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Japan Times
WORLD
May 5, 2021

Years of unheeded warnings. Then the subway crash Mexico City had feared.

Ever since it opened nearly a decade ago, the newest Mexico City subway line had been plagued with structural weaknesses that led engineers to warn of potential accidents.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / Japan
Apr 27, 2021

Economic issues, once divisive, now bind Japan and the U.S.

The two governments' discussion of economic issues is a path to mobilization and cooperation, not contestation (at least between themselves).
Japan Times
WORLD
Apr 11, 2021

Russian troop movements and talk of intervention cause jitters in Ukraine

Russia has amassed more troops on the Ukrainian border than at any time since 2014. Western governments are asking: Why now?
Japan Times
JAPAN / History / JAPAN TIMES GONE BY
Apr 5, 2021

Japan Times 1946: Women of Japan make first visit to polls

'Wednesday was a red-letter day for me. With a thrill and also a feeling of antipathy, I left home early to go to the polls.'
Japan Times
WORLD / Crime & Legal
Apr 3, 2021

Police officer killed in vehicle attack on U.S. Capitol

The suspect in the attack had reportedly struggled with drug use and paranoia and his family worried about his mental state.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC
Mar 29, 2021

Inside Myanmar’s army: ‘They see protesters as criminals’

Four officers spoke about life in the feared Tatmadaw, which has turned its guns on civilians again. “The Tatmadaw is the only world” for most soldiers, one said.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Science & Health / Remembering 3/11
Mar 8, 2021

Tectonic wobbles and muddy deposits: The seismic clues leading up to 3/11

New research is allowing scientists to envision a future where megathrust quakes are not only less unexpected, but perhaps, to a certain degree, predictable.
Japan Times
WORLD
Feb 26, 2021

Biden and Saudi King Salman talk by phone ahead of Khashoggi report

The Saudi journalist and U.S. resident was lured to the Saudi mission in Istanbul in 2018 then killed and dismembered by agents linked to the Saudi crown prince.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Feb 13, 2021

History tells us to worry about inflation

One cannot assume that the near future will be like the recent past. The post-pandemic world will offer a first test of whether low inflation is here to stay.
SUMO / INSIDE SUMO
Jan 27, 2021

Fake news becoming real issue for foreign sumo fans

Online information about sumo has increasingly been falling victim to many of the same issues that plague mainstream news.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC
Jan 15, 2021

North Korea unveils new submarine-launched missile at parade

'Powerful weapon' likely to put all of Japan within range, and experts say it could lay the groundwork for longer-range solid-fueled missile.
Japan Times
WORLD / Politics
Jan 9, 2021

These are the rioters who stormed the U.S. Capitol

There were infamous white nationalists and noted conspiracy theorists who have spread dark visions of pedophile Satanists running the country. Others were more anonymous, people who had journeyed from Indiana and South Carolina to heed U.S. President Donald Trump’s call to show their support. One person,...
Japan Times
WORLD
Jan 7, 2021

As U.S. Capitol was breached, a fear ‘we’d have to fight’ took hold

A tableau of violence and mayhem shocked the U.S. as one of the most severe breaches of the Capitol since the British burned it down during the War of 1812 took place.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Books
Dec 26, 2020

When reading was a refuge and had no end

This was the worst year, and nothing made sense any longer, except when it was the best year, because time for reading seemed to expand like one of those endless summer afternoons when one was in the late stages of grade school. I despised 2020 while also, as a person of solitary disposition, found myself...
Japan Times
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Dec 19, 2020

The public and private concerns of a princess in Japan

News outlets exploit the imperial family for their own ends without ever discussing the real meaning of the imperial system.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Dec 12, 2020

How hostile design keeps Japan's homeless at arm's length

In the early morning hours of Nov. 16, a 46-year-old man allegedly struck a 64-year-old woman sitting in a Tokyo bus shelter in the head with a bag of rocks, killing her. On Nov. 21, the man, accompanied by his mother, turned himself in to the police, who charged him with inflicting a fatal injury. The...
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Dec 5, 2020

Japan's celebrities juggle private lives with public expectation

A U.S. survey has found 69% of Japanese respondents believe extramarital affairs are unforgivable.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC / FOCUS
Dec 1, 2020

Democracy darkens: Hong Kong activists reel from Chinese moves

A year after young activists, veteran democrats and others formed the boldest revolt against Beijing in decades, Hong Kong is rapidly being 'mainlandized,' democracy advocates say.
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Nov 28, 2020

News outlets clash over tone of COVID-19 coverage

The government's COVID-19 subcommittee held a news conference on Nov. 9 to discuss nationwide increases in infections this winter. The government itself seems hesitant to call this sudden spike the "third wave," a term that has become normalized in the media, but the subcommittee definitely sees it as...
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Nov 21, 2020

A frank conversation is needed on euthanasia

In October, New Zealand voters approved a referendum proposal to legalize medically assisted suicide, thus joining a small group of countries and territories that allow euthanasia under specific circumstances. The proposal sprang from a lawsuit brought by a lawyer dying from a brain tumor, and while...
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Nov 14, 2020

Subsidizing fertility treatment leaves Japanese gynecologists in a bind

Fertility treatments are not covered by national health insurance because, in most cases, infertility is not defined as an ailment.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Nov 7, 2020

The potential for a policy failure on vaccines is huge

Leaders must make decisions about who will get a coronavirus shot first and provide adequate explanations to those denied the vaccine.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Oct 19, 2020

No, we shouldn’t report partying neighbors to the pandemic police

The pandemic has prompted European citizens to accept changes in social behavior that would have seemed impossible only a year ago. People have stopped shaking hands, started wearing masks and learned to talk at some distance. They have adhered to government rules keeping them at home and closing down...
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Sep 19, 2020

Oracle’s TikTok deal pours Trump toxin into capitalism

The idea a country's leader decides which deals get done — and that it's contingent on how friendly the company is with the leader — is how it works in Putin's Russia.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Sep 11, 2020

High crimes against journalism and decency

Jeffrey Goldberg's insane 'Trump called troops suckers' piece is a new low.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Sep 6, 2020

Iceland has very good news about coronavirus immunity

The emergence of a handful of people reinfected by SARS-Cov-2 — including individuals in Hong Kong, Italy and the U.S. — has sparked panic over the future course of the pandemic.
SUMO
Jul 29, 2020

History shows Abi's flouting of virus protocols will likely be last straw for Japan Sumo Association

Many of those who have transgressed against the JSA's myriad rules (whether official or unwritten) in the past have found themselves out of the sport in short order.
Japan Times
LIFE / Style & Design
Jul 25, 2020

Redefining the kimono in modern times

While many associate the kimono with Japanese tradition, renewed interest in the garment at home and abroad is giving it a new lease on life.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Books
Jul 17, 2020

‘The Keeper of the Dragonflies’: The essence of cross-cultural relationships, warts and all

Thomas Noah Wood is the pseudonym for the American writer Thomas Dillon, whose name may be familiar to readers of The Japan Times. Dillon wrote about daily life in Japan through the lens of international marriage in “When East Marries West,” a column which ran from 1998 to 2015. Unlike the good-natured...

Longform

Atsuyoshi Koike, the president and CEO of Rapidus, says there is a “sense of urgency” when it comes to Japan’s efforts in manufacturing semiconductors. “We have to make sure we are successful,” he says.
Atsuyoshi Koike’s big game: Fourth down and 2 nanometers to go