Search - 2013

 
 
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC
Aug 2, 2014

Eastern China factory blast kills at least 69; two company officials held

China suffered its worst industrial accident in a year on Saturday when an explosion killed at least 69 people and injured more than 120 at a factory that makes wheels for U.S. carmakers, including General Motors.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / How-tos / HOME TRUTHS
Aug 1, 2014

Ticking the right tax boxes

In most places in the world, property taxes, which are levied on buildings and land, are administered and collected by local governments for the benefit of local governments. This is also true in Japan, but it's useful to keep in mind that property tax rules and regulations are determined by the central government.
EDITORIALS
Aug 1, 2014

Setting a living wage

The ¥16 hike in Japan's average minimum hourly wage to ¥780, which an advisory panel has recommended to the labor minister, fails to offset the rising costs of living and hardly strengthens the safety net for the growing ranks of irregular workers.
WORLD / Politics
Aug 1, 2014

Cruz blamed as House Republicans try to revive border funds bill

House Republicans leaders are struggling to find support for a plan addressing child migrants at the U.S.-Mexico border as some members blame Republican Sen. Ted Cruz for helping scuttle a vote on it Thursday.
BUSINESS / Markets
Jul 31, 2014

Loan funds lure companies missing out on Abe rebound

As Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's stimulus helps push banks' lending rates under 1 percent, funds are targeting a debt market paying 10 times that.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Voices / FOREIGN AGENDA
Jul 30, 2014

Fukushima disaster colors A-bomb anniversaries

Over the past three years, the atomic bombing anniversaries in August have increasingly become a time to ask new questions.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Stage
Jul 30, 2014

Paris-based Oida still lives out his dreams

Yoshi Oida has appeared in many works by the famed Paris-based English director Peter Brook, and in 2013 the Japanese actor who has, like him, also lived in the City of Light for more than four decades, was made a Commander of the Order of Arts and Letters by the French government.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Stage
Jul 30, 2014

Mitani brings new life to a love-suicide

If there's one thing I never expected to see in a bunraku play, it was a disco ball. Similarly, a scene in which the leading lady has her nails done by a bevy of kimono-clad attendants.
BUSINESS / Economy
Jul 30, 2014

Japan's output drops most since 2011 as consumers spend less

Industrial output fell the most since the March 2011 disasters, government data showed Wednesday, highlighting the widening impact to the economy of the April 1 consumption tax increase.
Japan Times
WORLD
Jul 30, 2014

Global nuclear power contribution falls to lowest level since 1980s

Atomic power's share of the global electricity supply has reached its lowest level since the 1980s, following the shutdown of Japan's reactors after the Fukushima disaster.
EDITORIALS
Jul 29, 2014

Reflecting citizens' views on justice

Japan's Supreme Court decision to reduce the prison terms of a couple convicted of fatally abusing their daughter highlights the difficulty in balancing the need, on one hand, to have ordinary citizens' views reflected in criminal trials through their participation as lay judges and, on the other, to maintain consistency with judicial precedents.
COMMENTARY / World
Jul 29, 2014

Preparing for the next big solar storm

The probability of a solar storm striking Earth in the next decade with enough force to do serious damage to electricity networks, lasting perhaps for months, could be as high as 12 percent.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Companies
Jul 28, 2014

Nissan profit beats estimates on gains in China, U.S.

Nissan Motor Co. on Monday reported profit that beat analysts' estimates as deliveries rose in China and the United States, its two biggest markets.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC
Jul 28, 2014

China keeps fishing fleet connected in disputed waters

On China's southern Hainan island, a fishing boat captain shows a Reuters reporter around his aging vessel. He has one high-tech piece of kit, however: a satellite navigation system that gives him a direct link to the Chinese coast guard should he run into bad weather or a Philippine or Vietnamese patrol...
BUSINESS / Markets
Jul 28, 2014

BofA sees China hand in Belgian Treasury binge

China is driving a jump in Belgian holdings of Treasuries and is a key reason for a plunge in yields even as the Federal Reserve trims its stimulus to support growth, according to Bank of America Merrill Lynch.
Japan Times
WORLD
Jul 28, 2014

China pushes soft power with hospital ship at RIMPAC

On a Chinese hospital ship off Hawaii, crew members demonstrate traditional massage techniques to U.S. sailors. The mood is one of collegiality, even after China opted out of Japan-led humanitarian drills at the world's largest international naval exercise.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / YEN FOR LIVING
Jul 27, 2014

A modest proposal for alleviating the endangerment of Japanese eels

In Japan, most eel is consumed on one day of the year.
BASKETBALL / HOOP SCOOP
Jul 27, 2014

JBA vacillates as clock ticks on possible FIBA suspension

It's nice to know there are people who will elucidate what's really happening with the Japan Basketball Association-led merger talks between the bj-league, NBL and NBDL.

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