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BUSINESS
Dec 22, 2011

BOJ warns recovery has 'paused,' keeps rate policy

The Bank of Japan said Wednesday it will maintain its zero interest rate policy but gave a somber assessment that a pickup in economic activity has "paused."
COMMENTARY
Dec 21, 2011

Populism hinders globalization

The world is in a shroud of thick mist. At the time the Cold War ended, people around the world widely expected that globalization would make progress, the U.N.-centered order of peace would be maintained and market-economy-based global high growth would materialize. However, the ensuing reality has...
BUSINESS
Dec 6, 2011

Takeda to launch global vaccine unit

Takeda Pharmaceutical Co., Asia's biggest drugmaker, said it plans to start a global vaccine business on Jan. 1.
JAPAN / Media / BIG IN JAPAN
Dec 4, 2011

Occupy Wall Street resonates within Japan

While Japan's vernacular media has regularly reported on the Occupy Wall Street movement that has swept the United States over the past several months, coverage regarding the movement and its aims has been somewhat bland.
COMMENTARY
Dec 2, 2011

Russian Asia mega-project

Unprejudiced analysis brings us to the conclusion that Russia does not have many choices concerning its immediate economic future. Let us hope that Soviet-style "autarky" is out of the question.
CULTURE / Music / STRANGE BOUTIQUE
Nov 24, 2011

Late-night dancing should not be a crime in Japan

Imagine a town where playing rock music is under a curfew and police crack down on unlicensed late-night dancing. Are you thinking of the town from the film "Footloose"? Or are you thinking of Fukuoka? Kumamoto? Yokohama?
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / THE ZEIT GIST
Nov 22, 2011

MacArthur, identity theory and Japan's lingering eigo woes

Some years ago I was teaching an advanced English class in San Francisco that featured a hodgepodge of students from all over the world. Just as the range of cultures and accents extended from Europe to the Middle East to Asia and South America, so did the array of communication styles. Yet while the...
Japan Times
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Nov 13, 2011

Media takes both sides of TPP debate

Last week Kyodo News conducted a survey on the public's understanding of the Trans-Pacific Partnership, which Japan is thinking of joining. The TPP basically constitutes a free-trade zone among member countries in the Pacific rim region, including the United States, but right now it is still in the negotiation...
Japan Times
JAPAN / CHUBU CONNECTION
Nov 12, 2011

Retiree's blog about old car catalogs finds fans

A blog written by a 76-year-old retiree in Ichinomiya, Aichi Prefecture, is finding an audience among car buffs.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Nov 11, 2011

'Love & Other Drugs'

Sometimes in my dreams it's the 1990s all over again, and my feelings about it are always ambivalent. If the dream is good, I get to dance to Nirvana with a club logo stamped on my wrist. If it's bad, I have to take the train to get to the nearest Starbucks and I don't even have a cellphone, just a pager....
Japan Times
COMMUNITY
Nov 5, 2011

Hokkaido roots spur woman to bring folk tales to masses

For Deborah Davidson, Hokkaido is not only home, it is a door to other worlds. As a child, she played with Ainu children and watched them care for the frolicking cubs of the "iomante" (bear ceremony). As a translator, she now focuses on bringing Ainu folk tales to an English-speaking audience.
COMMENTARY / World
Nov 2, 2011

Myanmar's new guardian?

Myanmar's one-time military generals, who have miraculously transformed themselves into benign politicians, really do seem to be taking remarkable steps to restructure both the domestic and foreign policy of that fragile nation.
Reader Mail
Oct 30, 2011

Safeguarding the essence of Japan

With the increasing debate over the financial impact of the Trans Pacific Partnership, one thing seems to have been forgotten — the environment.
BUSINESS
Oct 29, 2011

Sony pulls trigger on Ericsson venture purchase

Sony Corp. has agreed to buy Ericsson AB's 50 percent stake in their 10-year-old mobile phone venture to integrate the smartphone business with its gaming and tablet offerings.
Japan Times
JAPAN / EXPLAINER
Oct 25, 2011

'Net super' trend food for thought

Online "Net super" retailing has grown increasingly popular as more people shop from home, especially seniors.
COMMENTARY / World
Oct 19, 2011

The microfinance catalyst

So-called impact investors — providers of capital to businesses that solve social challenges while generating a profit — are the current rage in economic development. U.S. President Barack Obama's Office for Social Innovation and Civic Participation recently convened more than 100 practitioners to...
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Oct 19, 2011

Luxury mart ending four-year slump

Japan's luxury market is set to grow for the first time in four years as status-conscious consumers help rebuild the economy, encouraging expansion by Gianni Versace SpA and Mulberry Group PLC.
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Oct 16, 2011

Being amateurish is what makes SMAP such pros

NHK's "The Professional" profiles, through interviews and situational coverage, people who are notable for their dedication to some craft or business vision. The series grew out of "Project X," the very popular documentary series about Japan's industrial breakthroughs of the past, and is meant to spotlight...
BUSINESS
Oct 15, 2011

Goldman surges as M&A adviser

Goldman Sachs Group Inc. is on its way to taking the top spot among advisers on Japanese takeovers for the first time in five years, supplanting Nomura Holdings Inc., as companies striving to compete globally turn increasingly to foreign investment banks.
COMMENTARY / World
Oct 13, 2011

'Jobs factor' made Apple's closed strategy work

Normally, you need a distinctive first name not to need a last name, but in this — as in everything that he did — Steve Jobs was different. He was always just "Steve."
COMMENTARY / World
Oct 13, 2011

Jobs leaves questions behind

Steve Jobs of Apple Inc. deserves praise as a remarkable radical thinker and businessman who made path-breaking innovations to transform modern life, from the Mac computer to the smart — both in looks and in performance — iPhone, iPod and iPad. But I would like to raise some deliberately jarring...

Longform

A sinkhole in Yashio, which emerged in January, was triggered by a ruptured, aging sewer pipe. Authorities worry that similar sections of infrastructure across the country are also at risk of corrosion.
That sinking feeling: Japan’s aging sewers are an infrastructure time bomb