Search - 2014

 
 
Japan Times
ENVIRONMENT / WILD WATCH
Jan 10, 2015

Modern technology aids whale research

In my last column of 2014, "Twelve ways to spend 2015 with nature," I mentioned the possibility of taking a whale-watching trip to the Ogasawara Islands. Ignore the international media hype about the country's pelagic whaling industry — it's a dying custom; instead, focus on the fact that Japan has...
EDITORIALS
Jan 10, 2015

Proactive emissions plan needed

Although Japan is the world's fifth-largest emitter of greenhouse gases, there doesn't seem to be the prospect that Tokyo will submit its COP20 emissions cut plan before the March 31 deadline.
Japan Times
Figure Skating / ICE TIME
Jan 9, 2015

Will Murakami ever realize full potential?

It remains one of the great mysteries of Japanese skating.
COMMENTARY / World
Jan 9, 2015

Learn from climate change's instructive past

How do climate-change Cassandras accommodate historical evidence of enormously consequential episodes of climate change that were not produced by human activity?
COMMENTARY / World
Jan 9, 2015

It's time for Hong Kong's government to talk

For Hong Kong's pro-democracy protesters, 2015 is off to a dismal start. Now that Chief Executive Leung Chun-ying has cleared the streets, he seems to have lost interest in talking.
WORLD
Jan 9, 2015

Paris attack highlights broader attempt to silence media

The attack on journalists in Paris is not an isolated incident but part of a broader attempt to muzzle the press. At least 158 reporters and photographers have been killed while doing their jobs since 2011, the worst three-year period on record.
Japan Times
SUMO / SUMO SCRIBBLINGS
Jan 9, 2015

History in the making as Hakuho goes for 33 championships

The eyes of a nation will be on yokozuna Hakuho when he walks out for his bout on Sunday at Ryogoku’s Kokugikan Stadium.
BUSINESS
Jan 9, 2015

Honda to pay $70 million to U.S. for failure to report deaths, injuries

Honda Motor agrees to pay $70 million in penalties to the U.S. government for failing to report hundreds of injuries, deaths and other consumer claims involving its cars.
BASKETBALL
Jan 8, 2015

Shimane signs forward Witherspoon

Forward Wesley Witherspoon, who saw action in three preseason games for the San Antonio Spurs in 2012 as an undrafted rookie, has joined the Shimane Susanoo Magic, the bj-league club announced on Wednesday.
Japan Times
WORLD
Jan 8, 2015

Modi passes 'Thatcher test' as coal union strike crumbles

Prime Minister Narendra Modi faced down the first major opposition to his economic agenda as coal unions called off a 2-day-old strike that threatened to paralyze the nation.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Jan 7, 2015

100 Yen Love: Punching your way out of an old paper bag

Boxing films share a similar arc, typically climaxing in a big bout that decides everything — at least everything relevant to the hero's fate. This does not always means triumph, as fans of the "Rocky" series know, but even in defeat the hero usually inspires respect and sympathy, at the very least...
Japan Times
SOCCER / SOCCER SCENE
Jan 7, 2015

Japan looking to put troubles on back burner at Asian Cup

Preparations could hardly have been more disrupted as Japan gets ready to defend its Asian Cup title, but that is all likely to be forgotten once the tournament kicks off on Friday.
JAPAN / Politics
Jan 7, 2015

Okinawa development budget may be smaller than requested, Tokyo warns

The central government, irked by the election of a new Okinawa governor opposed to its plan to build a new military base in the Henoko district of Nago, has indicated that the prefecture's development budget for fiscal 2015 could be less than it originally requested.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Stage
Jan 7, 2015

Uyama's new 'Lear' acts his age

"You see me here, you gods, a poor old man,As full of grief as age; wretched in both!"
BUSINESS
Jan 7, 2015

U.S. recalls may climb this year, car safety chief says

A recent wave of auto recalls may lead to even more flaws being discovered this year as drivers become alert to design faults, the top U.S. car safety official said Tuesday.
BUSINESS / Companies
Jan 7, 2015

Toyota sales in China fall short; dealers complain of losses

Toyota Motor Corp. delivered fewer vehicles in China last year than it targeted, as slowing growth in the world's largest auto market and vehicle stockpiles led some of its dealers to threaten to drop out of its sales network.
WORLD
Jan 7, 2015

Mexico says drug cartel forced members to eat human hearts as show of loyalty

A vicious Mexican drug gang forced some members to eat the hearts of murder victims as part of a gruesome initiation rite to root out infiltrators, a government security official said on Tuesday, citing witness testimony.
COMMENTARY / World
Jan 6, 2015

The Sony hacking scandal and the blame game

The biggest problem with blaming North Korea for the recent hack of Sony Pictures is that Kim Jong Un's dictatorship gained nothing from the hack.
COMMENTARY / World
Jan 6, 2015

Working hard but staying poor

Many people in the Western world wrongly assume that solving the problem of poverty in the developing world primarily requires the creation of more jobs. The developing world has plenty of jobs. In the absence of any meaningful social welfare systems, the world's working poor need better jobs.

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.