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.
Politics & Diplomacy Sep 10, 2013
Conservative coalition sweeps Norway polls
Norway shifted right in elections Monday, ending eight years of center-left rule and setting the stage for a new Conservative-led government with the populist anti-immigration Progress Party as junior partner. Incumbent Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg of the Labor Party conceded defeat late in the ...
Politics & Diplomacy Aug 12, 2013
Stoltenberg turns taxi driver to find out what Norwegians really think
In a bid to find out voters’ real concerns, Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg revealed Sunday that he went undercover as a taxi driver for an afternoon. “It’s important for me to hear what people really think. If there’s one place where people say what ...
Crime Aug 7, 2013
Oslo university turns down mass killer Breivik
Norwegian jailed mass killer Anders Behring Breivik has had his application to study political science at the University of Oslo rejected, the institution said Tuesday. Breivik, a right-wing extremist who is serving a 21-year prison term for killing 77 people, published a 1,500-page manifesto ...
Style & Design Jun 25, 2013
The neglected stars of Norwegian design
by Tomoko Otake
What do you think of as a typical example of Scandinavian design? The massively copied 1950s bentwood chair series “Seven Chairs” by Danish architect Arne Jacobsen? The vividly colored Unikko poppy patterns by the Finnish textile company Marimekko? Or the ready-to-assemble furniture available at ...
Environment Jun 25, 2013
Melting ice brings continents closer
The town of Kirkenes in the northernmost portion of Norway used to be further away from Asia than virtually any other European port, but it suddenly seems a lot closer. The reason: global warming. Melting ice has opened up the Northern Sea Route along ...
Business Jun 19, 2013
Fliers without credit cards refused food, water, blankets
Norwegian Air Shuttle, Europe’s third-largest budget airline, apologized Monday for refusing passengers food, water and even blankets on its recently launched long-haul flights to New York and Bangkok. A 16-year-old spent his Oslo to New York flight freezing since he only had cash and ...
Editorial Mar 18, 2013
No place for nuclear weapons
An international conference sponsored by Norway underscores the impossibility of rescue and relief activities after a nuclear weapon is detonated.
Food & Drink | TOKYO FOOD FILE May 18, 2012
Fuglen: Serve yourself at an Oslo import
by Robbie Swinnerton
There are a few restaurants around Tokyo, though not enough, where customers are allowed or even encouraged to BYOB (bring your own bottle, specifically wine). But here’s a first: a place that does BYOF — bring your own food. Such is the enlightened policy ...