Search - 2012

 
 
EDITORIALS
Sep 8, 2014

Can Kansai airport take off?

As business picks up thanks to the launch of new low-budget airline flights and a surge in the number of foreign passengers, the government-owned operator of Kansai International Airport plans to sell its management rights in a bid to get out from under a massive 20-year debtload.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / THE FOREIGN ELEMENT
Sep 8, 2014

Mind the 'geb': Little word is a big problem for Japan's German residents

Inflexible residence card system leaves married Germans with ridiculously long names on their IDs — along with an annoying little extra word.
BUSINESS / THE VIEW FROM EUROPE
Sep 6, 2014

Automakers may miss boat on modularization

Toyota successfully defended its status as the world's largest automaker in the first half of 2014. However, Volkswagen has gotten very close and is widely expected to overtake Toyota either by the end of the year or in 2015 at latest.
Japan Times
BASEBALL / BASEBALL BULLET-IN
Sep 6, 2014

O'Malley, Ramirez are worth a look as skippers

Now in the final month of the 2014 Japanese baseball regular season, the "A-Class" teams in the Central and Pacific leagues look forward to October's Climax Series of playoffs, while the three also-rans in both divisions begin thinking about next year.
BASKETBALL / BJ-LEAGUE NOTEBOOK
Sep 4, 2014

Toyota edges Ryukyu in exhibition

The preseason began in earnest for the league's 10th season on Wednesday. But this time with a twist.
BUSINESS / Companies
Sep 4, 2014

Mazda unveils new Miata as top-selling two-seat Roadster turns 25

Mazda Motor Corp. unveiled a new version of its iconic MX-5 Miata sports car Thursday for the first time in nine years, counting on the model to help sustain rising sales.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Stage
Sep 3, 2014

Bourne's 'Swan Lake' puts a dance revolution on stage

To the delight of the nation's ballet fans, "Swan Lake" will shortly be gracing the Tokyo summer for two weeks — not in its traditional classical form, but in the new-classic guise of "Matthew Bourne's Swan Lake," a revolutionary twist on ballet's most tried-and-true tutu tale.
COMMENTARY / World
Sep 2, 2014

Moscow views world as war theater

Even if Ukraine is defeated militarily, that's just one small battle won in an eternal, multi-modal war that Russia is fighting against the West because Russia's leadership is convinced the West is waging one against Russia.
Japan Times
BASKETBALL
Sep 1, 2014

Veteran Aoki to return next season

Cohey Aoki contemplated retirement this offseason, but has decided to extend his playing career.
BASKETBALL
Aug 29, 2014

Ishikawa Prefecture awarded bj-league expansion team for 2015-16 season

The bj-league will add a 23rd team for the 2015-16 season, it announced on Friday.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Aug 29, 2014

Takefuji arsonist, ex-yakuza hanged for eight murders

A would-be robber who torched five Takefuji employees in 2001 and a yakuza who gunned down three people from 2001 to 2005 are executed for murder.
COMMENTARY / World
Aug 28, 2014

Xi using drug campaign as new political tool

The highly publicized arrests and confessions in President Xi JInping anti-drug use campaign play an important propaganda role, contrasting Xi's administration against the supposedly more permissive governments that preceded it.
EDITORIALS
Aug 26, 2014

Opposition strength through unity

The current Japanese political landscape shows the Liberal Democratic Party-New Komeito alliance dwarfing all opposition forces in both chambers of the Diet. Could the merger of two opposition parties now in negotiations make a difference?
COMMENTARY / Japan
Aug 25, 2014

The unsung heroes of Fukushima

What really went on among the workers inside the Fukushima No. 2 nuclear power plant after the 2011 earthquake and tsunami should be held up as an epic story with the theme of 'Man Saved in Japan.'
COMMENTARY / World
Aug 25, 2014

Next time, China might have to face the fire

China's leaders should take advantage of the recent respite from instability and low confidence to redouble their economic reform efforts. Otherwise, they can expect alarm bells to begin ringing again.
COMMENTARY / World
Aug 22, 2014

Can the Chinese help save Africa's elephants?

Over the last two years, restaurants in Shanghai have dropped shark fin from their menus amid an awareness campaign against the shark-fin trade. Could a similar campaign curb the Chinese public's demand for ivory and help to save Africa's elephants?
Japan Times
WORLD / Science & Health / FOCUS
Aug 22, 2014

Refracking brings 'vintage' oil and gas wells back to life

A fracking boom isn't enough for U.S. oil and gas producers — they're now starting the re-fracking boom.
JAPAN
Aug 21, 2014

Harasser of manga author draws maximum sentence

The unrepentant man driven by jealousy to repeatedly threaten the author of a popular basketball manga gets a 4 1/2-year prison term, the longest allowed.
BASKETBALL / BJ-LEAGUE NOTEBOOK
Aug 21, 2014

Grouses remain in transition as preseason looms

Less than two weeks before the league's preseason schedule tips off, the Toyama Grouses roster doesn't resemble the one that soared to great heights last season.
BUSINESS / Markets
Aug 21, 2014

Deutsche Bank lays seeds for future with warrants in Japan

Deutsche Bank AG is helping smaller Japanese companies less able to access the bond market raise money using warrants, as it searches for investment banking clients to generate future business.
COMMENTARY / World
Aug 17, 2014

Devastating use of barrel bombs in Syria, Iraq

In spite of a U.N. Security Council resolution banning the use of 'barrel bombs' — a type of improvised explosive device filled with shrapnel, oil and chemicals — both the Syrian and Iraqi governments continue to use them against civilians.
COMMENTARY / World / COUNTERPOINT
Aug 16, 2014

China's million-migrant march into Africa

The scramble for Africa is intensifying. In early August, U.S. President Barack Obama hosted 50 African leaders, signaling renewed interest in the continent.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Aug 15, 2014

Three ministers visit Yasukuni on surrender day anniversary; Abe refrains

Three Cabinet ministers visit war-related Yasukuni Shrine as Japan marks the 69th anniversary of its surrender in World War II.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / YEN FOR LIVING
Aug 15, 2014

Whatever you do, don't call Nestle's coffee 'instant'

Nestle aims to change the way office people think about coffee breaks.
JAPAN
Aug 15, 2014

Abe-Xi summit may hinge on marking of WWII defeat at Yasukuni

Any chance that Prime Minister Shinzo Abe will get his wish for a summit with China may hinge on the commemoration of the 69th anniversary of Japan's defeat in World War II at Tokyo's contentious Yasukuni war shrine.

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