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COMMENTARY / Japan / COUNTERPOINT
Dec 13, 2014

Abe's secrets law undermines Japan's democracy

On Dec. 10, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's new special secrets law took effect despite overwhelming public opposition.
Japan Times
JAPAN / GENERATIONAL CHANGE
Nov 30, 2014

Video shop worker jolted into career as diversity advocate

When the Great Hanshin Earthquake hit in January 1995, Taro Tamura, then 23, was quick to sense the need in foreign communities for disaster-related information.
Japan Times
WORLD
Aug 8, 2014

Documents suggest multinationals aided Brazil military regime

When Joao Paulo de Oliveira was fired in 1980 by Rapistan, a Michigan-based manufacturer of conveyor belts, his troubles were only beginning.
EDITORIALS
Jan 7, 2014

LDP's secrecy law propaganda

The ruling Liberal Democratic Party is rebutting newspaper articles that have criticized the recently enacted state secrets protection law. But its documented arguments are far from convincing.
Japan Times
WORLD / Society
Dec 9, 2013

'Privacy' services thwart investigation of rape video sites

Researcher Garth Bruen long has investigated the seamier corners of the Internet, but even he was shocked to discover Rapetube.org, a site urging users to share what it called "fantasy" videos of sexual attacks.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Politics
Oct 24, 2013

Cabinet to OK state secrets bill

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's Cabinet is set to approve a controversial bill to protect state secrets that stops short of fully guaranteeing the public's right to know and freedom of the press.
WORLD
Sep 7, 2013

Google races to keep out government spies

Google is racing to encrypt the torrents of information that flow among its data centers around the world in a bid to thwart snooping by the U.S. National Security Agency and the intelligence agencies of foreign governments, company officials said Friday.
Japan Times
WORLD / Crime & Legal
Jul 19, 2013

Manning trial judge declines to dismiss key charge he 'aided the enemy'

A U.S. military judge on Thursday declined to dismiss a key charge against the army private responsible for the largest leak of classified material in American history, a decision with significant implications for the future publication of secret government material.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Jun 17, 2013

U.S. intelligence in bed with business

Thousands of technology, finance and manufacturing companies are working closely with U.S. national security agencies, providing sensitive information and in return receiving benefits that include access to classified intelligence, four people familiar with the process said.
WORLD
Jun 12, 2013

U.S. tech giants urge NSA transparency

Technology companies stung by the controversy over the National Security Agency's sweeping Internet surveillance program are calling on U.S. officials to ease the secrecy surrounding national security investigations and lift long-standing gag orders covering the nature and extent of information collected about Internet users.
Japan Times
JAPAN / EXPLAINER
Jun 11, 2013

New ID system for keeping tax tabs, finding cheats

The Diet passed the "common number" bill May 24, paving the way for every resident, including foreigners, to be assigned a personal identification number.
WORLD
Jun 7, 2013

U.S. spies track all Verizon calls

The National Security Agency appears to be collecting the telephone records of millions of American customers of Verizon, one of the nation's largest phone companies, under a top-secret court order issued in April.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Aug 14, 2012

Key crisis contact heads for London

As deputy Cabinet secretary for public affairs, Noriyuki Shikata instantly realized his workload would skyrocket when the Great East Japan Earthquake struck, but admits being taken aback by the flood of requests that started pouring in from overseas media.
JAPAN / EXPLAINER
Apr 3, 2012

Volunteers struggle to track neediest residents

Welfare commissioners cover a broad array of tasks, including regularly checking in on elderly and disabled residents, looking for signs of child abuse, providing local residents with information about services, and even helping them dispose of garbage.
JAPAN / EXPLAINER
Nov 16, 2011

Smartphones new security battlefield

Smartphones have become a global phenomenon and in Japan in particular people are rapidly replacing their old cellphones with new handsets that are more like small computers with ever-increasing applications.
COMMENTARY / World
Jan 7, 2009

Managing fads, frenzies and finance markets

BARCELONA — The financial crisis, credit crunch and ensuing economic downturn have severely damaged the credibility of financial markets, institutions and traders. More and more people are claiming that markets are characterized by irrationality, bubbles, fads and frenzies, and that economic actors...
COMMENTARY / World
Dec 10, 2008

Making quality the key to Web searches

NEW YORK — In the not-so-distant future, students will be able to graduate from high school without ever touching a book. Twenty years ago, they could graduate from high school without ever using a computer. In only a few decades, computer technology and the Internet have transformed the core principles...
EDITORIALS
Apr 7, 2008

The secrets of the sea

The investigative unit of the Ground Self-Defense Force has sent up a paper on an Air Self-Defense Force officer to the Tokyo District Public Prosecutors Office, accusing him of passing a "defense-related secret" to a Yomiuri Shimbun reporter in connection with a 2005 newspaper article. The unit acted...
EDITORIALS
Mar 18, 2008

Privacy vs. Juki Net

The Supreme Court earlier this month declared as constitutional the nationwide Juki Net residency registry network, ruling against residents who had filed four separate lawsuits. Citing the possible danger of information leakage and use of information for illegitimate purposes, residents from Osaka,...
JAPAN
Oct 21, 2005

James Bond goes Japanese? Tokyo eyes MI6-style spy agency

The idea of a Japanese James Bond may sound hilarious, but serious discussions are under way in Japan on whether to create a secret intelligence service along the lines of Britain's MI6 to conduct overseas espionage.
Japan Times
Features
May 8, 2005

Where to go for a lark in the park

There may be no place better than home to haul in friends for a good grilling -- if you have a big enough balcony or a garden. But for those lacking such spaces, or those who just enjoy getting out, here are some barbecue sites where your group may not be alone, but you'll likely be in good company....
JAPAN
Apr 2, 2005

Laws to protect personal info kick in, criticized

Laws to protect personal information took effect Friday, banning the public and private sectors from using information on a person other than for its intended purpose and from providing it to a third party without permission.
JAPAN
Nov 4, 2004

Multilingual broadcasting gives support to all disaster survivors

FM Nagaoka in the quake-hit city of Nagaoka, Niigata Prefecture, began broadcasting earthquake-information programs in different languages Monday, in a growing trend to provide more emergency services for foreign residents.
Japan Times
JAPAN
May 8, 2002

Info brokers have got your number, among other things

In the spring of 1999, Haruo Tanaka (not his real name) became interested in buying a condominium and visited several showrooms in Tokyo. Each time, he was asked to fill out a questionnaire. He provided his name, age, address and phone number as well as his annual income.
JAPAN
Jun 8, 2001

Tanaka-bureaucrat standoff yet to let up

Despite the announcement Wednesday of Foreign Ministry reform plans and the lifting Monday of a "freeze" on personnel transfers, the standoff between Foreign Minister Makiko Tanaka and senior bureaucrats is showing no signs of abating.
COMMENTARY / World
Jan 1, 2001

Progress alone won't be enough

IT, shorthand for information technology, was a buzzword in Japan in 2000. Never before had computers and the Internet caused such a furor in the media. To be sure, IT had created a boom several times in the past, but its impact had been confined to the corporate sector. In contrast, the latest boom...
CULTURE / Music / MUSIC NOMAD
Oct 24, 2000

Okinawan sounds old and new resonate through the mainland

For a reason that has so far confounded me, October and November usually herald a spate of Okinawan concerts and releases on the mainland, leading to unfortunate clashes of dates. This year is no exception: The Ryukyu Festival in Tokyo (previewed in this column) in early October unfortunately fell on...

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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.