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BUSINESS / Markets
Oct 14, 2014

Wall St. drops in late selloff; energy, airlines fall

U.S. stocks dropped more than 1 percent on Monday, with the S&P 500 closing below a key technical support level, as declines in energy and airline shares led a late-day selloff.
COMMENTARY / World
Oct 12, 2014

Sectarian tension threatening to tip Lebanon

With all eyes focused on sectarian violence in Iraq and Syria, little attention has been paid to Sunni-Shiite relations in Lebanon, where the potential for a perfect storm is brewing.
Japan Times
JAPAN / History / IMPERIAL ANNALS
Oct 11, 2014

Selective history: Hirohito's chronicles

Between July 30 and Aug. 2, 1945, when most of Japan's cities, including Tokyo, lay in smoldering ruins from U.S. aerial bombing and Hiroshima and Nagasaki were days away from being incinerated by American nuclear weapons, Emperor Hirohito sent an envoy to several Shinto shrines to pray for the "crushing...
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Markets / ANALYSIS
Oct 11, 2014

Russians keep calm for now as ruble's slide gathers pace

With the ruble down 18 percent against the dollar this year and sanctions chipping away at economic ties with the West, ordinary Russians might be forgiven for rushing to put their money in a "safe" foreign currency.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Voices / FOREIGN AGENDA
Oct 8, 2014

Bonding boozily over the pleasure and pain of Bukowski

The embrace of individuality combined with the pain of loneliness could explain why Bukowski's works have been embraced by many of the Japanese men I've met in Tokyo.
WORLD / Crime & Legal
Oct 7, 2014

U.S. Supreme Court dodges gay marriage, effectively allowing same-sex weddings in five more states

The U.S. Supreme Court declined on Monday to decide once and for all whether states can ban gay marriage, a surprising move that will allow gay men and women to get married in five additional states, with more likely to follow quickly.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Voices / VIEWS FROM THE STREET
Oct 6, 2014

Tokyo: What can be done to restore Japan's relations with China and South Korea?

An international bunch around Tokyo offer their views on possible ways to rebuild trust between Japan and its East Asian neighbors over historical issues.
COMMENTARY / COUNTERPOINT
Oct 4, 2014

Manga, the Rising Sun and Abe's history problem

During his recent visit to the United Nations, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe reasserted his eagerness to improve relations with Japan's East Asian neighbors, but the reaction from Beijing and Seoul was tepid.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Oct 4, 2014

Chinese premier to attend Europe summit, sign Russia rail deal

Chinese Premier Li Keqiang will attend a summit of European and Asian leaders on a trip starting this week that will also include a visit to Germany and the signing of energy and high-speed rail deals with Russia, the Chinese government said.
JAPAN / Media / DARK SIDE OF THE RISING SUN
Oct 4, 2014

Yakuza do what Abe Cabinet pick can't

In most countries, police officers and criminals are supposed to be on opposite sides of the law, especially the higher up the chain of command you go, but Prime Minister Shinzo Abe doesn't appear to think this is necessary.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Oct 3, 2014

Problem with President Xi

Chinese President Xi JInping has insisted he won't tolerate any concessions to the calls for electoral and governmental reform now being made in mass demonstrations in Hong Kong. The analogy with the Tiananmen tragedy is now widely made.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Voices / COMMUNITY CHEST
Oct 1, 2014

Readers' letters: Ian Thorpe, the Yushukan, racism, teaching English, tipping and sunlight

Some emails received in response to recent Community articles.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Sep 30, 2014

Japan begins soul-searching over crimes against unsupervised children

In a nation where young children are commonly encouraged to walk to school on their own, the recent shocking murder of a girl in Kobe raises questions over whether people in Japan are too trusting and should supervise schoolchildren more closely.
JAPAN
Sep 30, 2014

Volcanoes may be next obstacle for Japan's atomic power industry

The deadly volcanic eruption of Mount Ontake over the weekend may strengthen the argument of activists campaigning to keep the country's 48 reactors shut.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Sep 29, 2014

Is the Asahi a scapegoat of nationalist media or victim of own missteps?

One of the nation's leading newspapers has been in crisis mode of late — a situation that may bode ill for liberal journalism at a time when nationalism appears to be making public inroads.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Sep 24, 2014

Red Obsession

As someone who drinks a fair bit of wine, allow me to make a heretical statement: French wine is overrated. This is not to suggest that the French are not capable of producing some truly fantastic quaffs, but let's be frank: If money is not an issue, by all means drink French wine. But if you have a...
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Sep 24, 2014

Hong Kong student activists rally ahead of threatened blockade

Hong Kong students gathered in the heart of the city for a second day on Wednesday ahead of a planned blockade of government buildings if the city's leader fails to discuss their demands for free elections.
WORLD / ANALYSIS
Sep 24, 2014

Obama forges disparate coalition to combat Islamic State, but will it stick?

The Arabs are in. Turkey is on the fence. Britain, still smarting from an earlier Iraq war, is cautiously edging toward expanded action. Even Greece wants to help — if someone would tell it how.
COMMENTARY / World
Sep 23, 2014

Disaffected have their say, but will Westminster listen?

The dilemma for Britain's political leaders is how to build on the public engagement generated by Scotland's referendum without rushing into ill-conceived reforms that create more problems than they solve.
EDITORIALS
Sep 23, 2014

Scotland stays in

Although last week's vote in Scotland preserves the U.K., expect the Union to be transformed as the Scottish people hold British politicians to their campaign pledge of giving the Scots more power over their own affairs.
EDITORIALS
Sep 22, 2014

To defeat and destroy Islamic State

Islamic State forces in Iraq and Syria can be defeated, but doing so will require a serious and thoughtful strategy, not a knee-jerk, emotional reaction to its brutality.
LIFE / Language / BILINGUAL
Sep 22, 2014

A peculiar perspective on the capricious word hen

One major event in Japan's 16th-century civil war — which is the focus of "Gunshi Kanbei (Strategist Kanbei)," NHK's current Sunday-night drama series — involves the duplicitous warlord Akechi Mitsuhide.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Voices / FOREIGN AGENDA
Sep 21, 2014

The town that's battling the demographic tide

On Oki Islands off Shimane Prefecture, a bold wave of reform seems to be having a positive effect.
Japan Times
WORLD
Sep 21, 2014

Iraqi Christians fly to new life in France after escaping Islamic State

On a warm evening at Irbil International Airport in Iraqi Kurdistan, some 150 mostly Christian refugees anxiously waited to flee their homeland aboard a French government plane.
COMMENTARY / World / COUNTERPOINT
Sep 20, 2014

Jokowi's victory brings high hopes and challenges

In July, Joko Widodo, universally known as Jokowi, won a decisive victory in Indonesia's presidential elections. Even before assuming office in October, he faces extravagant expectations in a nation that has endured mercurial (Sukarno), repressive (Suharto) and feckless (B.J. Habibie, Abdurrahman Wahid,...
Japan Times
WORLD / Politics
Sep 20, 2014

Backlash fears after Scottish vote

Scotland's "no" to independence may have saved British Prime Minister David Cameron his job, but sweeping pledges of a constitutional shake-up could undermine his re-election drive and trigger more political instability.
COMMENTARY / World
Sep 19, 2014

Parliaments need a say on war

Democracies urgently need to modernize procedures and structures for going to war with parliamentary debate and sanction, instead of by government fiat based on the instincts of a strong-willed prime minister or president.

Longform

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