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LIFE / Digital
Jan 30, 2013

Why the Apple and Facebook empires are destined to collapse

Nothing lasts forever: if history has any lesson for us, it is this. It's a thought that comes from rereading Paul Kennedy's magisterial tome, "The Rise and Fall of the Great Powers," in which he shows that none of the great nation-states or empires of history — Rome; imperial Spain in 1600; France...
Japan Times
JAPAN
Jan 25, 2013

Solar lanterns brighten future for Afghans

Where would we be without light when night falls? It is hard to imagine all of the constraints during the long hours of darkness before the sun rises again — no work, no study and no recreation.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Tech
Jan 25, 2013

I still haven't found what I'm looking for ...

Thinking about Google over the last week, I have fallen into the typically procrastinatory habit of every so often typing the words "what is" or "what" or "wha" into the Google search box at the top right of my computer screen. Those prompts are all the omnipotent engine needs to inform me of the current...
Japan Times
JAPAN / DAVOS SPECIAL 2013
Jan 23, 2013

Aiming to take Japan's best onto the global stage

Japanese leaders in business, culture, politics and other fields should look abroad and take what Japan can do best to the world, said Yoshito Hori, president of Globis University and managing partner of Globis Capital Partners.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Media / Japan Pulse
Jan 20, 2013

Hit the road: Japan's 2013 trend forecast

In 2012 we got cat-ear hair-dos, an increasing appetite for salty mold, and a tower with a silly name. What wonders will 2013 bring? We’ve gone through Trendy’s predictions and came up with a list of themes that look good to us. Basically it boils down to this: smart phones continue to up the convenience...
EDITORIALS
Jan 13, 2013

A website to combat bullying

Bullying has remained a pernicious problem in the Japanese school system. Students are reluctant to report it and teachers and administrators reluctant to admit it. A new proactive approach by the Saitama Prefectural Board of Education has the potential to start putting a stop to the problem through...
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Jan 13, 2013

Mascots bear cash for local authorities

In September 2007, after Shinzo Abe had abruptly quit his first stint as prime minister, sales of Shin-chan Manju, a bean-paste-filled bun named after Abe, spiked. The maker of the buns had tried to promote the product over the course of Abe's year as the Liberal Democratic Party leader, changing its...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Jan 10, 2013

Situations that end up spoiling the artistic landscape

Imagine you went to a movie theatre that insisted on doing anything other than showing you an actual movie, or to a restaurant where the waiter did all he could to stop you having an actual meal. This is a situation I sometimes find myself in when visiting art museums, especially if it is a show of contemporary...
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / JAPAN LITE
Dec 29, 2012

How can Japan help save the world? Be more Taiwanese

Japan had Taiwan under its rule from 1895 until 1945. Despite the history of colonial rule, Taiwanese today have largely favorable views of the Japanese. Japan is the third most popular destination for the Taiwanese, after South Korea and China.
BUSINESS / Tech
Dec 29, 2012

Rapid move to e-books surprises experts, roils market

America's obsession with digital tablets is driving a boom in e-book reading, a new survey shows, a trend that is dampening the appeal of printed books and shaking the centuries-old publishing business.
CULTURE / Music / STRANGE BOUTIQUE
Dec 27, 2012

Pop embraced conservatism in 2012

The 2012 general election might not seem to have any bearing on the state of pop music in Japan, but there was an eerie similarity in the way both the electorate and the pop world turned back the clock and wrapped conservatism in a neurotic embrace.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Japan Pulse
Dec 26, 2012

Cat girls and more: Japan's fashion trends of 2012

Cat ears and mushroom games: What the kids in Japan were into in 2012.
JAPAN
Dec 23, 2012

Sony, state fund in battery unit talks

Sony Corp. is in talks to sell its battery business to a state-backed investment fund, according to a person with direct knowledge of the negotiations.
Japan Times
LIFE / Travel
Dec 23, 2012

Journeying to the ends of the Earth ...

Travel is an addiction for which there seems no cure. Once under its sway, it is best just to ride out the alternating fevers and chills and see where they take you.
Japan Times
Events / Events Outside Tokyo
Dec 14, 2012

Products fair touts new ways to go green

A dizzying variety of ideas and solutions for a greener society are to converge this weekend at the Eco-Products 2012 exhibition in Tokyo.
COMMENTARY
Dec 14, 2012

Press and Internet freedom

The exposure of the scandalous behavior of the popular press in Britain in hacking into the telephones of people in the news caused such anger that the British prime minister set up a judicial inquiry into standards of behavior in the media.
COMMENTARY
Dec 12, 2012

U.K. party leaders playing politics with press rules

Most people like talking about themselves, including those in the press. Since publication of Lord Justice Leveson's report into press culture, practices and ethics at the end of last month, Britain's newspapers have been consumed with discussing their own future. From among the many recommendations...
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Dec 11, 2012

Sony loses science talent as student resumes go to dairies

Science students are eschewing traditional high-powered employers such as Sony Corp. and Panasonic Corp. to help make ice cream and yogurt.
SOCCER / J. League / J. LEAGUE NOTEBOOK
Dec 6, 2012

Rudderless Gamba pay heavy toll for strategic mistakes

Gamba Osaka's relegation to the second division feels no less shocking now that the dust has settled, but after spending only five weeks of the season outside the bottom three, perhaps the writing was on the wall all along.
COMMENTARY / World
Dec 5, 2012

How to fight in Afghanistan with fewer U.S. troops

Kimberly and Frederick W. Kagan's recent commentary in The Washington Post, arguing for a force of 30,000 or more Americans in Afghanistan after 2014, is fundamentally wrong. Although their goals are sound — preventing terrorist attacks from the region on the United States — the writers' logic and...
BUSINESS
Dec 5, 2012

Sharp to sell ¥4.9 billion in shares to Qualcomm

Sharp Corp., the TV maker that warned last month about its ability to survive, said Tuesday it has agreed to sell a stake valued at about ¥4.9 billion to Qualcomm Inc. and team up to jointly develop displays.
CULTURE / Art / Japan Pulse
Nov 29, 2012

Today's J-blip: Safecast documentary

Check out this short documentary on Safecast in the Focus Forward documentary competition.
BUSINESS
Nov 29, 2012

Teen drivers text far more than parents believe, study finds

Teenagers are 26 times more likely to send text messages while driving than their parents expect, based on preliminary results of a safety study by Toyota Motor Corp. and the University of Michigan.

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