Search - world

 
 
JAPAN / Media / BIG IN JAPAN
Jun 10, 2012

It's not that easy to quit

"If you don't like it, quit."
Reader Mail
Jun 10, 2012

Osaka mayor should be watched

In my understanding of human nature, most of us have a hidden agenda in our dealings with the world at large — private thoughts and desires often not shared with those nearest to us. I believe this is even more true of politicians. Assessing the depth and width of their humility and humanity is usually...
COMMENTARY
Jun 9, 2012

Jubilee a very British occasion

Queen Elizabeth II's Diamond Jubilee is over. It was a very British occasion, including the weather.
SOCCER / World cup
Jun 9, 2012

Honda scores hat trick in Japan rout over Jordan

Japan took control of its 2014 World Cup qualifying group in ferocious style with a 6-0 win over Jordan on Friday to claim maximum points from two games on the road to Brazil.
COMMENTARY / World
Jun 9, 2012

Wanted: round-trip freedom for China's dissidents

Western media describe my friend and colleague Chen Guangcheng as a blind activist who made a flight to freedom when China allowed him to journey from Beijing to the United States. What is essential about Chen is neither his blindness nor his family's visit to the U.S., but the fact that he upholds a...
EDITORIALS
Jun 9, 2012

Disappointing Baghdad talks

The most recent round of nuclear negotiations with Iran began with optimism. The previous round of talks appeared to make headway and there was hope that a breakthrough could be achieved when the seven parties — the five permanent members of the United Nations Security Council or P5 states (Britain,...
Japan Times
JAPAN / CHUBU CONNECTION
Jun 9, 2012

Scholar to help restore Kesennuma treasures

An engineering scholar at Toyohashi University of Technology in Aichi Prefecture is helping to restore cultural assets damaged by the March 2011 tsunami in Kesennuma, Miyagi Prefecture, in an effort to make them "a symbol of reconstruction" in the coastal city not far away from his hometown.
BUSINESS
Jun 9, 2012

Olympus to cut 2,700 workers, restructure

Olympus Corp. said Friday it will cut 2,700 jobs and restructure plants as it seeks to recover after writing down assets following an accounting-fraud scandal involving more than ¥100 billion.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Jun 8, 2012

'My House' takes Tsutsumi home

"Auteur" is not the first word that leaps to mind to describe Yukihiko Tsutsumi. In a directing career that began with a segment of the 1988 comedy anthology "Bakayaro! I'm Plenty Mad," the prolific Tsutsumi has made films in a variety of genres — mystery/thriller ("Spec: The Movie"), dystopian fantasy...
Japan Times
Events / Events Outside Tokyo
Jun 8, 2012

Christmas set to come early when gift trade show opens to the public

To anyone visiting Fukuoka next week and in need of omiyage (souvenirs) to take home, you may have hit the jackpot.
Japan Times
LIFE / Travel / HOTELS & RESTAURANTS
Jun 8, 2012

Hyatt Regency Tokyo summer plan

The Hyatt Regency Tokyo in Shinjuku is offering a special Summer Stay accommodation plan, through Sept. 30.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Jun 8, 2012

'Michi' actors Yoshizawa and Bae learn from their characters that experience is key to understanding

It's been a long while since the Korean Wave first washed through the Japanese entertainment industry and altered the landscape forever. Not a day goes by without a Korean star making an appearance in the Japanese media. DVD rental stores devote huge sections of floor space to hanryū productions.
Reader Mail
Jun 7, 2012

What need for missionaries?

Regarding Catherine Wallace's May 31 letter, "Japan's access to Christianity": Does it matter whether Japan had access to Western Christianity in the 16th century or in 1945, when Japan is historically a Buddhist country?
COMMENTARY / World
Jun 7, 2012

The real deal on austerity and debt

Many, if not all, of the world's most pressing macroeconomic problems relate to the massive overhang of all forms of debt. In Europe, a toxic combination of public, bank and external debt in the periphery threatens to unhinge the eurozone.
COMMENTARY
Jun 7, 2012

U.S.-India ties lose momentum

Was the U.S.-India strategic partnership oversold to the extent that it has failed to yield tangible benefits for the United States? Even as Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has just held detailed discussions in New Delhi, an increasing number of analysts in Washington have already concluded that the...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Jun 7, 2012

"Roses by Pierre-Joseph Redoute"

Pierre-Joseph Redoute (1759-1840) was a botanist and an official court artist to Queen Marie Antoinette of France. He worked through both the French Revolution and the Reign of Terror and, despite the political turmoil of the era, he was successful enough to become one of the most famous botanical painters...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Jun 7, 2012

Nagasawa quiets down for 'Seven'

Some musicians simply ooze self-confidence. They walk into the room like they own it, flashing a smile that instantly melts a thousand hearts. But Tomoyuki Nagasawa is not one of those musicians.
COMMENTARY
Jun 6, 2012

Europe faces a grim choice

Europe is at the abyss — again. Its turmoil is rattling global stock markets and stoking fear and bewilderment. The obvious question is, what's the solution? The answer is, there is no solution. Europe faces choices, some bad and others worse.
COMMENTARY / World
Jun 6, 2012

LDP's dangerous proposals for amending antiwar article

The Liberal Democratic Party published its new draft constitutional amendment proposal in late April. The draft reflects a number of significant changes above and beyond those advanced in the proposal unveiled by the LDP in 2005. The proposal includes a complete overhaul of Article 9, the war-renouncing...
CULTURE / Japan Pulse
Jun 5, 2012

Today's blip: PS3 'Ni no Kuni' trailer in English

The long-awaited English trailer for 'Ni no Kuni' is out. The English version of the Ghibli-flavored game is set for an early 2013 release.
COMMENTARY
Jun 5, 2012

Fighting peace for Taiwan

Four months after the presidential elections in Taiwan, there is a big difference when comparing the aftereffects of the elections in 2008 to those in 2012.
COMMUNITY / Our Lives
Jun 5, 2012

Much ado, but micro-important

A few weeks ago, as a panelist at a symposium on Japan's accession to the Hague Convention on international child abduction, I found it hard to disguise my ire. One of the speakers was a lawyer opposed to Japan joining the convention, and who refused to even use "abduction" to discuss what she called...
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / THE ZEIT GIST
Jun 5, 2012

Rumors, lies fill void left by police in Furlong case

It is one of the more ugly tasks in journalism: trying to extract a quote from a bereaved family after a violent death. By the time I called Nicola Furlong's mother on May 25, she had learned that her 21-year-old daughter had been sexually assaulted and probably throttled by a stranger in a city 10,000...
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / THE ZEIT GIST
Jun 5, 2012

Blackston taught kids days before murder, may have toured with AI

Although no official statement has been made by the artist or her representatives, evidence points to links between high-profile Japanese pop star AI (Ai Carina Uemura) and at least one, if not both, of the suspects being questioned over the rape and murder of Nicola Furlong.

Longform

In 2020, 38% of all households were single-person. That figure is projected to rise to 44.3% by 2050.
The rise of AI companionship in a lonely Japan