Search - 2016

 
 
Japan Times
BUSINESS / DAVOS SPECIAL 2017
Jan 17, 2017

A future of promise and pitfalls as AI technology advances

On a Sunday afternoon in 2035, a man in Tokyo is consulting a robot as to what he should eat for dinner.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Jan 16, 2017

Open society needs defending

Open societies are in crisis, and various forms of closed societies — from fascist dictatorships to mafia states — are on the rise.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC / Science & Health
Jan 15, 2017

Beijing's air pollution goal is double WHO's acceptable standard

Beijing's air quality target for 2017 is more than double the acceptable standard set by the World Health Organization, the mayor announced on Saturday in the wake of weeks of hazardous air pollution in the Chinese capital.
Japan Times
LIFE / Style & Design
Jan 14, 2017

Curtain call: Examining the evolution of Japan's humble 'noren'

The shōtengai (shopping street) in Katsuyama, a rural hamlet located on the banks of the Asahi River in Okayama Prefecture, wouldn't look completely out of place in a Richard Scarry picture book for young children.
Japan Times
WORLD / Politics
Jan 14, 2017

GOP embarks on Obamacare repeal with no replacement in sight

U.S. congressional Republicans completed the first step Friday toward their long-promised repeal of Obamacare, but now they face the much more difficult task of finding a way to unravel the massive health care law and replace it.
WORLD
Jan 13, 2017

Brazilian farm owners form militias to attack land activists: rights group

Large farm owners in Brazil are forming private militias to attack land rights campaigners, Human Rights Watch said on Thursday, as rural violence in Latin America's largest country hits its worst levels in a decade.
Japan Times
WORLD / Politics
Jan 12, 2017

Trump blames U.S. intelligence for 'phony' Russia dossier

President-elect Donald Trump on Wednesday angrily denounced the publishing of claims he had been caught in a compromising position in Russia and attacked U.S. intelligence agencies over the leak of the information.
BASEBALL / Japanese Baseball / HIT AND RUN
Jan 11, 2017

Time ripe for Lions hurler Kikuchi to prove worth on mound

There is a chance that by 2019, pitchers Yusei Kikuchi and Shohei Otani could both be major leaguers. In 2009, MLB scouts flocked to Hanamaki Higashi High School, in Iwate Prefecture, to flirt with Kikuchi, a fire-balling lefty, before returning a few years later to put a full-court press on Otani.
Japan Times
WORLD / Crime & Legal
Jan 11, 2017

Italy arrests siblings for hacking into emails of ECB's Draghi, former Italy PM Renzi

Italian police arrested two siblings on Tuesday for hacking the emails of European Central Bank President Mario Draghi, former Prime Minister Matteo Renzi and thousands of others.
ASIA PACIFIC / Science & Health
Jan 11, 2017

China to boost beds, staff to handle health care strains

China will add 89,000 new hospital beds and train 140,000 new obstetricians and nurses in order to deal with the strains on its health care system brought about in part by the relaxation of its "one-child policy," state media said on Wednesday.
JAPAN
Jan 10, 2017

Number of foreign visitors to Japan tops 20 million mark for first time

The number of foreign visitors to Japan hit a whopping 24.03 million last year, but the growth rate has started to slow down.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Jan 10, 2017

Jochen Lempert: The photographic seer

Jochen Lempert's exhibition "Fieldwork" at the Izu Photo Museum has an ageless feel to it. The intentionally low contrast pictures of wildlife and natural phenomena almost look like they could be archive photos unearthed from the mid-19th century. However, they also have the cool nonchalance of 1970s...
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Companies
Jan 6, 2017

Nissan ending joint development of luxury cars with Daimler

Nissan is halting joint development of luxury cars with Daimler's Mercedes-Benz, sources close to the companies told Reuters, suspending a key project in their seven-year partnership and potentially hitting profitability at a new shared factory in Mexico.
Japan Times
LIFE / Lifestyle
Dec 31, 2016

New year, new you: What to expect personally and professionally in the Year of the Rooster

If you haven't made a New Year's resolution or have been too busy for the customary ōsōji (big cleanup) this holiday season, there is still time, according to feng shui. Under the Chinese philosophical system, the new year is marked by the lunar, rather than Gregorian, or solar, calendar, giving us...
Japan Times
WORLD / Crime & Legal
Dec 29, 2016

In Venezuela, lynchings kill one person every three days: report

Roughly one person is being lynched in crisis-ridden Venezuela every three days as frustrated residents take revenge on suspected criminals, a monitoring group said on Wednesday.
Japan Times
BASEBALL / BASEBALL BULLET-IN
Dec 24, 2016

Ex-Dragons star Powell reminisces about playing days in Japan

One of the most prolific hitters among foreign players in Japan, and a most fan- and media-friendly personality, returned to the country earlier this month to say "konnichi wa" and offer batting instruction to Japanese youngsters.
Dec 22, 2016

The Mole Song: Hong Kong Capriccio / Toho Cinemas Shinjuku / 2016-12-24 to 2016-12-30

Dec. 24 10:00, 12:50, 15:40, 18:30, 21:20, 00:20, 27:10 / Dec. 25 8:50, 11:40, 15:00, 17:50, 20:30 / Dec. 26 to Dec. 28 10:00, 12:50, 15:40, 18:30, 21:20 / Dec. 29 8:30, 11:20, 14:10, 17:40, 20:30
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC
Dec 22, 2016

Beijing districts to cap population in bid to tackle smog, congestion

Five districts in Beijing have announced plans to cap or lower their population in the next few years, local media reported on Wednesday, as the Chinese capital bids to tackle chronic pollution and congestion.
Japan Times
PRESS / Publications
Dec 21, 2016

Revised Edition to a Long-running Bestseller

Tokyo, December 21, 2016 - The Japan Times, Ltd. has released a revised edition to its bestselling fun-and-easy kana practice book, "Kana Can Be Easy [Revised Edition]."
BASEBALL / Japanese Baseball
Dec 20, 2016

Fighters superstar Otani receives top prize at Japan Professional Sports Awards extravaganza

Baseball sensation Shohei Otani, one of the brightest stars of the nation’s sporting scene in 2016, was the recipient of the grand prize at the annual Japan Professional Sports Awards at a Tokyo hotel on Tuesday.
Japan Times
BASEBALL / Japanese Baseball
Dec 20, 2016

Otani heads early WBC roster for Samurai Japan

Samurai Japan released a partial roster for next spring's World Baseball Classic on Tuesday, naming 18 players who will be part of the squad tasked with bringing the title back to Japan in March.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Dec 19, 2016

Trump must prepare for a showdown with Beijing

An increasingly assertive China poses the most vexing and far-reaching challenges for American prosperity and security.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Dec 18, 2016

U.S. wind power enjoys a rebirth as solar's obstacles mount

A year after Congress extended generous tax credits for renewable energy projects, the U.S. wind industry is thriving.

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