Search - world

 
 
COMMENTARY / World
Mar 7, 2011

More trade, less hunger

GENEVA — The recent sharp spike in food prices and growing concerns about food security have sparked anxiety worldwide. The possibility of being unable to put food on the table fills parents with a deep sense of foreboding. And because the world's poorest people spend a higher proportion of their income...
COMMENTARY / World
Mar 6, 2011

Is Syria's regime the next domino to fall?

LONDON — With the Tunisian and Egyptian regimes gone and street protests roiling cities from Algiers to Tehran, many people are now wondering which domino might fall next. Syria, whose secular, militarized dictatorship most closely resembles the fallen regimes of Tunisia and Egypt, may not be next,...
Japan Times
JAPAN / Media
Mar 6, 2011

Annual awards aim to support photojournalists

Floods in Pakistan, an earthquake in Haiti, an oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico and violent suppression of human rights the world over: The prize-giving ceremony at this year's Days Japan International Photojournalism Award, which was held in Tokyo on Thursday evening, was a graphic reminder of the catalog...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Stage
Mar 4, 2011

It takes innovation, imagination and perseverence to challenge contemporary theater

Recently, while looking through a handful of upcoming production flyers displayed in a cozy, small-scale theater, I noticed to my surprise that one name kept reappearing: Norihito Nakayashiki.
COMMENTARY
Feb 28, 2011

Is it the destiny of Muslims and Jews to fight?

NEW YORK — Negative stereotypes and prejudices have been a constant source of friction and misunderstanding between Muslims and Jews. Can a level of understanding be reached between them that would make peaceful relations possible? I believe so. An almost forgotten episode during World War II could...
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / JAPAN LITE
Feb 26, 2011

Here's Japan's big, white hope

I read a piece of news the other day that makes me feel that "Japan as No. 3" may finally be headed in the right direction.
JAPAN / History / JAPAN TIMES GONE BY
Feb 20, 2011

Hitler's insult to Asia; martial law in Tokyo

75 YEARS AGOThursday, Jan. 30, 1936
EDITORIALS
Feb 20, 2011

Adaptation to globalization

Recently there has been much debate in Japan over whether the "Galapagos syndrome" — development in splendid isolation from the rest of the world — fits Japan. Galapago-ists argue that Japan should embrace its falling position in the world, adjust to diminished expectations, and find contentment...
Japan Times
Features / WEEK 3
Feb 20, 2011

Aspiring animator comes to Japan to chase her dreams

It's fun to walk down the street or get aboard a train with Tracey Seals and watch how Japanese people react. Once they notice the blue-eyed, bespectacled 21-year-old redhead from Mississippi in their midst, some break out in smiles. And others do double-takes, as if they've just seen an anime character...
Japan Times
LIFE / Travel
Feb 13, 2011

Furano: A winter wonderland

Here I am, taking a holiday in minus-20 Hokkaido instead of plus-20 Okinawa. I'm either losing my marbles or just a normal Canadian pining for a winter wonderland.
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / JAPAN LITE
Feb 12, 2011

How 'bout that sumo?

The March Grand Sumo Tournament has been canceled due to bout-rigging. The May tournament is now in doubt as well. Who knows, sumo may be the world's first canceled sport.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / BY THE GLASS
Feb 11, 2011

Asia's top sommelier sees glass half full

Satoru Mori is a sommelier with almost unlimited reserves of drive and passion. At the age of 33, he is not only the winner of 2009's Best Sommelier of Asia-Oceania Competition, but also more recently a semifinalist in the Best Sommelier of the World Competition 2010.
EDITORIALS
Feb 6, 2011

Precious Japanese asset

Japan won the Asian Cup on Jan. 29 for the fourth time by taking the breathtaking final against Australia that went deep into additional time in Qatar. In the six matches it played from the elimination round through the cup final, the Japanese squad caught up with their opponent squad to secure a tie...
COMMENTARY / World
Feb 1, 2011

