Search - 2013

 
 
Japan Times
JAPAN / FOCUS
Nov 21, 2014

Japan's robotics revolution gets a reboot as nation aims to regain lead in ¥3.4 trillion industry

Neurosurgeon Tetsuya Goto had just begun testing a robot to perform brain surgery when he discovered Japan was moving to tighten regulations that would shut down his seven-year project.
WORLD
Nov 21, 2014

Oxford chooses 'vape' as word of the year for 2014

The Oxford English Dictionary named "vape" — the word used for drawing on an electronic cigarette instead of a burning stick of tobacco — as its 2014 word of the year.
Japan Times
WORLD
Nov 21, 2014

Irish-American abstract artist Sean Scully sets sights on China

Irish-American abstract artist Sean Scully counts Irish rocker Bono among his pals and collectors. He wouldn't be unhappy if some of China's 1.4 billion people also took a shine to his art being displayed at a retrospective in Shanghai later this month.
BUSINESS
Nov 21, 2014

SEC halts trading in four firms tied to Ebola cure scams

U.S. regulators on Thursday suspended trading in four small over-the-counter stocks of companies that they said have been touting the development of products to prevent or treat the Ebola virus, and warned investors to beware of similar scams.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Economy
Nov 20, 2014

Onus on lawmakers to tackle debt after Abe tax delay, Kuroda says

Bank of Japan chief Haruhiko Kuroda is putting the onus on the government to strengthen its finances after Prime Minister Shinzo Abe postponed a sales tax hike and set plans for more fiscal stimulus.
JAPAN
Nov 20, 2014

Shimomura wants to make English classes mandatory for fifth- and sixth-graders

Education minister Hakubun Shimomura proposes a root-and-branch overhaul of the elementary, junior high and high school curricula.
JAPAN
Nov 20, 2014

Coast Guard aims to boost ranks by bringing back 150 former members

The Japan Coast Guard said Wednesday it hopes to bring back 150 former members in an effort to strengthen security measures in the country's territorial waters amid a recent surge in the number of Chinese coral fishing boats near the Ogasawara Islands south of Tokyo.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Nov 20, 2014

Japan needs to begin thinking outside the box

Unless Japan gets truly imaginative, its 'lost' decade will persist for many years to come.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Nov 20, 2014

'Otomo Yoshihide: Between Music and Art'

The work of sound artist Yoshihide Otomo, who is best known recently for his score for the 2013 hit TV drama "Amachan," is being showcased in this exhibition designed to explore the strong relationship between music and art.
EDITORIALS
Nov 20, 2014

Another black eye for bankers

Bankers believe, with good cause, that they are too big to fail. The result is a belief in their own immunity and a culture of impunity that produces scandal after scandal.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Nov 20, 2014

A personal invite to Planet Gondry

By coincidence, two tributes to baby-boomer auteurs are currently on display in Tokyo.
Japan Times
LIFE / Style & Design
Nov 20, 2014

Getting crafty with ideas at Maker Faire Tokyo

Walking into the makeshift laboratory of Skeletonics, Inc. in the Tokyo suburb of Hachioji, it's impossible not to notice the nearly 3-meter-tall robotic exoskeleton in the room.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Nov 19, 2014

Big Bad Wolves: 'A story so dark the Brothers Grimm are no doubt seething with jealously'

A parent's worst fear is that their children will be abducted, violated and murdered. It keeps them awake at night, gnaws on the fringes of their conscience and can alter the way they look at life and the world — sometimes irreparably. "Big Bad Wolves" banks on this fear and turns it into a story so...
JAPAN / Politics
Nov 19, 2014

Abe's snap election claims first victim as Your Party disbands

An opposition party once seen as a possible third force in Japanese politics has decided to disband ahead of next month's snap election.
ASIA PACIFIC / Crime & Legal
Nov 19, 2014

Pakistani family sentenced to death over 'honor killing'

Four relatives of a pregnant woman who bludgeoned her to death outside one of Pakistan's top courts were sentenced to death on Wednesday for the crime, their defense lawyer said.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Voices / FOREIGN AGENDA
Nov 19, 2014

San Francisco's huff with Hashimoto over 'comfort women' reveals double standards

San Francisco's reaction to Osaka Mayor Toru Hashimoto's comments about 'comfort women' says much about equality between nations, about how we judge each other through cultural lenses and blinders, and how we have to keep finding ways to address grievances from our past.
EDITORIALS
Nov 19, 2014

Abe seeks a fresh mandate

The opposition parties need to pick up the gauntlet Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has thrown and give voters a real alternative to his policies.
BUSINESS / Companies
Nov 19, 2014

Nomura's European CEO, Jeremy Bennett, resigns after less than two years

Jeremy Bennett, Nomura Holdings Inc.'s chief executive officer for Europe, the Middle East and Africa, has resigned after less than two years in the job.
WORLD
Nov 19, 2014

Obama to ease rules on millions of undocumented immigrants: source

U.S. President Barack Obama is poised to give relief from deportation to millions of undocumented immigrants who are parents of U.S. citizens or of permanent legal residents, according to a source familiar with White House deliberations.
WORLD / Politics
Nov 19, 2014

Republicans shop for shutdown alternatives in immigration fight with Obama

House Republican leaders are trying to persuade members not to risk a U.S. government shutdown in responding to President Barack Obama's plan to ease the deportation of undocumented immigrants.
Japan Times
Figure Skating / ICE TIME
Nov 18, 2014

Hongo's rise illustrates depth of Japan's talent pool

Japan's strong showing in the Grand Prix season continued with Rika Hongo's victory at the Cup of Russia on Saturday. Hongo's triumph marked the third time in four weeks that Japan has taken the gold at one of the GP events.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Nov 18, 2014

RBMA gifts Tokyo with some impressive events, but did they simply preach to the converted?

At Liquidroom last Friday night, clubbers attending the Red Bull Music Academy Tokyo closing party formed an orderly mob outside the venue as they waited for upward of half an hour to get inside. Only on reaching the head of the queue did it become clear that the bottleneck wasn't being caused by a surfeit...
WORLD
Nov 18, 2014

FBI probes State Department hacking tied to White House breach

The FBI is investigating a hacking attack that forced the U.S. State Department to disable part of its email system and may be linked to a previously disclosed intrusion of the White House network.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Economy
Nov 17, 2014

Australia, China sign landmark free trade deal

China and Australia on Monday signed a declaration of intent on a landmark free trade deal more than a decade in the making, opening up markets worth billions to Australia and loosening restrictions on Chinese investment.

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