Economy | ANALYSIS
Households to take hit from tax hike
by Tomoko Otake
The consumption tax increase will hit every household in Japan hard, with many people’s financial future hanging on whether their wages rise enough to offset the hike's impact.
National Sep 16, 2013
Successful Olympic bid thrusts Tokyo into spotlight, fencing star says
by Sayuri Daimon
For Olympic fencer Yuki Ota, Tokyo's successful bid for the 2020 Summer Games and Paralympics was like winning the gold medal he's always wanted.
National Sep 15, 2013
Two-time evictee bears Olympic-size grudge
by Shigemi Sato
For Kohei Jinno, the redevelopment work triggered by the 2020 Olympics means he'll have to move house again — just like he did in 1964.
National Sep 15, 2013
Inose revives push to let civilian airliners use Yokota air base
Tokyo Gov. Naoki Inose called Sunday for allowing commercial airliners to use U.S. Yokota Air Base in western Tokyo to handle the tourist influx expected for the 2020 Summer Olympics. “It would be appropriate to open the Yokota Air Base for joint military-civilian use ...
Life | WEEK 3 Sep 14, 2013
Olympic stars of the future look forward to 2020
by Edan Corkill
Thursday night was warm and clear in Yokohama. A cloudless, gradually darkening sky stretched over the 400-meter track at the Yamato Sports Center — seemingly boundless in its ability to absorb the shouts and laughter coming from the 20 boisterous young members of the ...
National Sep 13, 2013
Zaha Hadid: queen of the curve
by Rowan Moore
Zaha Hadid was once flying to Frankfurt to give a talk. Her plane taxied out, developed a minor fault, and stopped. She refused to believe the reassurances that the delay would be brief, and demanded that she be put on another flight. Her wish ...
National Sep 13, 2013
Compactness key to Olympics plan
by Masaaki Kameda
The 2020 Tokyo Summer Olympics will be a compact games, with roughly 75 percent of the sports venues within 8 km of the Olympic Village, according to the official plan. “The biggest selling point in Tokyo’s plan is ‘Athletes First’ — compactness in the ...
National Sep 13, 2013
Deregulation promoted for Tokyo Games
The government will promote deregulation in Tokyo to tap private-sector money for developing social infrastructure ahead of the 2020 Summer Olympics, sources close to the matter said Friday. Prime Minister Shinzo Abe is planning to designate the capital as a special economic zone under ...
Corporate Sep 13, 2013
Toshiba chief urges Eco-point relaunch
The government should start another Eco-point subsidy program for energy-efficient products to help prevent any consumption tax hike from triggering an economic slowdown, Toshiba Corp. Vice Chairman Norio Sasaki said. Considering the anticipated surge in social security costs and the Japan’s steadily worsening fiscal ...
National Sep 12, 2013
Metro police stage counterterrorism drill for Olympics
Tokyo’s Metropolitan Police Department held a counterterrorism drill Thursday as part of measures to protect the Olympic village to be built for the 2020 Summer Olympics. About 50 people, including private security guards, took part in the drill in the Harumi district of Chuo ...
National Sep 12, 2013
Japan to protest Fukushima-Olympics cartoons in French weekly
Japan plans to complain to the French satirical newspaper Le Canard Enchaine after it published cartoons poking fun at Tokyo hosting the 2020 Olympics in the aftermath of the Fukushima nuclear disaster. One cartoon published in the Sept. 11 edition of the paper shows ...
Politics & Diplomacy Sep 11, 2013
Kansai not overly enthusiastic about Tokyo landing Olympics
by Eric Johnston
As Tokyo continues to celebrate landing the 2020 Summer Olympics, some in Osaka are making noises about a future bid from the Kansai region.
National Sep 11, 2013
Inose lauds 'Team Japan' for bringing games back
by Masaaki Kameda
Tokyo’s success in landing the 2020 Olympics and Paralympics was thanks to the country’s all-around effort involving athletes, lawmakers and business leaders, Gov. Naoki Inose said after returning from the International Olympic Committee’s general assembly in Buenos Aires. “Our bid came to fruition as ...