Search - 2014

 
 
Japan Times
WORLD / Science & Health
Feb 9, 2016

Record number of shark attacks in 2015, researchers find

Sharks attacked people 98 times in 2015, a spike in unprovoked attacks that set a new record as human and shark populations rise, researchers found in an annual global tally released on Monday.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Society
Feb 9, 2016

Japanese lawmaker's paternity leave clashes with men-stay-at-work mindset

Kensuke Miyazaki planned to take a few weeks off work after his wife gave birth to their first child. Some of his colleagues and superiors are unhappy.
JAPAN / Politics
Feb 9, 2016

Japan says it will impose new unilateral sanctions on North Korea over rocket launch

The government said Monday it will slap new unilateral sanctions on North Korea in response to its rocket launch Sunday, amid rising calls from the families of abductees for tougher diplomacy.
JAPAN / Society
Feb 8, 2016

U.N. rapporteur urges Japan to consider law banning hate speech

Japan should enact a law banning hate speech to protect the nation's ethnic minorities, according to a United Nations expert who said such a change would not impact freedom of speech.
COMMENTARY / World
Feb 8, 2016

What the next U.S. leader should know about N. Korea

Current U.S. policy deals with the North Korea of the past, not the North Korea of today.
COMMENTARY / World
Feb 8, 2016

How far has the North's missile technology come?

North Korea's latest rocket launch raises a lot of questions about just how far its ballistic missile technology has come.
COMMENTARY / World
Feb 8, 2016

Syria's continuing chemical fallout

The ongoing use of toxic gas in the Syrian civil war could undermine the global ban on chemical weapons.
JAPAN
Feb 8, 2016

External radiation doses in Fukushima comparable to those of Europe: study

The external radiation exposure levels of high school students in Fukushima Prefecture are within the same range of those living in France, Poland and Belarus, a new study shows.
Japan Times
LIFE / Language / BILINGUAL
Feb 8, 2016

Words about sentences: the Japanese vocab of crime and punishment

Navigating the terms and kanji involved in the penal process in Japan can be a trial in itself.
BUSINESS / Economy
Feb 8, 2016

Consumption set to falter after Japan's workers eke out 0.1% pay hike in 2015

The nation's workers barely got a pay rise in 2015, with a 0.1 percent increase in cash earnings slower than the 0.4 percent bump in 2014.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Feb 8, 2016

Japan takes aim at ballooning drug prices as costs strain health budget

When two of the world's biggest pharmaceutical companies announced a tie-up in Japan, its $78 billion drug industry took note.
Japan Times
WORLD / Society
Feb 8, 2016

Pope to tour Mexico's poor, violent parts, view Texas border migrant plight

Pope Francis will visit some of the poorest and most violent corners of Mexico on his first visit as pontiff, and will also head to the northern border to address the plight of migrants trying to reach the United States.
Japan Times
WORLD / Society
Feb 8, 2016

Education piecemeal, risks rife in besieged Aleppo's basement schools

At the unofficial schools run by Syrian activist group Kesh Malek in opposition-held districts of Aleppo, the children don't go outside to play during breaks in case a barrel bomb should drop from the sky.
COMMUNITY / Issues / LAW OF THE LAND
Feb 7, 2016

What's in a surname? A court divorced from reality

Here at Law of the Land, I try to share "the Japanese law experience" with general readers. Today's experience is called "The Frustration of Reading Supreme Court Decisions" and takes as examples two of the most significant decisions of 2015: one on a law requiring spouses to have the same surname, the...
EDITORIALS
Feb 7, 2016

Investigators' abuse of DNA testing

DNA evidence in criminal cases must be handled in a more secure and transparent manner to ensure justice is served.
Japan Times
WORLD
Feb 7, 2016

Obama, other advocates of gun control own stock in firearms makers through mutual funds

U.S. President Barack Obama, a fierce advocate for gun regulation, is an unlikely investor in the firearms industry — yet he has money in a pension fund that holds stock in gun and ammunition companies.
COMMENTARY / COUNTERPOINT
Feb 6, 2016

A Tohoku father seeks accountability for his daughter's death

As the fifth anniversary of the March 11, 2011, earthquake and tsunami approaches, the tragic story of 74 schoolchildren and 10 teachers who drowned near Okawa Elementary School in Ishinomaki, Miyagi Prefecture, continues to resonate painfully.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / How-tos / HOME TRUTHS
Feb 6, 2016

The ups and downs of apartment elevators

In the 2014 American movie, "5 Flights Up," Morgan Freeman and Diane Keaton play an elderly couple who think about selling their two-bedroom Brooklyn apartment. Since they have lived in the unit all their married life, the decision is a difficult one, and the premise of the plot hinges on the reason...
Reader Mail
Feb 6, 2016

Thai lese majeste law used properly

With reference to the column titled "Thai military risks weakening the monarchy" by Pavin Chachavalpongpun published in the Jan. 22 issue, I wish to clarify some points as follows.
WORLD
Feb 5, 2016

Three missing, 87 rescued after South Africa mine collapse

Almost 90 miners were rescued and three were still missing after a cave-in at a gold mine in northeastern South Africa on Friday, the firm that owns the mine said.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Feb 5, 2016

No need to panic over Zika

While the mosquito-borne virus Zika is a serious treat, modern civilization can cope.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Feb 5, 2016

Miyazaki sturgeon farm serves up export-ready caviar

Amid the volcanic peaks and hot springs of southern Japan, something fishy is going on: caviar.

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