Search - 2013

 
 
Japan Times
JAPAN
Oct 31, 2014

Japan's 3/11 tsunami evacuees caught in $30 billion money trap

Some ¥3.28 trillion in funding for roads, bridges and thousands of new homes in areas devastated by the tsunami in Tohoku 3½ years ago is still languishing unspent in the bank. That means Keiko Abe is heading into a fourth winter of subzero temperatures in a cramped, temporary dwelling that is succumbing...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Oct 30, 2014

Kunisaki Art Festival shows works worth the hike

To visit Antony Gormley's "Another Time" — a life-sized iron figure which looks eastward across Oita Prefecture's Sento district of Kunisaki from atop a mountain ledge — is a breathtaking experience. Not just because it's a stong piece of art or that the location offers a stunning vista of verdant...
JAPAN / Politics
Oct 30, 2014

Okinawa gubernatorial election kicks off with four candidates

The Okinawa gubernatorial race kicks off with four candidates in an election that could sink Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's political fortunes and strain military ties with the United States.
Japan Times
WORLD / Society
Oct 30, 2014

Thai junta's focus on school reforms raises eyebrows

Sixteen years old and studying 13 hours a day, high school pupil Worapot doesn't have time to waste meeting a military-led government's idea of what makes a good Thai.
Japan Times
WORLD / Politics / ANALYSIS
Oct 30, 2014

Assad's warnings start to ring true as Syrian strife arrives at Turkey's doorstep

When Sunni rebels rose up against Syria's Bashar Assad in 2011, Turkey reclassified its protege as a pariah, expecting him to lose power within months and join the autocrats of Egypt, Libya, Tunisia and Yemen on the scrap heap of the Arab Spring.
Japan Times
BASKETBALL
Oct 29, 2014

Japan Basketball Association chief Maruo says new league will launch in 2016 despite failure to meet FIBA deadline

Despite facing an expected suspension from FIBA, Japan Basketball Association acting president Mitsuru Maruo insisted that the country's governing body would not stop trying to address and fix its problems, including the unification of the nation's two men's top leagues.
Japan Times
BASKETBALL
Oct 29, 2014

NBL executive Yamaya steps down; president Maruo plans to quit

NBL executive Takashi Yamaya stepped down as chief operating officer, while league president Mitsuru Maruo also expressed his intention of resigning, the league announced on Wednesday.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Society / ANALYSIS
Oct 29, 2014

Town divided after Sendai nuclear plant restart clears another hurdle

The city hosting the Sendai nuclear plant in Kagoshima Prefecture has decided to approve a resumption of operations at the facility, highlighting a conflict between people who benefit from the largesse of the industry and those who do not.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Stage
Oct 29, 2014

Millepied's L.A. Dance Project arrives with a triple bill of disparate delights

Two years after its inaugural performance, L.A. Dance Project is already a must-see company. In part that's because its founder and artistic director is the legendary French-born ballet dancer and choreographer Benjamin Millepied — but also because of its trendy innovations in contemporary dance and...
EDITORIALS
Oct 29, 2014

Proposed temp law bad for workers

The Abe administration's move to meet business demands for more irregular workers without establishing the principle of 'same work, same pay' will only increase the job insecurity of many of the nation's workers.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Oct 29, 2014

Confidence key to female success, say panelists at Tokyo forum

Women's advances in society are now a "must" in Japan, with Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's administration pledging to make every woman shine. But many still find it difficult to break the glass ceiling in a male-dominated society —mainly due to their lack of self-confidence, speakers at a recent Tokyo...
WORLD
Oct 29, 2014

Qatar emir to face questions on jihadist funding on U.K. state visit

The Emir of Qatar, Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, is expected to reject allegations that his country is funding Islamic State militants during a three-day state visit to Britain that began on Tuesday.
Japan Times
WORLD
Oct 29, 2014

Fatal '13 train crash in New York caused by engineer with sleep disorder: NTSB

A fatal New York City train derailment last year was likely caused by the engineer at the controls who fell asleep due to an undiagnosed sleep disorder, the U.S. National Transportation Safety Board said on Tuesday.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World / SENTAKU MAGAZINE
Oct 28, 2014

Organizational flaws, collusive ties taking a toll on the WHO

Critics of the World Health Organization say its inability to fight Ebola thus far can be traced not only to its own organizational problems but also to its 'collusive relations' with the pharmaceutical industry.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / THE FOREIGN ELEMENT
Oct 27, 2014

St. Mary's school in Tokyo to investigate child sex abuse after teacher's rape confession

St. Mary's International School is setting up a panel to conduct an internal investigation into reported cases of child sexual abuse — including one confirmed case of rape — at the school in Tokyo.
EDITORIALS
Oct 27, 2014

Ending maternity harassment

A Supreme Court ruling last week underscores the fact that nearly three decades since the enactment of Japan's law on equal employment opportunities regardless of gender, the nation still lacks effective ways to prevent women from being forced to abandon career paths once they become pregnant.
COMMENTARY / World
Oct 27, 2014

Egypt rebuilding, backstage

Egypt is marching, slowly but surely, away from the omnipresent and omnipotent state that has dominated Egyptian economic life for many decades.
Japan Times
LIFE / Language / BILINGUAL
Oct 27, 2014

In the long shadow of an aged and enraged population

Here's an astonishing fact: the crime rate among Japan's elderly is on the rise. And among an rapidly aging population with long life expectancy, that's a problem.
JAPAN / EXPLAINER
Oct 27, 2014

'Comfort women' issue refuses to go away

"Comfort women," as Japan refers to the females who were forced into sexual servitude for the nation's wartime forces, have been a constant source of controversy since the early 1990s, when the media started to take a serious look at their ordeal.
BASEBALL / Japanese Baseball / HIT AND RUN
Oct 27, 2014

Takeda comes of age with Tigers-taming performance

Shota Takeda stood at the center of a maelstrom during the sixth inning in Game 2 of the Japan Series. The Hanshin Tigers were rallying, and their fans, who in their home ballpark might be Japan's loudest on a normal day, were practically roaring at the prospect of their team, which had a runner on second,...
Japan Times
WORLD / Society
Oct 26, 2014

Cash aid for refugees found to succeed despite donors' doubts

For decades, aid groups have assumed they know what is best for refugees and the poor. A growing body of evidence suggests they are wrong.
Japan Times
WORLD / Politics
Oct 26, 2014

Special report: why Ukraine's revolution remains unfinished

In the afternoon of Feb. 20, after the morning's dead had been cleared away, Volodymyr Melnychuk arrived outside Kiev's October palace.
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Oct 25, 2014

Blondes have more fun in NHK's morning drama

Two weeks ago I received a message from a reader who asked me to ask NHK why the public broadcaster had changed the name and the hair color of the female protagonist of its new daily 15-minute asa-dora (morning drama series) "Massan," which is based on the life of Masataka Taketsuru, the first person...
EDITORIALS
Oct 25, 2014

School bullying on the increase

Bullying and violence increased in Japanese schools, particularly for younger students, in fiscal 2013, although better reporting of incidents explains some of the increase over the previous year.

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