Search - 2003

 
 
JAPAN / EXPLAINER
Jan 20, 2014

Citizen watchdogs see secrets law reviving tax money abuses

Democratic societies often have an ombudsman system of ordinary citizens who monitor how local and national tax money is spent.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Stage
Jan 15, 2014

'Kaz' Kumagai brings tip-top tap to town

"Anyone can enjoy being be a tap dancer in their daily life; all you have to do is casually make a rhythm with your feet when you're walking down the street," Japan's leading exponent of the art, Kazunori Kumagai, insists — seemingly oblivious to the gulf between him and most of the rest of clod-hopping...
Japan Times
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Jan 15, 2014

'Missing' U.K. man turns up safe in Britain

Running in fear for his life or just to escape it? A British businessman who mysteriously disappeared from Tokyo last year, sparking speculation of misadventure, has turned up back in England, safe and sound, according to a British media report.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Media / Japan Pulse
Jan 15, 2014

Marketers capitalize on university entrance exam time

Special snacks, underwear, aquatic friends and more suddenly appear in support of academic victory for Center Test takers.
COMMENTARY / World
Jan 13, 2014

Power without purpose in Moscow

By suppressing opposition in Moscow, Grozny and elsewhere, Putin has only put a lid on a boiling pot. Part of the Kremlin's difficulty stems from its remarkable lack of vision — a fundamental failure to understand what Russia is, will be, or can become.
Japan Times
WORLD
Jan 12, 2014

'Architect of 9/11' exchanges letters with pen pal

Details from an extraordinary exchange of letters between a care worker from Nottingham, in England's East Midlands, and the alleged architect of the 9/11 attacks were revealed Saturday, offering an unprecedented insight into the mind of one the world's most notorious Islamic militants.
Japan Times
WORLD
Jan 11, 2014

Ariel Sharon, Israeli 'bulldozer' who vacated Gaza, dies at 85

Ariel Sharon, the Israeli general and former prime minister as famous for his ferocity in battling Arab foes as for his turnaround decision to evacuate settlers and soldiers from the Gaza Strip, has died. He was 85.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Jan 11, 2014

Dire quake forecasts fail to stir a numb public

Is there a level of fear above which the mind reflexively retreats from imagining the worst? The Great East Japan Earthquake was often described as being 'beyond imagination,' and the art and science of projecting future catastrophes has had to adjust accordingly.
Japan Times
MORE SPORTS / NFL NOTEBOOK
Jan 10, 2014

Divisional playoffs often produce upsets

Welcome to the divisional playoffs, aka the upset round of the NFL postseason.
Japan Times
CULTURE
Jan 9, 2014

Will Cool Japan finally heat up in 2014?

After years of talk, 2013 marked a watershed moment in the government's Cool Japan campaign. Which begs the question: Is Japan cool?
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Jan 7, 2014

Bar for pre-crisis bankers falls on hard times

Heartland, the bar in Tokyo's Roppongi Hills complex where bankers from Goldman Sachs Group Inc. and Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. partied before the 2008 financial crisis, has shut its doors after more than a decade.
COMMENTARY
Jan 5, 2014

The rational ignorance of the American voter

If the political knowledge of American voters is measured relative to government's expanding scope, ignorance is increasing rapidly: There is so much more to be uninformed about.
Figure Skating / ICE TIME
Jan 3, 2014

Suzuki, Murakami exemplify power, passion that make skating magnetic

It has been almost two weeks now, but the emotions aroused by the recent Japan national championships in Saitama remain vivid.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Dec 31, 2013

Tokyo prepares to get schooled in the art of beats

Although the major spectacle looming on Tokyo's horizon is undoubtedly the 2020 Olympics, there is one event this year that will be eagerly anticipated by anyone who spends longer on their gym playlist than their workout: The Red Bull Music Academy (RBMA) is set to take place here in October.
Japan Times
WORLD
Dec 30, 2013

U.S. Army seeks bigger Pacific role

Approaching from the Hawaii coast, the mosquito-shaped helicopter buzzed around the guided-missile cruiser USS Lake Erie twice before swooping toward the landing pad. The U.S. Navy crew on the deck crouched, the helmeted faces betraying more than routine concern as the aircraft, flown by a pilot who...
COMMENTARY / World
Dec 29, 2013

A pardon for war hero convicted of being gay

Queen Elizabeth II's long-overdue pardon of war hero Allen Turing should serve as opportunity for the world to reflect on discrimination against gays.
CULTURE / Books / ESSENTIAL READING FOR JAPANOPHILES
Dec 28, 2013

Snakes and Earrings

Take a walk through Tokyo's Shibuya or Shinjuku shopping districts and you'll soon notice the streets are filled with a certain kind of girl — stylishly dressed, sassy, with heavy makeup and dyed brown or blond hair. These are gyaru, and to get a peek inside their world, "Snakes and Earrings" is a...
Japan Times
WORLD
Dec 27, 2013

Medal of Honor winner from Korean War dies

Rodolfo "Rudy" Hernandez, a U.S. Army paratrooper who received the Medal of Honor after single-handedly carrying out a bayonet assault on enemy forces during the Korean War, died Dec. 21 at a hospital in Fayetteville, North Carolina. He was 82.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Voices / FOREIGN AGENDA
Dec 25, 2013

Tokyo, the city that's not as crazy as everyone thinks

As a Japanese friend of mine who has lived all over Japan once said, 'People from the Kansai area are like Latin people, but in Tokyo they're more like Germans.
Reader Mail
Dec 25, 2013

Loopy logic of Futenma prevails

Regarding the Dec. 4 article "U.S. backs Japan against ADIZ: Biden": At their meeting, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe assured visiting U.S. Vice President Joe Biden that the 2006 road map agreement for relocating U.S. Marine Corps Air Station Futenma further north on Okinawa Island to Henoko was being implemented...
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Companies
Dec 25, 2013

Sumitomo Mitsui may resume JGB buys once inflation picks up

Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group Inc., the biggest seller of Japanese government bonds among the nation's three biggest banks, may start buying again once inflation picks up, President Koichi Miyata said.
JAPAN / YEAR IN REVIEW 2013
Dec 25, 2013

A look back at the year's top 10 Japan news stories

Japan Times editors selected the following domestic stories as the most important in 2013.
COMMENTARY / World
Dec 23, 2013

Help Ukrainians stand up for Western values

Make no mistake, Ukraine's so-called oligarchs still support President Viktor Yanukovych, and they will be prime beneficiaries of the $15 billion in bailout loans and lower natural gas prices that he secured from Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Japan Times
WORLD
Dec 22, 2013

Story of  ‘systematic’ exploitation of women becomes reporter’s life

On the first day that Jineth Bedoya Lima arrived for work at the offices of Colombia National Radio in Bogota, she was assigned to cover a story that would become her life. That day, in December 1996, her task was to report on a riot at what is probably the most dangerous prison in the world, La Modelo,...
BASEBALL / MLB
Dec 21, 2013

Cromartie hungry to bring baseball back to Montreal

Warren Cromartie's energy can be infectious. When the former Montreal Expos and Yomiuri Giants star gets going on a topic, his voice rises, his words drip with conviction and even over the phone, you can imagine him flashing that familiar, toothy, megawatt smile.

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’