Figure Skating / ICE TIME
Oct 20, 2015

Hanyu off to solid start with win at Autumn Classic

It was great to see Olympic champion Yuzuru Hanyu back on the ice last weekend for the Autumn Classic International in Barrie, Ontario. Hanyu won the event handily over a field of relatively unknown skaters.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Economy
Oct 20, 2015

Japan Post's IPO might just shake up lagging regional lenders

The nation's regional banks need a little shaking up: There are far too many of them, profits from loans are shrinking, and their customers are disappearing. The enormous privatization of Japan Post, coming up next month, may just help spur them into action.
WORLD / Politics / ANALYSIS
Oct 20, 2015

Underestimating Canada's Justin Trudeau proved fatal for Conservatives

The long Canadian election campaign was supposed to highlight just how inexperienced Liberal leader Justin Trudeau was and give the ruling Conservatives an ample supply of gaffes to use in attack ads.
COMMENTARY / World
Oct 19, 2015

Beyond India's beef with beef, new hatreds grow

Religious extremism in South Asia is symptomatic of a larger phenomenon: the shattering of the postcolonial order under the stresses of a massive economic and demographic transition.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Books / ESSENTIAL READING FOR JAPANOPHILES
Oct 17, 2015

'Little Songs of the Geisha' collected by an American anthropologist

The label kouta (which roughly translates as, "little song") has been applied to any number of popular Japanese music forms over the centuries. But these days, the word usually refers to a specific genre of shamisen music that evolved in 19th-century Edo (present-day Tokyo) from existing popular styles,...
Japan Times
LIFE / Travel
Oct 10, 2015

Saitama's 'Little Edo' is big on Japan's colorful history

As my smartphone clock flashes from 11:59 a.m. to 12 p.m., I watch the visitors to Kawagoe, in Saitama Prefecture wipe the sweat from their foreheads and direct their attention toward a more primitive form of time keeping — the Toki no Kane (Bell of Time) tower in the middle of the town square.
Japan Times
WORLD
Oct 9, 2015

NATO backs Turkey as U.S. says errant Russian missiles hit Iran

NATO is prepared to step up support for Turkey and warned Russia against escalating its campaign in neighboring Syria, as U.S. officials said some Russian missiles intended to hit Syrian rebels fell short, landing in Iran.
COMMENTARY / World
Oct 7, 2015

Australians should follow India's presidential model

As Australia grapples with whether to become a republic, it should look to India for guidance.
COMMENTARY / World
Oct 7, 2015

Kiev learning hard lesson about Western support

Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko has underestimated the determination of France and Germany to get the Ukrainian matter out of the way in the most efficient manner possible.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Media / BIG IN JAPAN
Oct 3, 2015

Japan's elderly can't live off happy memories

Around the first week in December, lifelong-learning company U-Can sponsors an event that designates the top buzzwords of the year. Almost certain to be in the running for first place this year is "karyū rōjin" (low-class elderly people), a term that has been spreading like wildfire since summer.
Japan Times
BASKETBALL / HOOP SCOOP
Oct 3, 2015

Size of B. League will present challenges from the outset

There is no one-size-fits-all formula — no magic pill exists — for the Japan Basketball Association to create a new men's pro hoop circuit that will become an instant success.
SUMO / SUMO SCRIBBLINGS
Oct 1, 2015

Kakuryu leaves questions unanswered after Autumn Basho triumph

In recent years, the Sumo Association has bent over backward looking to put bums on seats at the six tournaments held annually.
JAPAN / View from Osaka
Sep 24, 2015

Hashimoto gets typically Trump on protests

Osaka Mayor Toru Hashimoto is many things to many people, but nobody doubts his skill in the art of provocation.

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.