Search - 2013

 
 
EDITORIALS
Jan 29, 2016

Amari still has much to answer for

Even though he has stepped down as economic and fiscal policy minister, Akira Amari still owes an explanation of his acts to a public weary of the repeated money scandals involving key members of the Abe administration.
BUSINESS
Jan 20, 2016

The Onion worth more than the Washington Post

The Onion's top news, circa 2013: "Print Dead at 1,803." On Tuesday, it helped put the nail in the coffin.
EDITORIALS
Jan 17, 2016

Futenma, elections and autonomy

The upcoming elections in Okinawa, starting with the Ginowan mayoral race, will weigh heavily on the Futenma relocation issue.
Japan Times
WORLD
Oct 18, 2015

Egypt's most feared: terrorist former special forces officer

As a special forces officer in the Egyptian Army, Hisham al-Ashmawy trained in the desert, learning camouflage, survival techniques and how to hunt the enemy in rough terrain. Now he has turned militant and uses that training to help fellow jihadis fight the government.
JAPAN / Media / BIG IN JAPAN
Oct 17, 2015

Councilors get loud on library revamps

As testimony to their characteristically low profile, Japan's public libraries seldom make the news, although two recent exceptions come to mind.
Japan Times
JAPAN / GENERATIONAL CHANGE
Aug 2, 2015

Getting Japan's youth engaged in disaster preparedness

Even though earthquake-prone Japan has seen numerous warnings that massive, devastating temblors could strike at any time, including in the Tokyo metropolitan area and in the Nankai Trough off the Pacific coast, data shows the nation's youth don't seem to have the same sense of preparing for a disaster...
JAPAN
Jun 10, 2015

International students face job hunting hurdles in Japan

A 23-year-old student from China who attends the prestigious University of Tokyo is now looking for a job in Japan.
EDITORIALS
Jun 5, 2015

Job numbers up, but not quality

Current employment statistics may look good, but they belie a drop in the quality and earning power of available jobs.
EDITORIALS
May 13, 2015

No need for haste on TPP deal

The government must resist the temptation to make concessions that won't benefit Japan in its effort to conclude TPP negotiations with the U.S.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
May 4, 2015

Did America's drone strikes lose Yemen?

The U.S. drone program, which is responsible for the deaths of many innocent civilians, is fundamentally flawed and should not be perpetuated.
BUSINESS
Mar 23, 2015

U.S. probes reports on Nissan air bag recall failure

U.S. regulators are looking into whether a recall last year by Nissan Motor Co., the nation's second-largest automaker, failed to fix a flaw in the air bag control systems on almost 1 million vehicles.
ASIA PACIFIC
Mar 13, 2015

U.S. students losing interest in China as dream jobs prove elusive

American students are getting cold feet about studying Chinese in China, with many study abroad programs in the country seeing a substantial drop in enrolment over the last few years.
JAPAN / Politics
Feb 27, 2015

Two more Cabinet ministers ensnared in money scandals

The Abe administration's money scandals snowball as two more Cabinet ministers admit their chapters accepted donations in 2013 from a company that was set to receive state subsides.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Economy / ANALYSIS
Feb 23, 2015

'Abenomics' divides Japan's stocks as small shares left behind

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's plan to revive the nation's economy is leaving small companies behind.
EDITORIALS
Feb 20, 2015

Japanese support for the AEC

Japan should throw its support behind the regional plan to establish the ASEAN Economic Community by yearend, thus creating a single market and production base of more than 600 million people.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Companies
Feb 19, 2015

Secretive robot maker Fanuc targeted by activist investor Loeb

Fanuc Corp., one of Japan's most reclusive companies, has spent decades building a wall of secrecy around its ultra-profitable industrial-robotics business.
JAPAN / Politics
Feb 17, 2015

How two small rocks stop Japan and South Korea from getting along

They were once a source of fortune for Japanese fishermen hunting sea lions and abalone, but now the pair of remote rocks in the Sea of Japan are preventing Japan and South Korea from getting along.
BASEBALL / Japanese Baseball / HIT AND RUN
Feb 14, 2015

Eagles need young duo to soar in '15

Earlier this year, 24-year-old Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles pitcher Wataru Karashima said he'd retire if he failed to reach 10 wins this season. Karashima has pitched in NPB for five seasons, and was used out of the bullpen over the first two, making 14 appearances as a reliever. Since becoming a starter...
JAPAN
Feb 12, 2015

Author Sono calls for racial segregation in op-ed piece

A prominent author and former government adviser calls for Japan to adopt a system to force immigrants to live separately from Japanese in zones based on race.
Japan Times
WORLD / Politics
Jan 31, 2015

The 2016 White House race: a list of possible candidates

The calculus for the 2016 race for the White House has shifted after 2012 Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney decided not to run again. Here are a few of the possible contenders:
Japan Times
JAPAN / Media
Dec 25, 2014

Japan Times Advisory Board serves up brickbats, praise for newspaper's coverage

Ichiro Fujisaki, who formerly served as Japan's ambassador to the United States, praised the paper for its "readability." He said he senses that the editors try to choose phrases and words that are easy for Japanese readers to understand.
EDITORIALS
Dec 17, 2014

The skewed value of votes

Lawmakers must set aside their partisan interests and act fast to narrow the wide gap in the value of votes between rural and urban constituencies.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Dec 3, 2014

Looking Japan's film-industry myths in the eye

Who doesn't love a listicle titled "(X) surprising things you never knew about (Y)"? What surprises me about a lot of commentary on the Japanese film industry — from insiders and outsiders alike — is how it substitutes judgment calls (usually of the "Japanese films are crap" variety) for out-in-plain-sight...

Longform

In 2020, 38% of all households were single-person. That figure is projected to rise to 44.3% by 2050.
The rise of AI companionship in a lonely Japan