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Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Dec 26, 2014

North Korea's nukes are much scarier than its hacks

While the world's attention focuses on North Korea's cyberwar with Sony Pictures, the Hermit Kingdom is rapidly increasing its stockpile of nuclear weapons material, with real little pushback from the U.S.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC / Society
Dec 26, 2014

Scam shows China's shortage of brides reaching critical mass

In the villages outside Handan, China, a bachelor looking to marry a local girl needs to have as much as $64,000, the price tag for a suitable home and obligatory gifts. That is a bit out of the price range of many of the farmers in the area.
EDITORIALS
Dec 25, 2014

Testing students' ability to think

An education ministry council could be presenting an over-idealized picture of its proposed reforms of Japan's university entrance exams, often criticized for placing too much emphasis on rote learning.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Dec 25, 2014

From tradition to trash: Tokyo's art in 2014

This year has been a memorable one for art exhibitions at museums in Tokyo, with a surprisingly diverse array of shows and events, ancient and modern, foreign and domestic, metropolitan and provincial.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Dec 23, 2014

South Korea shows the way on 'womenomics'

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe says he wants to put more women to work to help make up for the country's shrinking population. Yet, of the 1,093 people who ran for office in recent snap elections, a mere 169 were women. Abe might want to study neighboring South Korea.
EDITORIALS
Dec 20, 2014

End the global slavery scourge

Representatives from diverse religious faiths have signed a declaration of their collective will to end modern-day slavery by 2020. Is this a first step toward removing one of the most heinous practices in human history?
BUSINESS / Companies
Dec 19, 2014

Takata air bag crisis may spur maintenance changes in Japan

Takata Corp.'s air bag crisis could spur changes in how car owners maintain their vehicles, with Japan's automakers discussing whether drivers should regularly replace the chemicals used to inflate the safety devices.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Companies
Dec 18, 2014

Amanresorts enters Japan hotel arena with onsen-themed luxury inn

Amanresorts International Pte. is known for providing luxury accommodation far from the madding crowd, but its latest retreat overlooks Tokyo's financial district.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC
Dec 18, 2014

Xi visit to Macau deals cold deck to high-rolling VIP gamblers

As Chinese President Xi Jinping arrives in Macau this weekend for his first official visit in five years, the message from Beijing is clear: the world's biggest gambling center cannot remain a one-industry town.
Japan Times
BASKETBALL / NBA / HOOP SCOOP
Dec 12, 2014

Casey has fueled rise by Raptors

The Toronto Raptors' climb hasn't been an overnight miracle. But it's been a memorable climb under the steady leadership of head coach Dwane Casey.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Politics / DECISION 2014
Dec 12, 2014

Ishikawa aims to become first openly gay member of Lower House

Openly gay politician Taiga Ishikawa says that winning a Diet seat in Sunday's election would empower him to change politics and help Japanese society recognize its diversity.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Dec 11, 2014

Taking flight with Arata Isozaki

I once almost got to interview the architect Arata Isozaki, but it was canceled due to his ill health at the time. No doubt a consideration in the cancelation was the fact that interviews with him can go to extreme lengths, as Isozaki has much to tell, having collaborated with almost every big name in...
Japan Times
JAPAN / Politics / DECISION 2014
Dec 11, 2014

Welfare cuts? Abe won't say it

Hiroko Shinohara frets about one issue Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has noticeably avoided on the campaign trail ahead of Sunday's election: the need to cut the nation's generous social welfare program that supports millions of people.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Society / DECISION 2014
Dec 10, 2014

Japan's persisting gender gap leaves many single moms in poverty

Yuka Suzuki, 47, has virtually no savings, earns about half the average national wage and cannot see where the money will come from to retire one day.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC
Dec 9, 2014

China arming stealthy subs with long-range nuclear missiles

China is preparing to arm its stealthiest submarines with nuclear missiles that could reach the U.S., cloaking its arsenal with the invisibility needed to retaliate in the event of an enemy strike.
Japan Times
WORLD / Science & Health
Dec 9, 2014

EU presses for accountability, opening rift at U.N. climate talks in Lima

European Union insistence on a right to challenge nations about their plans for fighting climate change, in the run-up to a United Nations summit in 2015, has opened a rift at U.N. climate talks in Lima.
Japan Times
MORE SPORTS
Dec 5, 2014

Lewis brings storied career back to track as coach

It's too early to know if Carl Lewis will one day be considered a legendary track coach.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Dec 5, 2014

Japan's 'zombienomics'

The hard reality is that Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's vaunted economic reforms will not work unless he shows more guts, much more imagination and a lot more humility in dealing with a modern economy that cannot be commanded by fiat.
BUSINESS / Markets
Dec 4, 2014

S&P doubts Abe will have detailed fiscal consolidation plan

Standard & Poor's has cast doubt on Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's ability to repair Japan's tattered finances less than two weeks away from a snap election, after Moody's downgraded the country's sovereign debt rating.
WORLD / Science & Health
Dec 4, 2014

U.N. sets modest hopes for climate pledges at 2015 Paris summit

Government pledges due in 2015 to cut rising world greenhouse gases will be too weak to avert the worst of global warming will and merely be part of a process toward agreeing on far tougher curbs, the United Nations said on Wednesday.

Longform

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