Search - question

 
 
EDITORIALS
Feb 19, 2015

Loopholes in political funds law

One can't help wonder why farm minister Koya Nishikawa felt compelled to have an LDP chapter that he heads return a ¥1 million donation from a subsidiary of the sugar manufacturers' association if there was no illegal activity.
Japan Times
LIFE / Lifestyle
Feb 19, 2015

Student wrestlers learn the ropes ahead of university 'battle royale'

Want to be a lawyer? Go to law school. A doctor? Med school. But where do you enroll if you want to learn how to fly off the top rope to deliver a brutal body slam?
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Feb 18, 2015

A long, painful look into the whirlpools of World War II

The 1985 Holocaust documentary "Shoah," directed by Claude Lanzmann — screening until Mar. 6 at Tokyo's Theatre Image Forum — feels more like evidence than cinema. At 9½ hours, and filled with straight-to-the-camera testimony from concentration camp survivors, Nazi guards and many other eyewitnesses,...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Feb 18, 2015

Rudderless: 'a missed opportunity to really engage with teenage violence'

William H. Macy — long noted as one of the most respected actors of our age (for those who missed him, watch "Fargo" for starters) — has now emerged as a filmmaker.
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / WHEN EAST MARRIES WEST
Feb 18, 2015

Time, gentlemen: When it's time to bid sayonara to Japan, what next?

I ask my departing friend the biggest question of all: After decades in Japan, just how does he plan to earn a living back home?
COMMENTARY / Japan / SENTAKU MAGAZINE
Feb 18, 2015

Tougher times awaiting Abe?

Times are getting tougher for Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's right-hand man.
Japan Times
BASKETBALL
Feb 17, 2015

Kawabuchi draws on J. League success to push for Japan basketball's transformation

When the J. League was being set up in the early 1990s, its chairman, Saburo Kawabuchi, said that he heard a lot of pessimistic voices about its formation. But the Japan Football Association stuck with its plans and started the league.
BASKETBALL / NBA / NBA REPORT
Feb 17, 2015

Jordan blocked out coaching soap opera involving Collins, Jackson

This is the seventh installment from Hall of Fame writer Sam Smith's new book "There Is No Next: NBA Legends on the Legacy of Michael Jordan."
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Feb 17, 2015

Putin's European fifth column

A battle of values is looming in Europe. In one corner is the EU, standing for democracy, freedom, the rule of law and institutionalized international cooperation; in the other stands Putin, representing authoritarianism, intolerance, and the use of force and intimidation as instruments of foreign policy.
JAPAN / Politics
Feb 16, 2015

Abe affirms bid to revise Constitution

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has confirmed his administration aims to revise the Constitution, saying in the Diet that amending the pacifist charter is one of his party's most sought-after goals.
JAPAN
Feb 16, 2015

Second Tokyo ward speaks of action on same-sex unions

The mayor of Setagaya has suggested his ward may seek to recognize same-sex unions, days after neighboring Shibuya district announced it would vote on the issue.
COMMENTARY / World
Feb 16, 2015

Breaking Europe's climate-change stalemate

If Europe is to remain an environmental leader as well as a center of innovation, it will have to embrace realistic solutions that can deliver environmental benefits without sacrificing economic development.
COMMENTARY / World
Feb 15, 2015

Kerry's international order challenges disorder

U.S. Secretary of State John F. Kerry disagrees with cynics who say the international order is unraveling. He sees the world working together as hard as ever to end the Ebola pandemic, reduce nuclear proliferation, achieve an accord on climate change and curb strife in Africa and the Mideast.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Media / BIG IN JAPAN
Feb 14, 2015

Media total up the targets for terrorist attacks

The 67-second video on YouTube opens with a black slate that reads, "A Message to Japan." The video then shows a kneeling journalist, Kenji Goto, clad in an orange outfit.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Science & Health / NATURAL SELECTIONS
Feb 14, 2015

Japanese are quick to embrace robots

"Hello and welcome. I can tell you about money exchange, ATMs, opening a bank account or overseas remittance. Which one would you like?"
Japan Times
CULTURE / Books
Feb 14, 2015

