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JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Jun 30, 2018

Shinzo Abe's Kake Gakuen scandal refuses to lie down and die

Most people believe politicians lie, though the reflexive skepticism with which the current U.S. president’s pronouncements are met is probably exceptional. The secret to successful lying is to never admit to it in the slightest way.
MORE SPORTS
May 25, 2018

Nihon University president Kichibe Otsuka offers apology for dirty tackle scandal

Kichibe Otsuka, president of Nihon University, addressed reporters at a news conference held in Tokyo on Friday, saying that he felt "responsibility" regarding Nihon University's handling of the dirty tackle scandal, and that he "couldn't apologize enough" to the victim.
Japan Times
WORLD
Apr 7, 2018

U.S. Homeland Security to compile database of journalists, bloggers and 'media influencers'

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security is looking to create a searchable database of hundreds of thousands of news sources, journalists, bloggers and "media influencers" for the federal government, a move a DHS spokesman called "standard practice."
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Markets
Jan 15, 2018

Mystery Twitter user 'Okasanman' has vast, and growing, following of Japan traders

On a day when billions in profits and losses would be determined by split-second trades, the salaried professionals of Japan's financial markets were glued to their news terminals. Another group was staring at the feed of an anonymous Twitter account.
JAPAN
Nov 9, 2017

Japan's buzzwords of 2017 cover everything from politics to poop

Thirty candidates for the buzzword of the year were announced Thursday, covering everything from popular poop kanji workbook to fake news to Hifumin, the nickname for a 77-year-old shogi pro who retired in June after wowing fans for decades with his aggressive playing styles and charm.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC
Oct 1, 2017

Tea and Tiananmen: Inside China's new censorship machine

In a glass tower in a trendy part of China's eastern city of Tianjin, hundreds of young men and women sit in front of computer screens, scouring the internet for videos and messages that run counter to Communist Party doctrine.
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Mar 18, 2017

Asking the tough questions on Fukushima

In January, regional newspaper Fukushima Minpo interviewed Yosuke Takagi, state minister of economy, trade and industry. While talking about reconstruction plans for areas near the crippled Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant, Takagi mentioned resurrecting Dash-mura (Dash Village), a farm created from...
COMMENTARY / World
Feb 27, 2017

Why Donald Trump loves to hate the media

Trump can't be a unifying figure when he's having so much fun being divider in chief.
COMMUNITY / Issues / JUST BE CAUSE
Feb 19, 2017

Media outside Japan must stop normalizing sumo as an ethno-sport

Foreign correspondents should not pander to stereotypes, passing overt racism off as 'tradition' practiced by those mystical, hidebound, inscrutable Japanese.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / LEARNING CURVE
Nov 25, 2015

In an age of global terrorism, what should we tell the children?

As parents, should we shelter and protect our children from the horrors of terrorism, or does that promote the very ignorance it thrives on?
JAPAN / EXPLAINER
May 18, 2015

Chief Cabinet secretary is much more than top government spokesman

Which politician is most often quoted by Japanese media outlets? The answer undoubtedly is the chief Cabinet secretary, who holds two news conferences each weekday.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Jan 9, 2015

We are all Charlie, too late

The hope must be that the assassinations of cartoonists and journalists at the weekly Charlie Hebdo will waken political and media leaders to understand that press freedoms have been badly eroded worldwide.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics / FOCUS
Oct 21, 2014

In bid to keep control over messages, interviews, Modi retains state media

Prime Minister Narendra Modi has anointed India's state-backed broadcaster as his media brand of choice, helping to shield his government from tough questions and prompting private news outlets to complain that they are being kept out of the loop.
COMMENTARY / Japan
May 27, 2014

Taking aim at Japan's gender problem

Media coverage of the rise and fall of Japanese scientist Haruko Obokata illustrates the problem with the third arrow of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's economic policy — and its otherwise laudable goal of expanding the participation of women in positions of power.
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / JAPAN LITE
Dec 27, 2013

Japan should take English lessons from Philippines

English is an official language of the Philippines but this does not mean that everyone understands or speaks English. However, it does mean that exposure to the language is so widespread that those who do speak it can communicate quite fluently.
COMMENTARY
Jun 10, 2011

Round two for a U.N. workaholic

What's surprising about the probable confirmation of incumbent United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki Moon for a second five-year term is not its near-certainty. It is the virtual lack of controversy surrounding it.
JAPAN
Feb 5, 2011

Edano to hold weekly press briefings for all reporters

The top government spokesman's news conferences will be open once a week to reporters outside members of the press club for Prime Minister Naoto Kan's office, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yukio Edano said Friday.
JAPAN
Feb 4, 2011

Citizen journalists playing big role in China

As China's state-run media works to boost its presence overseas, it is facing increasing competition from commercial media and citizen journalists who are providing more credible content than that disseminated by the government, award-winning journalist Yuen Ying Chan said at a recent lecture in Tokyo....
JAPAN
Jun 11, 2010

Kan keeps the media at arm's length, scales back interviews

Just days after forming his Cabinet, Prime Minister Naoto Kan has already been faced with tough decisions, including whether to extend the Diet session and how to turn around slumping stocks.
JAPAN
Mar 27, 2010

Hatoyama hopes to keep promises, find fiscal balance

Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama expressed confidence Friday in achieving fiscal discipline and keeping the government's election pledges at the same time, saying he intends to continue cutting down wasteful spending and avoid a consumption tax hike.
COMMENTARY
Jan 17, 2010

Will the Tiger find a way out of the Woods?

LOS ANGELES — Buddhism is one of the historic religions of Asia, and today its influence remains strongly felt throughout the world. One has only to scratch the surface of this religion that originated in India in the fifth or sixth century B.C. to know that it has much to say about suffering.
EDITORIALS
Sep 24, 2009

Muzzling the top bureaucrats

The Hatoyama administration has told government ministries and agencies to stop, in principle, the holding of news conferences by administrative vice ministers, the top-ranking bureaucrats of government ministries. The thinking behind the decision is that Cabinet ministers are the top leaders of government...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Jul 3, 2009

A freedom that fostered richness

Two exhibitions now showing at the Tokyo Metropolitan Museum of Photography offer a fascinating contrast in photojournalism.
Japan Times
LIFE
Mar 8, 2009

When scandal strikes a firm

Japanese culture and its scapegoat-seeking media often make bad times far worse for companies compromised by events. But for foreign firms less familiar with the country's societal norms, such problems can easily spiral completely out of control.
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Feb 15, 2009

The recession will lead to a downturn in media quality

Every day there is more gloomy news about a major manufacturer or retailer or service company cutting jobs — and not just a few dozen here or there, but thousands, tens of thousands. No one gets out alive, except self-made billionaires and McDonald's, which is doing quite well, apparently. People will...
EDITORIALS
Jan 24, 2008

Profiting on a scrap of information

The Securities and Exchange Surveillance Commission has launched an investigation of three NHK employees — two reporters and a director — on suspicion of insider stock trading. They are suspected of garnering ¥100,000 to ¥400,000 in profits after trading 1,000 to 3,000 shares on "insider" knowledge....
Japan Times
JAPAN
Jan 4, 2008

Waseda grad school to groom true newshounds

There is no doubt that Japan has produced its share of top-notch journalists: noted political writer Takashi Tachibana, war photographer Ryuichi Hirokawa and videographer Kenji Nagai, who was shot dead in September while reporting close up on the unrest in Myanmar, to cite but a few.

Longform

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.