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COMMENTARY / Japan
Feb 14, 2015

Is Sony coming back as a competitive icon?

If Sony's just-posted quarterly profits — the best in seven years — signal the revival of the Japanese icon, then the transformation might have begun last April, when Kenichiro Yoshida was promoted to chief financial officer.
Japan Times
WORLD / Politics / ANALYSIS
Feb 14, 2015

Argentine state prosecutors face intimidation, interference

Argentine public prosecutors have always needed steely nerves to investigate high-ranking officials, business tycoons and criminals, facing blackmail, threats to kidnap their children and attempts to impeach them.
JAPAN / Politics
Feb 12, 2015

Abe sidesteps expanded SDF role in Diet policy speech

Delivering a key policy speech at the Diet, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe reiterated his determination Thursday to push for economic reforms but avoided touching the most controversial issue expected at this year's ordinary Diet session: security bills to expand the scope of Self-Defense Forces missions....
JAPAN
Feb 12, 2015

Shibuya Ward plans vote on same-sex marriage

One of the capital's 23 wards proposes issuing certificates that would declare same-sex relationships 'equivalent to marriage.'
BASKETBALL / BJ-LEAGUE NOTEBOOK
Feb 12, 2015

Shimane showing surprising improvement

Despite a disastrous start this season, the Shimane Susanoo Magic won't challenge the Takamatsu Five Arrows' league record of 50 losses.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Feb 12, 2015

Belle and Sebastian lean toward politics and away from twee on newest album

Belle and Sebastian are headed back to Japan, but are not quite as you remember them. For nearly 20 years the Glasgow indie darlings have been pigeonholed as producers of twee, lovelorn songs for corduroy-clad outcasts, but with their newly released ninth album, that stereotype is in danger of looking...
Japan Times
JAPAN
Feb 12, 2015

Mystery sculpture along Nagano river generating a buzz

A mystery stone sculpture that someone created along the Chikuma River in Nagano Prefecture has left some residents puzzled and others seeing it as a good opportunity to generate interest in their mountain community.
WORLD / Science & Health
Feb 12, 2015

West Africa sees spike in Ebola cases as decline stalls: WHO

The number of new Ebola cases rose for the second week in a row in West Africa, nearly doubling in Guinea, suggesting declines in the disease seen earlier this year had stalled, the World Health Organization said on Wednesday.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Feb 11, 2015

Life of Riley: 'death is on everyone's mind'

France's Alain Resnais ("Hiroshima mon amour," "Last Year at Marienbad") died last year at age 91, with 50 titles to his name and a career that spanned more than six decades. His final film, "Life of Riley," was completed shortly before he passed away.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Politics
Feb 11, 2015

With focus on wartime past, Japan's global PR message could misfire

A campaign to correct perceived bias in accounts of Japan's wartime past risks muddling the positive message in a mammoth public relations drive to win friends abroad.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Politics
Feb 10, 2015

Japan adopts new aid policy, may aid foreign militaries

The Abe government approves new guidelines for foreign aid, stipulating for the first time that Japan can fund foreign military forces, although the assistance must be for 'nonmilitary purposes.'
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Feb 10, 2015

A year on, Crimeans prefer Russia

Poll data suggests that a majority of Crimeans see Ukraine as a poor and unstable country where the media are hostile toward them.
COMMENTARY / World
Feb 10, 2015

Obama's Middle East fantasy

For all of the problems posed by significant U.S. ground forces in the Middle East, it is the only option right now if President Barack Obama wishes to stop the advance of the Islamic State group without aiding the advance of the Islamic Republic of Iran.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Feb 10, 2015

Last officer from Pearl Harbor battleship USS Arizona dies at 100

The last surviving officer of the USS Arizona, one of the ships that was bombed in Japan's 1941 attack on Pearl Harbor, has died at the age of 100 at a nursing facility in Northern California, his son said on Facebook.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Feb 10, 2015

Ishiba tells rural communities to compete or lose funding

The Abe administration's czar for regional regeneration believes it is a case of sink or swim: Enterprising communities will maintain their grip on state funding and flourish, and stragglers will be cut loose.
COMMENTARY / World
Feb 9, 2015

Next U.N. secretary general

With Ban Ki-moon's second term as U.N. secretary general ending Dec. 31, 2016, there are said to be at least three candidates to replace the South Korean. And former Prime Ministers Helen Clark of New Zealand and Kevin Rudd of Australia are believed to be interested in the world's top diplomatic post.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / THE FOREIGN ELEMENT
Feb 9, 2015

Injuries to Okinawa anti-base protesters 'laughable,' says U.S. military spokesman

In an email, a top marine official likens protesters hurt in demonstrations to diving soccer players.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Voices / VIEWS FROM THE STREET
Feb 9, 2015

Yokohama: Who would be your ultimate date for Valentine's Day?

Love is in the air as couples celebrate their relationship and singles search for their soul mates. Who would be your ultimate Valentine's Day date?
Japan Times
BUSINESS / YEN FOR LIVING
Feb 9, 2015

Retiring boomers make their last stand on the real estate market

An increasing number of retirees are opting for high-rise living in their twilight years.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Voices / FOREIGN AGENDA
Feb 8, 2015

Is Australia ready to import Japan’s revolving-door-style politics?

Australian politics has worked itself into a frenzy. Prime Minister Tony Abbott, after ridiculing the previous Labor government for its public infighting, faces a leadership challenge from inside his own Liberal Party.
Japan Times
LIFE / Lifestyle
Feb 7, 2015

Breaking down the barriers: Can Tokyo improve access for people with disabilities?

In the summer of 2020, Tokyo will once again host the Olympic and Paralympic Games. It's the first time the Paralympics will be hosted by a city for the second time.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Feb 7, 2015

Japan must improve intel so firms can prosper: NSA official-turned-CEO

A former U.S. National Security Agency official says Japan needs a better intelligence-gathering apparatus not just to respond to terrorism but to protect Japanese companies as well.
COMMENTARY / World
Feb 7, 2015

Discerning threats in the fog of disorder

Leaders and analysts gathering at the 51st Munich Security Conference will try to discern the next emerging global threats following a horrendous year for international peace and security.
COMMENTARY / World
Feb 6, 2015

Limiting the Security Council's veto power

In the lead-up to the commemoration of this year's 70th anniversary of the U.N., the French government is again pursuing the idea of getting the five permanent members of the Security Council to agree to refrain from using their veto power when dealing with mass-atrocity crimes.
EDITORIALS
Feb 5, 2015

Better life for dementia sufferers

The government, which recently adopted a new strategy for measures against dementia, needs to follow through on the idea of ensuring a better quality of life for patients by heeding the wishes of sufferers and their families.
WORLD
Feb 5, 2015

Russia said to be leading U.N. effort to curb Islamic State's cash flow

Russia has drafted a United Nations Security Council resolution intended to increase pressure on governments to cut off cash flowing to the Islamic State group, according to a Russian diplomat and three other U.N. diplomats.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / JUST BE CAUSE
Feb 4, 2015

At age 50, seeing the writing on the wall

At half a century old, I only look forward — to see how much time is left before my clock runs out.

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