Search - 2014

 
 
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Apr 21, 2014

Artists' mission to revitalize an onsen town

It begins with a long, slow hiss. The valves open, and a thick fog is released into the air, pouring from the roof of Dogo Onsen Honkan, the famous three-tiered bathhouse built in Matsuyama, Ehime Prefecture, in 1894. It flows down the side of the building, past bathers in bathrobes on the open balcony...
Japan Times
JAPAN
Apr 18, 2014

Raise corporate profile of women, confab urges

A two-day international conference aiming to empower women kicked off Friday in Tokyo with a call for companies and the government to foster more female executives — an area of gender equality where Japan greatly lags behind the global norm.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Apr 15, 2014

E-Girls "Colorful Pop"

E-Girls are a 28-member-strong idol pop collective constructed by Avex. The "E" stands for "Exile," as in this is the female version of greased-up R&B doofs Exile.
Japan Times
WORLD / Politics
Apr 13, 2014

Conservatives Paul, Cruz test U.S. presidential waters in New Hampshire

Conservative Republican Sens. Rand Paul and Ted Cruz tested the 2016 presidential waters at an event Saturday in the influential state of New Hampshire at which potential opponents from the more moderate wing of the party did not appear.
COMMENTARY / World
Apr 8, 2014

Russia's big bet on 'Putinomics'

Russian President Vladimir Putin thinks he can enjoy political and military freedom in dealing with Ukraine without experiencing crippling economic costs from sanctions or the exit of multinational firms from Russia.
COMMENTARY / World
Apr 1, 2014

An Afghan 'Afghanistan'?

As it braces for its upcoming presidential election, can Afghanistan finally escape the cycle of militancy and foreign intervention that has plagued it for more than three decades?
COMMENTARY / COUNTERPOINT
Mar 29, 2014

Unpersuasive logic for death penalty in Japan

The death penalty in Japan is imposed in cases of murder, and robbery and/or rape leading to death. In such cases, capital punishment is not mandatory and is usually only imposed in cases of multiple killings, though since 2006 this criteria has not been strictly observed.
COMMENTARY / World
Mar 28, 2014

Saudi Arabia's diplomatic pilgrimage to Pakistan

Although the strategic value of closer military ties with Pakistan seems highly questionable, Saudi Arabia has little choice.
BASEBALL / Japanese Baseball
Mar 27, 2014

Giants, Hawks look like class of NPB as season begins

2014 NPB Preview
Japan Times
Events / Events Outside Tokyo
Mar 26, 2014

Party with the yuru-kyara in Saitama

On March 30, Kibitan, Fukushima Prefecture's Narcissus Flycatcher bird mascot is joining other yuru-kyara regional mascots from across Saitama Prefecture in an event to support the recovery efforts in regions of northeastern Japan affected by the Great East Japan Earthquake of March 11, 2011.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Mar 24, 2014

Monetize state debt when deflation risks persist

How will central banks achieve a final 'exit' from unconventional monetary policy and return balance sheets swollen by unconventional monetary policy to 'normal' levels?
COMMENTARY / COUNTERPOINT
Mar 22, 2014

Okinawa redux: Democracy and an alliance at risk

U.S. Ambassador Caroline Kennedy made a meet-and-greet trip to Okinawa last month, an opportunity to gauge the lay of the land and listen to some of the stakeholders in the longstanding controversies over plans to reduce America's military footprint in the prefecture.
Events / KANSAI: WHO & WHAT
Mar 21, 2014

Huge antique fair next weekend in Kyoto

The 58th Grand Antique Fair in Kyoto will run from March 28 to 30, with more than 350 shops from all over Japan displaying and selling their wares.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Mar 20, 2014

Ike of Honda to take JAMA helm

Honda Motor Co. Chairman Fumihiko Ike will take over as chief of the Japan Automobile Manufacturers Association in May, the industry lobby group said Thursday.
MORE SPORTS
Mar 19, 2014

Ishigaki replaces Fukuhara for worlds

An unexpected phone call turned out to be surprising, but a pleasant one for Yuka Ishigaki when the 24-year-old table tennis player learned she would replace the injured Ai Fukuhara in the upcoming Japan Table 2014, the World Team Table Tennis Championships.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Mar 18, 2014

Japan acts rock on at this year's SXSW

After somersaulting through a shallow puddle, the lead singer of Osaka's Vampillia stared intently at a nearby taco truck. As his band plowed through a noisy, violin-assisted song on the third afternoon of the South By Southwest (SXSW) Music Conference And Festival, he scaled the vehicle and screamed...
COMMENTARY / COUNTERPOINT
Mar 15, 2014

The Fukushima tragedy justifies nuclear skepticism

The findings of a Kyodo survey conducted in February this year reveal a stunning level of reluctance to restart Japan's nuclear reactors in the host cities, towns and prefectures that stand to gain from revving them back up.
COMMENTARY
Mar 15, 2014

Special Asian wisdom for skating on thin ice

Olympic skater Kim Yuna's classy, gracious performance, on and off the ice, at Sochi — even as her fellow Korean countrymen complained that she had been robbed of the gold medal for women's figure skating — makes her a model in sports and in East Asian politics.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Voices / VIEWS FROM THE STREET
Mar 12, 2014

Who would you tip to emerge as J1 and J2 winners in the J. League this year?

I am not sure on J2, but I think Yokohama F . Marinos will take the J1 title in 2014. They have long had a solid 'keeper in the shape of Tetsuya Enomoto, and he is a good base for the rest of the team.
COMMENTARY / World
Mar 11, 2014

Obama gambles by slashing defense spending

The Obama administration's 2015 military budget cuts may embolden potential adversaries and abet miscalculation.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Mar 7, 2014

Mending Japan-S. Korea ties

The downward spiral in relations between Tokyo and Seoul over history issues cannot continue. But both should not expect the U.S. to mediate their dispute.
JAPAN / THREE YEARS AFTER 3/11
Mar 7, 2014

Illegal nuclear dumping in Shiga raises alarms

The illegal dumping in Takashima, Shiga Prefecture, of 300 tons of radioactive wood chips along a river sets off alarm bells.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC
Mar 6, 2014

China's civilian fleet is a potent force asserting sovereignty in disputed seas

From harassing Filipino fishing boats and monitoring oil exploration off Vietnam to playing cat-and-mouse with the Japan Coast Guard, China's expanding fleet of civilian patrol vessels have become the enforcers in disputed Asian waters.
COMMENTARY / World
Mar 2, 2014

The terrible fate of Sochi's former inhabitants

A tragedy that happened in the vicinity of the 2014 Winter Olympics continues to be ignored. It's where hundreds of thousands of Circassians became victims of genocide in the 19th century.

Longform

A small shrine perched atop rocks braves the waves hitting the shoreline during a storm in Shimoda, Shizuoka Prefecture. The area is under threat of a possible 31-meter-high tsunami if an earthquake strikes the nearby Nankai Trough.
If the 'Big One' hits, this city could face a 31-meter-high tsunami