author

 
Menu
Search
 
July 06, 2025
 

Today's print edition

Home Delivery
Subscribe for more access

Meta

Noriko Hama
BUSINESS / JAPANESE PERSPECTIVES
Feb 22, 2014
Return of shunto is hollow triumph for unions
Shunto is in full swing. Or so it should be. Or so they say. Shunto is the Japanese word for the annual spring round of wage negotiations conducted between big business and trade unions. This "spring offensive" used to feature large in the annual economic calendar. As the deflationary 1990s and beyond...
BUSINESS / JAPANESE PERSPECTIVES
Jan 25, 2014
In Davos, gripping kabuki with little substance
Afriend asks via email: "Did you see the video of Abe in Davos?"
BUSINESS / JAPANESE PERSPECTIVES
Dec 21, 2013
It's business as usual 'back in the USSR'
Paul McCartney was in Japan some weeks ago. Having spent a totally Beatlemaniac four years of my pre-teen existence in the U.K., it was nice to see the erstwhile Beatle in such good form.
BUSINESS / JAPANESE PERSPECTIVES
Nov 30, 2013
The secret of keeping official secrets secret
"He that would keep a secret must keep it secret that he hath a secret to keep," says Sir Humphrey Appleby, permanent secretary to the Department of Administrative Affairs, a fictitious branch of the British government. He is one of the main characters in the highly acclaimed 1980s BBC television series...
BUSINESS / JAPANESE PERSPECTIVES
Oct 6, 2013
Abe should consult father of economics for sage advice on sales tax
Three guesses on who said the following.
BUSINESS / JAPANESE PERSPECTIVES
Sep 1, 2013
Pax No Man's Land needs more than Fed's tapering to smooth things over
U.S. Federal Reserve Board Chairman Ben Bernanke hints at policy change. He is looking for an exit from quantitative easing whereby he has been buying financial assets to the order of $85 billion per month since the end of last year. He has emphasized the exit shall be a "tapering" procedure — no abrupt...
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Economy / JAPANESE PERSPECTIVES
Jul 21, 2013
Beware your heroes and heed the lesson of stargazer Galileo Galilei
A scene from "The Life of Galilei" seems to encapsulate the dilemma Japan faces as it gropes for new leadership.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / JAPANESE PERSPECTIVES
Jun 24, 2013
Abe's rhetoric reveals a growth strategy aimed at global conquest
The greatly hyped "third arrow" of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's economic plans has fallen spectacularly by the wayside. The stock prices on which Abe & Co. had staked their all began falling even as he was explaining his economic strategy in a speech.
BUSINESS / Economy / JAPANESE PERSPECTIVES
May 20, 2013
Utility, ubiquity playing key roles in corrupting policymakers' thinking
Two mind-sets seem to be catching on in Japan these days. They worry me. One is the notion that something has to be useful to be of value. The other is that anything is justifiable on the grounds that everybody else is doing it.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / JAPANESE PERSPECTIVES
Apr 8, 2013
Team Abe's grand plan leaves ghosts in charge of a haunted house
As I observe Team Abe in action at the helm of the Bank of Japan and elsewhere, a rather terrifying passage from a poem by William Hughes Mearns comes to mind:
BUSINESS / JAPANESE PERSPECTIVES
Mar 18, 2013
Sir Norman's hat and the baldfaced policies of the Bank of Japan
A new executive team is about to take office at the Bank of Japan, but at least two of the incoming members will be wearing hats somewhat different than those doffed by employees of the central bank: The initials on their head gear will spell ABE instead of BOJ.
COMMENTARY / Japan / JAPANESE PERSPECTIVES
Feb 4, 2013
Abe's 15-month reversal budget fudges cost of swapping people and butter for concrete and guns
The government of Shinzo Abe has just unveiled its budget for fiscal 2013 starting in April. Abe's stated intention was to “radically reset” spending priorities.
BUSINESS / JAPANESE PERSPECTIVES
Dec 24, 2012
Rip van Winkle returns to government with trade war on his mind
Japan is about to get a new government and it's just like old times. Liberal Democratic Party leader Shinzo Abe, who is set to become prime minister, again sounds as if he has been spending his time out of office back in the 1960s.
BUSINESS / JAPANESE PERSPECTIVES
Oct 22, 2012
No nation can afford to act like an island in Asia's globalized age
Japan is having trouble keeping up a cordial relationship with its next door neighbors. Long dormant territorial disputes have suddenly come to the fore. Who owns what from when and why? Who can claim legal ownership? Who is in actual control? Arcane issues have suddenly become hot topics of the moment...
Japan Times
JAPAN / IMF-WORLD BANK IN TOKYO
Oct 12, 2012
A pair in dire need of a reality check
Japan is hosting an annual meeting of the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank for the first time since 1964. A lot has happened in the intervening very nearly half a century — to both Japan and the IMF. Yet both Japan and the IMF do not quite seem to realize just how much has happened to...
