Search - 2016

 
 
COMMUNITY / How-tos / LIFELINES
Dec 4, 2016

Riding while foreign on JR Kyushu can be a costly business

A problem regarding buying JR train tickets in Kyushu and a reminder to travelers to get the correct travel documents before booking their flights to Canada.
Japan Times
WORLD / Politics
Dec 4, 2016

Trump may pick longest-serving U.S. governor as ambassador to China

Iowa Gov. Terry Branstad, a longtime friend of Chinese President Xi Jinping, is the front-runner for the crucial post of U.S. ambassador to China.
WORLD / Politics
Dec 3, 2016

U.S. spy agencies fight Congress over 'micromanagement' plan to probe covert Russian influence

The top U.S. intelligence officer has asked Congress to drop a provision in a bill that would create a special committee to combat Russian efforts to exert covert influence abroad, saying such a panel would duplicate current work and hinder cooperation with foreign allies.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Dec 3, 2016

Trump reportedly invites Philippines' Duterte to visit next year

U.S. President-elect Donald Trump invited Philippine leader Rodrigo Duterte to the White House next year during a "very engaging, animated" phone conversation, a Duterte aide said on Friday, amid rocky relations between their two countries.
Japan Times
MULTIMEDIA
Dec 2, 2016

December 3, 2016

Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink
Dec 2, 2016

Tokyo cafes turn to 'friendly, relaxed' Australia for ideas

What is it about Australian cafes that has Tokyo so excited? Is it the relaxed atmosphere, the service or the fresh flavors? Perhaps it's the high-quality produce and the commitment to crafting exceptional cups of coffee? Or maybe it's the attraction of Australia's laidback lifestyle? Whatever it is,...
Japan Times
WORLD / Society
Dec 2, 2016

Escaped Yazidi sex slave says she never knew about trafficking until her ordeal started

A Yazidi woman imprisoned and raped by Islamic State fighters said she had no idea about the scourge of human trafficking until she found herself enslaved with thousands of other women.
Japan Times
BASKETBALL
Dec 1, 2016

Japan Basketball Association dismisses men's national team coach Hasegawa

Since his appointment two years ago, Kenji Hasegawa has firmly developed the Japan men's national team.
Japan Times
MORE SPORTS
Dec 1, 2016

Murata keeps focus on upcoming bout, aims to secure title shot

Middleweight boxer Ryota Murata will join other Japanese star fighters in a Dec. 30 event at Ariake Colosseum, where he will take on Mexico's Bruno Sandoval, Teiken Gym announced on Thursday.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Society
Dec 1, 2016

Shady work practices earn nominations for Black Company Award

Ad giant Dentsu Inc. and courier company Sagawa Express Co., where employees committed suicide, were among this year's nominees.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Dec 1, 2016

Trump's Treasury pick targets taxes, trade reforms

President-elect Donald Trump's pick to lead the U.S. Treasury, Steven Mnuchin, said on Wednesday the administration would make tax reform and trade pact overhauls top priorities in order to achieve a sustained pace of 3 percent to 4 percent economic growth.
COMMENTARY / World
Dec 1, 2016

Fillon can beat Le Pen, but don't bank on it

Given pollsters' massive predictive failures elsewhere this year, no one should count on left-wing voters turning out to help defeat right-winger Marine Le Pen.
COMMENTARY / World
Dec 1, 2016

China wisely taking a neutral stance for now

China isn't jumping to conclusions about future U.S. policies, much less taking premature action.
Japan Times
WORLD / Politics
Dec 1, 2016

With younger Castro soon to step down, attention turns to Cuba's heir apparent

With revolutionary leader Fidel Castro dead and his brother Raul vowing to step down as president in 15 months, it will soon be the hour of heir apparent Miguel Diaz-Canel, an advocate of modernizing Cuba's state-run media and abysmal internet access.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Tech
Dec 1, 2016

Quest for artificial intelligence highlights lack of critical thinking skills in humans

Thanks to the relentless work of dedicated engineers, artificial intelligence, or AI, becomes smarter by the day.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / THE FOREIGN ELEMENT
Nov 30, 2016

American residents of Japan: dealing with Trump from a distance

Americans on both sides of the political divide interpret the presidential election through the prism of their lives in Japan.
COMMENTARY / World
Nov 30, 2016

Brexit, Trump and a new economic order

Multilateralism is giving way to national self-interest. As inequality across countries has declined, inequality within countries has surged — to the point that the reversal of priorities was probably inevitable.
COMMENTARY / World
Nov 30, 2016

How Russian propaganda works in the West

The 'crazies' that populate the alternative news sphere, those dismissed by the mainstream, consume pro-Vladimir Putin information with their general diet.
WORLD / Politics
Nov 30, 2016

Trump confronting China on trade sets up backlash

If U.S. President-elect Donald Trump delivers on campaign pledges to get tough with China on trade, lining up against him likely will be another powerful adversary: American multinational corporations.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Nov 30, 2016

Wall Street veteran Steven Mnunchin seen as Trump's pick for Treasury secretary

President-elect Donald Trump is expected to name former Goldman Sachs partner and Hollywood financier Steven Mnuchin as his nominee for Treasury secretary, a source said on Tuesday, putting a Wall Street veteran in the top U.S. economic Cabinet post for the first time in eight years.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Nov 29, 2016

Pakistan says Japan traders among those eyeing LNG tender

Pakistan says Japan's biggest trading houses are among almost two dozen companies eyeing its liquefied natural gas purchase tender that it says is the largest on record.
Japan Times
WORLD / Politics
Nov 29, 2016

Trump looks to Obamacare critic, Indiana expert to overhaul health care

President-elect Donald Trump has chosen a vociferous Obamacare critic and an Indiana policy expert to help him overhaul the U.S. health care system, a transition official told Reuters.
COMMENTARY / World
Nov 28, 2016

Hopefully the last of the charismatic totalitarians

With the end of Fidel Castro's life, we can hope to have seen the last of charismatic totalitarians worshiped by political pilgrims from open societies.
COMMENTARY / World
Nov 28, 2016

What will America's Berlusconi do?

Italy's experience with tycoon-turned-politician Silvio Berlusconi provides six clear lessons for Americans and the world on what to expect from Donald Trump.
COMMENTARY / World
Nov 28, 2016

Trumping the international monetary system

Market optimism about U.S. growth could lead to ever-larger imbalances and possibly disrupt the international monetary system.
BUSINESS / Markets
Nov 28, 2016

Others now following prescient analyst who predicted yen's slide

Calling for a weaker yen was a lonely post six months ago for Royal Bank of Scotland Group PLC's Mansoor Mohi-uddin. Now the Singapore-based strategist is getting plenty of company from others who are joining him in forecasting the currency will slide to 120 per dollar.

Longform

A small shrine perched atop rocks braves the waves hitting the shoreline during a storm in Shimoda, Shizuoka Prefecture. The area is under threat of a possible 31-meter-high tsunami if an earthquake strikes the nearby Nankai Trough.
If the 'Big One' hits, this city could face a 31-meter-high tsunami