archive

 
 
February 2020
SMTWTFS
 1
2345678
9101112131415
16171819202122
23242526272829
« JanMar »

JAPAN

JAPAN
Feb 18, 2020
Health ministry struggles to provide COVID-19 updates in foreign languages
The health ministry is struggling to keep non-Japanese updated on the rapidly escalating situation in a timely manner, hampered by a dearth of staff proficient in foreign languages.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Feb 18, 2020
Losing face: 6,000 surgical masks stolen from Kobe hospital
A total of 6,000 surgical masks have been lost at a hospital in Kobe, it was learned Tuesday. The Hyogo Prefectural Police is investigating the incident as a case of theft.
JAPAN
Feb 18, 2020
Ten Kyodo News staff rode vehicle driven by man confirmed to have COVID-19
A man in his 60s confirmed to have been infected with the COVID-19 virus drove a total of 10 Kyodo News staff members in a hired vehicle from late January to early February, the news service said Tuesday, confirming that it had notified member organizations.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Science & Health
Feb 18, 2020
Canadians aboard Diamond Princess reportedly test positive for COVID-19 as evacuation looms
Canada said 32 of its citizens aboard the stricken Diamond Princess have now tested positive for the new coronavirus, according to a report by the Toronto Star.

ASIA PACIFIC

Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics / ANALYSIS
Feb 18, 2020
Rare release of Xi's speech on coronavirus puzzles top China watchers
China's elite politics are a black box, and the country's leaders like to keep it that way. That's what makes the events of this weekend so perplexing — even to seasoned China watchers.
Japan Times
Lung biopsy of deceased China patient shows SARS-like damage
Doctors studying a 50-year-old man who died in China last month from the new coronavirus found that the disease caused lung damage reminiscent of two prior coronavirus-related outbreaks, SARS and MERS.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC
Feb 18, 2020
Suicide blast kills 10 in southwestern Pakistan city of Quetta
At least 10 people were killed in a suicide blast that hit a police vehicle in southwestern Pakistan on Monday, officials said.
'Every scenario on the table' in China virus outbreak, says WHO chief
The latest data provided by China on people infected with coronavirus indicate a decline in new cases but "every scenario is still on the table" in terms of the epidemic's evolution, the World Health Organization said on Monday.
Japan Times
Chinese doctors 'using plasma therapy' on coronavirus patients
Doctors in Shanghai are using infusions of blood plasma from people who have recovered from the coronavirus to treat those still battling the infection, reporting some encouraging preliminary results, a Chinese professor said on Monday.
Japan Times
Indonesian authorities call for calm after radiation found at housing complex near Jakarta
Indonesia's nuclear authorities said on Monday they would investigate the radioactive contamination of a patch of land in a housing complex outside Jakarta, and called for calm.

WORLD

WORLD
Feb 18, 2020
Pakistan confirms escape of Taliban leader who justified Malala shooting
A high-profile local Taliban figure who announced and justified the 2012 attack on teenage Nobel laureate Malala Yousafzai has escaped detention, Pakistan's interior minister confirmed a few days after the militant announced his breakout on social media.
Japan Times
WORLD / Politics
Feb 18, 2020
Bernie Sanders and Michael Bloomberg trade insults as Democratic White House race heats up
Democratic White House contenders Bernie Sanders and Michael Bloomberg stepped up their attacks on each other on Monday, with Sanders accusing the media mogul of trying to buy the election and Bloomberg saying the senator and his fervent supporters were hurting the party.
Japan Times
WORLD / Crime & Legal
Feb 18, 2020
ICC trial in The Hague one option for Sudan's al-Bashir, says minister
Sudan could send former leader Omar al-Bashir and other suspects to The Hague for trial before the International Criminal Court, but any decision would need approval from military and civilian rulers, the information minister said on Monday.

