Search - article

 
 
Reader Mail
Jan 8, 2014

Scottish ties came with thistles

In his Dec. 18 article, "Is a U.K. breakup in sight?," Sir Hugh Cortazzi gives the impression that the Scottish connection has meant nothing but good for Britain, saying the Scots are "a canny lot" and "It would be hard to find a British company or organization without a good proportion of people of...
Reader Mail
Jan 8, 2014

Rub out anti-tattoo policy

Regarding the Dec. 31 Kyodo article "Tokyo bathhouses look to tap foreigners but ensure they behave": If Japanese onsen owners wish for more foreigners to visit and enjoy their facilities, they may need to revisit their "no tattoos" policy.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / JUST BE CAUSE
Jan 6, 2014

The empire strikes back: the top issues for non-Japanese in 2013

2013 saw the enfranchised elite consolidating their power further than has ever been seen in the postwar era, while Japan's disenfranchised peoples slipped ever lower down the totem pole, becoming targets of suspicion, fear and loathing.
COMMENTARY
Jan 5, 2014

Obamacare took a beating in 2013, and this year could be worse — for the law and Democrats

As bad as 2013 was for Obamacare, the year ahead has the potential to be even worse — for the law, the Obama administration and congressional Democrats.
LIFE / Language / COMMUNICATION CUES
Jan 5, 2014

Students getting less exercise

Nearly a quarter of second-year junior high school girls nationwide do no exercise at all except in physical education classes at school, according to a government survey released Dec. 14.
Japan Times
ENVIRONMENT / OLD NIC'S NOTEBOOK
Jan 4, 2014

To the Simien and back — 47 years on

By the time you read this I should be in the Simien Mountains of northern Ethiopia. I have been asked to go back there to tell the nation's current generation what the forests and wildlife were like in 1967, '68 and '69 when I served the government of Haille Selassie as the country's first game warden...
Reader Mail
Jan 4, 2014

Abe looks set to reinvent a personal Japan

Regarding the Jan. 1 article "Abe's quest to revive, reshape nation rides on the economy": The headline seems turned the wrong way. Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's real revival target is not Japan's consumer economy, but rather Japan's economic prowess internationally.
BUSINESS / YEN FOR LIVING
Jan 2, 2014

Part-timers skewing employment statistics

More restaurants and retailers are hiring short-hour employees to save money.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Politics
Dec 31, 2013

Abe's quest to revive, reshape nation rides on the economy

Just six months ago, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe was riding high after his party swept the Upper House election. Now things aren't looking so rosy.
Japan Times
LIFE / Language / BILINGUAL
Dec 29, 2013

So much for nau: What will we say next?

The end of the year is always a good time to reflect on what is, was and will be. With regard to language, one of the most stimulating things I have recently read in this respect was from an article in the journal Nihongogaku (日本語学) about a study in which Japanese university students were asked...
COMMENTARY / World / SENTAKU MAGAZINE
Dec 29, 2013

South Korea's house of cards

Except for Samsung Electronics, South Korea's manufacturing industry appears to be on the verge of a big stall. How long Samsung will be able to maintain its market dominance is an open question.
LIFE / Language / COMMUNICATION CUES
Dec 29, 2013

An automatic brake demonstration

At a car dealership in Fukaya City, Saitama Prefecture, an accident took place on the 10th, while the automatic brakes of a Mazda car were being demonstrated. Mazda announced on the 12th that it will voluntarily refrain from offering such test drives until the cause is made clear.
Japan Times
JAPAN / CHUBU CONNECTION
Dec 27, 2013

Centrair eager to use idle ¥3 billion bus lounge

Five years after completing its bus lounge, Chubu Centrair International Airport will finally make the bus service available to the public starting from the Golden Week holidays next spring.
EDITORIALS
Dec 25, 2013

Breaching the weapons-export ban

It is deplorable that the Abe administration decided to provide rifle ammo to South Korean troops engaged in U.N. peacekeeping operations in South Sudan without consulting government officials first.
Reader Mail
Dec 25, 2013

Humanities hone analytic skills

In his Dec. 16 article, "Abe shows totalitarian bent," Takamitsu Sawa makes a startling disclosure: "I cannot help thinking that the current Japan is drifting away from the modern Western European ideals based on liberalism, democracy and individualism."
Reader Mail
Dec 25, 2013

Loopy logic of Futenma prevails

Regarding the Dec. 4 article "U.S. backs Japan against ADIZ: Biden": At their meeting, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe assured visiting U.S. Vice President Joe Biden that the 2006 road map agreement for relocating U.S. Marine Corps Air Station Futenma further north on Okinawa Island to Henoko was being implemented...
Japan Times
JAPAN
Dec 25, 2013

First lady scrutinizes blackballing of beauty queen

Ikumi Yoshimatsu's pursuit of stalking charges against powerful talent agency executives Genichi Taniguchi draws the attention of first lady Akie Abe.
COMMENTARY / World
Dec 24, 2013

The tragedy of Thailand's politics

For America, the proper question is what, if any, is its role as thousands of angry protesters in Bangkok march not for democracy but, in effect, for an end to it?
COMMENTARY / World
Dec 24, 2013

'Crossing' Beijing has lasting consequences

The sad irony is that, since the early 1990s, people like Liu Binyan, Su Xiaokang, Chen Yizi, Su Shaozhi and others who know the elite communist culture well, who have lived in the United States and remain willing to cross the dangerous line into complete truth-telling, have never had much of a hearing in Washington.
COMMENTARY / World
Dec 24, 2013

Politically bankrupt China dare not tolerate a free press

The practice of journalism in China, a country where 30 practitioners are in prison, has never been easy. During 2013, it has become a great deal harder.
JAPAN
Dec 24, 2013

U.S. Navy gives benefits to gay spouses in Japan

The U.S. Navy will provide military benefits to gay spouses stationed in Japan after previously denying dependent status to them, defense officials said.
Japan Times
LIFE / Lifestyle
Dec 23, 2013

Can social media boast an antidote for bragging?

Social media has conquered the world, racking up more than a billion users and even helping to unseat governments. The one thing it can't topple, though, is human vanity.
COMMENTARY / World
Dec 23, 2013

Help Ukrainians stand up for Western values

Make no mistake, Ukraine's so-called oligarchs still support President Viktor Yanukovych, and they will be prime beneficiaries of the $15 billion in bailout loans and lower natural gas prices that he secured from Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Japan Times
JAPAN / WEDGE
Dec 22, 2013

'Abenomics' exposing sheltered dairy farmers

The price of raw milk sold to dairy product makers rose by ¥5 per kg in October as imported cattle feed gets costlier amid the weakening yen.
BUSINESS / YEN FOR LIVING
Dec 22, 2013

Rental video stores ponder their reason for existing

DVDs still may be the cheapest, and easiest, way to watch videos at home.
Japan Times
ENVIRONMENT / OUR PLANET EARTH
Dec 21, 2013

Protecting nature to protect ourselves

This month's column takes an intrepid look at efforts to expand protected areas in Japan and worldwide, areas that are essential to conserve biological diversity and mitigate natural disasters.

Longform

Bear attacks have dominated Japanese news headlines in recent months, with 13 people so far having been killed by the animals.
Japan’s bears have been on their killing spree for more than 100 years