Search - 2012

 
 
COMMENTARY / Japan
Dec 25, 2014

How Japan's economy put itself out to pasture

Simply put, Japan is a bankrupt nation, even as gross domestic product outgrows that of the U.S. economy on a per capita basis.
Japan Times
LIFE / Lifestyle
Dec 25, 2014

'Kawaii' gets a landmark

While Japanese cool hunters might lament the lack of pop cultural exports in recent years — all the more conspicuous when compared to K-Pop's successful forays westward — kawaii (cute) culture has quietly permeated into global consciousness with all the effortless grace of singer Kyary Pamyu Pamyu...
SPORTS
Dec 25, 2014

Top world sports news of 2014

The Japan Times editors selected these world sports stories as the most important of 2014.
EDITORIALS
Dec 24, 2014

Standing up to threats

A Sapporo university's decision to retain an instructor in the face of rightist threats is a victory for freedom of expression and other fundamental democratic rights.
JAPAN / Politics
Dec 24, 2014

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe reappointed to role, new Cabinet expected

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe was re-elected to the post in the Diet on Wednesday and was set to launch his new Cabinet later in the day.
WORLD
Dec 24, 2014

U.S. to pay $3.2 million to contractor freed from Cuba prison

Alan Gross, the contractor freed last week after five years in a Cuban jail will receive $3.2 million from the U.S. government as part of a settlement with his employer, the U.S. Agency for International Development announced on Tuesday.
BASKETBALL
Dec 23, 2014

Fukuoka fires Duncan after 6-16 start

The Rizing Fukuoka, who gutted their roster of several prominent bj-league veterans in the offseason, made another big move on Monday.
Japan Times
WORLD
Dec 23, 2014

In Jakarta, that sinking feeling is all too real

The Ciliwung River flows from a volcano south of the Indonesian capital, through the heart of one of the world's most densely populated cities and almost into Jakarta Bay. Almost, because for the final mile or so of its course, the river would have to flow uphill to reach the bay.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / THE FOREIGN ELEMENT
Dec 22, 2014

Jeers, apologies and silence: Japan's 2014 in quotes

First of all, we're sorry. Everybody is sorry. This was the year that everyone apologized and everyone was sorry about something. The Asahi Shimbun was sorry so many times (even when maybe they shouldn't have been) that we're omitting them from the list. There's not enough space.
LIFE / Language / BILINGUAL
Dec 22, 2014

The annual pain and pleasure of punished comedians

Japan is a country of traditions. You take off your shoes when you go indoors. You rinse your body before entering the bath. And you sit around the house with family on Ōmisoka (大晦日, New Year's Eve) and do nothing but watch television and eat food before going to the jinja (神社, shrine) at...
JAPAN / EXPLAINER
Dec 22, 2014

Airport facial recognition system eyed but only for Japanese

As Japan braces for a surge in foreign visitors in the lead-up to the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, pressure is mounting to expedite how visitors are processed at airports.
ASIA PACIFIC
Dec 22, 2014

South Korea prosecutors investigate data leak at nuclear power plants

Seoul prosecutors have launched an investigation into a leak of noncritical data at South Korea's nuclear power operator, the prosecutors' office said on Sunday, as worries mount about nuclear safety and potential cyberattacks from North Korea.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / ADOPT ME!
Dec 21, 2014

Newly paired

Sox was last featured here in December 2012 and, perhaps because he is a very shy cat, had been unable to find a home — that is, until he met Jane Aliga-Caparroso and her husband, Ernie Caparroso. Shortly after losing their cat Tango to illness, the couple moved from New Jersey to Japan.
COMMENTARY / World
Dec 19, 2014

Obama's surprise for Latin America

Perhaps most remarkable about the Cuba-U.S. agreement to re-establish diplomatic relations is that Latin American leaders were caught napping by the most significant Latin American moment in the last half-century.
BUSINESS / Economy
Dec 18, 2014

Companies still hoarding cash despite pleas from Abe, Kuroda to spend

Two days after Prime Minister Shinzo Abe secured a pledge from Japan Inc. to do its best to boost wages to revive the world's third-biggest economy, data showed companies hoarding record amounts of cash.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Entertainment news
Dec 18, 2014

Stephen Collins admits sexual contact with young girls: People magazine

Actor Stephen Collins, who played the family pastor in the television series "7th Heaven," has admitted to having inappropriate sexual contact with three underage girls decades ago, People magazine reported on Wednesday.
Japan Times
WORLD
Dec 18, 2014

Dramatic U.S. shift: Obama moves to normalize relations with Havana, end Cuba's isolation

Cuba and the U.S. will begin to normalize relations in a surprising move Wednesday by the Obama administration that will loosen a trade and travel embargo that is among the last remnants of Cold War policy.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Dec 17, 2014

Hill of Freedom: 'Looking for lost love in a Seoul back alley'

Speaking in another language makes you a different person, especially, I've noticed, if you happen to be a non-native fluent in Japanese. The mild-mannered Aussie transforms into a slangy tough-guy, rolling his r's and living in his own mental version of a yakuza movie. And the frank-talking American...
BUSINESS / Companies
Dec 17, 2014

Tepco's net income set to rise 19%

Tokyo Electric Power Co. said net income will rise 19 percent this fiscal year and that it will put off an increase in electricity rates in favor of more cost cuts.
Japan Times
BASEBALL / MLB
Dec 17, 2014

Jeter, Matsui coming together to aid Tohoku children

Retired New York Yankees greats Derek Jeter and Hideki Matsui are teaming up once again, this time in support of children in the Tohoku region.
Japan Times
WORLD / Science & Health
Dec 17, 2014

Did Mars have life? NASA rover finds methane, organic chemicals

Methane in the Martian atmosphere and organic chemicals in the red planet's soil are the latest tantalizing findings of NASA's Mars Curiosity rover as it hunts for clues about the possibility of extraterrestrial life, scientists said on Tuesday.

Longform

A small shrine perched atop rocks braves the waves hitting the shoreline during a storm in Shimoda, Shizuoka Prefecture. The area is under threat of a possible 31-meter-high tsunami if an earthquake strikes the nearby Nankai Trough.
If the 'Big One' hits, this city could face a 31-meter-high tsunami