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Japan Times
JAPAN / Politics
Sep 17, 2015

Opposition parties' delaying tactics throw Diet into chaos

In an Upper House meeting rife with heckling and wrestling, two disputed security bills are bulldozed through committee, paving the way for enactment by the ruling bloc.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Sep 16, 2015

China won't win friends by flexing its muscles

While China has trumpeted its desire for peace, its Sept. 3 display of military prowess is bound to spur concerns in other capitals.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Sep 16, 2015

A crisis of shame engulfing Eastern Europe

Only when Eastern Europe comes to terms with its murderous past will its people be able to recognize their obligations to save those fleeing in the face of evil.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Politics / ANALYSIS
Sep 16, 2015

Japan's defense reform tarnished by low public support, unconvincing sales pitch

The ruling bloc's effort to pass a pair of controversial security bills has failed in an important respect: to win public support.
Japan Times
WORLD
Sep 16, 2015

No friend of America, U.K.'s Corbyn faces test over Syria airstrikes

No fan of Britain's "special relationship" with the United States, the new left-wing leader of the country's main opposition party is against Prime Minister David Cameron's drive to join Washington's airstrikes on Syria.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / Japan
Sep 15, 2015

An Obama visit to Hiroshima would send the right message

A visit to Hiroshima by U.S. President Barack Obama could serve as a step toward realizing his vision of 'a world without nuclear weapons.'
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Sep 15, 2015

When it comes to art, individuality rises above nationality

In the context of the current debate over Article 9 of Japan's Constitution, the "Artist File 2015" show of up-and-coming contemporary artists at The National Art Center, Tokyo, is tantamount to a declaration of peace. The remit of this annual event is to showcase "some of the freshest and most substantial...
COMMENTARY / World
Sep 14, 2015

Palestinian leadership in crisis

Mahmoud Abbas' exit as Palestinian president could serve as an opportunity to challenge the moral collapse of the Palestinian Authority. But don't count on it.
LIFE / Language / COMMUNICATION CUES
Sep 14, 2015

Record number of heatstroke victims hospitalized

More than 24,000 people in Japan were transported to hospitals in July due to heatstroke, a record for the month.
Japan Times
JAPAN / CHUBU CONNECTION
Sep 14, 2015

Girl, 12, lands patent for can-separating recycling bin

Asuka Kamiya, 12, a sixth-grader from Jozan Elementary School in Anjo, Aichi Prefecture, has been granted a patent for her can-recycling bin invention, which uses a magnet to automatically separate steel and aluminum containers.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / COUNTERPOINT
Sep 12, 2015

Student protesters want a revitalized democracy

The large and loud crowds that regularly gather outside the Diet on Friday evenings are the result of student activists trying to do something constructive to block Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's security legislation.
Japan Times
WORLD / Science & Health
Sep 12, 2015

Protect yourself from junk food science

Does aspartame cause cancer? You've probably heard that it might. And PepsiCo removing the artificial sweetener from Diet Pepsi suggests there's something iffy about it. New Diet Pepsi cans boast that the beverage is "now aspartame free," a statement probably meant to placate consumers who cite aspartame...
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Economy / YEN FOR LIVING
Sep 12, 2015

Japan's treasury hopes flat-rate beer tax will drive drinkers to maltier fare and pad coffers

Who will benefit from plans to levy the same tax rate on all three categories of beers?
Japan Times
JAPAN
Sep 11, 2015

Tokyo steps up security after Islamic State tells supporters to attack Japanese missions

The militant group made the threat against several missions in an English-language magazine circulated on the Internet.
Japan Times
WORLD / Politics
Sep 10, 2015

Trump on Fiorina: 'Look at that face. Would anyone vote for that?'

Donald Trump belittled the physical appearance of fellow Republican U.S. presidential candidate Carly Fiorina in remarks published on Wednesday, saying: "Look at that face. Would anyone vote for that?"
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Sep 7, 2015

China's institutions are beginning to hold it back

China's system of political-party-based property rights will probably prevent it from becoming a truly rich country.
Japan Times
LIFE / Language / BILINGUAL
Sep 7, 2015

The search begins: tips for tapping the Net in Japanese

If you want to have any hope of success in searching for data on the Web in Japanese, you're going to need to work at obtaining competence in keyboard input of the language.
LIFE / Language / COMMUNICATION CUES
Sep 7, 2015

Nuclear disasters affect mental health more

People caught up in nuclear disasters are more likely to suffer severe psychological disorders than harm from radiation, scientists say.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Politics
Sep 7, 2015

Noda faces uphill battle in last-minute bid to take on Abe for LDP presidency

Executives in the Liberal Democratic Party pile pressure on lawmakers not to support Seiko Noda's attempt to unseat Prime Minister Shinzo Abe as LDP president.
Japan Times
JAPAN / CHUBU CONNECTION
Sep 7, 2015

Aichi family free of utility bills after turning to firewood, solar power

A family in the city of Toyota, Aichi Prefecture, is experimenting with self-sufficient living by using solar energy to generate their own electricity instead of purchasing it from a utility.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / JUST BE CAUSE
Sep 6, 2015

Why Japan's right keeps leaving the left in the dust

The left keeps losing, and much of it is its own damned fault.
Japan Times
LIFE / Lifestyle
Sep 5, 2015

Feast from the forest: foraging for edible plants in Japan

In the opening poem of "Kokin Wakashu" ("Collection of Japanese Poems of Ancient and Modern Times"), the Emperor writes about harvesting sansai (wild plants). The emperors of the Heian and Nara periods made it a rule to seek sansai in the forests in order to collect food and predict the harvest.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Sep 5, 2015

TV sexism comes from a problematic place

At the World Assembly for Women held in Tokyo last week, the Nobel Peace Prize-winning president of Liberia, Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, lauded the social achievements of women worldwide but added that "we are not there yet." Sirleaf didn't say where exactly "there" is, but during the same week, two media-related...
JAPAN / Society
Sep 4, 2015

Ibaraki clinic 'named and shamed' for maternity harassment

The labor ministry says the dermatology clinic in Ibaraki Prefecture defied numerous instructions not to dismiss an employee on the grounds of her pregnancy.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Politics
Sep 4, 2015

Japan wins Asia-Pacific popularity poll despite mutual distrust with China, South Korea

The latest survey by the Washington-based center found 71 percent of respondents in the Asia-Pacific had a favorable view of Japan.
Reader Mail
Sep 4, 2015

Trump could use lesson on defense pact

The article "Security alliance isn't fair to U.S., Donald Trump says" in the Aug. 28 edition tells us that Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump said at a gathering in Iowa that the Japan-U.S. alliance isn't fair because "it obligates the U.S. to protect Japan while Japan is not obligated to...
Reader Mail
Sep 4, 2015

O'Barry's legal woes unsurprising

The article "Dolphin activist Ric O'Barry arrested" in the Sept. 2 edition said "the police were following up on a tip about a rental car driven by a drunken driver." If O'Barry had been found guilty of drunk driving, what then? Two years in prison?
Reader Mail
Sep 4, 2015

In defense of the human approach

The article "Humanities under attack" in the Aug. 24 edition made me ponder several things.
Japan Times
JAPAN / ANALYSIS
Sep 2, 2015

Olympics logo scandal highlights power of the Internet critic

As news broke Tuesday that the 2020 Tokyo Olympics organizing committee would scrap its official logo after weeks of plagiarism allegations surrounding the designer Kenjiro Sano, users of the popular 2channel gossip website posted a flurry of messages congratulating themselves.

Longform

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