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EDITORIALS
Dec 18, 2014

Russia's downward slide

The decision by Russia's Central Bank to practically double interest rates in the middle of the night is a bad sign. The question now is how President Vladimir Putin will double-down to get Russia through a perfect economic storm.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Economy
Dec 18, 2014

Tokyo Gas takes wraps off its first hydrogen filling station

Tokyo Gas Co. on Thursday unveiled its first commercial hydrogen station as automakers prepare to usher in a new age in driving technology.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Dec 17, 2014

Venus in Fur: 'Polanski crams a lot into this uncomfortable comedy of mind games'

Roman Polanski, not content with having cast his actress wife Emmanuelle Seigner as a cruel and sultry dominatrix in "Bitter Moon" (1994), repeats the trick with "Venus in Fur." But if the first film was tragedy, this time it's farce. Rather like he did in the excellent "Carnage" (2011), Polanski is...
COMMENTARY / World
Dec 16, 2014

How regulation spurs growth

The world's richer countries created their regulatory infrastructure over generations, during a time of little direct global competition. Emerging markets need to create theirs in a greatly compressed time frame to strengthen their growth capacity.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Politics
Dec 16, 2014

Controversial to the end, Shintaro Ishihara bows out of politics

Hawkish former Tokyo Gov. Shintaro Ishihara officially puts an end to his nearly 50-year political career after losing his Diet seat in Sunday's Lower House election.
Japan Times
JAPAN / EXPLAINER
Dec 16, 2014

Unlocking carriers' SIM hold on cellphones: Will competition heat up?

In October, the Internal Affairs and Communications Ministry announced new guidelines on removing the SIM lock on cellphones, saying carriers will be required to unlock handsets starting next May.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Politics
Dec 15, 2014

Kaieda quits as DPJ chief after humiliating ejection from Diet

Humiliated by the loss of his seat in the Lower House election, Banri Kaieda resigns as president of the Democratic Party of Japan.
Japan Times
WORLD
Dec 14, 2014

Pope Francis' reported comments on pets going to heaven weren't his words

It was a heartwarming story for legions of pet owners and animal lovers around the world.
BUSINESS / Companies
Dec 12, 2014

GE, Hitachi reactor design heads toward approval in Britain

GE and Hitachi have cleared the next regulatory hurdle toward permission for the use of their joint nuclear reactor design in Britain after the government awarded it a so-called regulatory justification.
ENVIRONMENT
Dec 12, 2014

Japan's coal binge stirs international climate fears

Once at the forefront of the global warming battle, Japan is being pressured to set fresh emissions targets as it burns dirty coal energy to replace nuclear.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC / Science & Health
Dec 12, 2014

Hunting for pictures, and crocodiles, in remote Aboriginal country

We are deep in a forest crowded by Australian paperback trees, the air thick with humidity but eerily silent save for the screeching of tropical birds, when Marcus shouts: "Look, crocodiles!"
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Dec 11, 2014

Ecology product confab at Big Sight kicks off with higher youth turnout

In the face of pressing environmental challenges, the nation's biggest event on eco-friendly products kicked off Thursday in Tokyo, giving everyone from elementary school kids to businesspeople an opportunity to think about what's good for future generations.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Dec 9, 2014

Japan now at a crossroads

Japan has the opportunity in the Dec. 14 election to break away from its past obsession with measuring GDP growth. Voters can change the national scorecard to a system-wide view of infrastructural assets and quality of life.
ENVIRONMENT
Dec 9, 2014

Tokyo may fail Olympic sustainability vow, activists say

Tokyo risks falling down on its pledge to stage an environmentally sustainable 2020 Olympics due to the import of illegally felled timber from Southeast Asia, activist group Global Witness said.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / LEARNING CURVE
Dec 7, 2014

International schools in East Asia are as local as they want to be

International schools are not hermetically sealed off from their surroundings. The local culture can have a huge impact on everything from the schools' academic approach and parental involvement to community outreach.
Japan Times
WORLD / Science & Health
Dec 6, 2014

Animals at extinction risk from climate change

Animals are dying off in the wild at a pace as great as the extinction that wiped out the dinosaurs about 65 million years ago because of human activity and climate change.
Japan Times
LIFE / Lifestyle
Dec 4, 2014

Designers illuminate us on their winter wonders

When you think of Japanese art forms, many cultural pursuits will come to mind. The grace of ikebana, perhaps, or the beauty of ukiyo-e woodblock prints. At this time of year it becomes clear, though, that holiday lighting displays — referred to simply as "illumination" — are where the country's...
WORLD / Science & Health
Dec 4, 2014

U.N. sets modest hopes for climate pledges at 2015 Paris summit

Government pledges due in 2015 to cut rising world greenhouse gases will be too weak to avert the worst of global warming will and merely be part of a process toward agreeing on far tougher curbs, the United Nations said on Wednesday.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Dec 3, 2014

Asylum seekers in Japan get a helping hand from nonprofit group

An increasing number of asylum seekers — including sexual minorities and fathers living apart from their families — are looking to Japan as a place to seek refugee status. But such individuals often find the national immigration system, and the local population, unwilling to embrace them.
BUSINESS
Dec 3, 2014

Worried about broader fallout, Japanese government moves to contain air bag crisis

The transport ministry, concerned that a public-relations fallout could envelop Japan's auto industry, is finally scrambling into action, creating a task force to speed up recalls and delve into the Takata crisis.
WORLD
Dec 2, 2014

Turkey starts vetting fighters for U.S.-backed force for Syria

Turkish authorities have started vetting candidates for a beefed-up Syrian opposition force under a joint initiative with the U.S., according to a Turkish official with knowledge of the process.
EDITORIALS
Dec 1, 2014

Judging Abe's policies

Along with the bread and butter issues of the economy, voters are urged to take a serious look at the Abe administration's actions in the areas of defense and freedom of information over the past two years.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC / Society
Dec 1, 2014

30 years after deadly disaster, Bhopal's toxic legacy lingers on in India

Beyond the iron gates of the derelict pesticide plant where one of the world's worst industrial disasters occurred, administrative buildings lie in ruins, vegetation overgrown and warehouses bolted.

Longform

Japan's growing ranks of centenarians are redefining what it means to live in a super-aging society.
What comes after 100?