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Japan Times
BUSINESS / FOCUS
Sep 11, 2014

Apple's new payment system could pose threat to wallets

The new Apple payment system has extraordinary promise. With Apple Pay, you might not need a wallet, and you can leave your credit and debit cards at home. In terms of ease and convenience, payment cards represented a big leap from the era of cash. Apple hopes its system will be a comparable leap from...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Sep 11, 2014

Dreams made in a galaxy far, far away

Is Chris Pratt on his way to becoming Hollywood's next big action hero? The guy whose face you may recognize from various romcoms, but more likely know as Andy Dwyer from the U.S. sitcom "Parks and Recreation," has been raking in the praise for his latest film, "Guardians of the Galaxy."
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Sep 11, 2014

'Discover, Discover Japan'

In October 1970, Japanese National Railways launched its Discover Japan advertising campaign in the hopes of keeping and cultivating the increased number of railway users that it had gained during the Japan World Exposition, which had finished a month earlier.
COMMENTARY / World
Sep 11, 2014

Canberra buries its nuclear angst about Delhi

Australia and India bury a number of past differences by signing the long-awaited agreement on civil nuclear cooperation. It will entitle India to buy uranium from Australia.
SOCCER / World cup
Sep 9, 2014

Japan squanders lead twice in draw with Venezuela

Japan twice took the lead but failed to deliver a first win for new manager Javier Aguirre in a 2-2 friendly draw with Venezuela on Tuesday night.
COMMENTARY / World
Sep 9, 2014

Old school is new again at India's Nalanda

Many years of work by Amartya Sen and an international team of academics has culminated in the reopening, after eight centuries, of Nalanda University — funded mainly by the governments of India, Japan and China — to its first batch of graduate students in two disciplines.
WORLD / Crime & Legal
Sep 9, 2014

Fueling drug gangs' impunity, unidentified corpses pile up in Mexico

In Mexico's blood-soaked northern state of Sinaloa, a simple gravestone adorned with pink, blue and yellow plastic flowers marks the tomb of 42-year-old assistant carpenter Carlos Montano.
COMMUNITY / Voices / COMMUNITY CHEST
Sep 8, 2014

Letters: the history, challenges and rewards of adoption in Japan

Readers respond to a recent article on foreign residents adopting children in Japan.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / YEN FOR LIVING
Sep 8, 2014

Casino tax study exposes pachinko to greater scrutiny

The government wants to tax pachinko but the police are in its way.
Japan Times
JAPAN / ADVANCES IN PROGRESS
Sep 7, 2014

Drone enthusiasts see bright future but legal hurdles await

Last December, Amazon.com Inc. created a buzz by releasing a video of a drone delivering a package to a customer's home. If Amazon launches its Prime Air service as planned in 2015, we could soon see unmanned aircraft whizzing through the skies to deliver purchases in as little as half an hour.
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / TELLING LIVES
Sep 7, 2014

Yoko and author's other furry friends help kids cope with childhood challenges

Rosemary Wells' stories — including a series about a Japanese kitten's experience at an American school — have been delighting children and adults alike around the world for over 40 years.
EDITORIALS
Sep 7, 2014

Updating the Civil Code

The brevity of Japan's Civil Code, compared with those in Western countries, has enabled flexible interpretations that the Justice Ministry is trying to standardize with proposed revisions that it has been working on for the past five years.
BUSINESS / THE VIEW FROM EUROPE
Sep 6, 2014

Automakers may miss boat on modularization

Toyota successfully defended its status as the world's largest automaker in the first half of 2014. However, Volkswagen has gotten very close and is widely expected to overtake Toyota either by the end of the year or in 2015 at latest.
Japan Times
LIFE / Travel
Sep 6, 2014

Kanazawa City: the architecture of tea

One of the first things you see as you exit Kanazawa Station is a giant brass sculpture of a teapot sunken drunkenly into a mound of grass or, depending on your interpretation, tilting to fill a cup of the refreshing green brew the city is noted for. That a municipal piece of art should be dedicated...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Books
Sep 6, 2014

Japan's World Heritage Sites

It was in September 2003 that I visited Kiyomizu-dera — exactly 11 years ago. I was in Japan for the first time, and during an excursion to meet an old friend in Osaka, she suggested driving us down the road to Kyoto to see the ridiculous number of staggeringly striking temples. Grand old Kiyomizu-dera,...
Japan Times
JAPAN / History / JAPAN TIMES GONE BY
Sep 6, 2014

Japan guns now bear on Kiaochou; German Army enters Poland; Olympic Village opens; agency seeks funds to compile Emperor's annals

100 YEARS AGOSunday, Sept. 13, 1914
Japan Times
JAPAN / Politics
Sep 6, 2014

Abe steals a march on China with South Asia tour

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe flies to Bangladesh for a two-stop tour of South Asia to assert Tokyo's interests in a region where it has ceded influence to China.
BUSINESS / Economy
Sep 5, 2014

Economic safeguards again in works for next tax hike, Amari says

The government plans to have steps in place to protect the economy if it decides to complete the doubling of the consumption tax to 10 percent in October 2015, reappointed economy minister Akira Amari said Friday.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Sep 5, 2014

Families fear hundreds left out of abductee debate

Feb. 7, 1976, should have been just another Saturday for Susumu Fujita.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Sep 5, 2014

Uniqlo's tennis bet pays off as endorsers square off at U.S. Open

Fast Retailing Co. is ready for war. The clothing maker's battle begins Saturday, when world No. 1 Novak Djokovic takes on 10th-seed Kei Nishikori in the U.S. Open semifinal.
COMMENTARY / World
Sep 5, 2014

Europe led by a country that doesn't want the job

Europe's stagnant economy and the crisis in Ukraine point to gross failures of leadership. Europe's de facto and reluctant leader — Germany — is especially to blame.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / How-tos / HOME TRUTHS
Sep 5, 2014

Can Japan level its problem with vacant buildings?

On July 29, the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications released the results of its latest survey on Japanese housing, which it completed last fall and conducts every five years. The statistic that caught the media's attention was the one for akiya, or vacant homes. As of the end of October 2013,...
Japan Times
JAPAN / CHUBU CONNECTION
Sep 5, 2014

First-language classes in Aichi struggle to find funding

Various cities in Aichi Prefecture have started offering language classes to children of foreign descent in their first language.

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