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Japan Times
BUSINESS / Companies
Oct 16, 2014

Recruit jumps in trading debut after ¥197 billion IPO

Recruit Holdings gains 7.4 percent on its first day of trading as the nation's top provider of short-term workers holds its initial public offering.
OLYMPICS / ROBERT WHITING'S 1964 OLYMPICS RETROSPECTIVE
Oct 14, 2014

Opening Ceremony ushered in new era for Japan

The 1964 Tokyo Olympics had a profound impact on the capital city and the nation. In the second installment of a five-part series that will run during the next two weeks, best-selling author Robert Whiting, who lived in Japan at the time, examines the excitement surrounding the Opening Ceremony.
LIFE / Travel / TRAVEL INSIDER
Oct 14, 2014

Bonus mile opportunity; flight notifications; celebrating travel, life

Bonus mile opportunity
Japan Times
JAPAN
Oct 14, 2014

Teen, inspired by SoftBank's Son, builds a startup

Yoichiro Mikami wanted to be the next Masayoshi Son, Japan's second-richest man, so he dropped out of high school at 16 this year.
COMMENTARY / World / COUNTERPOINT
Oct 11, 2014

China's new strongman Xi has a dream

President Xi Jinping is China's most authoritarian leader since Deng Xiaoping, a strongman who has moved aggressively to assert and consolidate power while promoting a cult of personality.
BUSINESS / Companies
Oct 9, 2014

Messaging firm Line to offer pay, taxi, food delivery services

Smartphone messaging service Line Corp. said Thursday it will launch a payment service in coming months as it seeks to play a more fundamental role in customers' lives.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics / ANALYSIS
Oct 6, 2014

In Hong Kong, police take a page from protests in Cairo, Kiev

Police around the world, who once routinely handled demonstrations such as Hong Kong's pro-democracy protests with batons and tear gas, face new dilemmas in an age when dissident crowds are armed with smartphones, Facebook and Twitter.
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Oct 4, 2014

Tourists may not warm to Japan's welcome

A former colleague of mine always made it a point to tell people coming to Japan for a visit to bring lots of handkerchiefs because the public restrooms didn't have towel dispensers. I always took a more positive view and emphasized that public restrooms in Japan were everywhere and open to everyone,...
Japan Times
LIFE / Style & Design / ON: DESIGN
Oct 3, 2014

Modern takes on the mobile, wind chimes and more

It's time to revisit one of On: Design's favorite designers — Kouichi Okamoto, who designs under the name Kyouei.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Oct 2, 2014

Susumu Shingu knows which way the wind blows

Less than five minutes into conversation, Susumu Shingu's wife, Yasuko, pulls out a large binder crammed with photographs, sketches and drawings and starts flipping through images of her husband's most recent sculptures.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC
Sep 30, 2014

China censors target Hong Kong protests, but don't always succeed

Chinese censors and opponents of the protests sweeping Hong Kong are engaging in a cat-and-mouse game with demonstrators and commentators in a bid to stop news of the unrest spreading online and, in particular, reaching the mainland.
BUSINESS / Companies
Sep 28, 2014

SoftBank rumored to be in talks to buy DreamWorks

SoftBank chief Masayoshi Son plans to make Hollywood's DreamWorks Animation studio part of his communications and media empire, a source reveals.
COMMENTARY / World
Sep 28, 2014

Europe could jump-start a sustained recovery

Europe has a real chance to conclude a bargain if member countries implement fiscal and structural reforms in exchange for short-run relaxation of fiscal constraints focusing on growth-oriented investments.
Japan Times
LIFE / Digital
Sep 27, 2014

The tricky path abroad for Japanese games

On the website Change.org, there is a petition addressed to Bandai Namco Games signed by 711 people, as of Sept. 25, that reads simply, "Bring 'God Eater 2' to North America and EU."
EDITORIALS
Sep 26, 2014

Ebola's challenge to the world

The Ebola outbreak in West Africa has prompted the U.N. Security Council, for the first time, to declare a disease 'a threat to international peace and security.' Governments are now pitching in to help, but health experts lament that national contributions were so stingy a month ago.
COMMENTARY / World
Sep 23, 2014

Fewer obstacles to Putin-style nationalization

The house arrest on Sept. 16 of one of Russia's richest men is part of an attempt to nationalize his oil business. It also shows how the recent Western strategy of isolating Russia is perversely benefiting President Vladimir Putin's close circle of friends:
WORLD / Science & Health
Sep 21, 2014

New smartphone app gives sight to the blind

Jonathan Mosen, who has been blind since birth, spent a recent evening snapping photos of packages in the mail, his son's school report and labels on bottles in the fridge. In seconds, he was listening to audio of the printed words the camera had captured, courtesy of a new app on his Apple iPhone.
BUSINESS / Companies
Sep 19, 2014

Lookalike carriers struggle to shine in Japan's saturated cellphone market

With the latest Apple iPhone model hitting Japanese stores on Friday, the nation's three major carriers are wracking their brains over how to get a lead in the market despite a plethora of similar products.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Sep 19, 2014

Alibaba IPO prices at top of range, raising $21.8 billion

Alibaba Group Holding priced its initial public offering at $68 a share, the top end of the expected range, raising $21.8 billion on Thursday, in the latest sign of strong investor appetite for the Chinese e-commerce juggernaut.
BUSINESS / Companies
Sep 18, 2014

Line says shopping app to eclipse sales of stickers, games

Line Corp., operator of the nation's largest mobile messaging service, says its shopping mall application could become its biggest source of revenue, eclipsing sales from games and character stickers.
Japan Times
WORLD / Science & Health
Sep 18, 2014

West African powerhouse Cote d'Ivoire battles to keep out Ebola

The billboard depicts a masked health worker in a biohazard suit looming over a bed-ridden patient. Above them, bright red letters warn commuters on a busy Abidjan street that "The Ebola risk is always there".
Japan Times
JAPAN / Media
Sep 17, 2014

No use fighting the tide of online journalism, experts say

Major news organizations in Japan have been somewhat insulated from the seismic shift taking place in online journalism around the world. Helped by their still strong, if waning, presence in print, Japan's five national newspaper companies, each boasting millions of copies in daily circulation, have...
Japan Times
BASKETBALL
Sep 10, 2014

Anatomy of a scam: Aomori targeted by fake agents

A trail of deceit has produced fake 2014-15 contracts for several American basketball players for the Aomori Wat's, The Japan Times learned during a one-month investigation of alleged fraudulent agents.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Economy / 'SUMMER DAVOS' SPECIAL 2014
Sep 10, 2014

Meeting the challenge of diversity

The latest views on the new roles of leadership and the changing issues leaders are facing are two of the themes that entrepreneur Yoshito Hori is keen to check on at this year's Summer Davos conference.
BUSINESS / Companies
Sep 9, 2014

Rakuten to acquire Ebates in Japan's biggest e-commerce deal

Rakuten Inc. has agreed to buy U.S. rebates website Ebates Inc. in Japan's largest-ever e-commerce deal as the operator of the country's biggest online mall seeks overseas growth through acquisitions.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / THE FOREIGN ELEMENT
Sep 8, 2014

Mind the 'geb': Little word is a big problem for Japan's German residents

Inflexible residence card system leaves married Germans with ridiculously long names on their IDs — along with an annoying little extra word.
JAPAN / Media / BIG IN JAPAN
Sep 6, 2014

Line fends off fury ahead of lucrative IPO

"What's so exasperating for the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications and the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry ... is the current situation in that platforms, terminals and apps have become dominated by foreign entities," remarked an unnamed writer for a trade publication. "The ministries...

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