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BUSINESS
Feb 4, 2015

Israel ramps up Asia trade ties as government urges shift from EU amid anti-Semitism

Israeli companies are increasingly turning to Asia to capture a boom in demand for their technology, as the government urges them to diversify export markets in response to Europe's rising anti-Semitism and potential trade sanctions.
COMMENTARY / World
Feb 3, 2015

Why is America at war with the Islamic State?

The Islamic State group doesn't pose a threat to the United States, so why is the U.S. waging a war against it?
COMMENTARY / World
Feb 3, 2015

Alibaba scores a hollow victory over Beijing

Alibaba's success in its confrontation with the Chinese Communist Party is not a sign that life is generally improving for private business in China,
COMMENTARY / World
Jan 30, 2015

Commissioner Bud Selig's winning legacy

American baseball has a spring in its step as spring approaches, thanks partly to the winning legacy of a longtime fan from Milwaukee, retiring baseball commissioner Bud Selig.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / Japan / SENTAKU MAGAZINE
Jan 27, 2015

Japan's hydrogen energy hype

The clean image of hydrogen-based energy and its economic viability for Japan are much exaggerated.
BUSINESS / Companies
Jan 27, 2015

Toyota to change age-based pay scale

Toyota Motor Corp. plans to change its seniority-based pay structure for workers in Japan that will erase salary gaps between age groups, the company's human resources chief said on Tuesday.
BUSINESS / Companies
Jan 27, 2015

What a difference oil price makes, as Marubeni joins writedowns

"I couldn't believe that oil would drop this far," said Marubeni Corp. Chief Executive Officer Fumiya Kokubu.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Voices / VIEWS FROM THE STREET
Jan 26, 2015

Tokyo: Should Japan be negotiating with Islamic State for the release of Kenji Goto?

After the apparent killing of hostage Haruna Yukawa, Mark Buckton asked people in Tokyo whether the government should be talking to the terrorists holding journalist Kenji Goto.
LIFE / Language / COMMUNICATION CUES
Jan 26, 2015

Top speed of Nozomi to hit 285 kph

JR Tokai announced Dec. 19 it will raise the maximum speed of the Nozomi bullet train service to 285 kph between Tokyo and Shin-Osaka stations in 2015 thanks to advances in braking technology.
Japan Times
WORLD
Jan 26, 2015

Got a spare billion? Bankers keen to help

The growing ranks of the super rich and their increased appetite for risk have caught the eye of investment bankers.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Media / BIG IN JAPAN
Jan 24, 2015

Amid French crisis, Japan frets over virgins

Still in its infancy, the new year has already spawned a theme: diversity. Is it possible? Is it desirable? Is there any common ground, besides mutual, irreconcilable loathing, between those who declare "I am Charlie" and those who riposte "I am Mohammad"?
Japan Times
WORLD / Politics
Jan 24, 2015

Senior U.S. diplomat ruffles Cuba by meeting dissidents

A senior U.S. diplomat in Cuba for negotiations on restoring long-frozen diplomatic relations met a group of dissidents on Friday, seeking to underline Washington's concern over human rights but irritating the island's communist government.
Japan Times
JAPAN / DAVOS SPECIAL 2015
Jan 21, 2015

Japanese architects making mark on Swiss design landscape

As part of the events commemorating 150 years of diplomatic relations between Switzerland and Japan, an exhibition titled "JP-CH 2014: Building in Context" was held in Tokyo last October featuring five recent projects in Switzerland by four eminent Japanese architects.
JAPAN / History / THE LIVING PAST
Jan 17, 2015

Seeking independence through civilization

For the first time in 600 years Japan was threatened by foreign aggression. One among many differences between the 19th century American threat and the 13th-century Mongol invasions is this: 13th-century Japan was fiercely militarist, 19th-century Japan was impotently militarist.
BUSINESS
Jan 16, 2015

Car costs to rise as deadly flaws lead to greater safety demands

Auto-parts suppliers are feeling the pressure as car manufacturers move to raise quality standards after last year saw a record number of vehicles recalled in the U.S.
BUSINESS
Jan 16, 2015

Casualties from Swiss shock spread from New York to New Zealand

Casualties mounted from the Swiss currency shock as a U.S. online brokerage said client debts threatened to push it out of compliance with capital rules and a New Zealand-based dealer went out of business.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Jan 14, 2015

A longer look at the problems of 'Unbroken'

Why can't "Unbroken" — Angelina Jolie's hit World War II drama — catch a break in Japan? There are presently no plans to release the film here in theaters, on DVD or online, even though it has a strong Japan focus as well as a major role for popular local rock musician Miyavi (whose real name is...
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink
Jan 13, 2015

Eat Osaka teaches you how to cook like a local

Here's a joke unlikely to be endorsed by the Osaka Government Tourism Bureau: "There are three great reasons to visit Osaka: great people, great food and because Kyoto doesn't have an airport." The truth hurts, even if it's also mildly humorous.
COMMENTARY / World
Jan 12, 2015

Koreans need to stay outraged over 'nut-rage'

The Heather Cho kerfuffle — involving 'nut-rage' aboard a Korean Air fligh — offers the South Korean news media a chance to right a political system that has veered off course.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / TELLING LIVES
Jan 11, 2015

Foreign female dean opens doors for Japan’s working women

A brush with sexual discrimination gave Robin Sakamoto the drive to succeed as a working mom and push for on-campus facilities at Kyorin to help parents.
BUSINESS / Companies
Jan 9, 2015

Fast Retailing's profit beats estimates as Uniqlo sales surge

Fast Retailing Co. reported a 64 percent spike in quarterly profit after selling more Uniqlo casual wear than expected in Japan and overseas, while the weakening yen further boosted returns.
BUSINESS / Companies
Jan 9, 2015

Sony to delay sale of PlayStation 4 in China

Sony Corp. will delay sales of the PlayStation 4 in China, originally scheduled for this Sunday, due to "various factors," the company said.
JAPAN / Politics
Jan 7, 2015

DPJ leadership campaign begins, with three candidates running

Goshi Hosono, a former minister in charge of dealing with the Fukushima disaster, Akira Nagatsuma, a former welfare minister, and deputy leader Katsuya Okada are vying for the party's top post.
ASIA PACIFIC / Crime & Legal
Jan 6, 2015

China arrests scholar who helped blind dissident flee house arrest

Chinese authorities have arrested a scholar who helped blind dissident Chen Guangcheng escape house arrest in 2012, the scholar's wife said Tuesday, in a case that activists say signals a tighter grip on civil liberties.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Economy
Jan 5, 2015

Only modest growth expected for Japan's economy in fiscal 2015

The still-faltering economy, hit hard by April's consumption tax hike as well as bad weather last summer, is forecast to grow only modestly in fiscal 2015 despite the Abe administration's latest economic stimulus package.
WORLD / Society
Jan 5, 2015

Safety overhaul piles pressure on Bangladesh garment industry

Undaunted by a run of horrific factory accidents that have hit Bangladesh's garments industry, two entrepreneurs bought Adorn Knitwear Ltd earlier this year.

Longform

After the asset-price bubble crash of the early 1990s, employment at a Japanese company was no longer necessarily for life. As a result, a new generation is less willing to endure a toxic work culture —life’s too short, after all.
How Japan's youth are slowly changing the country's work ethic