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JAPAN
Mar 10, 2014

Defense talks with U.S. look at 'gray zone' clash scenarios

As Japan and the United States start talks on how to respond to armed incidents that fall short of a full-scale attack on Japan, officials in Tokyo worry that their ally is reluctant to send China a strong message of deterrence.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / THE FOREIGN ELEMENT
Mar 10, 2014

Stakes high as ailing U.S. Navy sailors take on Tepco over Fukushima fallout

If successful, this U.S. court case opens up the possibility of Fukushima-related claims from not just American military personnel and their dependents but potentially thousands of Japanese who experienced the fallout.
BASEBALL / Japanese Baseball / HIT AND RUN
Mar 10, 2014

Mathieson ready for action after refreshing offseason

If there was one thing Scott Mathieson enjoyed about the offseason, it was the family time.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC
Mar 9, 2014

Missing Malaysia Airlines jet mystery deepens with stolen passports

Oil slicks signaled that a missing Malaysia Airlines jet may have crashed in the Gulf of Thailand even as the mystery surrounding the plane deepened with the discovery that two passengers used stolen passports.
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Mar 8, 2014

Media complicit in normalizing xenophobia

Since Japanese reporters are averse to characterizing domestic right-wing positions as being extreme, those positions come across as being normal, even sensible.
JAPAN / Media / BIG IN JAPAN
Mar 8, 2014

Rabid right foams at the mouth over Line's Korean connection

Internet entrepreneurism has spawned all kinds of free services and applications. Some — with names such as Yahoo, Google, Facebook, YouTube and Twitter — have emerged as wild successes and earned sizable fortunes for their founders.
BASEBALL / Japanese Baseball / NPB NOTEBOOK
Mar 8, 2014

Blanco out to prove stellar 2013 was no fluke

Tony Blanco was very good in 2013. Ridiculously good even, considering the already solid performer shattered a slew of career highs in one fell swoop.
COMMENTARY / World
Mar 7, 2014

What U.S. media won't say about Russia's actions

If America's foreign correspondents only knew that millions of ethnic Russians in former Soviet Republics have suffered widespread discrimination and harassment since the 1991 Soviet collapse — beginning with laws eliminating Russian as an official language — maybe they wouldn't be falling down on the job in Ukraine.
COMMENTARY / World
Mar 7, 2014

Fukushima points the way for disaster readiness

As one travels across the region evacuated after the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear plant meltdown three years ago, it is obvious that the effects of the disaster vary from village to village, and are far more complicated than the hazard map, with its concentric circles of safety levels, indicates.
Japan Times
MORE SPORTS
Mar 7, 2014

Abuse of Dolphins trainer Inoue revealed in NFL report regrettable

The alleged harassment in the Miami Dolphins locker room became one of the biggest off-gridiron topics in contemporary NFL history.
SUMO / SUMO SCRIBBLINGS
Mar 7, 2014

As Kakuryu eyes promotion, Haru Basho to test yokozuna Harumafuji's mettle

With Sunday the first day of the 2014, Haru Basho in Japan’s third most populous city of Osaka, many fans and commentators will be looking at Kakuryu’s quest to win his first ever yusho, and, if successful, the resulting talk of promoting him to yokozuna.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Mar 6, 2014

'Ieji (Homeland)'

Many documentaries have been made about the nuclear-plant disaster in Fukushima and its aftermath, but relatively few feature films. One reason could be seen in the rough handling local critics gave "Kibo no Kuni (The Land of Hope)," Sion Sono's 2012 film set in a near-future Japan that has again experienced...
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC
Mar 6, 2014

China's civilian fleet is a potent force asserting sovereignty in disputed seas

From harassing Filipino fishing boats and monitoring oil exploration off Vietnam to playing cat-and-mouse with the Japan Coast Guard, China's expanding fleet of civilian patrol vessels have become the enforcers in disputed Asian waters.
JAPAN / THREE YEARS AFTER 3/11
Mar 5, 2014

Tohoku finding real recovery hard to come by

Yumiko Onodera is a survivor. She saw her town of Kesennuma, Miyagi Prefecture, devastated by gigantic tsunami and ensuing fire from damaged heavy oil tanks at the major fishery port on March 11, 2011.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Politics / ANALYSIS
Mar 5, 2014

Japan's embrace of Russia under threat with Ukraine crisis

Russia's incursion into Ukraine is setting off alarm bells in Tokyo, where officials worry that any push by the nation's Western allies to impose economic penalties will undermine its drive to improve relations with Moscow.
BUSINESS
Mar 4, 2014

Base salaries up for first time in 22 months in January

Salaries increased for the first time in nearly two years in January as companies boosted pay for part-timers, aiding Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's effort to end 15 years of deflation.
JAPAN
Mar 4, 2014

Japan's plutonium stocks safe: IAEA

There is no reason for concern that plutonium held by Japan could be diverted for nuclear arms purposes, the U.N. atomic watchdog said Monday, after objections raised by China in another dispute between the East Asian neighbors.
JAPAN
Mar 3, 2014

Abe between rock and hard place after Putin nabs Crimea

Russia's deployment of troops on the Crimean Peninsula in Ukraine put Japan in a difficult position Monday, as Tokyo, which has tried to build closer ties with Moscow, joined its Group of Seven counterparts to issue a statement strongly condemning Russia.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Mar 3, 2014

Repairing the tripartite ties

Japan's relations with China and South Korea are at their lowest ebb since Japan normalized its diplomatic relations with them. One way to break the jogjam could be a tripartite free trade agreement.
COMMENTARY / World
Mar 3, 2014

China fights dragon of credit-allocation reform

China needs to reforming the credit-allocation mechanism to provide more capital to well-performing projects and enforce hard budget constraints on poor-performing borrowers.

Longform

It's back to the classroom for some residents as municipal governments across the country conduct lessons to learn how to use new technologies.
Can aging Japan go digital without leaving anyone behind?