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Japan Times
COMMENTARY / Japan
Feb 26, 2021

Mori’s resignation highlights changing gender norms

Yoshiro Mori reportedly decided to resign immediately after the remarks. It was the secretariat of the organizing committee who strongly pleaded with him to stay in his position.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Nov 12, 2020

Suga says he got Biden's backing on Senkakus in first phone talks

Suga congratulated Biden on winning last week's presidential election against incumbent Donald Trump and stressed the importance of the Japan-U.S. security alliance.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Sep 29, 2020

What if U.S. forces return to Taiwan?

An ugly but strategically important debate recently erupted between China and the United States over Taiwan.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
May 23, 2020

It's every family for itself as coronavirus spreads within households

Local governments are making arrangements with hotels to house persons with mild symptoms so that they can avoid passing the virus on to families.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Politics / EXPLAINER
May 3, 2020

Necessary or not? The LDP's proposed emergency powers clause for the Constitution

73 years since the Constitution took effect, arguments on revising it have focused on the war-renouncing Article 9. But the coronavirus has prompted a different proposal.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Feb 3, 2020

Financial market website Zero Hedge knocked off Twitter over coronavirus 'bioweapon' story

Twitter Inc. has banned financial market website Zero Hedge from the social media platform after it published an article linking a Chinese scientist to the outbreak of the fast-spreading coronavirus last week.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Politics / Commentary
Jan 22, 2020

In an uncertain East Asia, Japan's security choices face balancing act between U.S. and neighbors

As the distribution of power in the regional order becomes fragmented with intensifying Sino-U.S. strategic competition, Japan remains at the front line of East Asian security. With Chinese unilateral and coercive efforts altering the status quo on the one hand and the complexity of denuclearization...
Japan Times
JAPAN
Sep 3, 2019

Japan's Shukan Post apologizes after being blasted for discrimination toward South Koreans

A weekly magazine's editorial department has apologized for what has been widely slammed as discriminatory coverage of South Koreans, with the magazine having branded them as pathologically quick-tempered and insisted that Tokyo cut ties with Seoul because the neighbor is "troublesome."
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Dec 6, 2018

Theresa May really has reaped what she sowed

The British prime minister's effort to sideline parliament has failed and now it's hard to tell who's at the wheel of Brexit.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Voices / COMMUNITY CHEST
Nov 4, 2018

An empty space on a Japanese train, a full mailbox of diverse views on the 'gaijin seat'

Baye McNeil's recent Black Eye column on the 'gaijin seat' garnered a great deal of attention. Here are some readers' responses.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / LABOR PAINS
Oct 31, 2018

For work rules in Japan to legally count, employers must hammer them home

Court precedents in Japan have reinforced that work rules lack legal power if they are not easily accessible and known to employees.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Politics
Oct 23, 2018

Scandals, immigration and constitutional reform set to dominate extraordinary Diet session opening Wednesday

The 48-day session is likely to include debates on a draft proposal from the ruling LDP to revise the war-renouncing Constitution, among other key issues.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Politics
Sep 16, 2018

Abe-Ishiba debate highlights candidates' lack of concrete plans to tackle fundamental problems

A debate illustrates Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's and former Defense Minister Shigeru Ishiba's differences on how to overcome some of the most fundamental problems Japan faces.
EDITORIALS
Aug 2, 2018

Eliminate bias against sexual minorities

The controversy triggered by an LDP lawmaker's article on LGBT people should be turned into a broad public discussion on what policy steps to take to eliminate discrimination against sexual minorities.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Media / Japan Pulse
Jan 13, 2018

Debate continues over mothers taking their babies to work

 The hashtag #KozurekaigiOK, which translates roughly as “It’s OK to bring a child to a meeting,” began trending in late November. The trigger was a female politician’s decision to bring her child to a Kumamoto assembly session, which sparked a nationwide debate on child care options for parents...
EDITORIALS
Oct 15, 2017

Too much power for the prime minister?

If there is room for abuse, discussions are needed on whether the prime minister's power to dissolve the Lower House should be restricted.
Japan Times
WORLD / Politics
Oct 12, 2017

Catalan conundrum: Spain gives its leader eight days to drop independence declaration, if it was made

Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy on Wednesday gave the Catalan government eight days to drop an independence bid, failing which he would suspend Catalonia's political autonomy and rule the region directly.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Sep 23, 2017

Political protest or textbook harassment?

In 1979, The New Yorker ran a very long article by Frances FitzGerald about American history textbooks and how they had changed over the years. She said that the framing of history depends on who is writing it and, more importantly, who is supporting that writing. Publishers present history in such a...
Japan Times
JAPAN / Politics
Sep 22, 2017

Extra Diet session on Sept. 28, Suga confirms

The Cabinet of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe formally decided Friday to convene an extraordinary Diet session next Thursday, which Abe is expected to immediately close by dissolving the Lower House despite opposition allegations that it would constitute a violation of Article 53 of the Constitution.
Japan Times
WORLD / Politics
Sep 16, 2017

U.K.'s Boris Johnson reignites leadership speculation with Brexit plans

British Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson set out his plans for a "glorious" Brexit on Saturday that angered colleagues and reignited speculation he would challenge Prime Minister Theresa May for the leadership of the Conservative party.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Media / BIG IN JAPAN
Jun 10, 2017

Today's web of lies and disinformation: It's a lot to stomach

The advent of the internet has given new life to a lot of old wives' tales and urban legends. With so much information (and disinformation) out there, how does one separate the wheat from the chaff? When spotting errors of fact, whether stemming from simple ignorance, laziness or intentional deception,...
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / LABOR PAINS
Mar 26, 2017

Overtime deal marks total capitulation by labor

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, long the champion of labor law deregulation, last year announced it was time to place a legally binding upper limit on overtime hours.
Japan Times
JAPAN / CHUBU CONNECTION
Nov 14, 2016

Nagoya finds no such thing as bad publicity after own survey deems it most unpopular

Nagoya has been featured heavily in magazines and TV programs recently as the city that people hate the most.
Japan Times
LIFE / Language / BILINGUAL
Sep 26, 2016

Wikipedia 'deep dives' can help re-create the joys and pains of Japanese-language immersion

You can use Japanese Wikipedia to recreate the mental anguish of language immersion — of encountering a truly alien topic and being forced to reckon with it.
Japan Times
JAPAN / EXPLAINER
Aug 31, 2016

LDP weighs leader's term limits as Abe angles to stay in power

The ruling Liberal Democratic Party is expected to kick off discussions as soon as next month over whether to revise internal rules to allow Prime Minister Shinzo Abe to run for a third term in the next LDP presidential race to be held by September 2018.

Longform

Construction takes place on the Takanawa Gateway Convention Center in Tokyo, slated to open in 2025.
A boom for business tourism in Japan?