Search - news

 
 
COMMENTARY
May 17, 2014

Democrats can't get traction on inequality

President Barack Obama has made any number of speeches about the rich who don't pay their fair share, but nationwide this has not translated into big gains for the Democrats who are pushing it.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
May 16, 2014

Violence abates in Vietnam as U.S. warns China for 'provocation'

Anti-China violence subsided in Vietnam on Friday after the prime minister called for calm and its de facto ambassador to Taiwan apologized, but the United States said China's "provocative" actions in maritime disputes were dangerous and had to stop.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
May 16, 2014

North Korea denies deploying drones, derides Park as a 'political whore'

North Korea has accused Washington and Seoul of fabricating the results of a probe that concluded Pyongyang sent small surveillance drones to spy on key South Korean installations in March.
EDITORIALS
May 16, 2014

Abe takes aim at Article 9

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe says he will try to change a long-standing constitutional interpretation so that Japan can exercise the right to 'collective self-defense.' His move would gut the war-renouncing Article 9 of the Constitution without going through the amendment procedure.
COMMENTARY / World
May 16, 2014

Why the dollar will remain the top currency

China is missing one crucial ingredient as it builds the renminbi's claim to reserve-currency status: the world's trust with regard to a broader and more credible set of public and political institutions.
COMMENTARY / World
May 16, 2014

A new cold war or a cool power calculation?

Americans understand that if they go too far too fast in pushing sanctions against Russia in the Ukraine crisis, Europe will publicly break with the U.S. approach, because the Europeans have a lot more at stake economically.
LIFE / Digital
May 16, 2014

Trying to be anonymous on the Internet can attract more attention

When searching for an adjective to describe our comprehensively surveilled networked world — the one bookmarked by the NSA at one end and by Google, Facebook, Yahoo and Co. at the other — "Orwellian" is the word that people generally reach for.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC
May 15, 2014

Up to 21 dead, doctor says, as anti-China riots spread in Vietnam

Up to 21 people were killed in Vietnam, a doctor said on Thursday, and a huge foreign steel project was set ablaze as anti-China riots spread to the center of the country a day after arson and looting in the south.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
May 15, 2014

Auto industry lobby appoints Honda Chairman Ike as new chief

The Japan Automobile Manufacturers Association on Thursday picked Honda Motor Co. Chairman Fumihiko Ike to replace Toyota Motor Corp. chief Akio Toyoda as the chief of the industry lobby.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Companies
May 15, 2014

Mizuho most pessimistic of the big banks

Mizuho Financial Group Inc. led the nation's three biggest banks in forecasting a drop in earnings for this year as loan growth loses momentum and returns from stock investments wane.
BUSINESS
May 15, 2014

Trilateral investment deal on course

A three-way investment deal involving Japan, China and South Korea will take effect Saturday, China's Commerce Ministry said, despite tension between the neighbors.
SOCCER
May 14, 2014

Korean great Park hangs up boots

South Korean Park Ji-sung announced his retirement from soccer on Wednesday, bringing the curtain down on a career that took him to the 2002 World Cup semifinals and saw him become the first Asian to play in a Champions League final.
Japan Times
WORLD
May 14, 2014

Turkey coal mine explosion kills, traps hundreds of miners

An explosion and fire in a coal mine in western Turkey killed 157 miners and trapped hundreds more on Tuesday, a provincial mayor said, in what appeared to be the country's worst mining accident in years.
Japan Times
JAPAN
May 13, 2014

Population panel draws line in sand

To prevent a crisis, Japan should try to keep its population at 100 million for the next 50 years by devoting more resources to child-rearing, a panel says.
JAPAN
May 13, 2014

Abe to get Article 9 proposals Thursday

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's Article 9 panel will propose its conditions for using collective self-defense under a reinterpreted Constitution on Thursday.
JAPAN
May 13, 2014

Inamine to lead anti-base group to Washington

Nago Mayor Susumu Inamine will lead a delegation of Okinawa residents and politicians to Washington on Thursday, as tensions rise between the mayor and the central government over the plan to build a U.S. military replacement base in the city's Henoko district.
BUSINESS / Economy
May 13, 2014

El Nino-induced weather raises concern at BOJ

Bank of Japan officials are concerned that cooler-than-normal weather triggered by El Nino will curb spending this summer and weigh on an economic rebound after April's sales tax increase, according to people familiar with the matter.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
May 13, 2014

Exit polls signal big victory for India's Modi

Hindu nationalist Narendra Modi called for unity in India as exit polls signaled his opposition bloc would win a majority in national elections, boosting his chances of taking power after pledging to revive Asia's third-largest economy.
Japan Times
WORLD
May 13, 2014

West Antarctic glacier thaw now 'irreversible,' study finds

Vast glaciers in West Antarctica seem to be locked in an irreversible thaw linked to global warming that may push up sea levels for centuries, scientists said on Monday.
JAPAN
May 12, 2014

Panel recommends new visa status for special strategic zones

Advisers on a project to set up special strategic zones to promote economic growth propose a new type of visa for foreigners who start businesses in Japan.
BUSINESS / Companies
May 12, 2014

Sharp logs ¥11.5 billion net profit after a harrowing two-year slump

Sharp Corp. posted its first net profit in three years in fiscal 2013, earning ¥11.5 billion after losing a staggering ¥545.3 billion in fiscal 2012, the electronics maker said Monday.
JAPAN
May 12, 2014

Abe, Netanyahu agree to join hands on defense, Internet security

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and Israeli counterpart Benjamin Netanyahu agreed in Tokyo Monday to bolster bilateral defense cooperation, including in cyberspace.
BUSINESS / Companies
May 12, 2014

Nissan posts 13.6% profit rise as automaker outperforms market

Nissan Motor Corp. announced Monday that group operating profit rose 13.6 percent to ¥498.3 billion for the business year ended in March, boosted by strong sales in Japan and North America.
BUSINESS
May 12, 2014

Confidence rises despite tax hike

Confidence in the economic outlook among taxi drivers and restaurant staff and other workers soared by a record level in April, indicating the blow from last month's sales tax increase may be short-lived, government data showed Monday.

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