Search - 2012

 
 
JAPAN / Politics
Jan 1, 2013

Summer poll to keep Abe in check

While nearly 300 Liberal Democratic Party candidates nationwide rejoiced over their resounding success in the Dec. 16 Lower House election, the mood of some at party headquarters was more sober.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC / Crime & Legal
Jan 1, 2013

The reasons behind India's alarming culture of sexual violence

Violence against Indian women is widespread and has deep roots. Here are some of the reasons behind the issue:
COMMENTARY / World
Dec 31, 2012

The fight to limit agricultural use of antibiotics can be won with the right political alliances

Ask a dozen food activists what political change they want to see in 2013 and you'll get a dozen different answers, maybe two dozen: Restrict sodium in packaged foods. Label genetically modified ingredients. End subsidies to big farms.
JAPAN / CABINET INTERVIEW
Dec 31, 2012

Onodera to review defense plans, up spending

Amid China's military rise and the continued threat from North Korea, new Defense Minister Itsunori Onodera has vowed to bolster Japan's defensive capabilities by reviewing its strategies, increasing the defense budget and revising the guidelines in place with the United States.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Books
Dec 30, 2012

Landscaping the doors of perception in Japan

ZEN GARDENS: The Complete Works of Shunmyo Masuno, Japan's Leading Garden Designer, by Mira Locher. Tuttle Publishing, 2012, 224 pp., $39.95 (hardcover) Although the term zen-tei (Zen garden) exists in Japanese, its usage is a largely Western one, first coined by the American garden scholar Lorraine...
Japan Times
LIFE / Language
Dec 30, 2012

The wonderful worlds of 100 waka

The scene: England, Boxing Day 2012. The archetypical Carters are relaxing after a cold turkey lunch (with bread sauce) and are watching the Royal Family's latest sonnets being read on the goggle-box. Time for a game!
Japan Times
ENVIRONMENT
Dec 30, 2012

Kyu Asakura's garden of wealth and privilege

BASEBALL / HIT AND RUN
Dec 30, 2012

Matsui should be remembered as one of Japan's best

In 2001 Ichiro Suzuki shattered expectations about what Japanese players could and could not do in Major League Baseball.
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Dec 30, 2012

This year's highlights and lowlights

Media figures of the year:
Japan Times
CULTURE / Books
Dec 30, 2012

Japanese story anthology shows fiction truly a transnational affair

SPECULATIVE JAPAN 3: "Silver Bullet" and Other Tales of Japanese Science Fiction and Fantasy. Kurodahan Press, 2012, 292 pp., $16 (paperback) One pleasing quality of the third volume of Kurodahan Press's "Speculative Japan" series of anthologies is that it exists at all.
COMMENTARY / World
Dec 30, 2012

High cost of disengagement from Afghanistan

The United States has spent nearly $600 billion over the past 10 years putting combat forces into Afghanistan. Now it's going to cost an additional $5.7 billion over the next year or two just to transfer or return most of the troops and equipment we shipped into that country, according to a new report...
COMMENTARY / COUNTERPOINT
Dec 30, 2012

Is juggernaut Japan being driven to destruction (and no one's to blame)?

Ryotaro Shiba, the great author of historical novels, was a student of Mongolian at Osaka University of Foreign Languages when, at the end of 1943, he was drafted into the army. Then aged 20, he received a "provisional graduation qualification" (the actual certificate was issued the following year) and...
COMMENTARY / World
Dec 30, 2012

Wakeup call for Japan's politicians

The massive shock that Japan received from the earthquake and tsunami on March 11, 2011, was not enough to shake the country's politicians out of their comatose state. This was already evident before the recent national elections.
BASEBALL / MLB
Dec 29, 2012

Matsui praised for impact on baseball

Kyodo, AFP-Jiji Fans in Japan were saddened Friday by the news of power-hitter Hideki Matsui's retirement from baseball at the age of 38, many wishing he would resume his career in the country.
SOCCER / PREMIER REPORT
Dec 29, 2012

F.A.'s weakness gives Ferguson free rein to run mouth

Alex Ferguson doesn't do embarrassment or apologies, so the Manchester United manager will not be bothered that he did himself, his club and football a public disservice with some ridiculous comments over the past week. He has an agenda and keeps to it.
BUSINESS
Dec 29, 2012

Mitsubishi UFJ to tie up with, advise key Myanmar lender

Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group Inc. said Friday it will ally with Myanmar's Co-operative Bank Ltd. to tap growing demand for financial services in the Southeast Asian nation as it shifts to democracy.
BUSINESS / Tech
Dec 29, 2012

Rapid move to e-books surprises experts, roils market

America's obsession with digital tablets is driving a boom in e-book reading, a new survey shows, a trend that is dampening the appeal of printed books and shaking the centuries-old publishing business.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Dec 29, 2012

Post-3/11 output drop tops forecast

The nation's industrial output tumbled more than forecast to the lowest level since the aftermath of the March 11, 2011 Great East Japan Earthquake, bolstering the case for Prime Minister Shinzo Abe to unleash large-scale stimulus.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film / BEST OF 2012
Dec 28, 2012

Hold the McFilms, pass the cinematic cassoulet

It always puzzles me that people turn to the Food page curious to find out about off-the-beaten-track joints that serve up a savory cassoulet or artisan shōchū or whatever, yet so many come to the film page expecting a review of this week's McBurger. Guess what? Tasted pretty much like the last one....
Japan Times
LIFE / Travel / HOTELS & RESTAURANTS
Dec 28, 2012

Special New Year's buffet in Osaka; countdown dance event in Tokyo; Champagne dinner party

Japan Times
BASKETBALL / BJ-LEAGUE NOTEBOOK
Dec 28, 2012

Experienced heads put Cinq Reves in playoff contention

The Tokyo Cinq Reves have taken their fair share of bumps and bruises during their inaugural season, but coach Motofumi Aoki is guiding the team in the right direction.
BUSINESS
Dec 28, 2012

Toyota sees sales boom in '13 on overseas demand

Toyota Motor Corp., poised to regain its title as the world's biggest carmaker this year, said its vehicle sales may rise 2 percent next year to a record, led by demand from overseas markets.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Dec 28, 2012

Aso takes reins of shrinking economy with fiscal gusto

Taro Aso, son of a cement magnate and a champion of pork-barrel spending when prime minister, is Japan's sixth finance chief in three years, auguring expanded fiscal stimulus in the world's third-largest economy.

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.