Search - u_times

 
 
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Dec 20, 2012

Toyota redesigns RAV4 for U.S. market

Toyota Motor Corp.'s RAV4 was an oddity when it went on sale in the mid-1990s: a tiny, low-priced alternative to hulking sport utility vehicles such as the carmaker's own 4Runner and Ford Motor Co.'s Explorer. But it was a hit.
Reader Mail
Dec 20, 2012

Don't call Taiwanese 'occupied'

I would like to dispute a couple of points made by Dipak Basu:
LIFE / Digital / TECH_JAPAN
Dec 19, 2012

2012 has been a big year on the Japanese social-media scene

Twitter continues to ride high. Facebook has grown a lot, but newcomer Line seems set to overtake it. Social game companies Gree and Mobage have shifted their overseas expansion into high gear. And Mixi finally admits that it needs to try harder to understand what its members want. In this month's column,...
Japan Times
JAPAN
Dec 19, 2012

Bolster energy, security ties: top French envoy

Japan and France can have a solid role to play in today's globalized world if the two countries share a common goal and pursue further cooperation, French Ambassador Christian Masset said recently in Tokyo.
Japan Times
BASKETBALL / HOOP SCOOP
Dec 19, 2012

Asian coaching veteran Humphries seeking shot on sidelines in Japan

A ringing endorsement from someone who has worked at the elite level in his chosen profession probably couldn't hurt, eh?
EDITORIALS
Dec 19, 2012

Mr. Berlusconi's attempt to return

That didn't take long. Only a year after being forced from office in the wake of economic collapse and prostitution scandals, and after vowing that his days as a national leader were over, former Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi has said that he will run for office again next year.
COMMENTARY / World
Dec 19, 2012

U.S. school massacre won't change views on guns

We live in a society that makes it very, very easy to kill kids, though we want to pretend that isn't true.
COMMENTARY
Dec 19, 2012

Supply surge jolts 'peak oil' theory

The entrenched notion that the world will soon start running short of oil was jolted earlier this year when an expert study concluded that, contrary to what most people believe, oil-supply capacity is expanding so fast that it will outpace consumption by a wide margin in the next few years.
COMMENTARY / World
Dec 18, 2012

IMF economists see perils in China's investment binge

China's investment binge has been the envy of many other countries, not least India where inadequate roads mean that 40 percent of crops are spoiled on the way to market, and Japan, where 30-year-old tunnels are passing their sell-by dates and maintenance is not keeping up with demand.
COMMENTARY / World
Dec 18, 2012

Building an inclusive society for the disabled

The 2012 London Paralympics captivated the world's attention with the strength of the human spirit demonstrated by people with disabilities. We were all moved by the determination and perseverance of the athletes to overcome the odds that defeat so many of us.
JAPAN / ELECTION 2012
Dec 18, 2012

Nothing left for the election-gutted DPJ to do but rebuild

The drubbing taken by Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda's Democratic Party of Japan on Sunday left it with just 57 seats and one option: to rebuild.
Japan Times
LIFE / Lifestyle
Dec 18, 2012

Charles and Ray Eames: A deep-seated legacy

A touring exhibition and a recently released full-length documentary are shedding new light on the polymathic world of the U.S. couple Charles and Ray Eames, two of the most prolific and influential creatives of the 20th century.
BUSINESS / JAPANESE PERSPECTIVES
Dec 17, 2012

Deflation only natural when politicians refuse to fix oversupplied Japan

Needless to say, the biggest challenge for the government to be formed after Sunday's general election is to put the Japanese economy on a growth path.
JAPAN / ANALYSIS
Dec 17, 2012

Job one for Inose: stepping out from Ishihara's shadow

The Tokyo gubernatorial race ended Sunday with Vice Gov. Naoki Inose winning the top job, drawing the curtain on a lackluster campaign for the capital that was overshadowed by the Lower House election.
COMMENTARY
Dec 17, 2012

