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JAPAN
Oct 19, 2013

Fukushima 2020: Will Japan be able to keep the nuclear situation under control?

Thirty seconds into what may ultimately be regarded as one of the defining speeches of his career, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe slowly raised his hands chest high, then spread them out sideways in a gesture of confidence.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Oct 19, 2013

Nuclear refugees struggle to share Olympic joy

While Tokyo Municipal Government officials were rubbing their hands with glee after winning the right to host the 2020 Olympics following their failed attempt to win the 2016 Games, it's perhaps fair to say that not everyone in other parts of the country shared their sentiment.
COMMENTARY / World
Oct 15, 2013

Labour making a comeback as Cameron falters

Growth is returning to the British economy, but wages remain stagnant as prices rise. Labour is seizing the initiative because the prime minister's vision for the government is unclear.
BUSINESS / Economy
Oct 10, 2013

Office vacancies in Tokyo at lowest rate since 2009

The office vacancy rate in Tokyo fell in September to its lowest level in four years as the amount of space taken up in the month more than doubled, according to broker Miki Shoji Co.
COMMENTARY / World
Oct 6, 2013

Protecting migrant workers' rights worldwide

There is still too little being invested at national and regional levels to protect the rights of migrant workers, particularly in agriculture, domestic work and construction.
Japan Times
JAPAN / CHUBU CONNECTION
Oct 4, 2013

Rural exchange program for city kids draws down

Amid a rapidly aging and declining population in rural areas of Aichi Prefecture, an exchange program to send young students from cities to the Tomiyama district in the village of Toyone will be terminated in March 2015, along with the closure of the district's only elementary and junior high school....
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Economy / ANALYSIS
Oct 2, 2013

Households to take hit from tax hike

The consumption tax increase will hit every household in Japan hard, with many people's financial future hanging on whether their wages rise enough to offset the hike's impact.
JAPAN
Sep 26, 2013

Tepco to resume testing on ALPS water filter

Tokyo Electric will resume tests on the ALPS processor and install a new ALPS next year to bring the radioactive water at Fukushima No. 1 to safer levels.
SOCCER / SOCCER SCENE
Sep 20, 2013

J. League courting disaster with return to two-stage season

The J. League has built up a richly deserved reputation for leadership and vision since it began two decades ago, but this week's decision to revert to a two-stage championship risks setting the Japanese game back by years.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Economy / 'SUMMER DAVOS' SPECIAL 2013
Sep 10, 2013

Abe hoping to prove to the world that Japan truly is back

Tokyo's victory for the right to host the 2020 Olympic Games is a reassurance to Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's recent go-to catchphrase, "Japan is Back," with the slogan having appeared as the subtitle of the government's growth strategy and even as the title in one of Abe's policy speeches.
JAPAN
Sep 3, 2013

Abe steps in to tackle nuclear water crisis

After putting off spending taxpayer money as long as it could, the Abe administration announces that it will earmark at least ¥47 billion to stop contaminated water from leaking at the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear plant.
BUSINESS / Economy
Aug 31, 2013

Most on Abe's expert panel approve plan to hike sales tax

The government's expert panel on the planned consumption tax hike wrapped up discussions Saturday with more than 70 percent of its members supporting the plan as it now stands, saying Japan will suffer a much bigger economic blow if the tax isn't raised.
BUSINESS
Aug 23, 2013

Reform plan no remedy for health care

Japan has been resorting to patchwork reforms over the past decade to prevent the health care system from collapsing as a rapidly graying society demands more funds from an ever-shrinking pool of tax revenue.
BUSINESS / NOTEBOOK
Aug 13, 2013

See how a huge chandelier is cleaned; Yokohama to host more conferences

EVENTS
BUSINESS / YEN FOR LIVING
Jul 22, 2013

Golf courses adjust to harsher economics and changing demographics

Golfers in Japan are getting older, with no one to replace them when they're gone.
COMMENTARY / Japan / SENTAKU MAGAZINE
Jul 21, 2013

Hesitating on sales tax hike?

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe is said to be considering delaying the increase in the consumption tax rate currently scheduled to take effect in April 2014.
BUSINESS / Companies
Jul 19, 2013

Honda overhauls its all-important Fit after bringing in NSX designers

Tensions were already running high at Honda Motor Co. in October 2011, two months after Consumer Reports ridiculed the onetime favorite Civic as a substandard car, when President Takanobu Ito saw drawings of the next Fit. He ripped up the plans and summoned his top two designers.
EDITORIALS
Jul 3, 2013

DPJ ruins chance at power reform

The multipartisan anti-bullying law enacted by the Diet is no panacea for the nation's schools as it fails to take into account all aspects of the bullying problem.
Japan Times
ENVIRONMENT
Jun 22, 2013

Vienna embraces the culture of the bicycle

On the Praterstern, where cars, buses and trams converge from several busy streets on a road that loops around Vienna's central train station, a new digital counter stands under the eye of the Riesenrad Ferris wheel.
JAPAN
Jun 20, 2013

University of Tokyo may switch to quarters

The University of Tokyo may replace its two-semester academic year with a quarter system to make it easier to shift to fall enrollment and line up with international standards.

Longform

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