Search - news

 
 
Japan Times
LIFE / Lifestyle
Jul 18, 2015

Tales from the crypt: ghost stories from Japan

On a damp afternoon in early July, almost two dozen people sat in silence in a dark room on the sixth floor of a building located right next to Sensoji Temple in Tokyo's Asakusa district. The audience has come to Amuse Museum to hear two presenters — storyteller Chinatsu Ushidaki, who performs under...
COMMENTARY / World
Jul 18, 2015

Making sure 'developing' countries develop

The rich world needs to commit more resources to the very poorest among us, and in smarter ways than before.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Entertainment news
Jul 16, 2015

Quizzed on Cosby, Obama says no precedent for revoking medal, calls rape intolerable

President Barack Obama, asked on Wednesday about possibly revoking entertainer Bill Cosby's Presidential Medal of Freedom, the highest U.S. civilian honor, said there is no mechanism for doing so, but added no civilized country should tolerate rape.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Economy
Jul 15, 2015

Bank of Japan maintains record stimulus, trims inflation outlook

The Bank of Japan's unprecedented monetary stimulus can drive inflation to its 2 percent target, Gov. Haruhiko Kuroda said as the bank left its policy unchanged and trimmed its price outlook.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Jul 15, 2015

Family of victim of Kobe child-killer calls for ban on criminals' memoirs

Enraged by the publication last month of a memoir by an infamous child serial killer from Kobe, the father of one of the victims petitioned the ruling Liberal Democratic Party on Wednesday for a ban on criminals talking about their crimes, including in print and movies, without the permission of those...
JAPAN
Jul 15, 2015

Ikata reactor in Ehime wins safety approval as nuclear plants inch closer to restart

Shikoku Electric Power Co.'s Ikata No. 3 reactor has become the fifth reactor to obtain regulatory approval for a restart since the 2011 Fukushima crisis began.
Japan Times
WORLD
Jul 15, 2015

Iran's nuclear deal puts Saudis on edge

Iran's nuclear deal with world powers Tuesday will make the Middle East a "more dangerous part of the world" if it comes with too many concessions, a Saudi official said, signaling gulf Arabs' deep unease over the accord.
Japan Times
WORLD / Politics / ANALYSIS
Jul 15, 2015

Obama gambles on foreign policy legacy with historic Iran deal

The sealing of a nuclear pact with Iran marks the biggest foreign policy gamble of Barack Obama's presidency — a legacy-defining achievement that could backfire if Tehran exploits any loopholes or escalates tensions in the Middle East.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Jul 15, 2015

IMF believes Greece needs debt relief far beyond EU plans

Greece will need far bigger debt relief than euro zone partners have been prepared to envisage so far due to the devastation of its economy and banks in the last two weeks, says a confidential study by the International Monetary Fund seen by reporters.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Tech
Jul 14, 2015

Sony makes noise with loudspeaker launch

Sony Mobile Communications Inc. wants to turn a loudspeaker into something that engages its users rather than a passive electronic device that merely plays music.
WORLD
Jul 14, 2015

Russian nuclear bomber crash is second in two months

A Russian nuclear bomber aircraft crashed Tuesday near the eastern city of Khabarovsk, a Russian report said, the second loss of a Tu-95 plane in the area in two months.
JAPAN / Politics
Jul 14, 2015

Debate over security bills masks clash of views on pacifist Constitution

Is Japan's Constitution a symbol of peace and respect for universal values or a reminder of humiliating defeat?
Japan Times
JAPAN / Politics
Jul 14, 2015

Parody of LDP security bills video goes viral ahead of Diet vote

An animated video released by the ruling Liberal Democratic Party that attempts to explain the need for the security bills currently being debated by the Diet has spawned a scathing parody that attempts to shoot holes in the ruling coalition's argument for the legislation.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC / Crime & Legal
Jul 14, 2015

Detained Chinese lawyer 'blabbered' about rule of law, human rights

China's state media last month accused Wang Yu, the country's most prominent female human rights lawyer, of "blabbering about the rule of law and human rights."
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Economy
Jul 13, 2015

Greece surrenders much of its sovereignty to avoid euro exit

Eurozone leaders made Greece surrender much of its sovereignty to outside supervision Monday in return for agreeing to talks on an €86 billion bailout to keep the near-bankrupt country in the single currency.
JAPAN
Jul 13, 2015

Japanese freelance reporter Jumpei Yasuda feared missing in Syria

A freelance reporter and close friend of Kenji Goto, the journalist executed by the Islamic State terrorist group in January, may be missing in the same country where his compatriot was beheaded.
Japan Times
TENNIS
Jul 13, 2015

Serena eyes calendar Slam

Serena Williams holds all four major tennis titles after her Wimbledon victory Saturday but she wants more.
JAPAN
Jul 13, 2015

Two new Tokyo subway lines being planned

The Tokyo Metropolitan Government has proposed building two new subway lines from central Tokyo, one to Shinagawa and the other to the waterfront districts of Harumi, Toyosu and Ariake.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC / Crime & Legal
Jul 13, 2015

China targets rights lawyers as crackdown on activists widens

Chinese authorities have widened a crackdown on human rights groups, detaining or questioning more than 50 lawyers and activists in a sweep over the past few days, rights groups say.
Japan Times
WORLD
Jul 13, 2015

Ukraine far-right group demands minister's ouster after deadly shootout

A Ukrainian far-right group demanded the resignation of the interior minister and said it would block roads around Kiev on Sunday in a standoff over a fatal gun battle that challenges the authority of the government.
WORLD / Politics
Jul 13, 2015

McConnell: Congress will block ambassador pick, other Obama moves on Cuba

The top U.S. Senate Republican said on Sunday that Congress is likely to block any nominee that President Barack Obama names as ambassador to Cuba and retain broad economic sanctions, even as Obama moves to establish diplomatic and economic ties with the Communist-run island.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Jul 11, 2015

Japan should re-examine the idea of marriage to help spur a baby boom

After decades of a national conversation about the need for more babies, there is still disagreement as to what sort of measures Japan should take in order to increase its birthrate. The obstacles are financial, social and physiological, and before they can be addressed properly they must be identified...
SOCCER
Jul 11, 2015

Schweinsteiger reaches agreement to join Manchester United

Germany midfielder Bastian Schweinsteiger has agreed to join English Premier League side Manchester United from Bayern Munich, the Bundesliga champions' chief executive Karl-Heinz Rummenigge said on Saturday.
Japan Times
WORLD
Jul 11, 2015

Iran, powers give themselves until Monday for nuclear deal

Iran and major powers gave themselves until Monday to reach a nuclear agreement, their third extension in two weeks, as Tehran accused the West of throwing up new stumbling blocks to a deal.

Longform

Tetsuzo Shiraishi, speaking at The Center of the Tokyo Raids and War Damage, uses a thermos to explain how he experienced the U.S. firebombing of March 1945, when he was just 7 years old.
From ashes to high-rises: A survivor’s account of Tokyo’s postwar past