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EDITORIALS
Aug 9, 2011

Betrayal of child-rearing principle

The ruling Democratic Party of Japan and the two main opposition parties — the Liberal Democratic Party and Komeito — struck an agreement on Aug. 4 to introduce an income cap for recipients of the child allowance. From fiscal 2012, child-rearing families whose annual income is above ¥9.6 million...
BUSINESS
Aug 9, 2011

Orix to invest $1 billion in China for water, renewable energy quest

Orix Corp., a provider of financial services ranging from leasing to insurance, plans to invest as much as ¥80 billion ($1 billion) in China over two years in water, machinery and renewable energy.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / CLOSE-UP
Aug 7, 2011

Tadanori Yokoo: An artist by design

In conversation, Tadanori Yokoo jumps nimbly between the past and the present. One moment he's watching the sky glow red as bombs rain down on Kobe during World War II. The next he's riding in a taxi with Yukio Mishima. And then he's back in the present, here at his studio in Tokyo's Setagaya Ward, discussing...
Japan Times
JAPAN / CHUBU CONNECTION
Aug 6, 2011

Temp staffer wins maternity leave, via union

When female nonregular workers become pregnant, employers often refuse to renew their contracts. However, a Japanese-Brazilian woman in the Tokai region stood up and joined a local labor union to protest the practice.
CULTURE / Japan Pulse
Aug 5, 2011

Upmarket and themed karaoke spaces

Who says singing karaoke room has to be a low-rent affair?
Japan Times
Events / Events Outside Tokyo
Aug 5, 2011

Hiroshima revamps its aquarium

Plenty of rare marine species will debut at the re-opening of Hiroshima's Miyajima Aquarium after three years of renovations.
JAPAN
Aug 5, 2011

Tepco makes little headway in decontaminating water

Tokyo Electric Power Co. continues to struggle with cleaning up the more than 120,000 tons of radioactive water flooding the Fukushima No. 1 power plant, as the utility has hardly been able to reduce the overall amount of the water in the past several weeks.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Aug 5, 2011

Art triennale to explore quake, life's mysteries

The summer just gets hotter and hotter for visual-art fans in Japan. Following on the heels of Art Fair Tokyo, which attracted 43,000 visitors to Tokyo International Forum last weekend, the nation's largest art event of all, the once-every-three-years Yokohama Triennale, opens Saturday.
Reader Mail
Aug 4, 2011

Situation in the Horn of Africa

The Aug. 1 AP article "Hungry Eritreans suffer in silence" is a deliberate distorted tutorial prepared on the prevailing situation in the Horn of Africa. It is important to set the record straight.
COMMENTARY / World
Aug 2, 2011

Holding oil firms liable for rights violations

Several nongovernment organizations have filed an amicus brief urging the United States Supreme Court to review the ruling of an appeals court that corporations, under international law, cannot be held liable for damages from serious human rights violations.
BASEBALL / HIT AND RUN
Aug 2, 2011

Hara needs to show patience as Giants try to bounce back

One could only imagine the thoughts running through Tatsunori Hara's mind as he watched his Yomiuri Giants blow a five-run lead against the Tokyo Yakult Swallows on Sunday.
BUSINESS
Aug 2, 2011

Nomura, Daiwa to slash jobs, costs as losses mount abroad

Nomura Holdings Inc. and Daiwa Securities Group Inc., Japan's largest brokerages, plan to cut costs as the faltering local economy, Europe's sovereign credit crisis and U.S. debt impasse weigh on earnings.
COMMENTARY / World
Aug 1, 2011

'Venture mentors' can give as big a boost to startup companies as a capital infusion

In June, I participated in a meeting sponsored by the Clinton Global Initiative, the giant philanthropy, that focused on creating more jobs in the United States — presumably a goal shared by most countries.
EDITORIALS
Jul 31, 2011

Rise in single-member households reflects concerns about income

For the first time, single people have become the largest category of household in Japan. A preliminary tabulation of last year's government census revealed June 29 that the number of single-member households exceeded 30 percent of the total 50.9 million households in the country.
COMMENTARY / World
Jul 28, 2011

Winning the transition to democracy

Is the Arab Spring turning into a gloomy autumn? With brutal crackdowns in Syria, a bloody civil war in Libya, and Yemen teetering on the brink of chaos, the number of skeptics is growing. Although Egypt and Tunisia's prodemocracy movements achieved rapid regime change, uncertainties remain in those...
BUSINESS
Jul 28, 2011

JFE reports fall of 75% in profit

Steelmaker JFE Holdings Inc. reported Wednesday a 75 percent drop in first-quarter profit after raw material costs rose and the March 11 earthquake disrupted supply lines at carmakers and other customers.
COMMENTARY
Jul 26, 2011

Push FTA of South Korea, Japan, China toward TPP

Ten years since the concept of a free-trade agreement (FTA) among Japan, China and South Korea was proposed, some visibly significant moves have gotten under way recently. The three countries, at their leaders' summit talks held in Japan on May 21 and 22, reached agreement to conclude the industry-government-academia...
COMMENTARY / THE VIEW FROM NEW YORK
Jul 25, 2011

The self-inflicted costs of a 'war of choice'

In mid-July when Mumbai was attacked with three explosions, The New York Times carried photos of some of the bloodied casualties up front — at least in its online version — and I wondered: If the newspaper for "all the news that's fit to print" had carried photos of victims of American bombing and...
Reader Mail
Jul 24, 2011

Open letter to nuclear experts

As a father who has evacuated his wife and children from our home near the mess at the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear plant, I would like to share a couple of insights that will hopefully inform the debate, or the lack of one, that has been raging:
Reader Mail
Jul 24, 2011

Enabling women doctors to work

Regarding the July 3 editorial, "Boost women's role in society": Because of a serious shortage of doctors, Japan faces many problems including the runaround that patients get. It's time to improve the working environment for female doctors.
JAPAN / Media / BIG IN JAPAN
Jul 24, 2011

Setsuden and the magic number 28

Japan's summer has started off with a bang, weather-wise.

Longform

Japan's growing ranks of centenarians are redefining what it means to live in a super-aging society.
What comes after 100?