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Japan Times
BUSINESS / ANALYSIS
Aug 28, 2014

Megabanks break glass ceiling for foreign managers

Japan's biggest banks are breaking tradition by promoting foreigners to top management roles to retain and lure overseas talent as growth abroad buoys profit.
BUSINESS / Companies
Aug 28, 2014

NTT Docomo seeks to lure users with new content amid iPhone push

NTT Docomo Inc., Japan's largest mobile-phone carrier by subscribers, plans to move further into the content business to differentiate itself from rivals that offer similar pricing plans and phone models.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Aug 28, 2014

A broken man living on dreams pulls Japan into Islamic State hostage drama

When Haruna Yukawa was captured in Syria earlier this month, a video apparently released by his captors showed them pressing the Japanese man to answer questions friends say he had struggled with for years: Who are you? Why are you here?
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / LABOR PAINS
Aug 27, 2014

Tipping points: Japan, North America and the limits of performance pay

Many in Japan believe that performance pay equals the American way, full stop. But the U.S. custom of tipping even for mediocre service suggests things are not so clear-cut.
WORLD / Society
Aug 27, 2014

Decline of French language could cost half a million jobs: report

A decline in the number of people worldwide who speak French could cost France 120,000 jobs by 2020 and half a million by 2050 due to missed economic opportunities, a report commissioned by President Francois Hollande said on Tuesday.
LIFE / Travel / TRAVEL INSIDER
Aug 26, 2014

Fine wines in the sky; Mexico route changes; Cathay adds flights

Fine wines in the sky
COMMENTARY / Japan
Aug 25, 2014

'Abenomics' needs reform

Abenomics' has made a good start, thanks to the expansionary monetary policy and fiscal expenditures. But it relies too much on monetary policy.
COMMENTARY / World
Aug 24, 2014

Central bankers try harder to speed up growth, dealing with issues treated as taboo until now

Six years after the near-collapse of the global financial system and more than five years into one of the strongest bull markets in history, the answer still taxes the ingenuity of central bankers who now sound more determined than ever to get faster growth.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Politics / ANALYSIS
Aug 22, 2014

Polarizing Abe learns the long game

Shinzo Abe is one of Japan's most polarizing prime ministers in decades. He may also have a good shot at becoming that rarity in Japanese politics — a long-serving leader.
JAPAN
Aug 21, 2014

Harasser of manga author draws maximum sentence

The unrepentant man driven by jealousy to repeatedly threaten the author of a popular basketball manga gets a 4 1/2-year prison term, the longest allowed.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Aug 19, 2014

Kewpie adapts its menu to feed a graying nation

Back in 1960, Kewpie Corp. began selling canned baby food, sensing a chance to catch a wave of young families raising kids in an economy roaring back to growth after the devastation of World War II.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / LEARNING CURVE
Aug 17, 2014

Could the lingua franca approach to learning break Japan's English curse?

Learning English as a lingua franca (ELF) involves approaching the language as a tongue shared by non-native speakers around the world rather than as a lingo that must be mastered to native-speaker level.
COMMENTARY / World
Aug 15, 2014

Race- and religion-based politics slows Asia's progress

How fitting it would be if, on his next return visit to Asia, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry — on behalf of America's first African-American president — helped to push the region, including China, to move beyond the racial and ethnic stereotypes that are constraining economic growth.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Companies
Aug 14, 2014

Instant camera gets mojo back with cute focus, Korean push

Digital cameras and smartphones have become so pervasive that many people think film cameras are now fit only for antique collectors.
COMMENTARY / World
Aug 11, 2014

Impact of a vodka glass on history

Toward the start of the 1970s, the Soviet government realized there was nothing it could do about the supposedly enthusiastic 'builders of communism' imbibing huge quantities of vodka. Hence, the Soviet government figured it might as well make more money off the habit.
BUSINESS
Aug 11, 2014

Microsoft's emerging markets problem: Few want to pay for genuine product

On a trip to Beijing a decade ago, Bill Gates was asked by a senior government official how much money Microsoft Corp. made in China. The official asked the interpreter to double check Gates' reply as he couldn't believe the figure was so low.
EDITORIALS
Aug 9, 2014

The waterworks are wearing out

The cost of maintaining and repairing Japan's water infrastructure is expected to be at least ¥1 trillion annually after 2020 as the 40-year life span on most pipes andd equipment runs out about the same time.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Aug 8, 2014

Japanese who claims to be father of nine 'surrogate babies' found in Bangkok condo exits for Macau

The Japanese man at the center of a controversy over nine "surrogate babies" found in a Bangkok condo has just left Thailand, the Mainichi Shimbun reported Friday, quoting local police authorities.
COMMENTARY / World
Aug 7, 2014

Why ASEAN has not condemned Thailand

It is not a given that ASEAN won't condemn Thailand's recent military coup. At present, though, most neighbors regard the events as an internal matter while more than two-thirds of Thais surveyed report being happier now than before the intervention.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Aug 6, 2014

A palace fit for the queen of consumption

What sort of person would decide to build the biggest house in America? Not just the biggest, but a monstrous, mega-mansion replica of the Palace of Versailles, overlooking Florida's Walt Disney World, complete with its own bowling alley, spa, 10 kitchens, 30 bathrooms, and an entire wing for the kids....
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Companies
Aug 5, 2014

Sharp pushes system to better manage electricity usage in U.S.

Sharp Corp., which stopped making solar panels in the U.S. and the U.K., is betting power users in the United States will benefit from a device to store energy and control demand when it's needed the most.
ASIA PACIFIC
Aug 5, 2014

China probes two Canadians for alleged theft of state secrets

China is investigating a Canadian couple who ran a coffee shop on the Chinese border with North Korea for the suspected theft of military and intelligence information and for threatening national security, China's Foreign Ministry said Tuesday.
Japan Times
WORLD
Aug 5, 2014

Obama administration pushes reform as path to Africa investment

The Obama administration is pressing African leaders to tackle corruption and give greater recognition to the rights of women as the first U.S.-Africa Leaders Summit opens in Washington.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Aug 4, 2014

Russia sanctions will hurt innocent companies

For all the West's efforts to punish companies close to Russian President Vladimir Putin with financial sanctions, it's the blameless private companies that will probably suffer the most.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Aug 2, 2014

Is the next stop 'brokesville' for the maglev?

Robert Moses, the civil servant who built the great park-expressway-bridge network in New York state during the middle of the last century, succeeded by gaming the system. Understanding how politics would make it difficult for him to fulfill his vision, he often started a public works project clandestinely....
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Economy
Aug 2, 2014

Abe touts growth as Japan, Brazil bolster economic ties

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe talks up Japan's economic prospects in Brazil as the two countries sign a raft of energy and food deals.

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