Search - 2015

 
 
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Tech
Dec 1, 2016

Quest for artificial intelligence highlights lack of critical thinking skills in humans

Thanks to the relentless work of dedicated engineers, artificial intelligence, or AI, becomes smarter by the day.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC
Dec 1, 2016

New evidence shows deep Islamic State role in Bangladesh massacre that killed seven Japanese

Before Tamim Ahmed Chowdhury orchestrated Bangladesh's worst militant attack, he sought and won approval for it from Islamic State.
Japan Times
WORLD / Society
Dec 1, 2016

Rights groups: Rape so prevalent female refugees, migrants taking contraceptives before journey

Women migrants fleeing wars, political instability and poverty are taking contraceptives in the expectation of being raped but are so desperate they still embark on the journey, a human rights group said on Wednesday.
BASEBALL / Japanese Baseball
Nov 30, 2016

Resurgent Carp veteran Arai turned back clock during MVP season

Many fans might have thought Takahiro Arai was heading to the Hiroshima Carp to retire.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Nov 30, 2016

'Freeheld' stirs talk of minority rights in Japan

What's wrong with gay marriage? Absolutely nothing, as the United States finally acknowledged in 2015. Up until then, however, gay people had to fight for the same rights that heterosexual couples took for granted.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Nov 30, 2016

'Florence Foster Jenkins': Not quite a nightingale

'Florence Foster Jenkins" is a fairy tale of glorious optimism and unclouded love. The titular lady (a real-life New York heiress and socialite during the 1940s) goes chasing after her dream of becoming an opera singer with a mountain of passion but zero talent. To say that Florence (played by the ever-brilliant...
Japan Times
JAPAN
Nov 29, 2016

Japanese students rank near top in global math and science survey

Nation's fourth-graders No. 5 in math, No. 3 in science; eighth-graders rank fifth in math and second in science.
Japan Times
WORLD
Nov 29, 2016

Plane carrying Brazil's Chapecoense soccer team crashes in Colombia, 76 dead

Brazilian soccer team Chapecoense, heading for the biggest game in their history, were on board a plane that crashed into Colombian jungle, killing 76 people, police said on Tuesday.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Nov 29, 2016

A play on the idea of performance art

By the late 1960s, Japan's early postwar avant-garde had largely petered out. The radicals of yesteryear were now 20 years older and the country had returned to material affluence and international acceptance symbolized by the 1964 Tokyo Olympics.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Nov 29, 2016

Pakistan says Japan traders among those eyeing LNG tender

Pakistan says Japan's biggest trading houses are among almost two dozen companies eyeing its liquefied natural gas purchase tender that it says is the largest on record.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Politics / ANALYSIS
Nov 29, 2016

Abe's war against agriculture juggernaut found wanting in watered-down plan

Abe on Tuesday approved the new plan to shake up Zen-Noh, a juggernaut that boasts u00a56 trillion in annual operating revenues.
BASEBALL / Japanese Baseball
Nov 29, 2016

Otani, Arai win MVP awards

Shohei Otani's historic season of rewriting the record books and challenging conventional baseball wisdom reached its logical conclusion on Monday night.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC
Nov 29, 2016

U.N. Security Council to vote Wednesday on North Korea sanctions, diplomats say

The United Nations Security Council is set to vote Wednesday to impose new sanctions on North Korea for its fifth and largest nuclear test, slashing Pyongyang's export earnings by some $800 million, diplomats said on Monday.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Nov 28, 2016

Despite legislation, danger of exploiting foreign workers remains

Rather than relying on foreign 'trainees' to compensate for labor shortages, Japan should establish apprenticeship programs to give citizens needed skills.
COMMENTARY / World
Nov 28, 2016

Why Tunisia's path looks brighter than Egypt's

Egypt and Tunesia both underwent regime five years ago and face similar economic problems, but Tunesia's embrace of political inclusion means it could soon be on the path to a healthy recovery.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Companies / WISDOM OF ENTREPRENEURS
Nov 28, 2016

Exporting online no longer a side job, says consultant

Akihiko Tsukahara, an exporter of Japanese products and export consultant, recalled the time he was struggling to gather hundreds of game boards for the game of go to fill an order. It was an order placed by an overseas operator of go classes, worth ¥8 million (the initial purchase order value was ¥12...
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Nov 27, 2016

Kim's Castro condolence letter reveals long-standing North Korea-Cuba ties

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un sent a message of condolences to Cuba over the death of former leader Fidel Castro, highlighting the two nations' long-standing ties, the state-run Korean Central News Agency said Sunday.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Nov 27, 2016

Alabama Shakes take a risk that pays off in 'Sound & Color'

With their blended appearance and a sound steeped in soul yet born of the millennial rock scene, Alabama Shakes could symbolize a post-racial dream that, as the recent U.S. election shows, remains a work in progress.
COMMUNITY / Issues / LABOR PAINS
Nov 27, 2016

'Five-year rule' triggers 'Tohoku college massacre' of jobs

I have discussed the "five-year rule" several times before in this column — the revision of the Labor Contract Law (Rodo Keiyaku Ho) enacted in 2013. Under the amendment, any worker employed on serial fixed-term contracts (yūki koyō) for more than five years can give themselves permanent status....
JAPAN
Nov 27, 2016

Nobel-winning Belarusian writer Alexievich speaks on nuclear disasters and the future of human hubris

Svetlana Alexievich, winner of the 2015 Nobel Prize in literature, called the nuclear catastrophes at Chernobyl and Fukushima events that people cannot yet fully fathom and warned against the hubris that humans have the power to conquer nature.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Media / BIG IN JAPAN
Nov 26, 2016

Hand over the keys: getting Japan's elderly drivers off the road

On Nov. 12, in the city of Tachikawa in western Tokyo, an 83-year-old female driver — while reaching out her car window to insert a parking ticket into the toll gate machine in a hospital parking lot — accidentally pushed down on the accelerator and lost control of her vehicle. It crossed the road...
BUSINESS / YEN FOR LIVING
Nov 26, 2016

Where to burn aging Japan's growing numbers of dead?

A sideshow of Japan's demographic crisis is that there aren't enough facilities available to 'process' these bodies.

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