Search - 2012

 
 
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Companies
May 15, 2013

Weak yen no respite for ailing electronics trio

A weaker yen, credited to Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's economic policies, may be helping exporters in general but struggling electronics makers are not yet out of the woods.
Japan Times
WORLD / Politics / ANALYSIS
Nov 11, 2016

How Hillary Clinton's white voters melted away

The unraveling of the coalition that was supposed to carry Hillary Clinton to the White House had a lot to do with voters like Jim McAndrew in counties like Northampton, Pennsylvania.
Japan Times
WORLD / Politics
Oct 6, 2013

Deep political divisions at root of U.S. shutdown

The government shutdown did not happen by accident. It is the latest manifestation — an extreme one by any measure — of divisions long in the making and now deeply embedded in the country's politics.
Japan Times
BASKETBALL / BJ-LEAGUE NOTEBOOK
Aug 15, 2013

Osaka president Iguchi forced out after three months

Osaka Evessa president Motofumi Iguchi has been forced to resign without ever presiding over a game, The Japan Times has learned.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / Japan
Aug 5, 2019

The danger in Abe's constitutional amendment proposal

If there is to be any amendment to the Constitution, the substance of the Abe Cabinet's 2014 reinterpretation of Article 9 to allow collective self-defense should be made part of the proposal or withdrawn entirely.
JAPAN
Mar 9, 2017

Japan will deliver big during Tokyo 2020 Cultural Olympiad, London Games official says

Japan's celebration of culture leading up to the 2020 Tokyo Olympics will "deliver something inspiring for the people of Japan and the whole world," according to London 2012 Cultural Olympiad Director Ruth Mackenzie.
COMMENTARY / World
Nov 6, 2016

What you should watch for on election day

There will be plenty of fascinating aspects as the electoral numbers start to roll in.
The National Personnel Authority in Tokyo's Chiyoda Ward
JAPAN
Jan 22, 2025

Fall in Japanese bureaucrat aspirants shows signs of stabilizing

The number of applicants in fiscal 2023 rose by 36.0% from the previous year, and in fiscal 2024, it increased by 17.9%, reaching a record high of 4,734.
Residents run away after seeing members of the M23 armed group walking through a street of the besieged Congolese city of Goma on Monday.
WORLD
Jan 28, 2025

Rwandan-backed M23 militia enters eastern Congo's largest city

The U.N. said the rebels were supported by at least some regular Rwandan troops, in the worst escalation of a long-running conflict for more than a decade.
Eme-Ima Kitchen is one of over 10,000 kodomo shokudō in Japan. A term first used in 2012 to describe makeshift eateries offering free or cheap meals to disadvantaged kids, it now refers to a diverse range of individuals, groups and organizations working to provide not only food but a sense of belonging to both children and adults.
JAPAN / Society / Longform
Feb 3, 2025

Japan’s ‘children’s cafeterias’ are booming — but is that a good thing?

They're no substitute for policy, but by providing food and belonging, these safe spaces are filling in the cracks of the nation's fraying communities.
“Light Court” (2024) is based on the “Lightcourt” space at the Hiroshima City Museum of Contemporary Art, designed by metabolist architect Kisho Kurokawa (1934-2007).
CULTURE / Art
Feb 9, 2025

Yuki Harada's contemplative artworks ponder vanishing

The artist spent time researching Japanese migrants who left Hiroshima and Yamaguchi prefectures for Hawaii, and the U.S. island state often features in his art.
Geraint Thomas puts on the overall leader's yellow jersey on the podium after the 19th stage of the 105th edition of the Tour de France cycling race, between Lourdes and Laruns, France, in July 2018.
MORE SPORTS / Cycling
Feb 18, 2025

British Tour de France winner Geraint Thomas to retire at end of season

Thomas won the Tour de France in 2018, after securing gold for Britain in the team pursuit in the 2008 and 2012 Olympics.
Former CDP executive Kenji Eda discusses a possible reduction of the consumption tax rate, in Tokyo on April 10.
JAPAN / Politics
Apr 17, 2025

CDP divisions over proposed tax cut pose headache for Yoshihiko Noda

The nation’s largest opposition party is preparing for the Upper House poll in July, in which it hopes to win enough seats to make a CDP-led coalition government possible.
The Kanzeon Bodhisattva statue that was returned to the Kannonji Temple in Tsushima, Nagasaki Prefecture, on Monday
JAPAN
May 12, 2025

Stolen Buddha statue returned to Japanese temple after 12 years

A ritual was held at Kannoji Temple on the island of Tsushima to mark the return of the Kanzeon Bodhisattva statue after more than 12 years.
Brian Wilson is seen at home in Beverly Hills in 2004. Wilson, who as the leader and chief songwriter of the Beach Boys became rock’s poet laureate of surf-and-sun innocence, was also the embodiment of damaged genius through his struggles with mental illness and drugs.
CULTURE / Entertainment news
Jun 12, 2025

Beach Boys founder Brian Wilson dies at age 82

The band defined California beach culture for a generation, with Wilson achieving what many musicians saw as perfection in "Pet Sounds."
A man holding a baby wades through a flooded road following heavy rainfall in Zhengzhou, China, in July 2021.
ENVIRONMENT / Climate change
Jun 13, 2025

Natural disasters may be shaping babies’ brains

The findings signal how new generations of children may be marked by climate crises that occur before they were born.
Austrian skydiver Felix Baumgartner in freefall during a practice flight across the English Channel between Dover and Calais on July 30, 2003
MORE SPORTS
Jul 18, 2025

