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Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC
Mar 9, 2016

North Korea steps up telecom surveillance to isolate citizens, Amnesty says

North Koreans caught using mobile phones to call families abroad risk being sent to political prison camps under an increasingly iron-fisted regime that is jamming devices and stepping up surveillance, according to a report from Amnesty International.
Japan Times
Rugby
Mar 2, 2016

Rights holder doubts Sunwolves will help grow rugby in Asia

The Sunwolves' entry into Super Rugby is unlikely to grow the game around Asia, according to the sport's new rights owner in the region who believes showcasing more local action online will have a greater impact.
WORLD
Feb 26, 2016

India near inducting its first nuclear-armed submarine

India is close to becoming the world's sixth country to put a nuclear-armed attack submarine into operation, a move that would give it a leg up on neighboring Pakistan and intensify a race for more underwater weapons in Asia.
Japan Times
BASKETBALL / NBA / NBA REPORT
Dec 22, 2015

Bryant determined to remain defiant until the end

In some respects Kobe Bryant, perhaps the true Baby Jordan, reminds me the most of Jerry West, the original Los Angeles Lakers great guard. Because they go out of their way, defiant to the end.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Dec 9, 2015

Taiwan's likely first female president keeps quiet on possibility of independence from China

Taiwan's elections are just weeks away, with little clarity about how a likely win by a party that traditionally favors independence from China will be viewed in Beijing, which has threatened force to ensure the island never goes it alone.
COMMENTARY / World
Nov 29, 2015

Rethink the war on terror

Doing the same things over and over in the war on terror will only produce the same result: failure.
COMMENTARY / World
Nov 17, 2015

No city is safe while the war continues in Syria

France and other U.S.-led coalition countries must all now assume they are potential targets for attacks like the ones in Paris. They need to decide whether they should subscribe to Putin's method of stamping out terror.
COMMENTARY / World
Nov 5, 2015

A pay wall has no place in democratic politics

Putting politics behind a paywall serves as an unintentional signifier — that the system is not of, by or for you, the people.
COMMENTARY / World
Sep 25, 2015

Australia should embrace the humanitarian focus on nukes

Australia has been steadfast in holding to the strength of its convictions, but it should end its opposition to the nuclear weapons humanitarian consequences movement.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / JUST BE CAUSE
Sep 6, 2015

Why Japan's right keeps leaving the left in the dust

The left keeps losing, and much of it is its own damned fault.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Companies
Aug 24, 2015

SoftBank partners up with Netflix to sell video streaming service at stores

With Netflix Inc. eyeing its Japan launch next week, SoftBank Corp. said Monday it will be partnering with the world's largest video streaming provider to sell its service at SoftBank's shops, and possibly create original content together in the future.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / JUST BE CAUSE
Jul 5, 2015

Media redraw battle lines in bid for global reach

Something significant happened in April that attracted only desultory press coverage, so let's give it some more.
LIFE / Language / MORNING ENGLISH
Jun 29, 2015

Let's discuss NHK in the news

This week's featured article
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Economy / YEN FOR LIVING
May 23, 2015

Phone users in Japan still paying for plenty of stuff they don't need

Despite efforts to shake up competition in the cellphone market, consumers are paying more than ever for mobile services.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
May 16, 2015

JCP gains ground, but not column inches

Years ago a Japanese acquaintance applied for a green card when her American husband decided to move back to the United States. Someone told her she should not say she once voted for the Japanese Communist Party (JCP) during her interview, otherwise U.S. Immigration would reject it. As far as I know,...
WORLD / Science & Health
May 3, 2015

Limiting global warming to 2 degrees C 'inadequate,' scientists say

Holding global warming to a temperature rise of 2 degrees Celsius — the cornerstone of an expected new global climate agreement in December — will fail to prevent many of climate change's worst impacts, a group of scientists and other experts have warned.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / TOKYO FOOD FILE
May 1, 2015

Shinagawa Station's great wall of sake

Finding a new favorite izakaya tavern is always cause for celebration, especially if it happens to be on your way home. Better yet, if it offers good food and a great sake selection. Nurukan Sato Gotenyama Saryo ticks all of those boxes — just as long as "on your way home" involves passing through...
Japan Times
JAPAN / Media / BIG IN JAPAN
Apr 4, 2015

Magazines fixate on the roots of poverty

The oft-seen expression ichioku sō-chūryū translates roughly as "the perception of 'the 100 million,' i.e., the entire nation, as belonging to the middle class."
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC
Mar 8, 2015

Abducted by aliens? Stolen by Russians? MH370 theories abound

One year on from the disappearance of Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370, an extraordinary amount of key data remains unknown — fueling conspiracy theories and heated online debate about one of aviation's biggest mysteries.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Mar 7, 2015

Electricity and gas deregulation

The Abe administration has readied two bills for finalizing the deregulation of the nation's electricity and city gas businesses, but each bill comes with a rider allowing the delay of implementation if conditions aren't right for the utilities.
COMMENTARY / Japan / THE VIEW FROM NEW YORK
Feb 27, 2015

Yamashita trial as a monument to our humanity

Many U.S. commentators' assumption that Japan is beyond redemption because it is a 'war-crime nation' appears to have taken off at the trial of Tomoyuki Yamashita, who was convicted after the Pacific War in Manila for failure to exert 'command responsibility' over every action of his troops.
COMMENTARY / World
Feb 22, 2015

Three reasons why Merkel acts so stubborn

There are three possible explanations why German Chancellor Angela Merkel seems so relentlessly uncompromising in the standoff between Greece and its euro creditors.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Tech
Feb 5, 2015

Netflix to bring its video-streaming service to Japan this fall

Netflix Inc. will enter the Japanese market this fall as it seeks out a bigger share of the global video-streaming business.
BUSINESS / Tech
Jan 6, 2015

Dish to unveil $20-a-month streaming-TV service with ESPN, TNT

Dish Network Corp. plans to unveil the first major online television service from a cable or satellite company, a $20-a-month set of 12 channels that targets U.S. customers who don't want to pay for larger, more expensive TV packages.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Jan 3, 2015

The highlights of Japanese media in 2014

My choices for the most significant public phenomena of last year are associated with traditional media rather than the social kind, which isn't to say these phenomena didn't impact social media and vice versa, only that TV, newspapers and magazines still affect our perception of the world.
COMMENTARY
Dec 11, 2014

The devil lies in the details of Sino-Russian relations

Despite the much publicized energy transactions, a deep gulf remains between China and Russia. The moment of truth in their relations will come once the U.S. has pulled its troops out of Afghanistan and the rest of Central Asia.
BUSINESS / Markets
Nov 27, 2014

GPIF must add stocks to complement 'Abenomics' boost, research head says

The massive Government Pension Investment Fund must be ready to buy more stocks should Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's policies succeed in reviving the economy, according to its head of research.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Oct 26, 2014

Moderate defense of what they call extremism

Few words are less meaningless in political discourse than 'extremism,' as people are extremists only in comparison to what is mainstream at the moment. Today's extremism becomes tomorrow's moderation under a different system.

Longform

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