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Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Jan 13, 2017

Trump's crazed transition is making history

Judging by his post-election transition — which has been, hands down, the strangest in U.S. history — all we really know about how Donald Trump will govern is that we must expect the unexpected.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Jan 13, 2017

Failure of economic theories

Are there any answers to the digital Wild West that seems to be taking over?
COMMENTARY / Japan
Jan 13, 2017

Why the bulls are wrong about the yen's rise

The yen has started 2017 strongly, but the Bank of Japan is likely to stick with its super-loose money program rather than dismantle it.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Jan 13, 2017

Rural 'furusato nozei' beer, beef thank-yous costing urban Japan much-needed revenues

Want a free case of craft beer? If you send ¥30,000 or more of your taxes to the town of Yamanouchi in Nagano Prefecture, they'll send you 24 bottles of a locally brewed beer to say thanks.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Jan 12, 2017

Trump through Chinese eyes

Since winning the U.S. presidential election, Donald Trump's popularity in China has plummeted, owing to his statements on contentious issues like Taiwan and the South China Sea.
CULTURE / Film / Wide Angle
Jan 11, 2017

'The Knick': Still gnarlier than 'The Walking Dead'

A number of auteurs have dabbled in TV series, such as David Fincher with "House of Cards" and Martin Scorsese with "Vinyl"; but with "The Knick," Steven Soderbergh becomes the first to hands-on direct every episode of a show from beginning to end. The result is a two-season arc of absolutely gripping...
Japan Times
SOCCER / J. League / J. LEAGUE NOTEBOOK
Jan 11, 2017

Seasoned veterans in demand in J. League offseason

The J. League's new 10-year, ¥210 billion broadcasting deal may not have led to any big-name overseas signings just yet, but there has been plenty of action on the domestic transfer front as clubs retool for the coming season.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC
Jan 11, 2017

China sends aircraft carrier into Taiwan Strait

Taiwan's Defense Ministry said Wednesday that China's only aircraft carrier had transited the Taiwan Strait amid soaring tensions between Beijing and Taipei.
Japan Times
WORLD / Politics
Jan 11, 2017

Obama pushes U.S. values and prods Trump in final, emotional address

With a final call of his campaign mantra "Yes We Can," President Barack Obama urged Americans on Tuesday to stand up for U.S. values and reject discrimination as the United States transitions to the presidency of Republican Donald Trump.
COMMENTARY / World
Jan 10, 2017

China's free ride set to end once Trump is president

After relishing the Obama administration's unremitting obsequiousness toward it, Beijing must now brace up and face an assertive new U.S. team that is unlikely to put up with its covert territorial expansion and trade manipulation.
COMMENTARY / World
Jan 10, 2017

What Beijing should do to counter Trumpism

If China is concerned about a reverse of globalization, its leaders should practice the free exchange they preach.
Japan Times
Figure Skating / ICE TIME
Jan 10, 2017

Orser's 'Rink of Champions' has a new one in Cha

This season has seen the emergence of several young stars on the skating scene. Perhaps no one has made as big of an impact as South Korea's Cha Jun-hwan, who became the men's national champion on Sunday.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Jan 10, 2017

World War II: Yasuka Goto gets up close and personal

Some artists from earlier generations like Tsuguharu Foujita (also known as Leonard Foujita) have been "outed" in the past decade or two and are now almost celebrated for producing incredibly complex propaganda paintings complicit with Japan's World War II ideology. For others, however, such politics...
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC / Science & Health
Jan 10, 2017

From Iceland to Maldives, Chinese seek 'lung-cleansing' trips

Toxic haze that settled over much of China during the last three weeks has triggered a flight reflex among residents, leading to the rising popularity of smog avoidance travel packages to far-flung locations such as Iceland and Antarctica.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Jan 10, 2017

Takeda Pharmaceutical to buy U.S. cancer drugmaker Ariad in $4.66 billion deal

Takeda Pharmaceutical Co. will expand its footprint in the U.S. oncology market with the $4.66 billion purchase of Ariad Pharmaceuticals Inc. The deal will add one potential blockbuster in lung cancer and another already on-the-market therapy.
Japan Times
JAPAN / EXPLAINER
Jan 9, 2017

Nonfatal Osprey crash in Okinawa brings safety fears to fore

The MV-22 Osprey accident last month in Okinawa rekindled concerns about the tilt-rotor aircraft, which was once known as the "widow maker" for those killed during its development.
Japan Times
LIFE / Language
Jan 9, 2017

Feel young again with the 'yokozuna' products of last year

Back in 1971, a newly launched newspaper covering retailing and distribution, named the 日経流通新聞 (Nikkei Ryūtsū Shimbun, subsequently named Nikkei Marketing Journal), was looking for a promotional idea. It came up with a real winner by mimicking a 相撲番付 (sumō banzuke, a stylized hierarchical...
EDITORIALS
Jan 9, 2017

Promoting local autonomy

This is the 70th year since the concept of local autonomy was introduced in Japan under the Constitution. Both the national and local governments should be reminded that local autonomy is an important and essential heritage of the postwar political and legal transformation. Serious efforts need to be...
COMMENTARY / Japan
Jan 9, 2017

Japan's zero growth nightmare

It's the rare economic tale that involves suicides, robots and arms dealers. Welcome to Japan, where science fiction may begin to trump economic fact in ways the global audience has yet to realize.
LIFE / Language / MORNING ENGLISH
Jan 9, 2017

Let's discuss the disappearance of traditional festivals

Sixty traditional festivals and dances in 20 prefectures designated by local governments as intangible folk culture assets have been ended or suspended due to declines in population and the aging of rural communities, a survey has found.
Japan Times
WORLD / Politics
Jan 9, 2017

McConnell says Senate will act this week on Obamacare repeal, 'rapid' replacement

The U.S. Senate will take its first steps toward repealing President Barack Obama's signature health care reform act by the end of the week, Republican Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said on Sunday.

Longform

Totopa in Tokyo’s Shinjuku Ward was picked by consultants TTNE as the best sauna of the year.
Japan’s sauna movement: Relax, refresh, repeat