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ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Nov 29, 2014

Hong Kong protesters clash with police after new clampdown

Thousands of prodemocracy activists clashed with police during running scuffles in Hong Kong's gritty Mong Kok district early Saturday in a bid to reclaim part of one of the city's largest and most volatile protest sites.
Japan Times
CULTURE / CULTURE SMASH
Nov 28, 2014

Cool Japan sets its sights on Southeast Asia

A full year and a half has passed since the Japanese government gave its final approval for the Cool Japan Fund — a 20-year, public-private entity aimed at spreading Japan's cultural appeal overseas — the official soft-power push that some bureaucrats and academics had been advocating for at least...
Japan Times
WORLD / Politics
Nov 28, 2014

Scotland to get more power from London

Britain's main political parties struck what they said was a historic deal to grant Scotland tax-raising powers and greater autonomy to try to satisfy disappointed separatists who lost an independence vote two months ago.
Japan Times
WORLD / Politics
Nov 28, 2014

Let us curb welfare for migrants or risk British EU exit: U.K.'s Cameron

Britain's continued membership in the European Union is contingent upon it being allowed to stop migrants from the bloc tapping into its relatively generous welfare system, Prime Minister David Cameron will warn on Friday.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Economy
Nov 28, 2014

EU 'stagnation trap' vexes French, German economists

Warning that Europe risks a "stagnation trap," leading French and German economists have proposed reforms and investments to revive growth in the eurozone's two biggest economies, but Berlin swiftly dismissed a key proposal to boost its public investment.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Politics
Nov 27, 2014

Japan Communist Party chief outlines election planks, calls 'Abenomics' a failure

Japanese Communist Party Chairman Kazuo Shii pledged Thursday to scrap the second stage of the consumption tax hike as he outlined the party's platform ahead of the campaign for the Dec. 14 Lower House election.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Nov 27, 2014

Delay of tax hike will hit elderly hardest: experts

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's decision to postpone the second stage of the sales tax hike is likely to wreak havoc on health care provisions for the elderly.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Nov 26, 2014

Hong Kong student leaders arrested as police move on protest site

Hong Kong police on Wednesday arrested Joshua Wong and Lester Shum, two of the student leaders at the heart of pro-democracy protests that have shaken the Asian financial hub since August, and began swiftly clearing a major demonstration site.
Japan Times
JAPAN / EXPLAINER
Nov 24, 2014

With ethics classes receiving upgrade in 2018, worries of nationalism rise

Starting in the 2018 academic year, so-called "dotoku" (moral education) will be part of the regular curriculum in elementary and junior high schools, instead of its current status as an "activity outside the set subjects."
Japan Times
WORLD / Politics
Nov 23, 2014

France's Sarkozy says EU powers must be halved

The European Union must hand back half of its powers, former French President Nicolas Sarkozy said Saturday, stepping up his criticism of the 28-nation bloc as he seeks to be elected head of France's conservative party this week.
Japan Times
WORLD / Politics
Nov 23, 2014

UKIP victory sets stage for EU upheaval

Some 16,867 voters in southeast England ushered in a season of European political tumult that in an extreme scenario could lead to Britain exiting the European Union, Greece quitting the euro or Catalonia seceding from Spain.
Japan Times
WORLD
Nov 23, 2014

In opaque Pentagon deal with Russians, big profits for a tiny Florida firm

For months, a powerful U.S. senator has been pushing for details of a murky deal under which a Russian manufacturer supplies the rocket engines used to launch America's spy satellites into space.
Japan Times
LIFE / Lifestyle
Nov 22, 2014

Seizing the initiative for women at work

Faced with a domestic economy that is sputtering, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has in recent months attempted to promote a sector that has long been underutilized in Japan — women.
JAPAN / Politics
Nov 21, 2014

Tokyo voters scratch heads over poll call

Voters on the streets of Tokyo were baffled Friday after Prime Minister Shinzo Abe dissolved the Lower House for a snap election that a recent poll said more than 60 percent of the nation does not support.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Politics
Nov 21, 2014

Abe dissolves Lower House for snap election

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe dissolves the Lower House to pave the way for his Dec. 14 snap election, asking voters to cast judgment on his sputtering 'Abenomics' program.
JAPAN
Nov 20, 2014

Shimomura wants to make English classes mandatory for fifth- and sixth-graders

Education minister Hakubun Shimomura proposes a root-and-branch overhaul of the elementary, junior high and high school curricula.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Politics / ANALYSIS
Nov 18, 2014

Abe is banking on getting a new voter mandate

It's finally official. Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said Tuesday he will dissolve the Lower House and call a snap election next month, after his administration decided to delay the next hike in the consumption tax until April 2017.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Economy
Nov 17, 2014

Japan's economy takes a dive as Abe weighs delay of second tax hike

The economy unexpectedly sank into a recession in the last quarter, unable to shake off the impact of April's consumption tax hike and raising the odds that Prime Minister Shinzo Abe will postpone a second increase next year.

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Construction takes place on the Takanawa Gateway Convention Center in Tokyo, slated to open in 2025.
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