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Japan Times
PRESS / Events
Oct 15, 2013

"The Japan Times / International New York Times" to launch tomorrow; commemorative event scheduled for Oct.23

Starting tomorrow (October 16th), The Japan Times embarks on a new phase in its 116-year history as it commences a publishing tie-up with The New York Times. From tomorrow's issue, the newspaper will be packaged with The New York Times' international edition, to become “The Japan Times / International...
COMMENTARY / World
Oct 6, 2013

Does China's left turn indicate reforms ahead?

Some analysts believe that China's turn to the left and its crackdown on democratic ideas are tactical moves that foreshadow the launch of major reforms later this fall.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Sep 28, 2013

Casinos bet on success in Tokyo

Most of the Olympics-related news reported since Tokyo won the right to host the 2020 Games is about projected economic benefits and drawbacks. A lot of construction will take place over the next seven years, but not all of it will be directly related to the sporting event.
Japan Times
WORLD
Sep 10, 2013

Volleyball as you've never seen it: Chinese '9-man'

My 15-year-old daughter had a warning for me. "You know, Mom," she said, "you'll probably be the only white person there."
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Aug 27, 2013

Can the ailing Emerald Isle roar back as the Celtic Tiger?

Much of Ireland has been riveted this summer by recordings of phone conversations from 2008 that revealed not only shocking levels of greed and bad breeding among some of the country's top bankers, but a deliberate effort to snooker the government into bailing out the country's banks by concealing the...
Japan Times
WORLD / Science & Health
Aug 2, 2013

Curiosity rover's descent to Mars — the story so far

Nestled below the foothills of the San Gabriel mountains, the Jet Propulsion Laboratory outside Pasadena has a surprisingly low-tech feel. For more than 40 years, space missions to the planets have been controlled from its operations rooms, yet the place is still striking for its bucolic charm. Mule...
JAPAN / Media / BIG IN JAPAN
Jun 23, 2013

'Hate speech' in the media, but not the legal code

This writer, on previous occasions, has expressed irritation over the recent tendency for the vernacular media to rely heavily on English borrowings for neologisms with socially negative connotations, such as sexual harassment, stalking and domestic violence — to name three examples.
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Jun 9, 2013

'Nutritious' claims need to be taken with a pinch of salt

During a recent visit to the United States, I was impressed by several advertising campaigns. The American Beverage Association (ABA) is running a series of spots that alternatingly complain of what it deems the over-regulation of soft drinks and promote the efforts of member manufacturers to make their...
Japan Times
WORLD
Jun 8, 2013

U.S. taps servers in vast data-mining program

The National Security Agency and FBI are tapping directly into the central servers of nine leading U.S. Internet firms, extracting audio and video chats, photos, emails, documents and connection logs. U.S. taps firms' servers, mines Internet data
COMMENTARY / World
Jun 3, 2013

France takes notice, the Yanks aren't coming

The realization that Europe can no longer rely on America to fill the military gap has given France pause. It is taking its security responsibilities more seriously.
Japan Times
Reference / SO WHAT THE HECK IS THAT
Apr 16, 2013

The 5 p.m. bell

Dear Alice,
COMMENTARY / Japan
Apr 12, 2013

A revived Japan must adjust its ASEAN business sights

If resurgent Japanese companies return to Asia looking for the strongmen, cheap land and low-wage labor of old, their expectations will be frustrated.
BUSINESS
Apr 11, 2013

Banks used lending program to exit TARP: report

Banks used billions from a small-business lending program to repay government bailout funds, rather than on its intended purpose — making more loans to mom-and-pop operations, according to a watchdog report released Tuesday.
Japan Times
WORLD / Politics
Feb 25, 2013

After steep fall from grace, ex-Gov. Mark Sanford now hiking comeback trail

In the annals of political redemption stories, it is hard to top the one that Republican Former Gov. Mark Sanford is attempting to write in South Carolina, the state he once headed.
COMMENTARY / World
Feb 4, 2013

