Search - 2016

 
 
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC / Society / FOCUS
Sep 26, 2017

China's Communist Party uses rap to tap youth culture, hook millennials

In his baseball cap and baggy yellow T-shirt, the rap star Li Yijie — better known by his stage name "Pissy" — is an unlikely face of China's strait-laced ruling Communist Party.
ASIA PACIFIC / Crime & Legal
Sep 26, 2017

Australia returns funds to China from money-laundering swoops

Australia has returned around 215,000 Australian dollars ($170,000) to China in funds it has seized from money-laundering cases as the two countries agreed Tuesday to beef up efforts to crack down on financial crime.
Japan Times
WORLD / Crime & Legal
Sep 26, 2017

NSA targeted 106,000 foreigners in past year's surveillance program soon up for renewal

The U.S. National Security Agency conducted targeted surveillance over the past year against 106,000 foreigners suspected of being involved in terrorism and other crimes, using powers granted in a controversial section of law that's set to expire at the end of this year.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Companies
Sep 25, 2017

MUFG plans to make inroads into Canadian market with capital markets platform

Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group Inc. is looking to build a capital-markets platform in Canada, with plans to hire as many as 10 people in Toronto to manage bond deals and stock sales by early next year.
Japan Times
WORLD / Politics
Sep 25, 2017

Graham-Cassidy bill to repeal Obamacare is on life support as Republican senators waver

The latest Republican attempt to repeal and replace Obamacare appeared headed for defeat after Sen. Susan Collins said she doesn't see herself backing the current plan and Texas Sen. Ted Cruz said he's currently "not a yes."
Japan Times
WORLD / Science & Health
Sep 24, 2017

Parched nations tap cloud seeding

Threading through clouds, often with shaky turbulence and occasional thunder, 71-year-old pilot Gary Walker burns the flares on his plane's wings, releasing chemicals as he flies.
Japan Times
TENNIS
Sep 24, 2017

Wozniacki captures third Pan Pacific crown

Defending champion Caroline Wozniacki captured the Toray Pan Pacific Open title for the third time after beating unseeded Russian Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova 6-0, 7-5 in Sunday's final.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Sep 24, 2017

Juncker's road map for European disaster

Jean-Claude Juncker's plan to accelerate eurozone accession threatens to re-create in spades the chaos of the past decade.
Japan Times
JAPAN / KANSAI PERSPECTIVE
Sep 24, 2017

Kyoto's pricey lodging tax plan spurs fierce debate over necessity, tourism impact

A necessity for improving Kyoto's tourism infrastructure or a bad decision that might convince tourists to go elsewhere?
Japan Times
JAPAN
Sep 24, 2017

Quiet energy revolution underway in Japan as dozens of towns go off the grid

A Miyagi city's efforts to rebuild its electrical power system after 3/11 mark a quiet shift away from Japan's old utility model and toward self-reliant, local generation and transmission.
Japan Times
LIFE / Lifestyle
Sep 23, 2017

A ruff guide to Seeing Eye dogs in Japan

Ariel is a devoted labrador. Named after the title character in Disney's "The Little Mermaid," Ariel can’t get enough of her user, 37-year-old Kanako Suzuki. Ariel rolls on her back, begging to be petted, and when Suzuki joins her on the floor, the animal jumps onto her lap — all 24 kilograms of...
Japan Times
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Sep 23, 2017

Political protest or textbook harassment?

In 1979, The New Yorker ran a very long article by Frances FitzGerald about American history textbooks and how they had changed over the years. She said that the framing of history depends on who is writing it and, more importantly, who is supporting that writing. Publishers present history in such a...
EDITORIALS
Sep 23, 2017

Folly of quake predictions

The government should not rely on planning, not predictions, when it comes to earthquake preparation.
COMMENTARY / World
Sep 23, 2017

The literary magic of Harry Potter

Will the ultra popular Harry Potter series stand the test of time?
MORE SPORTS
Sep 23, 2017

Fire players who protest: Trump

President Donald Trump profanely criticized NFL players who protest police brutality by kneeling during the U.S. national anthem and said they should be fired by their teams.
Japan Times
LIFE / Travel
Sep 22, 2017

The safe thrills of indoor skydiving come to Kanto

With the call of "Standby!" the butterflies in my stomach start to dance.
Reader Mail
Sep 22, 2017

Kingston left out historic facts

The opinion piece by Jeff Kingston in the Sept. 10 edition presented his interpretation of "revisionism" and the "comfort women" issue, assertively describing Prime Minister Shinzo Abe as "revisionist" and "extremist." But he did not present important historical facts contradicting the assertions in...
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Tech
Sep 21, 2017

VR attractions to take center stage at Tokyo Game Show

With the debut of high-end virtual reality gaming systems for home use, 2016 was heralded as the dawn of the VR era. But while the technology basked in the spotlight, some questioned whether there was substance behind the hype.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Markets
Sep 21, 2017

BOJ keeps policy unchanged but new member casts dissenting vote

The Bank of Japan kept its monetary stimulus unchanged Thursday, but a dovish new board member opposed the decision in his first meeting — an unexpected dissension on a board chosen entirely by Prime Minister Shinzo Abe.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Sep 21, 2017

Japan launches a free smartphone app for foreign travelers amid record-breaking tourism boom

The Japan National Tourism Organization on Thursday launched a free smartphone app that allows travelers from abroad to look up destinations, restaurants and train routes as well as free Wi-Fi spots.
Japan Times
WORLD
Sep 21, 2017

Distrustful U.S. allies force spy agency to back down in encryption row

An international group of cryptography experts has forced the U.S. National Security Agency to back down over two data encryption techniques it wanted set as global industry standards, reflecting deep mistrust among close U.S. allies.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC
Sep 21, 2017

Islamists lure youngsters in the Philippines with payments, promise of paradise

When he saw his commander holding the severed head of one of his neighbors, teenage Islamist fighter Jalil knew it was time to escape from Marawi.
Japan Times
WORLD / Society
Sep 21, 2017

St. Louis OKs trial year for police body cameras ahead of sixth night of protests

St. Louis officials decided on Wednesday to supply police officers with body cameras for a year as the city prepares for a sixth night of protests after a white former police officer was acquitted of killing a black man.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Politics / ANALYSIS
Sep 20, 2017

Trump's fire and brimstone U.N. speech hands Abe a win on North Korea, but will victory be pyrrhic?

Experts warn that Trump's threat could reinforce Pyongyang's belief that nuclear weapons remain the sole means of securing the regime's safety.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Voices / FOREIGN AGENDA
Sep 20, 2017

Japan doesn't need to criminalize hate speech

Considering constitutional issues and the risk of creating 'martyrs,' the current law strikes the right balance.

Longform

Once smoky, male-dominated spaces, today's net cafes, like Kaikatsu Club, are working to make their operations more attractive to women customers.
The second life of Japan's net cafes