Search - 2017

 
 
EDITORIALS
Dec 25, 2015

Budgeting ahead of an election

The Abe administration appears to be sacrificing budgetary discipline in favor of doling out pork ahead of the Upper House election.
BUSINESS / Companies
Dec 24, 2015

Mitsubishi Regional Jet rollout delayed by another year

Mitsubishi Aircraft Corp. will push back delivery of the first Japanese-made passenger jet by a year, the fourth time it has delayed bringing the Mitsubishi Regional Jet to market.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / ANALYSIS
Dec 24, 2015

Japan's draft budget a firm move against fiscal headwinds

The record ¥96.7 trillion draft budget for fiscal 2016 is by many measures a feat, a key push in the government's efforts to cut spending.
BUSINESS
Dec 22, 2015

Most analysts' 2016 calls unaltered by BOJ's program tweaks

Most economists are sticking with their forecast on whether the Bank of Japan will add to its unprecedented monetary stimulus after Gov. Haruhiko Kuroda on Friday announced tweaks to the program, remaining sharply divided about what the central bank will likely do in 2016.
COMMENTARY / World
Dec 20, 2015

Thailand in 2015: a year of spinning its wheels

Gen. Prayuth Chan-ocha's promises to launch a number of projects to put Thailand back on the track toward democracy have proven empty.
Japan Times
JAPAN / FUKUSHIMA FILE
Dec 20, 2015

Loneliness grows as 3/11 evacuees vacate temporary housing

Even though thousands of evacuees from the 3/11 disasters still live in temporary housing, many others have moved on, turning once busy communities into virtual ghost towns.
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Dec 19, 2015

Japanese newspapers' self-interest ensures they toe Komeito's line on tax exemption

The vernacular press has been uncharacteristically unanimous in its support for the exemption of food from the planned consumption tax hike.
EDITORIALS
Dec 18, 2015

The center holds in France

French centrist political parties have fended off the far-right National Front for now, but the fight is far from over.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Dec 17, 2015

Two generations of 'Star Wars' heroes come together in 'The Force Awakens'

It all started a long time ago (1977 to be precise) in a galaxy far, far away — er, Hollywood. Six films and billions of dollars in merchandising later, the world awaits the arrival of "Star Wars: The Force Awakens."
Japan Times
JAPAN / Politics
Dec 17, 2015

Putting politics over economics, Abe may stall sales tax hike, call for double Diet poll next summer

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe may put off a sales tax rise and call a snap Lower House election next summer, in tandem with a poll for the upper chamber, imitating a winning strategy he used a year ago, some advisers and political sources say.
EDITORIALS
Dec 16, 2015

The risky nuclear deal with India

The pending nuclear cooperation pact with India, a nuclear weapons power, represents a major shift in Japanese policy.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Dec 16, 2015

Abe flubs great opportunity to be a green global leader

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe could have stood forward at the Paris climate talks as a world leader in the fight against climate change. Instead, he offered nothing new.
BUSINESS
Dec 15, 2015

Tightest job market since 1992 may weigh on Japan bonds

The nation's most severe labor shortage in almost quarter of a century will support the central bank's inflation target and weaken appetite for already low-yielding bonds.
COMMENTARY / World
Dec 14, 2015

To see the future of electric cars, look to China

The real action on electric vehicles is happening in China, where smoggy skies and government subsidies are creating the perfect conditions for them to thrive.
WORLD
Dec 14, 2015

U.S., Japan, Germany among 18 nations to build carbon markets

Eighteen nations including the U.S., Japan and Germany will work together to develop international carbon markets to help speed the pace of emission reductions under the Paris climate deal struck Saturday, according to the New Zealand government.
Japan Times
WORLD / Society
Dec 14, 2015

Pressured by allies, Merkel looks to 'drastically' cap Germany's refugee influx alreadly set to top 1 million

Chancellor Angela Merkel said on Sunday she wanted to "drastically decrease" the number of refugees coming to Germany, signaling a compromise to critics of her open-door policy from within her conservatives on the eve of a party congress.
BUSINESS / Economy
Dec 12, 2015

Ruling coalition clinches deal on food tax rate

The Liberal Democratic Party and Komeito finalized plans to apply a lower sales tax rate to food purchases, a measure that will cost u00a51 trillion in revenue.
EDITORIALS
Dec 10, 2015

Rise of National Front in France

The far-right National Front is making disturbing gains in France, and the mainstream political parties need to up their game.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / ANALYSIS
Dec 10, 2015

Yahoo weighs spinoff of Web units, not ditching Alibaba stake

Yahoo Inc. is changing course. Again.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Companies / FOCUS
Dec 10, 2015

Lexus races to fill sports coupe gap a decade after SC's demise

What does 2+2 equal? If Lexus is doing the math, its newest model could be the answer.
BUSINESS
Dec 9, 2015

Low tax on food will hurt the poor, say economists

Political negotiations between the nation's ruling coalition are approaching a showdown over the unpopular consumption tax, which is set to rise to 10 percent from 8 percent in April 2017. A sweetener being considered has drawn scathing criticism from many economists.

Longform

Tetsuzo Shiraishi, speaking at The Center of the Tokyo Raids and War Damage, uses a thermos to explain how he experienced the U.S. firebombing of March 1945, when he was just 7 years old.
From ashes to high-rises: A survivor’s account of Tokyo’s postwar past