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EDITORIALS
Mar 21, 2019

Boost availability and quality of day care for children

Instead of simply offering free preschool education and day care services, the government needs to take further steps to make sure that the services are available to all families that need them.
Japan Times
WORLD
Mar 21, 2019

Boeing, FAA officials called to testify in U.S. Senate on 737 MAX jetliner crashes

Boeing Co. faced growing pressure in Washington on Wednesday with U.S. lawmakers calling for executives to testify about two crashed 737 MAX jets even as the world's biggest plane-maker works to overcome obstacles to returning the grounded fleet to the skies.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Mar 20, 2019

Japan's Supreme Court gives approval for retrial of former nurse who served prison term over 2003 murder

The top court has given its approval for the retrial of a nurse who was convicted of murdering a 72-year-old male patient at a hospital in Shiga Prefecture and has already served a prison term.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Society
Mar 20, 2019

Vietnamese blue-collar workers in Japan seen facing risks as labor system opens up

When a young Vietnamese woman found out late last year that she was pregnant after arriving in Japan on a technical trainee visa, she was given a stark choice: "Have an abortion or go back to Vietnam."
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC / Science & Health
Mar 19, 2019

South Korean light and laser system warns 'smartphone zombies' of traffic

A city in South Korea, which has the world's highest smartphone penetration rate, has installed flickering lights and laser beams at a road crossing to warn "smartphone zombies" to look up and drivers to slow down, in the hope of preventing accidents.
JAPAN
Mar 19, 2019

Schools reopen, but student numbers fail to rebound in disaster-hit Fukushima municipalities

Eight years after the March 2011 disasters, elementary and junior high schools have reopened in 10 Fukushima Prefecture municipalities after the lifting of nuclear evacuation advisories. Student numbers have not rebounded.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC
Mar 18, 2019

New gun laws will make New Zealand safer after mosque massacre, PM Jacinda Ardern says

New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said Monday she would announce new gun laws within days, after at least 50 people were killed in mass shootings at two mosques in the city of Christchurch.
Japan Times
Events
Mar 16, 2019

Irish eyes are smiling in Japan

The first ever St. Patrick's Day parade in Tokyo made history for a number of reasons — least of all for the fact that it was the first such parade in Asia, and it unfolded on a sidewalk in Roppongi.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Media / BIG IN JAPAN
Mar 16, 2019

Does NHK drama credit instant noodles to the right inventor?

Each morning at 8 o'clock, millions of homemakers across the country tune into a 15-minute-long segment of a serialized morning drama on NHK. The current story, titled "Manpuku," relates the saga of the man who invented instant noodles and his devoted wife, played by Hiroki Hasegawa and Sakura Ando,...
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Mar 16, 2019

Group seeking to overthrow Kim was behind raid on North Korean Embassy in Spain, Washington Post reports

A dissident organization committed to overthrowing North Korean leader Kim Jong Un was behind a raid on the North Korean embassy in Spain last month, The Washington Post reported on Friday, quoting people familiar with the planning and execution of the mission.
ASIA PACIFIC
Mar 16, 2019

Massacre in New Zealand shows how violent videos can evade tech giants' radar

The Friday massacre at two New Zealand mosques, live-streamed to the world, was not the first internet broadcast of a violent crime, but it showed that stopping gory footage from spreading online persists as a major challenge for tech companies despite years of investment.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Mar 15, 2019

Tripling in value of Binance Coin, the cryptocurrency of the hour, echoes bitcoin's glory days

The cryptocurrency boom appears to be alive and well for Binance, the world's largest digital-asset exchange by trading volume.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Mar 13, 2019

Trump is winning and Putin is losing in global arms sales

If you take arms sales as a proxy for influence, the U.S.'s global dominance looks to be resilient.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Mar 12, 2019

Wagging the dictator

Russian and Chinese firms are increasingly bringing pressure to bear on policymaking.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Mar 12, 2019

Halal event expected to surpass records

When the Malaysia International Halal Showcase (MIHAS) opens in Kuala Lumpur on April 3, it will follow in the hope of topping last year's phenomenally successful event.
WORLD / Crime & Legal
Mar 12, 2019

Robert Mueller's Russia probe said already financed through September

Special counsel Robert Mueller and the team he assembled to investigate U.S. President Donald Trump and his associates have been funded through the end of September 2019, three U.S. officials said on Monday, an indication that the probe has funding to keep it going for months if need be.
Japan Times
WORLD / Society
Mar 11, 2019

Two Belgian women, renouncing Islamic State, fear they will never go home with their six kids

Two Belgian women who joined Islamic State in Syria said on Sunday they were losing hope they will ever go home after a Belgian court overturned a ruling to repatriate them with their six children.
Japan Times
LIFE / Digital / ON: GAMES
Mar 10, 2019

Fighting for some successful revivals

Become over 40 manga characters with 'Jump Force'; 'Dead or Alive' is very much alive and kicking; and 'Nier: Automata' is even better than it was before.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC / ANALYSIS
Mar 6, 2019

North Korea rebuilding long-range rocket site in sign of displeasure after failed nuke talks, experts say

North Korea appears to be rebuilding a key long-range rocket test site it promised to scrap, in a possible sign of its displeasure over the collapse of nuclear talks at the second summit between leader Kim Jong Un and U.S. President Donald Trump, experts say.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / LAW OF THE LAND
Mar 6, 2019

Robot rights: From Asimov to Tezuka

Asimov's 'Three Laws of Robotics' are fictional rules, so why do we keep looking to them for guidance? The closest thing to real-world robot law we could have more seems likely to develop around the question of when autonomous military drones can make 'kill' decisions without human intervention.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics / ANALYSIS
Mar 5, 2019

Chinese defense spending to grow 7.5% in 2019 as Beijing seeks 'world-class' military

China's defense budget will jump 7.5 percent this year, down slightly from last year's 8.1 percent, as Beijing grapples with ongoing territorial disputes and seeks to create a "world-class" military, a draft budget from the annual session of the country's rubber-stamp parliament showed Tuesday.
Japan Times
BASKETBALL / NBA
Mar 5, 2019

Rockets, Raptors set for two games in Japan

Well, it's only preseason contests this time, but Japan will host NBA games for the first time in 16 years when the Houston Rockets and Toronto Raptors face each other, the league announced at a Tokyo news conference on Tuesday.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Tech
Mar 5, 2019

'Minority Report' gets real as Japan startup develops AI cameras to spot shoplifters before they steal

It's watching, and knows a crime is about to take place before it happens.
JAPAN
Mar 4, 2019

As pool of candidates in rural Japan dwindles, Kochi village to allow councilors to retain side jobs

Faced with a rapidly shrinking population of elderly residents reluctant to run for seats on the local council, the village of Okawa, Kochi Prefecture, passed a referendum Monday designed to make it easier serve on the council while concurrently holding side jobs.
JAPAN / Politics / FOCUS
Mar 4, 2019

Tensions within Japan's LDP rise over backing of ex-DPJ heavyweight Goshi Hosono in Shizuoka poll

The two factions at the heart of the battle have a long history of conflict.

Longform

Visitors walk past Sou Fujimoto's Grand Ring, which has been recognized as the largest wooden structure in the world.
Can a World Expo still matter? Japan is about to find out.