author

 
Menu
Search
 
May 04, 2024
 

Today's print edition

Home Delivery
Subscribe for more access

Meta

Akemi Nakamura
For Akemi Nakamura's latest contributions to The Japan Times, see below:
Japan Times
Reference / Special Presentations / WITNESS TO WAR
Aug 16, 2007
'War orphan' recounts feeling of abandonment
It was a rainy day in mid-August 1945. World War II was about to draw to a close, but nobody in the tiny Chinese village knew it. All they knew was that chaos was breaking out, and that the Russian military was approaching from the north.
JAPAN
Jul 20, 2007
White collar criminals on notice
The actual prison time handed down Thursday to flamboyant fund manager Yoshiaki Murakami and to Livedoor Co. founder Takafumi Horie in March appear to signal that white collar criminals now face much harsher punishments, some legal analysts say.
JAPAN
Jul 19, 2007
Chinese hurt by abandoned arms lose redress on appeal
The Tokyo High Court on Wednesday reversed a lower court ruling and rejected a damages lawsuit filed by 13 Chinese against the government for injuries and death caused by weapons abandoned by the Japanese military in China at the end of the war.
JAPAN
Jul 10, 2007
Are SIA workers the pension scapegoat?
Naoyuki Haga, chief secretary of the Social Insurance Agency employee union, fears he and many of his coworkers will lose their jobs when a new government-backed corporation begins handling pension payments in 2010 and the SIA is closed down.
JAPAN
Jun 30, 2007
New nursing-care plan already struggling
system is not designed for providers to earn profits," Hattori said. However, she said the way Comsn tried to expand its business was particularly despicable. Before the fraud scandal mushroomed, if Comsn got caught inflating the number of employees at a nursing-care facility, it would shut the facility down to avoid disciplinary action.
JAPAN
Jun 30, 2007
For those needing home care, here's how the plan works
Following are answers to some common questions about the national nursing-care insurance plan and how it works:
JAPAN
Jun 22, 2007
War-displaced trio lose lawsuit again on appeal
The Tokyo High Court on Thursday rejected a damages lawsuit filed against the government by three war-displaced Japanese women seeking compensation for delayed resettlement from China and poor state support afterward.
JAPAN / Q&A
Jun 21, 2007
New laws to reshape education system
Bills to revise four education-related laws were passed by the Diet on Wednesday.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Q&A
Jun 8, 2007
What's behind the measles outbreak?
A measles epidemic is spreading, especially among people in their teens and 20s, forcing weeklong closures at 29 universities and 22 high schools nationwide between April 1 and May 26.
Japan Times
JAPAN / EXPLAINER
Jun 5, 2007
Headline-grabbing gun crimes mar safe image
Japan, whose strict gun controls have long helped its image as the safest industrialized nation, has recently seen its reputation slip in the wake of headline-making shootings.
JAPAN
Jun 3, 2007
Education reform proposals draw praise, criticism
Recommendations by Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's advisory panel on education reform has drawn praise from some quarters, but other experts are questioning whether the proposals will be effective in improving the quality of public education.
JAPAN
Jun 2, 2007
Hold classes on Saturday: panel
Public schools should be allowed to hold classes on Saturdays to help students improve their academic performances, an advisory panel to Prime Minister Shinzo Abe on education reform said in its second report released Friday.
Japan Times
JAPAN
May 19, 2007
Lower House passes education bills
The House of Representatives on Friday passed three education bills that will give the central government more control over teachers and schools, something experts say will cause the education system to deteriorate.
Japan Times
JAPAN
May 17, 2007
Nepalese family standing a lonely vigil
On one Monday morning in April, two Nepalese girls sat in a small room divided by a clear acrylic wall and talked to their father, Govinda Mainali, on the other side.
Japan Times
JAPAN / History
May 5, 2007
Modify Constitution for modern world, scholar urges
