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JAPAN
Nov 20, 2014

Shimomura wants to make English classes mandatory for fifth- and sixth-graders

Education minister Hakubun Shimomura proposes a root-and-branch overhaul of the elementary, junior high and high school curricula.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Politics / ANALYSIS
Nov 18, 2014

Abe is banking on getting a new voter mandate

It's finally official. Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said Tuesday he will dissolve the Lower House and call a snap election next month, after his administration decided to delay the next hike in the consumption tax until April 2017.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Economy
Nov 17, 2014

Japan's economy takes a dive as Abe weighs delay of second tax hike

The economy unexpectedly sank into a recession in the last quarter, unable to shake off the impact of April's consumption tax hike and raising the odds that Prime Minister Shinzo Abe will postpone a second increase next year.
BUSINESS / Economy
Nov 12, 2014

Kuroda ally warns Abe against delaying consumption tax increase

An adviser to the Bank of Japan and longtime colleague of Gov. Haruhiko Kuroda is warning that a delay by Prime Minister Shinzo Abe to raise the consumption tax would have profound implications for monetary policy.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC
Nov 11, 2014

Hong Kong protesters told to clear streets or risk arrest

Hong Kong's acting chief executive on Tuesday called on pro-democracy protesters to clear sites they have occupied for more than six weeks and warned holdouts they could face arrest, a move that could swell protest numbers.
BUSINESS / Companies
Nov 11, 2014

Tepco reportedly to seek ¥280 billion in new bank loans for next June

Tokyo Electric Power Co. is in talks with banks for ¥280 billion in new loans next June, two sources with knowledge of the matter said.
COMMENTARY / World
Nov 7, 2014

Putin's cronies fight for Russia's textbooks

Larger school textbook publishers who have no problem with Russia's growth into an ideological state under President Vladimir Putin are allowed to make money.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Nov 5, 2014

Wales minister says nuclear power remains a good investment

While the nation debates the wisdom of restarting its nuclear power plants, the energy source remains central to some nations' investments for tomorrow. The process to construct a new two-reactor facility in Wales has been going as planned, the British province's economy minister said.
BUSINESS / IEC GENERAL MEETING IN TOKYO
Nov 4, 2014

Capturing overseas sales

Fuji Electric Co. is an electrical manufacturer specializing in five technology fields: power generation/social infrastructure, industrial infrastructure, power electronics, electronic devices and food and beverage distribution. Fuji Electric Co., Ltd aims for compatibility between high-tech innovation...
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Nov 3, 2014

Asian LNG buyers disappointed by slow pace of gain in U.S. gas exports

North American liquefied natural gas projects, once believed to be the panacea that would save Asia from paying top dollar for the super chilled fuel, are proving to be less of a game-changer than originally expected.
Japan Times
LIFE / Travel
Nov 1, 2014

Cultivating shrunken worlds in Bonsai-mura

Omiya is one of greater Tokyo's rare pockets of residential comfort that can accurately be defined as middle class — a trait it shares with places such as Chiba's Ichikawa Mama or southwestern Tokyo's Denenchofu district.
WORLD / Science & Health
Nov 1, 2014

New U.S. rockets to include launch-escape systems

Heeding a lesson from history, designers of a new generation of U.S. rockets will include escape systems to give crew members a fighting chance of surviving launch accidents such as the one that felled an unmanned Orbital Sciences Antares rocket on Tuesday.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC
Nov 1, 2014

Thousands denounce HSBC board member's likening of Hong Kongers to freed slaves

Thousands have signed an online petition denouncing reported comments by an HSBC Holdings board member in which she likened Hong Kong protesters' demands for democracy to the emancipation of slaves.
Japan Times
WORLD
Oct 31, 2014

Sweden recognizes Palestinian state, hopes peace process will restart

The Swedish government officially recognized the state of Palestine on Thursday and said there were signs European Union states would follow its lead.
JAPAN
Oct 30, 2014

Fukushima Reactor 1 dismantling to be delayed

In the first-ever delay in the plans to dismantle reactor 1 at Tokyo Electric Power Co.'s stricken Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant, the government and the utility have agreed to postpone the removal of fuel rods from the spent-fuel pool by two years from the initial plans, NHK reported Thursday....
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Oct 28, 2014

Above all, Hong Kong wants good governance

Rather than demands for democracy, the recent massive public demonstrations by students and young members of Hong Kong's middle class are actually about poor governance by a succession of leaders who were picked by China's central government more for their loyalty than for their competence.

Longform

Visitors walk past Sou Fujimoto's Grand Ring, which has been recognized as the largest wooden structure in the world.
Can a World Expo still matter? Japan is about to find out.