Cameron lost in channel fog

In his speech demanding a new deal for Britain in the EU, British Prime Minister David Cameron sought a popular political fix to quiet his rightwing rebels.
COMMENTARY
Dec 26, 2012

Abe's ascent provides China with a chance to improve ties

Shinzo Abe, widely viewed as a rightwing nationalist, assumes office Wednesday as prime minister of Japan, the seventh time the country's leadership has changed hands in six years and his second turn at the helm since 2007.
JAPAN
Dec 22, 2012

Inose says his charges must 'sell' Tokyo goals

Metropolitan government employees need to improve their ability to promote the capital's services so they can serve residents better and gain their support for hosting the 2020 Summer Olympics, newly elected Tokyo Gov. Naoki Inose said.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Dec 14, 2012

'The Hobbit : An Unexpected Journey(Hobbit: Omoigakenai Bouken)'

OK, I know that some of you out there are anticipating the release of Peter Jackson's "The Hobbit" more eagerly than the Second Coming, and for you, here's the short review: If you liked Jackson's first three "Lord of the Rings" movies, you'll love this one, too.
COMMENTARY / World / SENTAKU MAGAZINE
Nov 26, 2012

Municipal nuclear addiction

Municipalities hosting nuclear power plants throughout Japan have received large amounts of central government subsidies, donations from utilities and lucrative business contracts.
JAPAN / Media
Nov 4, 2012

Symposium looks at the disturbing rise of online nationalism

While the territorial disputes between Japan and China, and that with South Korea, seem to have quietened down recently, some people remain frustrated by the issue.
JAPAN
Aug 29, 2012

DPJ bills clear Lower House, to stall

The ruling Democratic Party of Japan used its numeric advantage to pass two key bills through the Lower House on Tuesday amid a vote boycott by the main opposition parties, which plan to block passage of the legislation through the Sept. 8 end of the Diet session.
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Aug 12, 2012

Osaka trial highlights Japan's deficient mental-illness facilities

On July 30, the Osaka District Court sentenced a 42-year-old man to 20 years in prison for killing his sister. That's the maximum term for the crime, but it's also four years more than what prosecutors demanded. The reasoning behind the decision of the court, which included lay judges, has provoked an...
CULTURE / TV & Streaming / CHANNEL SURF
Jul 22, 2012

Crime-fighting concierge; "We Rent Out Families"; CM of the week: Daihatsu

Atsuko Asano plays the title role in the mystery special "Okinawa Rizoto Konsheruju Gushiken Yoko no Meisuiri Ibitsu-na Misshitsu" ("Okinawa Resort Concierge Yoko Gushiken's Excellent Deduction of the Irregular Locked Room"; TV Tokyo, Wed., 9 p.m.).
COMMENTARY / World / SENTAKU MAGAZINE
May 28, 2012

Overruling doubt to indict: underbelly of Japan's reform

The April 26 acquittal in Tokyo District Court of former Democratic Party of Japan chief Ichiro Ozawa signified total "defeat" for public prosecutors in view of the strong possibility, as a journalist on judicial matters said, that the prosecutors had maneuvered a "prosecution inquest committee," an...
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / WHO'S WHO
May 15, 2012

Olympus fiasco was 'lost opportunity'

Waku Miller, a resident of Tokyo for over 30 years and a veteran translator who recently served as a spokesman for Michael C. Woodford — former president and CEO of Olympus Corp. — said he found it odd how indifferent major Japanese shareholders were even after a massive loss coverup by the camera...
LIFE
May 13, 2012

What awaits Okinawa 40 years after reversion?

On May 15, 1972, Okinawa became a prefecture of Japan once again. Up until then, for 27 years since World War II — when the islands endured some of the most intense fighting of the entire brutal conflict — Okinawa had been under U.S. military administration, so reversion to Japanese rule should have...

Longform

Mamoru Iwai, stationmaster of Keisei Ueno Station, says that, other than earthquake-proofing, the former Hakubutsukan-Dobutsuen (Museum-Zoo) Station has remained untouched.
Inside Tokyo's 'phantom' stations — and the stories they tell