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BUSINESS / JAPANESE PERSPECTIVES
Sep 20, 2004

Despite reforms, future looks grim without consumption tax hike

In the "Okuda Vision (Japan 2025)" report released in January 2003, Keidanren used a simulation to present the medium to longer-term prospects for Japan's fiscal and social security systems. We made it clear that the measures which would be needed to maintain the sustainability of national and local...
JAPAN
Mar 8, 2003

Ministry plans to cut public pension benefits

The Health, Labor and Welfare Ministry unveiled a plan Friday under which public pension benefits would be cut by an average 0.3 percentage point per year through fiscal 2025, in line with the shrinking labor force.
BUSINESS / JAPANESE PERSPECTIVES
Jan 20, 2003

Hike in consumption tax center of lobby's vision

The Japan Business Federation (Nippon Keidanren) on Jan. 1 released a grand vision aimed at reviving Japan into a vigor- ous and attractive nation.
BUSINESS
Jan 18, 2003

Clamor for consumption tax hike getting louder

Cabinet ministers and business leaders have begun calling for a consumption tax hike to cover rising social security costs stemming from the aging population.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Jan 1, 2003

Okuda offers economic solution: substantially raise sales tax

Hiroshi Okuda, chairman of the Japan Business Federation (Nippon Keidanren), thinks he has a cure for the sick economy, but consumers aren't likely to enjoy his bitter medicine.
JAPAN
Nov 13, 2001

State, doctors, patients wrangle over health bill

As Japan's population ages at an unprecedented pace and the economy fails to generate high growth, the question of who should shoulder the nation's rising health costs is becoming a bone of contention.
BUSINESS
Jul 24, 2000

Forecast optimistic for Japan despite rapidly aging society

Japan's population has been increasing steadily since 1945, but the most pessimistic government estimates indicate that it will decline after peaking at 127 million in 2004. By 2025, the nation's population is expected to shrink by roughly 10 million.
Japan Times
EDITORIALS
Jun 16, 2023

Budgets are the real test of Kishida’s leadership

For the government to balance the budget while increasing spending on defense, child care and the elderly will require hard choices.
JAPAN / Science & Health
Jun 15, 2023

Parliament passes law aimed at supporting people with dementia

The health ministry expects the number of people with dementia in Japan to reach 7 million by 2025.
Japan Times
SOCCER
Jun 14, 2023

Kylian Mbappe says he never discussed extending stay with PSG

With the player confirming he will leave when his contract expires in 2024, the Ligue 1 champion risks losing a huge asset for nothing in a year's time.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / Japan
May 30, 2023

Kishida's push to protect vital undersea cables

Undersea communications cables, a pillar of the global economy, are starting to get the attention they deserve in part due to Prime Minister Kishida's efforts.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
May 23, 2023

The Pentagon is helping bring the next generation of nuclear reactors to life

At less than 1% the size of conventional reactors, it can be delivered by shipping container to power remote bases and disaster-relief missions.
Japan Times
Special Supplements / Hiroshima G7 Summit Special
May 19, 2023

Diversification fueled through ‘education of conscience’

In 1864, when the isolationist foreign policy of the Tokugawa shogunate was still in effect, Jo Niijima, a 21-year-old son of a samurai, left Japan for the United States, risking capital punishment. For Niijima, it was an adventurous quest to seek a land where greater equality, freedom and human rights...
Japan Times
BUSINESS
May 11, 2023

Cross-strait tensions no deterrent for Taiwan's embrace of clean wind energy

For now, economic arguments trump concerns about placing critical energy assets in what some security analysts believe could one day become a theater of war.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC
May 8, 2023

Singapore’s soaring rents are becoming a political problem

For the ruling People’s Action Party, solving the housing problem is crucial as the party navigates succession.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC / FOCUS
Apr 29, 2023

China weighs giving single women IVF access to stem population decline

Concerned about China's first population drop in six decades, government advisers have proposed that single and unmarried women should have access to egg freezing and IVF treatment.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Apr 26, 2023

Honda agrees strategic collaboration deal with TSMC

Japanese automakers have struggled to completely shake off the hit from tight global chip and parts supply during the pandemic, though constraints have eased.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / FOCUS
Apr 18, 2023

TSE finally ramps up market reform one year after questionable restructuring

The Tokyo Stock Exchange finally appears to be ramping up its efforts to revamp the market, one year after its consolidation of market segments left investors feeling frustrated.
Japan Times
WORLD
Apr 3, 2023

Russia to place nuclear weapons near Belarus' borders with NATO

Russia's ambassador to Belarus said the move 'will increase the possibilities to ensure security.'
Japan Times
SOCCER
Mar 30, 2023

China’s soccer experiment was a flop. Now it may be over.

The expensive recruits have gone. Top teams have disappeared with alarming regularity. The national team shows little sign of improvement.
Japan Times
MORE SPORTS
Mar 14, 2023

'Wasted money': Rwanda splurges on sports despite criticism

President Paul Kagame has spent a small fortune on sports investments that he says will burnish the international image and diversify the economy of the tiny central African country.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Economy
Mar 13, 2023

A lost decade worse than Japan’s threatens to change U.K. forever

U.K. faces handicaps including soaring inflation that make it a very different economic environment to 1990s Japan.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Mar 6, 2023

Shein’s throne challenged by shopping platform Temu

Temu views Shein as its biggest rival in the near-term, and wants to surpass its dominance within the next few years, sources have said.
JAPAN / FOCUS
Mar 2, 2023

Redrawn electoral map raises concerns in Japan's rural areas

To rectify vote-value disparities, 10 seats will be transferred from the least populous rural areas to the most densely populated urban areas.
JAPAN
Feb 10, 2023

Osaka Prefecture suspends scandal-hit Dentsu from bidding for contracts

The move by the prefecture comes as a former executive of the advertising agency was arrested earlier this week in a bid-rigging scandal involving contracts linked to the Tokyo Games.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / ANALYSIS
Feb 10, 2023

Japan's debt time bomb to complicate BOJ's exit from dovish policies

A flurry of big spending packages and ballooning social welfare costs for a rapidly aging population have left Japan with a debt pile 263% the size of its economy.
Japan Times
PODCAST / deep dive
Feb 8, 2023

I can't believe it's not meat! Is lab-grown beef on Japanese menus?

This week, Oscar Boyd gives us a review of his cultured chicken meal and runs down the environmental implications of such an endeavor, while Tomoko Otake gets us caught up on where Japan stands in the great race to replicate beef.

Longform

Mount Fuji is considered one of Japan's most iconic symbols and is a major draw for tourists. It's still a mountain, though, and potential hikers need to properly prepare for any climb.
What it takes to save lives on Mount Fuji