Search - 2014

 
 
JAPAN
Oct 23, 2014

Wealthy Japanese quickest to get richer in Asia

Japan's millionaires increased their wealth at the fastest pace in the Asia-Pacific region last year as Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's campaign for an economic revival drove the stock market higher.
Japan Times
WORLD / Science & Health
Oct 23, 2014

Paraguayan plant stevia upends sugar market

The maker of America's top sugar brand, Domino Sugar, is launching its first no-calorie "natural" sweetener extracted from the stevia plant in Paraguay, the strongest sign yet that the upstart product is threatening to eat into demand for sugar.
BUSINESS / Tech
Oct 23, 2014

Technology companies winning battle with 'patent trolls'

For two decades, companies that buy software patents in order to sue technology giants have been the scourge of Silicon Valley. Reviled as "patent trolls," they have attacked everything from Google's online ads to Apple's iPhone features, sometimes winning hundreds of millions of dollars.
BUSINESS / Companies
Oct 22, 2014

DLE, Toho to use theater screens as testing ground for new characters

DLE and the movie theater unit of Toho, the creator of 'Godzilla,' announced plans Wednesday to use the slot between trailers and the feature as a content incubator starting next month, pitting new characters in a popularity contest and sharing the intellectual property rights.
Japan Times
WORLD / Crime & Legal
Oct 22, 2014

Islam-convert who killed soldier in Quebec was on Canada police radar

A Canadian man who rammed two soldiers in Quebec with his car, killing one of them, converted to Islam last year and was among 90 people being tracked by Canadian police on suspicion of taking part in militant activities abroad or planning to do so.
Japan Times
BASKETBALL / HOOP SCOOP
Oct 21, 2014

Kyoto forward Warren dedicates play to those battling cancer

It's not every day that you see a 202-cm forward wearing a pink headband during a men's pro basketball game.
BASKETBALL
Oct 21, 2014

Ex-Apache Tyler to play in China

Forward Jeremy Tyler is on the move again. This time, he's headed to China for the 2014-15 basketball season, Yahoo Sports has reported.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Tech
Oct 21, 2014

China eyes selling high-speed trains to California

State-backed China CNR Corp. is making a pitch to sell its high-speed trains to California, signaling the country's growing export ambitions for such technology after building the world's longest network in just seven years.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / Japan
Oct 21, 2014

The battle to boost universities

The government should consider the latest lackluster global rankings for Japanese universities and undertake a fundamental review of its university education policies.
CULTURE / Music / STRANGE BOUTIQUE
Oct 21, 2014

You say proto-this, I say post-that, let's call the whole thing 'skronk'

A famous quote of mysterious provenance (most likely the American actor and singer Martin Mull) has it that, "Writing about music is like dancing about architecture," and anyone who has ever tried to write about music will know that language can be an inadequate tool.
COMMENTARY / World
Oct 20, 2014

Big Pharma, world leaders not cut out for Ebola battle

Scientists at leading universities, rather than Big Pharma, are fighting the battle against Ebola and other tricky diseases, while the response of Western leaders has been to try to keep Ebola out of their backyards.
COMMENTARY / World
Oct 20, 2014

Women joining the top '1 percent'

A study by three economists concludes that economic inequality in America is becoming more gender neutral. In the early 1980s, women comprised at least 3 percent of the top 1 percent of wage earners. Now they're approaching 20 percent.
COMMENTARY / World
Oct 20, 2014

Do some citations rank academic stupidity?

The admonition 'cite your sources' rings in the ear of every slapdash undergraduate and corner-cutting postdoc. But have we taken the emphasis on citation so far that we've ended up ranking academic stupidity?
Japan Times
WORLD / Politics
Oct 20, 2014

Modi's BJP makes big gains in Indian state polls

Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Hindu nationalist party has made big gains in two Indian state elections, results showed Sunday, in an endorsement likely to encourage him to step up the pace of economic reforms.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Oct 19, 2014

Takata air bag defects far more severe than revealed

Manufacturing problems with Takata Corp. air bags go beyond what the Tokyo-based company has disclosed to U.S. safety regulators about why the devices are at risk of exploding with dangerous force, according to internal company documents reviewed by Reuters.
BASKETBALL
Oct 19, 2014

NBL takes over running of Robots

The National Basketball League has taken control over managing the Tsukuba Robots, it was announced on Saturday.
COMMENTARY / Japan / SENTAKU MAGAZINE
Oct 19, 2014

Abe's inner circle sprouting horns over next tax bump

A major battle appears to be brewing between the office of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and the Finance Ministry — the most powerful bureaucracy in Japan — over whether to raise the consumption tax from the current 8 percent to 10 percent next fall.
COMMENTARY / World
Oct 19, 2014

Thai regime hunts for legitimacy in Myanmar

Thai Prime Minister General Prayuth Chan-ocha visits Myanmar, of all places, to try to add a layer of legitimacy to his regime following the military coup last May.
COMMENTARY / World
Oct 19, 2014

How Obamacare kills jobs and boosts deficits

An 'Obamacare' critic says America's Affordable Health Care law discourages employers from hiring more than 50 employees while encouraging employees to work less or not at all because they can get federal subsidies to buy health insurance outside the workplace.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Media / BIG IN JAPAN
Oct 18, 2014

The sinking yen is a threat to the cost of living

If the items you purchase these days seem more expensive, you're not imagining things.
COMMENTARY / Japan / COUNTERPOINT
Oct 18, 2014

The Abe conundrum and the pitfalls ahead

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe is a polarizing figure, lauded as the resolute leader Japan needs to revive its flagging fortunes and slammed for mishandling history issues in ways that undermine national interests.
Japan Times
BASEBALL / BASEBALL BULLET-IN
Oct 18, 2014

Cuban players experienced mixed success this season

The first season of the so-called "Cuban invasion" into Japanese baseball has ended with mixed results and the uncertainty as to whether it will continue in 2015 or was a one-time fad that will fade quickly. Eight Cuban-born players were signed to contracts in Japan in 2014, and their performances ranged...
COMMENTARY / World
Oct 18, 2014

Barriers to economic progress for women

New evidence is emerging of the lingering cultural barriers to women's economic advancement, which must be addressed if the world is ever to attain its goal of gender equality.
JAPAN / Politics
Oct 17, 2014

Justice minister red-faced over alleged election law violation

Justice Minister Midori Matsushima appeared to be clinging to office on Friday after receiving a criminal complaint over her election conduct.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Companies
Oct 17, 2014

Son's $51 billion acquisition run faces speed bump

Billionaire Masayoshi Son's 300-year business plan for SoftBank Corp. sees no pause in acquisitions that saw him splurge $51 billion in five years. Higher interest rates in the U.S. and Japan may put the brakes on his debt-fueled ambitions.
Japan Times
WORLD
Oct 17, 2014

Hurricane Gonzalo regains strength en route to Bermuda

Hurricane Gonzalo regained strength on Thursday, again reaching Category 4 as it swirled toward Bermuda, the U.S. National Hurricane Center said, prompting residents of the island to prepare for the second major storm in a week.

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.