BUSINESS

Japan Times
BUSINESS
Feb 18, 2020
Fujitsu gets Japan's first preliminary local 5G license
Japan's communications ministry on Tuesday gave major electronics maker Fujitsu Ltd. the country's first preliminary license to build a local fifth-generation, or 5G, communications network.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Companies
Feb 18, 2020
Japanese contractor Taisei builds bridge using 3D printer
Major general contractor Taisei Corp. on Tuesday showed the media a bridge built using a 3D printer.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Companies
Feb 18, 2020
Honda to reorganize development operations in bid to increase efficiency
Honda Motor Co. said Tuesday it will reorganize its vehicle development operations on April 1 in a bid to boost efficiency.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Companies
Feb 18, 2020
Nissan CEO tells angry shareholders he is ready to be sacked if no turnaround
Nissan Motor Co.'s new chief executive said Tuesday he will accept being fired if he fails to turn around Japan's second-biggest automaker, which is grappling with plunging sales in the aftermath of the scandal surrounding former Chairman Carlos Ghosn.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Companies
Feb 18, 2020
Tokyo commuters set for Olympic crush as many firms rule out telework
When Emi Tanimura failed to find a day care slot for her newborn daughter, the need to avoid long periods away from her job at communications firm Sunny Side Up made it necessary to take what is a radical step in Japan; she started working from home.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Economy / FOCUS
Feb 18, 2020
Fear grows that coronavirus will push Japan into recession
With Japan taking a hit from the unabated outbreak of the coronavirus soon after a plunge in its economic performance in the last quarter of 2019, some fear the country may be on the brink of recession.
BUSINESS / Tech
Feb 18, 2020
Japan approves bill to help firms develop 5G and drone technologies
The Cabinet on Tuesday approved a bill designed to help companies develop secure 5G mobile networks and drone technologies amid growing alarm among policymakers about the increasing influence of Chinese technology.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Feb 18, 2020
Investors urge Japan to strengthen climate targets ahead of U.N. summit
Investors managing $37 trillion in assets urged Japan to slash the country's carbon emissions, saying Monday that a strong signal from Tokyo could help galvanize international climate action ahead of a U.N. summit in Glasgow in November.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Companies
Feb 18, 2020
Masayoshi Son's big real estate venture with Oyo runs into real problems in Japan
Last March, months before the meltdown at WeWork, Masayoshi Son worked through the prospects for another one of his favorite portfolio companies — a startup from India called Oyo.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Tech
Feb 18, 2020
Nancy Pelosi warns Europe that Huawei represents Chinese state police
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi stepped up U.S. warnings about Beijing's global telecommunications ambitions, saying Chinese operator Huawei Technologies Co. must be prevented from controlling the next generation of wireless networks.

Opinion

COMMENTARY / Japan
Feb 18, 2020
If only Iwo Jima had been captured sooner
Had the capture of Iwo Jima taken place in the summer of 1944 as the Tojo Cabinet was collapsing, the war probably would have taken a different course and many lives could have been spared.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Feb 18, 2020
February can be the cruelest month
This is the month when students find out whether months or even years of exam preparation have finally paid off or not.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / Japan
Feb 18, 2020
Take COVID-19, add a trade war and raise taxes: A recipe for disaster
Japan is facing a trifecta of challenges with severe economic consequences.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Feb 18, 2020
Is political change coming to China?
The viral epidemic has come at the worst time, laying bare the weaknesses of Xi's rule.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Feb 18, 2020
A more secure Africa is in America's best interests
Terrorism and outside influence threaten to derail the continent's hard-won progress.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Feb 18, 2020
Is it already too late to stop Bernie Sanders?
Like Trump before him, the Vermont senator is benefitting from a divided opposition.

Sports

OLYMPICS
Feb 18, 2020
'United by Emotion' selected as Tokyo 2020 motto
"United by Emotion" was revealed as the motto for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics and Paralympics on Monday as organizers look to hammer home the message of diversity and inclusion.

LIFE

Japan Times
LIFE / Language / BILINGUAL
Feb 18, 2020
Good enough: The different ways to use ii in Japanese
The discovery of an 18th-century book titled 'The History of Little Goody Two-Shoes' leads our writer on a journey into the Japanese terms used for apple-polishers and bootlickers.
Japan Times
LIFE / Language / WELL SAID
Feb 18, 2020
People won't throw you under the bus if you're able to use 'kuse ni' correctly
Using the grammatical structure 'X kuse ni Y' has the same effect as 'despite X, Y' and can be used to convey a feeling of ill will.
LIFE / Language / NEWS IN NIHONGO
Feb 18, 2020
Sumo meet to be held as part of 2020 Games cultural program
A Kyodo article slams us with some sumo-related vocabulary and information on how the traditional Japanese sport will figure into Olympic festivities.
Japan Times
LIFE / Language / MORNING ENGLISH
Feb 18, 2020
Let's discuss plastic bag fees in Japan
Would you be willing to pay an extra fee for plastic bags if it meant we were able to use the money to help with larger environmentally friendly efforts?

Longform

After pandemic-era border regulations eased, Indian migrants began returning to Japan. Their population now stands at more than 50,000 across the country.
How remote work is rewriting the migrant experience in Japan