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EDITORIALS
Jul 16, 2013

Few feeling the economic recovery

The Bank of Japan on July 11 upgraded its assessment of the Japanese economy for the seventh straight month and said that it is "starting to recover moderately" on the strength of various economic indexes turning upward, including improving business sentiment and steady consumer spending.
COMMENTARY / World
Jul 16, 2013

What Egypt can learn from Iraq

While arguing over the merits of continuing U.S. aid to Egypt, commentators and analysts tend to agree on two main points. First, there is a general consensus on what President Mohammed Morsi and the Muslim Brotherhood got wrong. Second, virtually all Western observers are stressing the need for an inclusive...
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC
Jul 15, 2013

Time running out for South Korean POWs still in North

Sixty years ago this month, a 21-year-old South Korean soldier named Lee Jae-won wrote a letter to his mother. He was somewhere in the middle of the peninsula, he wrote, and bullets were coming down like "raindrops." He said he was scared.
EDITORIALS
Jul 14, 2013

Dangers of constitutional revision

If the LDP and and its allies win at least two-thirds of the Upper House seats on July 21, watch for Shinzo Abe to push constitutional revisions.
JAPAN / Society
Jul 10, 2013

Politicians silent on curbing hate speech

Calls in the Diet for legislation to curb hate speech targeting foreign residents of Japan are being made even as the issue barely registers on the campaign trail for the July 21 Upper House poll.
CULTURE / Music / JAZZ NOTES
Jul 10, 2013

Nothing beats a Hammond B3

This month started with a trip to Cotton Club in Tokyo's Marunouchi district to see the trio Aquapit play a gig to promote their new album "Orange."
EDITORIALS
Jul 9, 2013

Supporting less fortunate children

A law passed unanimously by the Upper House will test the central government's will to support education for poor children and to help low-income parents find jobs.
Japan Times
WORLD
Jul 7, 2013

Giffords tries gentler touch on guns

It was day two of Gabrielle Giffords' whirlwind nationwide tour to revive the push for tougher gun laws. The former congresswoman's husband, Mark Kelly, woke up early, placed his black case of firearms into the car trunk and raced across a vast stretch of Alaskan highway to practice target shooting....
COMMENTARY / World
Jul 7, 2013

Bye-bye to the Brotherhood

There are many good reasons to be grateful for the turn of events in Cairo. Women and the 10 percent of Egyptians who are Christian should be pleased.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Jul 7, 2013

South Korea's spy agency takes lead role in political scandals

During last year's presidential election, a team of South Korean intelligence agents allegedly flooded the Internet with several thousand political comments, including some describing left-leaning candidates as North Korea sympathizers.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Politics / GAME OF NUMBERS
Jul 4, 2013

LDP spin team hammers voters with 'Abenomics' mantra

The Upper House election will be a test of the economic strategies being pursued by Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's coalition government — or so says his ruling Liberal Democratic Party.
COMMENTARY / World
Jul 3, 2013

John Kerry's bid for Mideast peace

The U.S. goal of getting Israel's prime minister and the Palestinian Authority president together for direct talks about the most divisive issues is noble but quite futile.
COMMENTARY / World
Jul 3, 2013

The petty source of Lincoln's majestic vision

It could be that Abraham Lincoln's triumphs of the intellect were made possible by his very proximity to the mundane events that are said to exhaust politicians today.
Japan Times
WORLD
Jul 3, 2013

Size, intensity of wildfires in U.S. increasing

Volatile weather patterns marked by shortened winters, stifling heat waves and prolonged droughts. New housing developments encroaching on fire-prone lands. Shrinking budgets for fire prevention measures.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Jul 3, 2013

Work-life balance? Not in politics

Tamayo Marukawa, 42, seems to have it all. A University of Tokyo graduate, she scored one of the most coveted jobs in Japan as an announcer at TV Asahi. A popular presence there for 14 years, she left for a seat in the Upper House six years ago as a member of the Liberal Democratic Party.
Japan Times
WORLD / FOCUS
Jul 2, 2013

Boehner 'soft' approach boon, bane

When someone crosses John Boehner, he or she can expect a couple of reactions from the House speaker. Sometimes it is a thwack on the back and a disapproving shake of his head, quickly followed by a begrudging smile to indicate that all is forgiven. Sometimes it is a fake yell and then a shrug. One recalcitrant...
JAPAN / Politics
Jul 2, 2013

Ties said on mend despite summit lack

Kyodo
JAPAN / Politics
Jul 1, 2013

Japan envoys among U.S. 'spy targets'

Tokyo will 'strongly demand' an explanation from Washington about reports that Japanese diplomats in the U.S. were 'targets' of American spying, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga says.

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