Born in 1949, baby boomer Setsu Kobayashi thanks the postwar Constitution for the freedom, peace and democracy Japan has enjoyed since its debut.
JAPAN
May 4, 2007
Proponents of Article 9 like it just the way it is
Thousands of people gathered Thursday in Tokyo's Hibiya Park to mark the 60th anniversary of the Constitution and to oppose moves by Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and his ruling Liberal Democratic Party to amend it and its war-renouncing Article 9.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Mar 27, 2007
Midtown -- Roppongi just got loftier
Move over, glitzy Roppongi Hills. There's a new kid on the block in Tokyo's Minato Ward -- an even taller landmark testament to the spoils of wealth.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Mar 23, 2007
State's witness Miyauchi gets 20 months
The Tokyo District Court sentenced Ryoji Miyauchi, former Livedoor Co. chief financial officer, to 20 months in prison Thursday for falsifying financial statements at the Internet firm but let three other executives walk away with suspended terms.
JAPAN / EXPLAINER
Mar 20, 2007
Were they teen-rape slaves or paid pros?
An international outcry has flared again after members of the U.S. House of Representatives submitted a resolution in January urging Japan to formally apologize for forcing young females across Asia into sexual slavery during the war.
JAPAN
Mar 7, 2007
Keep helping ex-sex slaves: Murayama
Kono's statement (in 1993). I trust it. I'm not in a position to say" anything about Abe's remarks. The government's 1993 statement, read by Kono, included an apology for forcing foreign women into sexual servitude.
Biden calls ally Japan ‘xenophobic’ along with rivals China and Russia
U.S. President Joe Biden speaks in Syracuse, New York, on April 25.
Yen swings stir talk that Japan is in the FX market once again
An electronic screen in Tokyo displays the yen exchange rate against the U.S. dollar and the graph showing its recent swings, on Thursday.
Harajuku strives to reclaim its former glory — and surpass it
Laforet Harajuku, which celebrated its 45th anniversary last year, has been a witness to the district's evolution over the years.
Weak yen fattens tourist wallets in Japan
People visit the Ameya Yokocho market in Tokyo's Ueno district during the Golden Week holiday on Tuesday.
Japan's May 1 intervention may have cost ¥3.66 trillion, BOJ data suggests
An electronic screen displays a graph showing Japanese yen exchange rates surging against the dollar amid signs of intervention by authorities, in Tokyo on Thursday.
Kishida sets sights on energy and climate in South America trip
Prime Minister Fumio Kishida will use a policy speech in Sao Paulo to set out his vision for ties between Japan and South America, almost 10 years after former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe advocated for stronger ties between the two in the same city.
Yellow sand allergy: A health issue made worse by climate change
A screenshot of the Meteorological Agency's satellite image of clouds and yellow sand (in pink) on Sunday.
Climate change, chalky grains and the risks for Japan’s rice farmers
A farmer plants seedlings in Satsumasendai, Kagoshima Prefecture. Japan’s self sufficiency rate for rice is nearly 100%, compared with 38% for food overall, on a calorie basis.
Japan wants you to spend more with ‘luxury tourism’
Performers play a traditional drum unique to Wajima, Ishikawa Prefecture, in the prefectural capital of Kanazawa on March 16 to mark the extension of the Hokuriku Shinkansen line to Tsuruga Station in Fukui Prefecture.

Podcast

From easily navigable train stations to the helpfulness of its municipal staff, Tokyo has earned high praise for its commitment to accessibility for disabled travelers.
[Rebroadcast] Japan is doing better on accessibility than you may think

Longform

Rows of irises resemble a rice field at the Peter Walker-designed Toyota Municipal Museum of Art.
The 'outsiders' creating some of Japan's greenest spaces
By Stephen Mansfield

SUSTAINABLE JAPAN

Live like a lord or lady for a night at Ozu Castle
Live like a lord or lady for a night at Ozu Castle

SPECIAL SUPPLEMENTS note

Read more

SUPPLEMENTS BINDER