The focusing ability of an extraterrestrial canine

By topping Gerd ("Torpedo") Muller's record of goals scored in a year, Lionel Messi only confirmed what many people until now believed to be the truth: He doesn't belong to planet Earth, he is an extraterrestrial being.
JAPAN
Dec 17, 2012

Court cases to test Obama's 'evolution' on gay marriage

The Supreme Court gave itself plenty of room to maneuver when it agreed on Dec. 7 to review the issue of same-sex marriage. The justices could decide one of the great political and civil rights questions of our time, rule narrowly on the two cases it accepted or even punt, on the grounds that the cases...
Japan Times
JAPAN / ELECTION 2012
Dec 17, 2012

For Tokyo, Osaka voters, election revolved around economy

The multitude of parties and issues on the table Sunday made it difficult for voters to make up their minds, according to those who spoke with The Japan Times on the streets of Tokyo and Osaka.
Japan Times
LIFE / Lifestyle / WEEK 3
Dec 16, 2012

Last Tokyo street view of Mount Fuji set to go

As the sun sets over a small patch of the Nippori district of Tokyo's northeastern Arakawa Ward, people can often be seen stopping to gaze to the West — something not so surprising atop a street named Fujimizaka, which means "Mount Fuji Viewing Slope."
Japan Times
CULTURE / Books
Dec 16, 2012

Opening old wounds unhealed after decades

NISEI SOLDIERS BREAK THEIR SILENCE: Coming Home To Hood River, by Linda Tamura. University of Washington Press, 2012, 346 pp., $24.95 (paperback) A minority group enters a community and through hard work and perseverance gains a measure of financial security and grudging toleration from their neighbors....
Japan Times
LIFE / Lifestyle / WEEK 3
Dec 16, 2012

Tsunami survivor uses English to share his tragic story

Japan Times
JAPAN
Dec 16, 2012

Stop foot-dragging on China's threat: Maher

With the Liberal Democratic Party widely predicted to come out on top in Sunday's election, Kevin Maher, a former senior U.S. State Department official, said an LDP-led government must act quickly to demonstrate Japan's readiness to effectively respond to the threat posed by an increasingly bellicose...
BASKETBALL
Dec 16, 2012

Crane Thunders earn first home victory in franchise history

You've got to start somewhere.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Media / BIG IN JAPAN
Dec 16, 2012

Japan loses its cool as South Korea heats up

Last month, a nationwide survey of 3,000 people by the Cabinet office found that the percentage of Japanese who do not view South Korea on friendly terms rose to 59 percent, up by 23.7 points from 2011. The sharply negative shift appeared to reverse over a decade of warming relations between the two...
Reader Mail
Dec 16, 2012

American protection not needed

Regarding Joseph Jaworski's Dec. 9 letter, "Responsibility for self-protection": First, the idea that Japan's political discourse is on the far left is ludicrous. Japan's major parties are all right of center, including the opposition Liberal Democratic Party, which is likely to regain power in Sunday's...
Reader Mail
Dec 16, 2012

China doesn't respect diplomacy

Regarding the Dec. 11 editorial "Hawkish approach won't help": It is beyond my ability to imagine how diplomacy can deter China from expanding its empire. Since 1949 the Chinese (under Mao Zedong as well as Chiang Kai-shek) have occupied one piece of territory after another: Tibet, east Turkistan, east...
Reader Mail
Dec 16, 2012

The criminally noisy politicians

Michael Hoffman's Dec. 2 Timeout column, "Silent majority blasted by political noise," lent me yet another moment to think about Japanese politics and election campaigns.
BASEBALL / BASEBALL BULLET-IN
Dec 16, 2012

Otani made right decision by choosing to play for Fighters

So, the Hokkaido Nippon Ham Fighters got a nice Christmas present with the decision by 18-year-old fire-balling right-handed pitcher Shohei Otani to play for the defending Pacific League championship club rather than head straight for a career in the major leagues. From this point of view, the boy did...

Longform

Sumadori Bar on Shibuya Ward's main Center Gai street targets young customers who prefer low-alcohol drinks or abstain altogether.
Rethinking that second drink: Japan’s Gen Z gets ‘sober curious’