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Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Apr 1, 2020

How a gulf prince charmed Indonesia's Jokowi and poured money into the country

During a visit last summer where he strolled through the tropical gardens next to Indonesia’s summer Presidential Palace, Abu Dhabi’s crown prince offered to build a grand mosque for his host, Joko "Jokowi" Widodo. If that seemed like a generous gesture, the two men struck a bigger bargain within...
Japan Times
JAPAN / EXPLAINER
Mar 25, 2020

25 years after Tokyo subway attack, Aum is a shadow of its former self

Doomsday cult Aum Shinrikyo's sarin gas attack on Tokyo subway trains shocked Japan and the world, raising concerns over nonstate organizations obtaining weapons of mass destruction.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Politics / Commentary
Mar 23, 2020

V4+Japan: A new mode of cooperation or a doomed project?

Much has been written about the reinvigoration of the Japan-EU relationship after signing the strategic and economic partnership in the last few years. But Japanese rapprochement to the EU does not end in Brussels. In recent years, another European platform has been activated by Abe’s proactive policy:...
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / The Big Questions
Mar 22, 2020

Unique programs target a broad spectrum of viewers

For 20 years, Discovery Japan had shown television viewers the world around them. While Discovery Channel and Animal Planet were available in millions of Japanese homes, the company behind them knew viewer habits were changing.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Media / BIG IN JAPAN
Mar 21, 2020

Why are Japan’s millennials shunning alcohol?

Some time before the coronavirus outbreak put a damper on this year’s hanami (blossom viewing) parties and other social activities, the media had already noted that the decline in alcohol consumption by younger Japanese has been accelerating. This phenomenon even made the front page of the Nikkei Marketing...
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Mar 21, 2020

Tax agency bureaus in Japan on high alert for rise in consumption tax fraud

Tax authorities are preparing to act against a possible increase in abuses of a rule that exempts export transactions from sales levies following October's consumption tax hike from 8 percent to 10 percent.
Japan Times
WORLD
Mar 21, 2020

How a Russian plan to restore Gadhafi's regime in Libya backfired

One day in April last year, as war raged around Tripoli, two Russian operatives set out from the Libyan capital to meet the man they hoped to install as leader.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Mar 20, 2020

Gezan's Mahito The People says music won't be beaten by a virus

These are trying times for gigging musicians. As COVID-19 continues its relentless spread, tours are being cancelled and artists and promoters are having to adjust to a brutal new reality, in which the activities that livelihoods depend on are suddenly rendered taboo. When I meet the members of alternative...
Japan Times
WORLD / Science & Health
Mar 19, 2020

Plastics had been falling out of favor. Then came the coronavirus

It took one week after the first U.S. case of COVID-19 with no overseas connection for Starbucks Corp. to temporarily ban customers from bringing in reusable coffee mugs.
Japan Times
WORLD / Politics
Mar 19, 2020

Trump bump flattened: President tied fortunes to stock rally that crashed

Ever since his improbable victory in November 2016, U.S. President Donald Trump has been inextricably tied to the fortunes of the stock market. At no time in modern history has the leader of the free world made rising share prices such a singular barometer of his success, or claimed so much credit for...
Japan Times
JAPAN
Mar 18, 2020

Suicide note reignites Moritomo scandal that rocked Abe administration

The wife of a former Finance Ministry official who killed himself filed a lawsuit against the ministry and the former chief of its financial bureau, seeking damages of u00a5110 million.
Japan Times
Figure Skating
Mar 17, 2020

Retired ice dancer Chris Reed dies of heart attack at age 30

Former ice dancer Chris Reed, who represented Japan for more than a decade, died on Saturday of a heart attack in Detroit, according to a published report. He was 30.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Mar 11, 2020

Japan's agriculture ministry to keep food self-sufficiency target at 45%

The agriculture ministry revealed Tuesday that it would maintain its goal of increasing the country's calorie-based food self-sufficiency rate to 45 percent by fiscal 2030, unchanged from the current target for years through fiscal 2025.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Mar 9, 2020

Tohoku land-reutilization project breathes new life into 3/11 danger zones

Towns and cities in the three Tohoku prefectures damaged most by the March 2011 earthquake and tsunami are moving forward with plans to reuse abandoned land plots under a group relocation program aimed at disaster prevention.
Japan Times
WORLD
Mar 7, 2020

Senior Saudi princes held for alleged treason

Saudi Arabian authorities have detained a brother and a nephew of Saudi King Salman bin Abdul-Aziz al-Saud Salman and accused them of treason, according to a person familiar with the matter — a move that extends a series of crackdowns on royal relatives by Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.
Japan Times
JAPAN / EXPLAINER
Mar 6, 2020

Women in Japanese politics: Why so few after so very long?

To mark International Women's Day on March 8, there will be worldwide marches, parades, protests and public awareness activities on the contributions of women and the barriers and discrimination they still face.
Japan Times
SUMO
Mar 5, 2020

Health risks in spotlight as Spring Basho nears start

The Japan Sumo Association is proceeding with the upcoming Spring Grand Sumo Tournament, but has decided, in light of the ongoing coronavirus outbreak, that it will be held behind closed doors.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Mar 4, 2020

Coronavirus prompts Japan to reconsider long-hours office culture

The coronavirus outbreak is forcing Japan to examine some of its longest-held aspects of workplace culture in a country where spending long hours in the office is still regarded as crucial to success.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Companies
Mar 4, 2020

Nissan faces more pain before gain as business hit further by coronavirus, new CEO says

CEO Makoto Uchida promised to unveil a turnaround plan in May, on top of cutting more than 12,500 jobs amid decade-low profits and management turmoil caused by Carlos Ghosn's 2018 arrest.
Japan Times
WORLD
Mar 3, 2020

U.N. nuclear watchdog plans alert on Iranian stonewalling-diplomats

The U.N. atomic watchdog policing Iran's nuclear deal with major powers plans to issue an imminent rebuke to Tehran for failing to provide access to one or more sites that are of interest to it, several diplomats who follow the agency said on Monday.
Japan Times
MORE SPORTS
Mar 1, 2020

Birhanu Legese wins Tokyo Marathon title as Suguru Osako sets new national record

Reigning champion Birhanu Legese successfully defended his title while local star Suguru Osako got closer to securing the final spot on Japan's Olympic team with a national-record-setting performance in the men's race at the 2020 Tokyo Marathon on Sunday.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Mar 1, 2020

SDF toughens penalties for power harassment and bullying as recruitment lags in Japan

The Self-Defense Forces will introduce on Sunday stricter punishment standards for power harassment and bullying.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC / Science & Health
Feb 28, 2020

Tokyo, Ho Chi Minh City, Shanghai and New York at risk of rising seas, study says

China's Pearl River Delta, the country's manufacturing hub and home to tens of millions of people, is the world's most at-risk urban center from rising sea levels, according to a new study.

Longform

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