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Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / JAPANESE KITCHEN
Dec 19, 2020

This is the quintessential Japanese noodle dish you should eat over new year

Toshikoshi soba is a comforting dish best enjoyed slowly, perhaps with some sake, while you quietly plan ahead for a better 2021.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / DESSERT WATCH
Dec 19, 2020

Take 2021 by the horns with sweets fit for the Year of the Ox

More than over the Year of the Rat? Moo-ve into 2021 with these cow-themed cupcakes from Fairycake Fair.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Markets
Dec 19, 2020

An epic year of market events shook China, Hong Kong and Taiwan

China, Hong Kong and Taiwan's economies were among the first to suffer from the virus pandemic. They were also home to some of the most dramatic events in global financial markets this year.
Japan Times
WORLD
Dec 19, 2020

Trump claims credit for vaccines. Some of his backers don’t want to take them.

Elizabeth Graves, an ardent supporter of President Donald Trump, is not opposed to vaccines. She said she had taken flu shots and pneumonia shots and, having just turned 50, was interested in being vaccinated against shingles.
BUSINESS / Companies
Dec 19, 2020

Toshiba again seeks acquisitions after string of deal flops

Chastened by a string of disastrous overseas acquisitions, the industrial giant is once again looking to buy — this time more cautiously and closer to home.
BUSINESS / View from Osaka
Dec 19, 2020

From Expo 2025 to tourists, Kansai’s hopes for the coming year

Economic recovery and making plans for a post-coronavirus world are set to be on the minds of residents and businesses in the region going into 2021.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC
Dec 18, 2020

As Singapore ventures back out, migrant workers are kept in

As the government prepares for the final phase of reopening this month, migrant workers will not be part of it.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / Japan
Dec 18, 2020

Five things to watch in Japanese politics in 2021

Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga's power atop the government is not assured, and with some significant elections scheduled, domestic politics could once again shake things up at the top.
BASEBALL / Japanese Baseball
Dec 18, 2020

Carp's Ryosuke Kikuchi captures eighth straight Golden Glove

Kikuchi's award capped off a historic season in which the second baseman did not commit a single error for the Central League side.
BUSINESS
Dec 18, 2020

Wall Street’s prediction of ¥100 to the dollar catching on at Japan banks

The yen at u00a5100 to the dollar is a tough call for Japan's banks, mainly because it's the point where domestic exporters start losing money.
Japan Times
WORLD / Crime & Legal
Dec 18, 2020

Denmark toughens rape law to include sex without explicit consent

In order to bring a rape charge, the law previously required proof of violence, threat or evidence that the victim was unable to fend off the assault.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Companies
Dec 18, 2020

Google’s legal peril grows in face of third antitrust suit in U.S.

The cascade of lawsuits against Google, which the company says it will fight in court, are indicative of the growing backlash against the largest tech companies.
Japan Times
OLYMPICS
Dec 18, 2020

Russia's Olympic doping ban halved, but flag barred from Tokyo Olympics

The ruling by the Court of Arbitration for Sport drew criticism for anti-doping officials who claimed that Russia was not sufficiently punished for its state-sponsored doping activities.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Dec 17, 2020

Nissan decides against making EV in U.K. over Brexit worries

The battery-powered Ariya sport utility vehicle will instead be made at a facility in Tochigi Prefecture and shipped to Europe and the U.S.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Dec 17, 2020

Bringing the MSDF to Ishigaki Island amid China’s ramped-up territorial ambitions

Ishigaki Island voters have a keen awareness of national security needs. This is especially true in recent years as China's territorial ambitions toward the Senkaku Islands
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Economy / FOCUS
Dec 17, 2020

China's move toward monetary tightening attracts influx of capital

People's Bank of China Gov. Yi Gang has vowed to normalize policy, widening a divergence with other large economies in ways that will shape global capital and trade flows.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC
Dec 17, 2020

As China tracked Muslims, Alibaba showed customers how they could, too

The discovery could thrust one of the world's most valuable internet companies into the storm of international condemnation surrounding China's treatment of its Muslim minorities.
Japan Times
WORLD / Politics
Dec 16, 2020

Mitch McConnell recognizes Biden as U.S president-elect after holdout

U.S. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell recognized Joe Biden as the winner of the presidential election the day after the Electoral College confirmed his victory — a pivotal moment that further cements President Donald Trump’s defeat.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Dec 16, 2020

Should we let algorithms make life-and-death decisions?

Nature does not optimize; it co-evolves. It performs much better than human society in terms of sustainability and circular supply networks.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Dec 16, 2020

Who will succeed Angela Merkel as Germany's next leader?

Whereas the U.S. and the U.K. essentially have two-party governments, Germany governs through multiparty coalitions that don't swing radically to and fro with every election.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Dec 16, 2020

Going the last mile — Brexit myths and truths

That negotiators cannot overcome a few obstacles leaves the public bewildered. Clearly, in the words of the British Prime Minister, Boris Johnson, there has been 'a failure of statecraft.'
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC
Dec 16, 2020

South Korean couriers die of overwork as pandemic spurs surge in deliveries

A string of deaths among couriers this year has caused a national uproar, drawing attention to unevenly distributed worker protections.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC
Dec 16, 2020

The virus trains: How lockdown chaos spread COVID-19 across India

Special trains operated by the government to ease suffering — and to counteract a disastrous lack of lockdown planning — instead played a significant role in spreading the coronavirus.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Dec 16, 2020

Japan’s ¥73.6 trillion stimulus hinges on spending by older generation

People over the age of 65 make up 29% of the population and account for almost 40% of the consumer spending that is the biggest driver of Japan's economy.
JAPAN / Politics / EXPLAINER
Dec 15, 2020

Heavyweight Nikai and his scandal-plagued LDP faction ruffling feathers

Allegations of bribery against two former farm ministers now threaten to weaken the Liberal Democratic Party's largest faction and its powerful leader.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Economy
Dec 15, 2020

China's November industrial output steps up as recovery gathers pace

China's industrial output grew in line with expectations in November, expanding for the eighth straight month as the economic recovery gathered pace and global demand picked up.

Longform

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