Search - 2012

 
 
CULTURE / Music / STRANGE BOUTIQUE
Dec 24, 2013

Familiar obstacles stymie change in domestic music industry

While the Japanese music industry ended last year on a promise of change, 2013 has highlighted a few of the ingrained practices that are going to be a little bit more difficult to dislodge.
EDITORIALS
Dec 20, 2013

Inose must still come clean

Tokyo Gov. Naoki Inose's announcement of his intention to resign does not relieve him of the public duty to explain why he received a so-called ¥50 million loan from a scandal-tainted hospital operator group without having to put up collateral or pay interest.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Companies
Dec 19, 2013

Acura gets U.S. twist in bid for pizazz

Honda Motor Co.'s No. 2 executive, asked to identify the automaker's weak spot, spoke bluntly: Acura luxury sedans have to get better.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Companies
Dec 11, 2013

Japanese makers play catch-up in smartphone market

In 2013, Japan's smartphone industry faced the shocking news that NEC Corp. and Panasonic Corp. were withdrawing from making those handsets for consumers.
COMMENTARY / World
Nov 25, 2013

With rapid growth imperiled, China at a crossroads

China remains a colossus, but its future is increasingly clouded.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Economy
Nov 18, 2013

Japan Inc. doubles profit on quick cost-cutting moves

Companies that made tough decisions about exiting businesses, closing factories and revamping management led to a doubling of corporate earnings last quarter, now at the highest level since 2007.
BASKETBALL / BJ-LEAGUE NOTEBOOK
Nov 6, 2013

Tokyo's Ide making most of chance with perennial All-Star Aoki gone

Guard Cohey Aoki starred for the Tokyo Apache from the league's inception until the team folded in 2011. He then spent a season with the Osaka Evessa, then returned to the capital city to be the Tokyo Cinq Reves' signature star last season.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Companies
Oct 23, 2013

Honda betting on fun with mini sports car as drivers look to cut costs

Honda Motor Co., which expects half of the vehicles it sells in Japan this year to be minicars, will unveil its first mini sports car since 1996 amid booming demand for more fuel-efficient, cheaper autos.
COMMENTARY / World
Sep 29, 2013

Sanctions have warmed up Iran for an accord

As Iran's economy reels and President Hassan Rouhani shows interest in rapprochement with the West, it seems high time to reach a nuclear agreement with Iran.
COMMENTARY / World
Sep 25, 2013

Deleveraging results garner incomplete grade

Almost everyone agrees that too much borrowing was at the core of the financial crisis and Great Recession. Where do we stand five years after Lehman Brothers
EDITORIALS
Sep 16, 2013

Kanebo's costly scandal

Only by fixing the flaws in its corporate culture that caused the skin-blotch scandal can Kanebo hope to regain the public's trust.
JAPAN
Sep 14, 2013

Idling of Oi No. 4 unit to again halt all atomic power

With Sunday's shutdown of Kansai Electric Power Co.'s Oi No. 4 reactor for regular safety inspections, Japan will be without nuclear power for the first time since July 2012.
Reader Mail
Sep 7, 2013

Circumcision should be outlawed

Regarding the Aug. 31 Observer story "High hopes for victims of female genital mutilation": This story reminded once again of the sad realization that there is no hope at all in the world for the many more victims of male genital mutilation. Male circumcision advocates might say there is no comparison...
COMMENTARY / COUNTERPOINT
Sep 7, 2013

Don't worry: Team Abe is tackling the nuclear crisis at Fukushima

Even if the public remains overwhelmingly skeptical about nuclear safety in general, and anxious in particular about the impact of the ongoing crisis at the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant on the environment, there is reassuring news that we can now rest easy.
COMMENTARY / Japan / SENTAKU MAGAZINE
Aug 26, 2013

Plugging Tepco's brain drain

One reason Tepco paid a uniform ¥100,000 special summer bonus to each of some 5,000 managerial employees is to plug a brain drain. Core workers are quitting.
COMMENTARY / World
Aug 25, 2013

Chinese democracy gets help

Despite the 'Great Firewall,' that requires anti-block software to cross, the Internet has already facilitated a certain level of democratic development in China.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Media
Jul 20, 2013

Social media becomes stalkers' tool

The first man who knocked on the Fauquier County, Va., woman's door told her they had been emailing and he was there for sex. Shocked and perplexed because they hadn't corresponded, the woman sent him away.
Japan Times
WORLD / Society
Jul 19, 2013

That's me in the picture: how 'selfies' became a global craze

It starts with a certain angle: A smartphone tilted at 45 degrees just above your eyeline is generally deemed the most forgiving. Then a light source: the flattering beam of a backlit window or a bursting supernova of flash reflected in a bathroom mirror, as preparations are under way for a night out....
BUSINESS
Jul 8, 2013

Mergers at nine-year low amid yen volatility

Japanese companies made fewer acquisitions during the calendar first half than they have in a decade as buying interest was cooled by the yen's volatility.
WORLD
Jun 29, 2013

School achievement gap shrinks for U.S. minorities

America's 9-year-olds and 13-year-olds are posting better scores in math and reading tests than their counterparts did 40 years ago, and the achievement gap between white students and those of color is narrowing, according to federal government data released Thursday.
EDITORIALS
Jun 27, 2013

Makeshift fix for electoral disparity

Ruling coalition party members in the Lower House ramrod passage of an overdue reapportionment measure that only begins to address vote-value disparities.
Japan Times
WORLD / Politics
May 30, 2013

What Bachmann meant to politics

Minnesota Rep. Michele Bachmann's surprise retirement announcement likely brings an end to an Icarus-like political career in which she rapidly rose to national prominence before falling hard.
Japan Times
LIFE / Lifestyle
May 14, 2013

Tips on how to survive the wedding season

It's upon us, once again. You can hear it in the sound of the harp strings, the camera clicks, the echo of Corinthians — "Love is patient, love is kind." You can hear it in the muffled screams of frenzied bridesmaids who are this close to giving their beloved "friend" a black eye for her big day.
Japan Times
LIFE
May 12, 2013

'Beauty' as beheld in Japan through the ages

In July 2006, Shinzo Abe published a book titled 'Utsukushii Kuni e' ('Toward a Beautiful Country'), but what does he mean by 'beautiful country'?
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Companies
May 8, 2013

Anshu Jain brings Deutsche Bank to world as client's man

Twelve days into his job as co-CEO of Deutsche Bank AG, Anshu Jain stood beside Germany's finance minister and in front of video images of lush forests and rolling rivers as hundreds of businessmen sang the national anthem.

Longform

Visitors walk past Sou Fujimoto's Grand Ring, which has been recognized as the largest wooden structure in the world.
Can a World Expo still matter? Japan is about to find out.