Wednesday 15 May 2013

Hashimoto sticks to guns on sex slaves

Osaka politician Toru Hashimoto refuses to retract his remarks justifying the use of "comfort woman" during the war and the need for legal brothels in ...

Seoul envoy: Mayor is odd man out

The South Korean ambassador to Japan slams Toru Hashimoto for his remarks justifying Japan's wartime sex slave system, saying the Osaka mayor lacks historical knowledge ...

Fault under reactor at Tsuruga active: NRA

A fault running under reactor 2 at the Tsuruga plant in Fukui Prefecture is active, a Nuclear Regulation Authority panel says, effectively killing any chance ...

TPP-fearing farmers get lip service?

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe sees participation in the Trans-Pacific Partnership as a way to bolster Japan-U.S. relations but the requirement to scrap tariffs across the ...

DPJ’s Hosono meets with Okinawa governor on reversion day

DPJ Secretary General Goshi Hosono meets Okinawa Gov. Hirokazu Nakaima on the 41st anniversary of the prefecture's return to Japan, suggesting his party seeks to ...

Kin of expressway tunnel collapse victims sue operator

A group of parents filed a lawsuit Wednesday seeking ¥890 million in damages from Central Nippon Expressway Co., operator of a tunnel that collapsed in ...

Mr. Hashimoto’s unacceptable words

Osaka Mayor Toru Hashimoto's call for greater use of sex shops by U.S. Marines stationed in Okinawa increase suspicions about his common sense and sense ...

Protecting a public pension program

To protect the kosei nenkin pension program, the welfare ministry should withdraw a plan to allow troubled investment funds for the program to keep operating.

Echoes of Watergate in IRS scandal

The nature of President Barack Obama's administration is being clarified as revelations about IRS targeting of conservative groups merge with myriad Benghazi mendacities.

The comedy and drama of Takashi Fujii

At age 41, Takashi Fujii has quite the resume. In 2000 and 2001, he appeared on national broadcaster NHK's annual top-rated New Year's variety show, ...

Seeing where Shinto and Buddhism cross

"The number of Shinto shrines in Japan has changed over centuries due to various political and social changes. There were about 190,000 shrines during the ...

Thaemlitz’s mix tackles antidancing law

It's fitting that I should be meeting Terre Thaemlitz on May 1, International Workers' Day — she wryly refers to herself as a "feminist Marxist" ...

Kawabuchi reflects on two decades of J. League action

Saburo Kawabuchi, the J. League's first chairman, looks back at the history of the league he helped create 20 years ago.

Giants edge Marines on Chono’s sayonara double

Hisayoshi Chono delivered a two-run, ninth-inning double to lift the Yomiuri Giants to 5-4 walk-off interleague win over the Chiba Lotte Marines on Wednesday. The Giants, ...

Kashiwa get best of Jeonbuk in first leg

Kashiwa Reysol flew the flag high for Japan on the J. League's 20th birthday on Wednesday with a 2-0 first-leg win away to South Korea's ...

Hakuho brushes aside Kitataiki to stay perfect

Hakuho continued his march towards a 25th Emperor's Cup with a routine win over Kitataiki on Wednesday, the fourth day of action at the Summer ...

Rays make Red Sox pay for fielding gaffe

Red Sox first baseman Mike Napoli made no excuses for a key defensive miscue. Napoli misplayed a popup at first base during a five-run fourth inning ...