BUSINESS / JAPANESE PERSPECTIVES
May 14, 2012
Atomic exit deserves warm welcome in land of nuclear apprentices
As of May 6, Japan became a nuclear power-free zone. All of the nuclear plants throughout the country are offline, either as a result of last year's Fukushima disaster or routine maintenance. The government and electric power companies are hoping to see them back in action soon, but public sentiment...
BUSINESS / JAPANESE PERSPECTIVES
Apr 23, 2012
Consumption tax fiasco magnified by absence of financial fundamentals
To paraphrase Winston Churchill's all too famous words at the time of the Battle of Britain: "Never in the field of economic policy has so little been achieved by so many hours wasted by so many lawmakers." The outcome of the debate over Japan's consumption tax would surely extract a quote to surpass...
BUSINESS / JAPANESE PERSPECTIVES
Mar 26, 2012
Diversity, inclusiveness should be the key words for Japan after March 11
March will forever be a month to remember in Japan. Already a year has gone by since that awful 11th of March when the world erupted in all sorts of ways around us. Given all the terrible things that happened then and continue to haunt us now, what are the values that we need to hold most dear? What...
BUSINESS / JAPANESE PERSPECTIVES
Feb 27, 2012
Fiscally hobbled Japan nears multiple-currency era: Is yen's demise nigh?
For a single-currency area to be sustainable, one of two conditions needs to be met. One, sufficient economic convergence throughout the area in question. Two, a transfer mechanism to offset whatever economic divergences exist in the area. The eurozone currently meets neither of these conditions. Thus...
BUSINESS / JAPANESE PERSPECTIVES
Dec 26, 2011
Brace for the year of the dragon, when all shall be revealed
In the Sino-Japanese cycle of annual zodiac signs, the year 2012 will be the year of the dragon. 2011 was the year of the hare. How quickly it is jumping away.
Japan braces for more quakes as authorities dismiss doomsday hype
Evacuees from Akuseki Island, located in the Tokara island chain in Kagoshima Prefecuture, arrive at Kagoshima Port on Friday.
Hidden AI prompts in academic papers spark concern about research integrity
Waseda University is one of 14 institutions in eight countries found to have used hidden prompts in research papers.
A prophesied disaster (likely) won’t strike Japan this weekend
A viral manga prediction of a July 5 disaster has gripped Japan with anxiety and triggered an economic impact, but experts warn that while such dates are unreliable, the threat of a massive earthquake remains real. 
Residents of Tokara Islands begin evacuation as seismic swarm continues
Details about evacuations from Akuseki Island, located in the Tokara island chain in Kagoshima Prefecture, is seen written on a whiteboard in the city of Kagoshima on Thursday.
U.S. military apologizes over Okinawa sexual assault case
Col. Neil Owens (right), chief of staff for the 3rd Marine Division, bows in apology at the Okinawa Prefectural Government office in Naha on Thursday.
Ghibli’s Isao Takahata exhibit shows how beloved anime is made
“The man who planted Japanese animation” exhibition includes a variety of sketches, drawings and animation cels from Isao Takahata films such as color design for characters by Michiyo Yasuda from "Grave of the Fireflies."
Flag football facing challenges and opportunities ahead
Japan’s women’s flag football team at the 2025 International Bowl in Los Angeles in June. The sport is enjoying continued growth in the country.
From Hokusai’s Great Wave, shinkansen to One Piece: a cultural treasure box for Lego Japan
Michael Ebbesen, general manager of Lego Japan, says Lego bricks based on Japanese culture have a rich global appeal and are sellable around the world.
With farmed fish, RelationFish swims against the tide in fine dining
Chef Hideaki Matsuo (middle) and the staff of Oseto Suisan Fisheries prepare to check on their sustainably farmed fish.
As Southeast Asia heats up, a Japanese cooling giant sees a major opportunity
An employee of Daikin Cambodia explains the use of different tools during an air conditioner installation training session in Phnom Penh. Daikin is one of Japan’s oldest air conditioning companies, but as Japan’s population falls, the firm is keying in on overseas growth.

Podcast

One of the many entrances to the Kabukicho neighborhood in Tokyo’s Shinjuku Ward.
Kabukicho: Tokyo’s ‘stadium of desire’

Longform

Mount Fuji is considered one of Japan's most iconic symbols and is a major draw for tourists. It's still a mountain, though, and potential hikers need to properly prepare for any climb.
What it takes to save lives on Mount Fuji
By Alex K.T. Martin

SUSTAINABLE JAPAN

Looking ahead to Yokohama’s Green × Expo 2027
Looking ahead to Yokohama’s Green × Expo 2027

SPECIAL SUPPLEMENTS note

Read more

SUPPLEMENTS BINDER