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WORLD
Dec 17, 2013

U.S. homeland secretary confirmed

The Senate confirmed Jeh Johnson on Monday as secretary of homeland security, the fourth person to lead the sprawling domestic safety agency since its inception after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.
BUSINESS
Dec 16, 2013

'Tankan' signals drop in spending

Big businesses pare their spending projections for the year, signaling headwinds for 'Abenomics' ahead of April's tax hike and doubts the recovery is sustainable, the 'tankan' report says.
EDITORIALS
Dec 16, 2013

Defaulting to the old ways

The Abe administration seems to be reverting to an old energy policy by revisiting an old policymaking process, despite the March 2011 Fukushima nuclear plant disaster.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Dec 15, 2013

Deceptive rice price reforms viewed as too late for industry

Toru Wakui has defied the government's “gentan” rice production controls since the 1970s, but the farm ministry's plans to abolish them haven't made him any happier.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Dec 14, 2013

TPP offers early test of how far secrets law will cow Japan's media

Journalist Toshihiro Yamanaka characterizes the TPP talks as 'the most secretive trade negotiations to take place since the end of the 19th century,' an observation supported by classified documents recently released by WikiLeaks showing how the U.S. is pressuring all countries involved in TPP to make sure details of the talks are kept from the public.
JAPAN / View from Osaka
Dec 14, 2013

State secrets bill shows Abe's tin ear for local politics

Former U.S. Speaker of the House Thomas "Tip" O'Neill, one of America's most influential politicians of the late 20th century, had some sage advice for those who thought about national or international politics. "All politics," O'Neill warned, "is local."
Japan Times
JAPAN / Politics
Dec 14, 2013

Japan, ASEAN tie up on flight rights

Japan and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations agreed Saturday to bolster cooperation on ensuring "the freedom of overflight and civil aviation safety," alluding to the risks posed by China's new air defense identification zone over the East China Sea.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Politics
Dec 13, 2013

Abe rubs elbows with ASEAN chiefs

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe meets with the top leaders from Indonesia, Brunei, the Philippines and Singapore, expressing concerns about China's setting of a new air defense zone over the East China Sea.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Companies
Dec 13, 2013

Honda says profit will determine pay

Honda Motor Co. Executive Vice President Tetsuo Iwamura said the automaker will set pay based on reaching profitability targets rather than government directives on how fast to increase compensation.
WORLD / Politics
Dec 13, 2013

In Ukraine, skepticism greets new vow on European Union

The European Union's top diplomat told reporters in Brussels on Thursday that Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych had "made it clear to me that he intends to sign" a trade agreement with the bloc. But protesters weren't buying it and spent the day bolstering the five formidable barricades of snow and...
EDITORIALS
Dec 12, 2013

Repeal the state secrets law

Repeal of the recently enacted state secrets law appears indispensable for ensuring that Japan remains an open society with democratic principles fully upheld.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Dec 12, 2013

Higher-education stimulus would be sure bet for Japan

Making Japanese universities global as well as world class requires generous support not only for hiring foreigners but also — and far more importantly — for improving conditions for all faculty.
JAPAN
Dec 11, 2013

Robust arms industry part of security policy

The Abe administration will seek to make the Japanese arms industry more competitive globally, according to a near-complete draft of its first National Security Strategy, drawn up as tensions with China rise over the Senkaku Islands.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Dec 10, 2013

Nuke 'black box' needed: investigator

The global nuclear power industry needs to share cross-border information to prevent accidents, replicating the transparency of international air traffic control, according to the head of an investigation into the disaster at Fukushima No. 1.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Dec 9, 2013

Tokyo has no gripe with Seoul's expanded ADIZ

Tokyo has accepted Seoul's expanded air defense identification zone in the East China Sea, Japanese officials said Monday, noting that unlike China's abruptly declared ADIZ, South Korea's won't infringe on the freedom of flight in airspace over the high seas under international law.
Japan Times
WORLD / Politics
Dec 9, 2013

Ukraine throngs now demand systemic change

Hundreds of thousands of Ukrainians filled the streets of Kiev on Sunday — no longer focused solely on a trade agreement with the European Union, but now also looking to recast their country's frayed and corrupt political system.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Economy
Dec 9, 2013

Abe gets Toyota, Hitachi help in push for wage gains

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe urged companies to increase wages faster than gains in the cost of living to break the legacy of 15 years of deflation, and praised Toyota Motor Corp. and Hitachi Ltd. for pledging to help.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Politics
Dec 7, 2013

Passage of contentious secrets law ends extra Diet session

The extraordinary Diet session effectively closed Saturday morning after the House of Councilors enacted the state secrecy law despite raucous protests from the opposition camp.
JAPAN
Dec 6, 2013

Pro-base candidates stay in Nago race

Okinawa Gov. Hirokazu Nakaima continues to call for U.S. Marine Corps Air Station Futenma, in central Okinawa, to be relocated outside the prefecture despite growing pressure to OK a project to fill in coastal areas in the Henoko district of Nago to accommodate the planned replacement airstrip's runways....

Longform

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