The three-cornered world of Glenn Gould and Natsume Soseki

Two years after it was published, a copy of Natsume Soseki's novella 'The Three-Cornered World' was placed in the hands of one of the world's most celebrated pianists, Glenn Gould.
BASEBALL / BASEBALL BULLET-IN
Feb 14, 2015

Carp catcher Aizawa expected to have bigger role this season

Keep your eye this coming season in Japanese baseball on catcher Tsubasa Aizawa of the Hiroshima Carp. The 27-year-old, eight-year veteran appears ready to take over as the first-string catcher on a team poised to challenge for the Central League pennant under new manager Koichi Ogata.
Reader Mail
Feb 14, 2015

Need to challenge established truths

Regarding Michael Hoffman's Jan. 25 article, "Amid French crisis, Japan frets over virgins": Hoffman seems to make the usual post-modern mistake of turning an idea into an identity.
Japan Times
WORLD / Politics / ANALYSIS
Feb 14, 2015

Argentine state prosecutors face intimidation, interference

Argentine public prosecutors have always needed steely nerves to investigate high-ranking officials, business tycoons and criminals, facing blackmail, threats to kidnap their children and attempts to impeach them.
EDITORIALS
Feb 13, 2015

Negative savings rates loom

The first-ever annual drop in Japan's household savings rate into negative territory might have been the result of people's rush to buy goods before the consumption tax hike last April. Yet, the long-term downtrend in the savings rate is forecast to continue.
COMMENTARY / World
Feb 13, 2015

The pope prompts a rethink about contraception

As Pope Francis was returning from the Philippines to Rome last month, he raised the issue of whether it is legitimate for outside agencies to promote family planning in developing countries. There are several reasons why it is.
COMMENTARY / World
Feb 13, 2015

Presidential politics: all personality, no platform

Hillary Clinton may have everything she needs to run for U.S. president in 2016: money, name recognition, staff, organization — everything except ideas at the moment.
COMMENTARY / World
Feb 13, 2015

Can Malaysian democracy thrive without Anwar?

If the Malaysian opposition party People's Alliance does not hold together without Anwar Ibrahim — who is back in jail again — all chance of ending the National Front's seemingly perpetual rule will be lost.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Feb 13, 2015

Ukraine: first arms, then what?

If the U.S. commits itself to sending arms to Ukraine, it will be signing up for more than military aid. Arms shipments alone are almost never enough to enable a weaker actor to defeat a big-time power.
BUSINESS / Economy
Feb 13, 2015

BOJ sees extra stimulus as counterproductive for now

Bank of Japan policymakers view further monetary easing to shore up inflation as a counterproductive step at present, amid concern it could trigger declines in the yen that damage confidence, sources said.
CULTURE / TV & Streaming / CHANNEL SURF
Feb 13, 2015

Saitama Gold Theater Company; Aum Shinrikyo sarin attack anniversary; CM of the week: Takarakuji

The Saitama Gold Theater Company, supervised by Japan's most famous theater director, Yukio Ninagawa, is made up of seniors — average age 75 — who were stage amateurs before they auditioned for the troupe. Now they play to thousands of paying customers every year, even overseas.
Japan Times
WORLD
Feb 13, 2015

Ukraine deal leaves Putin stronger, and he loses little if cease-fire fails

The peace agreement in the Ukrainian conflict may be tailor-made to satisfy Russian President Vladimir Putin: It keeps the authorities in Kiev under his thumb while avoiding an escalation of the confrontation that would tip his country's economy deeper into crisis.
Japan Times
MORE SPORTS / TYSON-DOUGLAS SHOCKER REVISITED
Feb 12, 2015

Result stunned analyst Bernstein

Fourth in a series
Japan Times
WORLD
Feb 12, 2015

Ceasefire agreed on for eastern Ukraine

The leaders of Germany, France, Russia and Ukraine have agreed on a deal to end fighting in eastern Ukraine, participants at the summit talks said on Thursday.

Longform

In 2020, 38% of all households were single-person. That figure is projected to rise to 44.3% by 2050.
The rise of AI companionship in a lonely Japan