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Japan Times
CULTURE / Music / JAZZ NOTES
Sep 11, 2013

Tony Bennett, New Cool Collective, Ai Kuwabara Trio Project impress crowds at Tokyo Jazz Festival

On seeing the lineup ahead of this year's Tokyo Jazz Festival, my initial feeling was the organizers had maybe cast their net a bit too wide with the acts booked, but those fears were completely unfounded.
BUSINESS / Economy
Sep 11, 2013

Optimism high among large firms

Kyodo Sentiment at major companies in the July-September quarter soared to a record high as the weakened yen fueled exports and drove stock prices higher, a government survey said Wednesday.
JAPAN
Sep 11, 2013

Inose lauds 'Team Japan' for bringing games back

Tokyo's success in landing the 2020 Olympics and Paralympics was thanks to the country's all-around effort involving athletes, lawmakers and business leaders, Gov. Naoki Inose said after returning from the International Olympic Committee's general assembly in Buenos Aires.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Economy / 'SUMMER DAVOS' SPECIAL 2013
Sep 10, 2013

Seeking to change men's mind-sets to spur on prosperity for all Japanese

When Upper House lawmaker Masako Mori became a state minister for measures for declining birthrate, gender equality and consumer affairs and food safety last December, one of the first things she did was to announce that she would promote male staff within her ministries if they take child-care leave....
BUSINESS / Economy
Sep 9, 2013

Japan's April-June real GDP growth upgraded to annual 3.8%

An upward revision to Japan's gross domestic product gives the government yet another favorable signal for raising the sales tax next April.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / JUST BE CAUSE
Sep 9, 2013

If you're jōzu and you know it, hold your ground

Communicating in Japanese is not all that difficult. What's difficult is communicating with Japanese people, writes Debito Arudou.
WORLD
Sep 7, 2013

Indiana lie detector coach jailed

An Indiana man who taught sex offenders and aspiring federal law enforcement officers how to cheat their court- or job-imposed lie detector tests was sentenced to eight months in prison Friday — a somewhat muted victory for authorities hoping to send a stern warning to those in the business of beating...
Japan Times
JAPAN / Politics
Sep 6, 2013

With too many titles to list on 'meishi,' Amari is linchpin of 'Abenomics'

Akira Amari, minister for economic and fiscal policy, has so much on his plate that all of his titles don't fit on his business card. He's also the minister in charge of economic revitalization and reforming social security and taxes, and the head negotiator for the Trans-Pacific Partnership free trade...
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Companies
Sep 3, 2013

Rakuten to buy video streaming provider

Rakuten Inc., controlled by billionaire Hiroshi Mikitani, said it has agreed to buy streaming video service provider Viki Inc. as the Internet retailer seeks to expand into new digital offerings.
Japan Times
WORLD
Sep 1, 2013

Nevada brothels shriveling as Net disrupts oldest trade

In a dim parlor furnished with red velvet couches and a stripper pole, Brooke Taylor is having a sale on herself. "I offer a lot more specials and discounts and incentives for people to come in to see me," said Taylor, 32, a brunette prostitute in a short, green dress at the Moonlite Bunny Ranch outside...
BUSINESS
Sep 1, 2013

Bitcoin bourse Tradehill freezes trading to deal with regulatory issues

Tradehill Inc., an exchange for virtual currencies such as Bitcoin, is temporarily suspending trading, citing unspecified banking and regulatory reasons.
BUSINESS / JAPANESE PERSPECTIVES
Sep 1, 2013

Pax No Man's Land needs more than Fed's tapering to smooth things over

U.S. Federal Reserve Board Chairman Ben Bernanke hints at policy change. He is looking for an exit from quantitative easing whereby he has been buying financial assets to the order of $85 billion per month since the end of last year. He has emphasized the exit shall be a "tapering" procedure — no abrupt...
BUSINESS / Economy
Aug 31, 2013

Most on Abe's expert panel approve plan to hike sales tax

The government's expert panel on the planned consumption tax hike wrapped up discussions Saturday with more than 70 percent of its members supporting the plan as it now stands, saying Japan will suffer a much bigger economic blow if the tax isn't raised.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Entertainment news
Aug 30, 2013

One Direction's new movie is a sign of the times

Those of us discreetly looking forward to a theatrically released film featuring One Direction were perhaps hoping for something more captivating and ingenious than a glorified electronic press kit. We wanted something that didn't represent the depthless, scandal-mongering, narrow-minded, pleasure-seeking...
Japan Times
JAPAN / CHUBU CONNECTION
Aug 30, 2013

Aichi city gambles on female cyclists

The Toyohashi Velodrome in Aichi Prefecture has started a program to train professional female cyclists to drum up interest in the dying sport.
Japan Times
WORLD / Politics
Aug 30, 2013

Cory Booker: hope, hype — and heir to Barack Obama?

If Cory Booker were a television character you might think the writers were over-egging things a bit. Tall, athletic, handsome, he is an ambitious politician with a flair for drama. He rescues a woman from a burning building, saves a freezing dog, chases a scissor-wielding mugger, invites hurricane victims...
COMMENTARY / World
Aug 27, 2013

The failure of Tahrir Square 2011

Two years ago, when I was in the Occupy movement, my comrades and I argued about revolution. Was revolution necessary? What is it? The split that destroyed our movement — as it did the Left during the 1960s — pitted revolutionaries against reformists. The most frustrating part of the debate, however,...
BUSINESS / Economy
Aug 26, 2013

Abe begins collecting feedback on tax hike before decision

A government panel kicked off a seven-day discussion Monday on whether the sales tax should be hiked next April amid concerns it could derail Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's radical efforts to end decades of deflation.
COMMENTARY / Japan / SENTAKU MAGAZINE
Aug 26, 2013

Plugging Tepco's brain drain

One reason Tepco paid a uniform ¥100,000 special summer bonus to each of some 5,000 managerial employees is to plug a brain drain. Core workers are quitting.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives
Aug 23, 2013

Californian eyes making English studies easier

Visitors to Katie Adler's interactive website, English with Katie, are greeted with Adler's sunny smile, her mellow California accent and a wealth of hints to make using the language both easier and more enjoyable. She aims to help language learners in Japan take charge of their English, building confidence...
JAPAN
Aug 23, 2013

Critics split on Kennedy's new role as U.S. envoy

Caroline Kennedy's appointment as the first female U.S. ambassador to Japan divides American experts on the bilateral security relationship.
SOCCER / PREMIER REPORT
Aug 23, 2013

Mourinho picks up where he left off

He had changed, he assured us. The self-styled "Special One" was now the Mild One and there was a collective nodding as the gullible ones bought into Jose Mourinho's promise that he was Mr. Nice Guy.

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