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COMMENTARY
Jan 4, 2012

Can China sate its thirst for energy?

Among the sinews of superpower strength in the 21st century, maximum energy self-sufficiency will be critical as nations jostle to secure supplies of oil and natural gas, as well as food, water and minerals.
COMMENTARY
Dec 31, 2011

Year of revolution and crisis

Every year brings changes, but some years really are turning points: 1492, 1789, 1914, and 1989, for example. Does 2011 belong in the august company of such Really Important Years? Probably not, but it definitely qualifies for membership in the second tier of Quite Important Years.
Japan Times
LIFE / WEEK 3
Dec 18, 2011

Film promotes Japan energy revolution

The known world has already been through three pivotal epochs: the agricultural, industrial and information-technology revolutions. Now, a fourth is taking place: the renewable-energy revolution.
COMMENTARY
Dec 15, 2011

Sunny days ahead for the solar power industry

The solar power industry in Asia and other key growth markets is struggling in a competitive bloodbath. Companies are producing far more solar cells and panels than they can sell.
EDITORIALS
Oct 31, 2011

A breakthrough in Brussels

European leaders agreed last week — at last — on a comprehensive plan to tackle the euro-zone debt crisis. The plan consists of three pillars — a real "haircut" by Greek debt holders, an infusion of capital into the European bailout fund and recapitalizes European banks. The program could break...
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Sep 21, 2011

Battery life, prices may dent EV sales drive

Klaus Doerrzapf, who has installed solar panels on his roof but has no plans to buy an emission-free car, is one of the reasons automakers such as Nissan Motor Co. won't recoup investments in electric vehicles anytime soon.
COMMENTARY
Sep 14, 2011

China plays hardball with Russia on energy deals

China's President Hu Jintao has a reserved demeanor. So it is hard to imagine him as a poker player. But in energy politics with neighboring Russia, he certainly is.
Reader Mail
Sep 11, 2011

Seize the Olympic opportunity

Regarding the Sept. 4 Kyodo brief "Tokyo faces five in bid for 2020 games": An argument against Tokyo bidding for the 2020 Olympics can be made on financial grounds, especially with the outcome anything but certain. But there is an aura of magnificence about the Olympiad beyond tangible measurement....
Reader Mail
Aug 28, 2011

Don't export what you won't use

I don't understand the Japanese government's policy on nuclear power plants. On one hand, it has come out with a denuclearization policy domestically; on the other, it is planning to sell nuclear power plants to Turkey, Jordan, Vietnam, Lithuania, and Kazakhstan by 2020. This is a double standard.
BUSINESS
Aug 24, 2011

Mexico may issue samurai bonds again

Mexico may issue yen-denominated bonds for the second time in 10 months, tapping into Japanese investors' growing demand for the higher yields offered on samurai bonds.
EDITORIALS
Jul 15, 2011

A long shot at what cost?

Not a man to let last summer's costly failure to land the 2016 Summer Olympics deter him, Gov. Shintaro Ishihara announced on July 5 at a reconstruction seminar that Tokyo is ready to host the 2020 Games "at any cost." Mr. Ishihara claims that hosting the games would contribute to Japan's recovery from...
Reader Mail
Jun 23, 2011

Tax money for homes, not arenas

Regarding the June 18 article "Ishihara eyes another Olympics bid, this time 2020": I see that once again Tokyo Gov. Shintaro Ishihara intends to waste taxpayer money, this time by bidding for the 2020 Summer Olympics. Tokyo used ¥15 billion in taxpayer money for the campaign to host the 2016 Summer...
EDITORIALS
Jun 18, 2011

Stepping up the war on AIDS

Thirty years have now passed since HIV/AIDS began making headlines, and the deadly pandemic continues to reap a grim toll. What began as a mysterious illness afflicting the U.S. gay community in the summer of 1981 eventually snowballed into a pandemic that has infected more than 60 million people and...
EDITORIALS
Jun 18, 2011

CO² emissions on the rise

The International Energy Agency's latest report, released at the end of May, underlines the uphill struggle the international community faces in its efforts to limit global warming. Although carbon-dioxide emissions dipped in 2009 due to the financial crisis, in 2010 they smashed the 29.3 gigaton record...
EDITORIALS
May 31, 2011

A G8 vote of support for Japan

The Group of Eight summit, the annual meeting of the world's leading industrialized economies, has lost some of its shine in recent years, eclipsed as well by the rise of the G20 as a forum for global economic decision making. Nonetheless, the G8 still serves important purposes, two of which were on...
COMMENTARY / World
May 21, 2011

Mediterranean's monumental transformation

The Mediterranean is undergoing a monumental political transformation. Protests on its southern shores have now begun the process of bringing democracy to this region. Less visibly, perhaps, the Mediterranean is also undergoing another revival, equally important in terms of geo-economics.
BUSINESS
May 20, 2011

Sumitomo Metal ups exploration

Sumitomo Metal Mining Co., Japan's largest nickel producer, plans to increase mine-exploration spending by 75 percent to a record level this fiscal year to increase its overseas mining interests.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Mar 8, 2011

Toyota set to unveil new vision

Toyota Motor Corp., which traditionally gets a majority of its profit in the United States, will outline a strategy for growth in emerging markets in a 10-year plan the automaker is set to release this week, two sources said.
COMMENTARY
Feb 16, 2011

Asia's fragile oil dependence on the Mideast

SINGAPORE — The prospect of continuing Mideast political instability is widely portrayed as a geostrategic problem for the West, particularly the United States. For years, the U.S. has worked with a de facto coalition of authoritarian Arab regimes to contain Iran and protect Israel. The "people power"...
BUSINESS
Jan 15, 2011

Keidanren, S. Korea business lobby oppose start of carbon trading

Japanese and South Korean companies, adopting arguments that helped block carbon trading in the U.S., are opposing government plans to set up emissions markets worth a potential $212 billion by 2020.
EDITORIALS
Dec 22, 2010

Cancun has done its job

When it comes to international climate negotiations, anything that is not a clear-cut failure can be called a success. That is the best justification for the "Cancun Agreements," the deal reached after two weeks of multilateral talks held earlier this month. While key disputes were not resolved, the...
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Dec 7, 2010

Uniqlo billionaire Yanai goes back to the basics

Tadashi Yanai, Japan's richest man, used advice from management guru Peter Drucker to build his Uniqlo clothing empire. To pull out of a slump that's hammered profits and shares, the billionaire is revisiting the lessons.

Longform

Koichi Tagawa’s diary entry from Aug. 9, 1945, describes the day of the atomic bombing of Nagasaki.
The horrors of Nagasaki, in first person