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Japan Times
COMMENTARY / Japan / SENTAKU MAGAZINE
Apr 20, 2015

Why Japan won't join the AIIB

The AIIB will enable China to use funds contributed by other countries for projects that best suit its own strategies.
Japan Times
LIFE / Digital / JAPAN TIMES BLOGROLL
Apr 20, 2015

Rachel & Jun

Husband-and-wife YouTube team Rachel & Jun first started making videos in 2012 as a fun way to keep in touch while they were apart. Now, with over 350,000 subscribers, the Japanese-American couple covers a variety of subjects, from what’s considered overweight in Japan to making mochi.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / BLACK EYE
Apr 19, 2015

Meeting Miss Universe Japan, the 'half' who has it all

Progress occurs when people of substance assume the mantle of leadership, and it appears Ariana Miyamoto is equal to the task.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Voices / FOREIGN AGENDA
Apr 19, 2015

Historically, Japan is no stranger to blacks, nor to blackface

I am a black Japanese half. I was bullied because of my skin color in elementary school, so I have a strong complex about my skin color. If Japanese truly adored blacks, it wouldn't bother me. But do Momokuro really adore blacks? I think if you asked them if they wished they had been born black, they...
Japan Times
BASKETBALL / HOOP SCOOP
Apr 18, 2015

Gunma's Ely reflects on NBA odyssey

Far from the bright lights and frenzied crowds at state-of-the-art NBA arenas, Melvin Ely plies his craft with determination and dedication half a world away.
JAPAN / Politics
Apr 17, 2015

LDP grills TV executives but denies use of pressure tactics

A Liberal Democratic Party panel conducts a closed-door meeting with NHK and TV Asahi executives to demand “explanations” about their troubles, raising suspicions of state intimidation.
EDITORIALS
Apr 16, 2015

Address nuclear safety concerns

By repeating their faith in the NRA's nuclear safety standard and dismissing any challenge to its validity, the government and power companies appear to be once more embracing the safety myth of nuclear power.
Japan Times
WORLD / Politics
Apr 16, 2015

Pushing Social Security reforms risky gambit, Christie admits

New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, who is making cutting Social Security and Medicare the centerpiece of a possible presidential campaign, conceded on Wednesday that he is taking a risk with the proposal.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / THE FOREIGN ELEMENT
Apr 15, 2015

Northern Ireland's Troubles hold a deadly lesson for Okinawa

Like in Northern Ireland in the 1960s, protests over the planned U.S. base at Henoko run the risk of spiraling out of control if islanders' views are ignored.
COMMENTARY / World
Apr 14, 2015

Have we seen the end of the U.S. tax revolt?

With only 1 percent of Americans rating taxes as the nation's top problem, it appears that the U.S. tax revolt is all but over.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Politics / ANALYSIS
Apr 13, 2015

Election results spotlight apathy, weak opposition

The ruling bloc's victories in the unified local elections are showcasing Japan's lack of viable political opposition while giving Prime Minister Abe momentum to pass unpopular security bills.
WORLD / Politics
Apr 13, 2015

Republicans look to deepen probe into Clinton's response to attack on Benghazi consulate

As Hillary Rodham Clinton begins her presidential campaign, Republicans are vowing to intensify their latest investigation into the former secretary of state's response to the deadly 2012 attack on the U.S. Consulate in Benghazi, Libya.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Voices / FOREIGN AGENDA
Apr 12, 2015

Expats can find their creative mojo in Japan's inspiration and isolation

The inflated sense of being special that Japan fosters among non-natives can be dangerous, but that same emotion can also lead you to do things that might otherwise feel like symptoms of a mid-life crisis.
Japan Times
LIFE / Lifestyle / CHILD'S PLAY
Apr 11, 2015

Take a slow, deep dive into marine life

Island nations have a unique relationship with the sea, and for Japan these connections often manifest themselves through its culture and cuisine. This can make an aquarium visit doubly interesting: Come for the fish, stay to watch the visitors as they admire each tank's inhabitants with a unique mixture...
Japan Times
JAPAN / Politics
Apr 10, 2015

Okinawa activists establish fund to fight Futenma base move

Money matters in politics. This is something Okinawans locking horns with the central government over the plan to relocate U.S. Marine Corp Air Station Futenma seem to have cottoned on to, setting up a private-sector fund to promote their anti-base cause.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Apr 8, 2015

Opinion divided on value of teaching Edo-era etiquette in schools

Perhaps every country has something to learn from its ancestors. But when the roots of time-honored wisdom are dubious, should such wisdom still be taught to schoolchildren?
Japan Times
WORLD / Politics
Apr 8, 2015

Nationalist hints of another Scottish independence vote after 2016 poll

Scottish nationalist leader Nicola Sturgeon on Tuesday raised the prospect of another independence referendum that could break apart the United Kingdom following the 2016 Scottish election.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Economy / ABENOMICS — THE BOTTOM LINE
Apr 7, 2015

'Abenomics' fails to get households spending

Data suggest the BOJ's massive quantitative easing has pushed the yen's value down, benefiting big firms and boosting stock prices, but when it comes to household budgets, it is a different story.
COMMENTARY / World
Apr 7, 2015

No clear victors in U.K. debate

The main TV debate of Britain's national election campaign produced no clear winner.
COMMENTARY / World
Apr 5, 2015

U.K. election most unpredictable in generations

On May 7, British voters will go to the polls in the most unpredictable general election for decades.
COMMENTARY / World
Apr 5, 2015

Pan-Arab military force — a good idea or bad?

The Arab League's decision to establish a joint military force is a major accomplishment for Saudi Arabian foreign policy, but comes with serious risks.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Media / BIG IN JAPAN
Apr 4, 2015

Magazines fixate on the roots of poverty

The oft-seen expression ichioku sō-chūryū translates roughly as "the perception of 'the 100 million,' i.e., the entire nation, as belonging to the middle class."
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / THE FOREIGN ELEMENT
Apr 1, 2015

Battle over Shibuya park heats up as Tokyo Olympics loom

Mayor vows to appeal after the district court sides with his opponents over the treatment of Miyashita Park's homeless and a deal to grant Nike naming rights.
Japan Times
Figure Skating / ICE TIME
Mar 31, 2015

Machida's move proves costly for Japan in the end

Japan came away from the 2015 world championships last week in Shanghai with two of the six singles medals after Yuzuru Hanyu and Satoko Miyahara both claimed silver.
COMMENTARY / World
Mar 30, 2015

Taiwanese writer Chou Chin-bo as war victim

Recently I was asked to translate into English a short story that the Taiwanese writer Chou Chin-bo wrote in Japanese back in 1941. I was happy with this request. I was born in Taipei in 1942, but ever since my family was forced out of the island upon Japan's defeat in the war, in 1945, I have never...

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