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Japan Times
WORLD
Dec 6, 2013

Nelson Mandela, ex-president of South Africa, dead at 95

Nelson Mandela, the former political prisoner who became the first president of a post-apartheid South Africa and whose heroic life and towering moral stature made him one of history's most influential statesmen, died Dec. 5, the government announced. He was 95.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Politics
Dec 5, 2013

Secrets bill clears panel by force

The Liberal Democratic Party-New Komeito ruling coalition was set to forcibly pass the contentious state secrecy bill into law as early as Thursday night, after it rammed the legislation through the Upper House Special Committee on National Security earlier on the day.
Reader Mail
Dec 4, 2013

Risk of losing public's 'tolerance'

Regarding the Dec. 2 article "Secrecy law protests 'act of terrorism': LDP secretary general": Liberal Democratic Party Secretary-General Shigeru Ishiba's comments that street protesters voicing opposition to the new state secrets bill by shouting it in public demonstrations are doing something "not...
COMMENTARY / Japan / SENTAKU MAGAZINE
Dec 3, 2013

Power shifting in the Pacific

If China continues to strengthen its influence, will Japan, on its own or in collaboration with Australia, help reinforce the U.S. politically and militarily in the Asia-Pacific region?
Japan Times
JAPAN / Politics
Dec 2, 2013

Ishiba softens criticism of bill protesters

Liberal Democratic Party Secretary-General Shigeru Ishiba remains critical of public demonstrations despite retracting part of an earlier comment likening protesters to terrorists.
JAPAN
Dec 2, 2013

Airlines urged to defy China's ADIZ

The government repeated Monday that it will continue to urge the nation's airlines not to comply with the rules laid down in China's recently, unilaterally declared air defense identification zone over the East China Sea that includes the disputed, Japan-held Senkaku islets.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Politics
Dec 1, 2013

Secrecy law protests 'act of terrorism': LDP secretary-general

Citizens demonstrating against the controversial state secrets bill are committing “an act terrorism,” according to Liberal Democratic Party Secretary-General Shigeru Ishiba.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Books
Nov 30, 2013

Contemporary Japanese Politics: Institutional Changes and Power Shifts

The electoral reforms that were introduced by successive Japanese administrations throughout the 1990s radically shifted the balance of power among bureaucrats, legislators, and the prime minister and the Cabinet. The factional politics that once formed the bedrock of the Liberal Democratic Party was...
BUSINESS / JAPANESE PERSPECTIVES
Nov 30, 2013

The secret of keeping official secrets secret

"He that would keep a secret must keep it secret that he hath a secret to keep," says Sir Humphrey Appleby, permanent secretary to the Department of Administrative Affairs, a fictitious branch of the British government. He is one of the main characters in the highly acclaimed 1980s BBC television series...
JAPAN / Politics
Nov 29, 2013

Abe vows to remain steadfast on China

Japan will remain steadfast and cooperate with other countries in addressing China's recent establishment of an air defense identification zone covering the Senkaku Islands, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said Friday.
JAPAN
Nov 28, 2013

SDF, Coast Guard planes defy new Chinese air zone

Defying China's recently declared air defense identification zone in the East China Sea, Self-Defense Forces and Japan Coast Guard aircraft continue flying into the zone without informing Beijing ahead of time.
JAPAN
Nov 28, 2013

Flip-flop: LDP Okinawa branch backs Nago base

Reversing a campaign pledge, the Okinawa chapter of the Liberal Democratic Party now supports replacing the Futenma base in Ginowan with a new airstrip in Nago, bowing to intensifying pressure from Tokyo, Okinawa-based LDP members and local businesses seeking to profit from constructing the new base....
Japan Times
WORLD
Nov 27, 2013

Rouhani gets high marks after 100 days in office

One hundred days into his first term as Iran's president, Hassan Rouhani offered an upbeat progress report to the country Tuesday, two days after a nuclear deal with world powers gave his young administration a much-needed boost.
JAPAN
Nov 25, 2013

Tokyo cries foul over China's declaration of air defense zone

Beijing's setting up an air defense identification zone over a section of the East China Sea violates a basic rule under international law and is a 'very dangerous' move that could lead to 'an unexpected event,' a high-ranking Japanese official warns.
Japan Times
Reference / Q&A
Nov 25, 2013

ADIZs common but China's is worrisome

China's announcement Saturday of its establishment of an air defense identification zone in the East China Sea that includes the Japan-controlled Senkaku islets has worsened already tense bilateral ties.
LIFE / Language / COMMUNICATION CUES
Nov 24, 2013

An extraordinary session of the diet

The 185th extraordinary session of the Diet was convened on the 15th. For 53 days to Dec. 6, arguments between the ruling and opposition parties will be carried out over various bills.
Japan Times
WORLD
Nov 24, 2013

Police, mine officials met before Marikana killings

On Aug. 16, 2012, the summertime sun streamed through the leafy canopy of central London's Green Park and into the windows of the headquarters of platinum mine company Lonmin PLC. But 8,800 km away there was a chill in the air as the company's biggest South African mine became a frenzy of activity.
Japan Times
JAPAN / KANSAI PERSPECTIVE
Nov 24, 2013

Secrets bill raises fears among nuclear foes

In late 2005, U.S. government officials, invited by Japan, observed a counterterrorism drill at the Mihama nuclear plant in Fukui Prefecture and came away worried about the security situation at the complex.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Politics
Nov 23, 2013

Resisting the historical deniers

Shin Kawashima recalls his heart sinking with the reelection of Shinzo Abe. A specialist in Asian diplomatic history at the University of Tokyo, Kawashima has spent years trying to narrow the gap between Japan and China's strikingly different interpretations of wartime history. The election could undo...
Japan Times
WORLD / Politics
Nov 23, 2013

Ukraine puts brakes on historic EU deal

Stuck between Russia and the European Union, and chafing at the need to choose between them, the Ukrainian government faltered Thursday as threats from its big Slavic neighbor mounted.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Nov 22, 2013

Japan's foreign policy quirks

Japan's 'honne' and 'tatamae' approach to some foreign policy issues has had poor results.
Japan Times
WORLD / Politics
Nov 22, 2013

Senate's filibuster change will boost Obama's agenda

The U.S. Senate vote Thursday to lower the barriers for presidential nominations will make it easier for President Barack Obama to accomplish key second-term priorities, including tougher measures on climate change and financial regulation, that have faced intense opposition from Republicans in Congress....

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