Search - 2015

 
 
Japan Times
LIFE / Language / BILINGUAL
Jan 18, 2016

Another year of living precariously in 21st-century Japan

2015 was a pretty gloomy year worldwide. And the same could be said for life on the archipelago.
COMMENTARY / World
Jan 18, 2016

Emerging skills gap could derail Asian growth

Governments across Asia must devise ways to transform their education and training systems, so that workers acquire the skills they need to boost economic growth and productivity.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Companies
Jan 18, 2016

MasterCard hopes to catch fintech wave for cashless payments in Asia

The world of finance is newly awash in fintech — the financial software services that leverage state-of-the-art technologies — and MasterCard is jockeying for a larger market share.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Markets
Jan 18, 2016

Japan's stock buyers unconvinced despite positive technical signs

After the worst start to a year on record, Japanese stocks are approaching levels that in the past have proved to be springboards to recoveries.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC / Society
Jan 18, 2016

Promise of clever children in year of monkey may boost births in China

Those born in the year of the monkey are said to be crafty, clever and charming. That has spurred some couples in China to delay parenthood until the less-auspicious sheep year ends — a balm for companies offering fertility products and obstetric services.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / LEARNING CURVE
Jan 17, 2016

Bringing art — and Super 8 — to students in the sticks

An American teacher seeks to bring out students' creativity and help keep Super 8 medium alive through project at university in Tochigi.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Jan 16, 2016

Travesty of justice: legal reform unlikely despite erroneous convictions

Two elderly men fighting for decades to clear their names are poised to receive high-profile retrials in 2016 and yet their ordeals are unlikely to trigger wide-ranging reform to the country's justice system, experts say.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / COUNTERPOINT
Jan 16, 2016

Asia is imperiled by COP21's climate cop-out

The nations of the world gathered at the Paris Climate Conference (COP21) last month to come to an agreement on the urgent mission of reducing greenhouse gas emissions. However, all they produced was an attractive vision statement that is more sham than solution.
Japan Times
CULTURE / CULTURE SMASH
Jan 16, 2016

Online streaming keeps anime afloat

Last week in California, I caught up with some of the chief purveyors of Japanese popular culture in the United States and elsewhere in the world. It became rapidly clear that 2016 won't be at all like 2015 — or any other year before it.
EDITORIALS
Jan 16, 2016

Coming of Age Day reflections

Coming of Age day should be an opportunity for everyone in Japan to reflect on the meaning and importance of adulthood.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Jan 15, 2016

Architect Kengo Kuma dismisses alleged similarities with Hadid stadium design

Kengo Kuma, whose flatter, less expensive design will be used for the Olympic Games' main venue, said his plan and Hadid's differed in concept and cost.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / KONBINI WATCH
Jan 15, 2016

Strawberry shortcake potato chips taste like you would imagine

Japanese snack maker Koikeya has mastered the mix-two-unlikely-flavors-together strategy over the past year.
ASIA PACIFIC / Science & Health
Jan 15, 2016

China plans to land probe on the far side of the moon in 2018

China plans to land the first probe ever on the far side of the moon in 2018, marking another milestone in its ambitious space program, the official Xinhua News Agency reported.
Japan Times
WORLD
Jan 15, 2016

Sabotage, Islamic State suspected as blast his major oil pipeline at Libya's Ras Lanuf terminal

An explosion hit a major oil pipeline south of the Libyan terminal of Ras Lanuf overnight between Wednesday and Thursday, a spokesman for Libya's National Oil Corp (NOC) said.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Jan 14, 2016

Has Taiwan's China gamble gone wrong?

Taiwanese President Ma Ying-jeou made a critical mistake in 2008 when he hitched Taiwan's economy to China.
BUSINESS / Markets
Jan 14, 2016

Stocks tumble in Tokyo, largely erasing Wednesday's rebound

Shares fell in Tokyo on Thursday, cutting short Wednesday's rebound, after U.S. stocks tumbled amid declining oil prices and continued anxiety over Chinese growth.
BUSINESS / FOCUS
Jan 14, 2016

For Japan's manufacturers, yen gains are reminder of Lehman lessons

Just when Japan's employers might have thought it was safe to embrace sustained wage increases — thanks to a cheap yen and rising earnings — a turn in the exchange rate has flashed a warning signal.
Japan Times
WORLD
Jan 14, 2016

Kerry praises diplomacy as Iran swiftly frees U.S. 10 sailors whose patrol boats drifted into its waters

Iran released 10 U.S. sailors on Wednesday after holding them overnight, bringing a swift end to an incident that had rattled nerves days ahead of the expected implementation of a landmark nuclear accord between Tehran and world powers.

Longform

Tetsuzo Shiraishi, speaking at The Center of the Tokyo Raids and War Damage, uses a thermos to explain how he experienced the U.S. firebombing of March 1945, when he was just 7 years old.
From ashes to high-rises: A survivor’s account of Tokyo’s postwar past