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Japan Times
WORLD
Aug 27, 2014

Poroshenko to seek cease-fire after ‘very tough’ talks with Putin

Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko promised after late-night negotiations with Russia's Vladimir Putin to work on an urgent cease-fire plan to defuse the separatist conflict in the east of his former Soviet republic.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / LEARNING CURVE
Jul 27, 2014

Osaka bets big on TOEFL to boost English levels

The Osaka Prefecture Board of Education is pushing through a raft of initiatives to shake up English-language education, chief among them the introduction of TOEFL at top-performing high schools, which will be taught by an elite group of teachers earning approximately ¥8 million a year.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Jun 19, 2014

Luna Sea rockers Sugizo and Inoran talk life at 25

"I don't think of this as a reunion. We didn't break up; we just paused our activities and came back to life," says Sugizo, guitarist and violinist of rock group Luna Sea. Sitting next to bandmate Inoran, he speaks calmly and softly, his eyes looking back at me through tinted sunglasses. "Words like...
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / JUST BE CAUSE
Jun 4, 2014

Humanize the dry debate about immigration

Lost in the immigration narrative in Japan is the idea that when we import labor, we import people. With lives. And needs. And voices to be heard.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Jun 2, 2014

JICA said funding Myanmar evictions

Villagers from Myanmar visit the Japan International Cooperation Agency to demand a probe into its decision to fund an industrial project that is costing them their homes.
Japan Times
WORLD / Politics / ANALYSIS
Apr 16, 2014

Russia modifies Crimea playbook for benefit in east Ukraine

There are important differences between Russia's intervention in Crimea and the events unfolding this week in eastern Ukraine that suggest Moscow has adapted its Crimean playbook and may be pursuing a different outcome.
JAPAN / Politics
Apr 4, 2014

Washington, Tokyo, Seoul to huddle on North Korea

The United States, Japan and South Korea will meet next week to seek ways to persuade North Korea to give up its atomic weapons program, the U.S. State Department said Thursday, just days after Pyongyang warned of a "new form" of nuclear test.
EDITORIALS
Mar 27, 2014

Transparency in interrogations

A special panel of the Legislative Council proposes phasing in the process of electronically recording the full interrogation of a criminal suspect by an investigator. Will prosecutors go along?
Japan Times
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Feb 22, 2014

Japan takes baby steps toward a proper debate about animal rights

On Jan. 10, convenience store chain Family Mart started selling a new bentō (boxed lunch) with a heavy-duty name to complement its hefty ¥600 price: Famima Premium Koroge Wagyu-iri Hamburger Bento, which "contains" high-quality Japanese ground beef. For an added touch of extravagance, it also came...
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / How-tos / LIFELINES
Feb 9, 2014

Getting the colors clear when filing taxes in Japan

Filing a tax return isn't easy at the best of times, but doing it in another country can be particularly challenging. Fortunately, if you work for a company and that's your sole source of income in Japan, they will take care of everything for you. However, those who are self-employed or have multiple...
LIFE
Jan 11, 2014

Everything you ever wanted to know about Godzilla but were afraid to ask

Japan Times
JAPAN / Politics
Dec 19, 2013

Inose calling it quits over money scandal

Scandal-ridden Tokyo Gov. Naoki Inose announced his resignation Thursday for taking money from a hospital operator mired in allegations of election law violations involving a Diet member.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues
Dec 18, 2013

A secrets law for whom? Look who gets a free pass

Ancient Confucian scholars regarded law as a necessary evil, something used on lower orders of people who lacked the moral refinement to act righteously without prompting. Yet this just states a basic truth about law: It is something we do to other people. You and I know how to act properly, right? It's...
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
COMMUNITY / How-tos / HOME TRUTHS
Nov 4, 2013

Warming up for the winter chill

In 2000 we moved into an apartment in Tokyo run by the semi-public housing corporation UR. It was new and had a natural-gas heating system. Unlike other gas systems we'd used in the past, however, this one heated water that was then circulated to outlets in different rooms in the apartment. Direct gas...
Japan Times
PRESS / Events
Oct 15, 2013

"The Japan Times / International New York Times" to launch tomorrow; commemorative event scheduled for Oct.23

Starting tomorrow (October 16th), The Japan Times embarks on a new phase in its 116-year history as it commences a publishing tie-up with The New York Times. From tomorrow's issue, the newspaper will be packaged with The New York Times' international edition, to become “The Japan Times / International...
COMMENTARY / World
Oct 6, 2013

Does China's left turn indicate reforms ahead?

Some analysts believe that China's turn to the left and its crackdown on democratic ideas are tactical moves that foreshadow the launch of major reforms later this fall.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Sep 28, 2013

Casinos bet on success in Tokyo

Most of the Olympics-related news reported since Tokyo won the right to host the 2020 Games is about projected economic benefits and drawbacks. A lot of construction will take place over the next seven years, but not all of it will be directly related to the sporting event.
Japan Times
WORLD
Sep 10, 2013

Volleyball as you've never seen it: Chinese '9-man'

My 15-year-old daughter had a warning for me. "You know, Mom," she said, "you'll probably be the only white person there."
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Aug 27, 2013

Can the ailing Emerald Isle roar back as the Celtic Tiger?

Much of Ireland has been riveted this summer by recordings of phone conversations from 2008 that revealed not only shocking levels of greed and bad breeding among some of the country's top bankers, but a deliberate effort to snooker the government into bailing out the country's banks by concealing the...
Japan Times
WORLD / Science & Health
Aug 2, 2013

Curiosity rover's descent to Mars — the story so far

Nestled below the foothills of the San Gabriel mountains, the Jet Propulsion Laboratory outside Pasadena has a surprisingly low-tech feel. For more than 40 years, space missions to the planets have been controlled from its operations rooms, yet the place is still striking for its bucolic charm. Mule...
JAPAN / Media / BIG IN JAPAN
Jun 23, 2013

'Hate speech' in the media, but not the legal code

This writer, on previous occasions, has expressed irritation over the recent tendency for the vernacular media to rely heavily on English borrowings for neologisms with socially negative connotations, such as sexual harassment, stalking and domestic violence — to name three examples.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Jun 9, 2013

'Nutritious' claims need to be taken with a pinch of salt

During a recent visit to the United States, I was impressed by several advertising campaigns. The American Beverage Association (ABA) is running a series of spots that alternatingly complain of what it deems the over-regulation of soft drinks and promote the efforts of member manufacturers to make their...

Longform

Construction takes place on the Takanawa Gateway Convention Center in Tokyo, slated to open in 2025.
A boom for business tourism in Japan?