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Japan Times
BUSINESS
Feb 17, 2014

Westin feels it's perfectly positioned to pamper, keep ahead of rivals

The Westin Tokyo is currently enjoying brisk sales and expects business to continue to thrive as consumers presently have a propensity to spend money on luxurious food and accommodations, the hotel's general manager said recently.
COMMENTARY / World
Feb 17, 2014

The last of the Sudeiri Seven

Never before have the intrigues and intricacies of royal politics in Saudi Arabia had such far-reaching ramifications for the region and beyond as they do now.
Japan Times
OLYMPICS / ICE TIME
Feb 16, 2014

Canada's Chan dignified in defeat

Canada's Patrick Chan held a press conference on Saturday, the day after settling for the silver medal behind Yuzuru Hanyu.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Tech
Feb 16, 2014

Web pioneers try to transform TV

Netflix had a chance of breaking the Internet over the weekend in America.
JAPAN / Science & Health / NATURAL SELECTIONS
Feb 15, 2014

Stem-cell leap defied Japanese norms

It's not surprising that last week Haruko Obokata issued a plea for privacy. On Jan. 29 she published a scientific paper on stem cells that could revolutionize medicine, and overnight the researcher based at the Riken Center for Developmental Biology (CDB) in Kobe became a domestic and international...
JAPAN / History / THE LIVING PAST
Feb 15, 2014

Once upon a time, China anointed a 'King of Japan'

In 1401, barely a century after the Mongols' aborted invasions of Japan, and 600-odd years before Japan and China fell out over the Senkaku islets, a Chinese emperor conferred upon a Japanese shogun the title "King of Japan."
Japan Times
OLYMPICS / ICE TIME
Feb 15, 2014

Olympic champion Hanyu embraces role as hero to millions

It was not as majestic as it could have been, but the morning after the reality is that Yuzuru Hanyu is the Olympic champion.
Japan Times
LIFE
Feb 15, 2014

Euthanasia: the dilemma of choice

Euthanasia is an emotionally charged issue for people on both sides of the debate. Proponents of euthanasia argue that a person suffering from terminal illness should be given the freedom to choose how and when they die. Such discourse is given weight by the Japanese term for the practice — anrakushi,...
BUSINESS / Companies
Feb 15, 2014

Rakuten acquires Viber web phone/messaging service for $900 million

Rakuten Inc., the Japanese online retailer controlled by billionaire Hiroshi Mikitani, is buying the Viber Internet messaging and calling service for $900 million as it moves into social networking.
COMMENTARY / World
Feb 14, 2014

Swiss voters send EU a message on immigration

Conventional debate in Europe has interpreted increased anti-immigrant sentiment as the result of xenophobia, racism and a new sympathy for the authoritarian far right. Analysis does not bear this out in the case of Switzerland and its narrow majority vote against 'massive immigration.'
BUSINESS
Feb 14, 2014

Wind lobby raps environment reports

Japan's effort to obtain more power from wind turbines is being held up by requirements that force developers to conduct environmental impact assessments, undermining government support for the industry, according to a lobby group.
BUSINESS / Companies
Feb 14, 2014

Nomura profits big from Fortress sale

Nomura Holdings Inc., the nation's largest investment bank, said Friday it generated a ¥21 billion profit from selling its stake in U.S. asset manager Fortress Investment Group LLC.
Japan Times
JAPAN / CHUBU CONNECTION
Feb 14, 2014

Chinese students put Shiga residents online

Chinese exchange students at Shiga University have been interviewing local residents and posting the videos and articles in Chinese under a project called Interviewing 100 People in Hikone.
COMMENTARY / World
Feb 13, 2014

Japanese internment set for short shrift in class

Don't count on the controversial internment of loyal Japanese Americans during World War II to receive full coverage in future American high school history classes.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Stage
Feb 12, 2014

Double-take for a new one-woman 'Tinkerbell'

Life is hard for Marcello Magni. Not only is he directing a production separately starring famed actress Tomoko Mariya and upcoming talent Kae Okumura, but the work, in Japanese, is also his brand-new version of an early play by his great friend — and Japan's leading contemporary dramatist — Hideki...
Japan Times
BASKETBALL / BJ-LEAGUE NOTEBOOK
Feb 12, 2014

Second-year pro Togashi orchestrates high-octane offense

The Akita Northern Happinets have had no difficulty scoring points this season.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / KANPAI CULTURE
Feb 11, 2014

All-female wine award targets girls of the grape

Before the tasting commenced at the inaugural Sakura Japan Women's Wine Awards in Tokyo, the judges were reminded to remove their lipstick. The competition, organized by the Wine and Spirits Culture Association (WSCA), is the first in Japan to feature an all-female panel of assessors. Over the course...
COMMENTARY / World
Feb 11, 2014

Iraq near implosion as 'bad years' come back

Iraq's 'bad years' seem to be making a comeback, and this time the U.S. has little leverage over Iraq to control events from afar.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Feb 11, 2014

Mitsume play the indie game, but are winning the mainstream

Mitsume subscribes to an easy-to-get-behind ethos regularly found in indie-rock communities: "Since our first album, we've been under nobody's control but our own," says lead vocalist Moto Kawabe. "We prefer to do whatever we can ourselves."
COMMENTARY / Japan
Feb 10, 2014

Mutual fears of China, Japan

China and Japan are perceiving more and more threats from each other, and their overactive responses are causing strong sense of insecurity for the region. The vicious circle is driving an escalating arms race.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / THE FOREIGN ELEMENT
Feb 10, 2014

Tokyo model community melds fashion and compassion

Male model Dean Newcombe runs what surely must be the most photogenic all-volunteer organization around. And although some of the volunteers are indeed fashion models, the 'model' in Intrepid Model Adventures refers to role models as well as the catwalk variety.
COMMENTARY / World
Feb 10, 2014

Myths about economic inequality

True, the gap between the rich and the poor is enormous, wider than most Americans would wish, but this reality has made economic inequality a misleading intellectual fad, blamed for many of our problems.

Longform

A small shrine perched atop rocks braves the waves hitting the shoreline during a storm in Shimoda, Shizuoka Prefecture. The area is under threat of a possible 31-meter-high tsunami if an earthquake strikes the nearby Nankai Trough.
If the 'Big One' hits, this city could face a 31-meter-high tsunami