Boosting the level of intra-Maghreb trade

RABAT, Morocco — Tunisia's "Jasmine Revolution" has thrown a spotlight on the consequences of stagnant economies and endemic youth unemployment for the region's authoritarian Arab governments.
Reader Mail
Jan 30, 2011

Australia as rare earth supplier

RegardingMinoru Matsutani's Jan. 26 article, "Worse rare earth shortages 'yet to come' ": What isn't widely known is that Australia has a large part to play in resolving this situation, as Australian Securities Exchange (ASX)-listed companies control more than 40 percent of the world's rare earth element...
BUSINESS
Jan 26, 2011

Inpex has debt-cost advantage over China

Japan, surpassed by China as the world's second-largest economy, has one advantage in competing with its neighbor for natural resources: lower borrowing costs.
ENVIRONMENT / OUR PLANET EARTH
Jan 23, 2011

Forests worldwide: a primer

For those living in Japan, it's easy to forget that forests are not a given.
COMMENTARY / World
Jan 13, 2011

The chaotic birth of South Sudan

MADRID — The Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA) that was reached in 2005 between mostly Christian southern Sudan and the country's Muslim North ended one of the bloodiest civil wars in modern times. Lasting 22 years, the war left more than 2 million dead. Now the CPA is facing its most vital test:...
JAPAN
Dec 30, 2010

2010 — not a good year for once-confident Japan

Japan has been overtaken by China as the world's No. 2 economy. Its flagship company, Toyota Motor Corp., recalled more than 10 million vehicles in an embarrassing safety crisis. Its fourth prime minister resigned in three years, and the government remains unable to jolt an economy entering its third...
BUSINESS
Dec 25, 2010

Nippon Yusen to triple fleet serving India

Nippon Yusen K.K., Japan's second-largest operator of dry-bulk ships, plans to more than triple its fleet of capesize vessels serving India because of demand for coal and iron ore in the world's fastest-growing major steel market.
CULTURE / Film
Dec 24, 2010

'Tron: Legacy'/'Mikokai Eigasai'

"Tron: Legacy" is one of those movies that makes you stop and seriously wonder whether there isn't some kind of Stupid Test you have to pass in order to be allowed to work at a studio these days.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Dec 24, 2010

Meet some famous Japanese ghosts of publishing

We live in interesting times. Because of the Internet, old familiar media formats are breaking down or going through changes. More and more printed word publications are going out of business or finding new life online. The old LP/album format is essentially an anachronism in an iPod-centered universe....
COMMENTARY / World
Dec 16, 2010

Is open diplomacy possible or even desirable?

PRINCETON, New Jersey — When the furor erupted over WikiLeaks' recent release of a quarter-million diplomatic cables, I was reminded of U.S. President Woodrow Wilson's 1918 speech in which he put forward "Fourteen Points" for a just peace to end World War I.
COMMENTARY / World
Dec 15, 2010

A force for good or evil?

SYDNEY — Hero hacker or the world's most dangerous tattletale? No Australian has been so applauded and reviled as Julian Assange. Holed up in a London jail awaiting charges for extradition to Stockholm, then to a likely one-way trip to a ghastly fate in Washington, Assange has burst onto the world...
COMMENTARY / World
Dec 10, 2010

Scariest WikiLeaks' tales show U.S. wandering in fog

HONG KONG — Breakfast tea or coffee has suddenly become more interesting with the flood of tittle-tattle, gossip and serious political reporting pouring out via WikiLeaks. U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and the American right fulminate and wish to charge WikiLeaks' founder Julian Assange with...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Nov 26, 2010

Looking beyond art's boundaries

Art, it is often said, is a lens through which to see the world differently. "Differently" could mean more intensely, or more clearly, or in a new and unfamiliar way. This inevitably requires a separation between the artwork and the world. Art so understood thus sets up territories and borders, the lines...

Longform

In 2020, 38% of all households were single-person. That figure is projected to rise to 44.3% by 2050.
The rise of AI companionship in a lonely Japan