Pioneering skydiver Felix Baumgartner dies while paragliding in Italy

The Austrian made headlines around the world in October 2012 when he jumped from a balloon 38 km above Earth, becoming the first skydiver to break the sound barrier.
Hulk Hogan tears his shirt during a rally for Republican presidential nominee and former U.S. President Donald Trump, at Madison Square Garden, in New York City on Oct. 27, 2024.
MORE SPORTS
Jul 25, 2025

Hulk Hogan, shirt-shredding superstar of pro wrestling, dies at 71

Hogan was the face of pro wrestling for decades, with his blond hair and horseshoe mustache, colorful bandannas and massive biceps, which he referred to as "24-inch pythons.”
Ichiro Suzuki, one of the most iconic players in NPB and MLB history, was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame with 99.7% of the vote.
BASEBALL / Longform
Jul 26, 2025

With Hall of Fame induction, Ichiro makes himself heard loud and clear

Across his 28 seasons of professional baseball, Ichiro grew to become a superstar — first in Japan and then in North America — and then an icon.
Gilbert Arena played in the NBA for 11 seasons and was a three-time All-Star
BASKETBALL / NBA
Jul 31, 2025

Former NBA star Gilbert Arenas arrested in connection with illegal poker games

At his arraignment in federal court in downtown Los Angeles on Wednesday afternoon, Arenas pleaded not guilty and was released on $50,000 bond.
Ichiro speaks during a ceremony to retire his number a T-Mobile Park in Seattle on Sunday.
BASEBALL / MLB
Aug 11, 2025

Mariners to honor Ichiro with statue at T-Mobile Park in 2026

The Seattle Mariners will unveil a statue of franchise legend Ichiro Suzuki at T-Mobile Park during the 2026 season.
Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba lays a flower during the memorial service at the Nippon Budokan on Friday.
JAPAN / Politics
Aug 15, 2025

As Japan marks 80 years since WWII surrender, Ishiba expresses remorse

The prime minister’s reflections about the war stood in contrast to those of his recent predecessors.
A damaged car in the Liuli River in the Huairou district of Beijing on Aug. 13. Flooding exposed weaknesses in the rural emergency response infrastructure for Beijing, whose urban core is surrounded by several rural districts like Huairou.
ENVIRONMENT / Climate change
Aug 21, 2025

Is historically arid Beijing ready for a wetter future?

Recent floods revealed how historically dry Beijing, home to 22 million people, remains insufficiently prepared for what experts say will be an increasingly wet future.
Former economic security minister Sanae Takaichi visits Yasukuni Shrine in Tokyo on Aug. 15. Political commentator Toru Hashimoto has suggested that Takaichi ought to lead a group of like-minded hawkish politicians out of the Liberal Democratic Party and form their own party.
JAPAN / Politics / FOCUS
Aug 22, 2025

Is the LDP’s catch-all approach to politics still effective?

With smaller, more ideologically unified parties gaining voter support, some critics say the LDP should split into different groups.
Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshimasa Hayashi (left), former economic security minister Sanae Takaichi (right) and agriculture minister Shinjiro Koizumi arrive to attend the Liberal Democratic Party presidential election candidates joint press conference at LDP headquarters in Tokyo on Tuesday.
JAPAN / Politics / FOCUS
Sep 25, 2025

Newcomer or veteran? LDP faces two choices for new party chief

Whoever wins the Oct. 4 leadership race must be able to work with senior members while also showing the public that the LDP is serious about reform.
A Paris court sentenced former French President Nicolas Sarkozy to five years in prison on Thursday after finding him guilty of criminal conspiracy over attempts to raise campaign funds from Libya.
WORLD / Crime & Legal
Sep 26, 2025

Former French President Sarkozy handed 5-year jail term in stunning downfall

Sarkozy was found guilty of criminal conspiracy over efforts to procure funds for his 2007 presidential bid from Libya during the rule of late dictator Muammar Gadhafi.
Then-Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and then-Liberal Democratic Party policy chief Sanae Takaichi mark a win by a party candidate in the July 2013 Upper House election. There is ongoing debate over whether Takaichi's economic approach will mirror the former prime minister's Abenomics.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Oct 10, 2025

The 'Takaichi trade' isn’t Abenomics 2.0, and that’s OK

Party leader Takaichi has been left with one of the poorest positions imaginable. The LDP is a minority in both houses of parliament.
Yuichiro Tamaki, leader of the Democratic Party for the People, holds a news conference at the Diet on Oct. 7. The collapse of the LDP-Komeito coalition highlights the risks of an opposition more focused on obstruction than solutions. 
COMMENTARY / Japan
Oct 14, 2025

Japan’s opposition coalition is a recipe for paralysis, not progress

The collapse of the LDP-Komeito coalition highlights the risks of an opposition more focused on obstruction than solutions.
Japan's political center is in turmoil, with the ruling party losing its long-held dominance and a series of complex negotiations ahead. The country’s leadership future is now uncertain.
COMMENTARY
Oct 15, 2025

A negotiator’s nightmare in Nagatacho

The LDP has since pushed back the date to vote for the next prime minister to Oct. 21.
The most common factor behind work-related mental health issues in Japan is “relationships with people,” a government white paper on death by overwork found.
JAPAN / Society
Oct 28, 2025

Record number of applicants seek compensation for job-related mental stress

Despite efforts to reduce overtime hours and workplace harassment in Japan, a white paper released Tuesday shows the problems remain persistent.

Longform

Once smoky, male-dominated spaces, today's net cafes, like Kaikatsu Club, are working to make their operations more attractive to women customers.
The second life of Japan's net cafes