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BUSINESS
Jan 7, 2012

Yamaha joins domestic motorcycle rivals in rush to up capacity in India

Yamaha Motor Co. is joining its Japanese rivals in boosting its motorcycle capacity in India, betting demand from Indians seeking personal transportation will continue.
EDITORIALS
Dec 22, 2011

Water, water, everywhere ...

It is estimated that some 60 million people depend on the 4,900-km-long Mekong River and its tributaries for their lives and livelihoods — food, water and transportation. It is the world's largest inland fishery; an estimated 1,000 species of fish live in the Mekong, making it the second-most biodiverse...
COMMENTARY
Dec 20, 2011

Suicide pact at Durban climate-health summit

The Durban climate summit that ended Dec. 11 has been proclaimed a great success. The chair, South Africa's international relations minister, Maite Nkoana-Mashabane, told the delegates: "We have concluded this meeting with (a plan) to save one planet for the future of our children and our grandchildren...
COMMENTARY
Dec 6, 2011

Who will tell the 'have nots' to forgo a better life?

Quietly, without much notice, the world's population crept past the 7 billion mark on Oct. 31, according to the United Nations. The majority of people live on one continent, Asia, with two countries, China and India, accounting for almost 37 percent of the total.
Japan Times
JAPAN / EXPLAINER
Dec 6, 2011

Tax, pension breaks called favoritism for homemakers

The tax and social security systems have long been seen as favoring full-time homemakers over working women because they are based on single-income households.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Dec 1, 2011

Green is the big thing at this year's Tokyo Motor Show

Japanese carmakers highlighted their latest green technology concept cars during Wednesday's media preview at the Tokyo Motor Show as they bid to lead the global trend toward energy efficiency and reignite interest among young people in automobiles.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Nov 30, 2011

Motor show opens with car firms facing triple whammy

The Tokyo Motor Show kicks off Saturday amid a variety of challenges facing the automobile industry, including intensifying global competition, the yen's historic surge and supply disruptions caused by natural disasters.
COMMENTARY
Nov 22, 2011

Beijing girds for universal suffrage elections

In 1994, the last British Governor of Hong Kong, Chris Patten, quoted a former colonial official as saying: "The Chinese style is not to rig elections, but they do like to know the result before they're held."
BUSINESS
Nov 19, 2011

Resona to up female chiefs

Resona Holdings Inc. aims to help narrow the country's gender gap by adding female managers and appointing a woman as an executive for the first time.
JAPAN / ANALYSIS
Nov 12, 2011

Dissent within DPJ ranks looks set to fester

Delaying the decision to take part in the Trans-Pacific Partnership negotiations by a day may have bought a little time, but experts said Friday there is no going back for Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda now that he has announced Japan will participate in the free-trade talks.
COMMENTARY / World
Nov 7, 2011

Reconstruction and healing must precede entry into TPP

The Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) is strategically significant for U.S. re-engagement with East Asia and is a concrete response to the perception of U.S. decline in the region in light of Chinese economic power and regional ambition.
COMMENTARY / World
Nov 2, 2011

The end of population growth

According to the United Nations' Population Division, the world's human population hit seven billion on Oct. 31. As always happens whenever we approach such a milestone, this one has produced a spike in conferences, seminars, and learned articles, including the usual dire Malthusian predictions. After...
BUSINESS
Nov 1, 2011

Japan needs a 'fresh start' to resolve lingering issues

Post-March 11 Japan faces the challenge of not just rebuilding from the damage of the massive earthquake and tsunami, but also tackling the nation's structural economic and political problems that have largely been left unresolved over the past two decades.
COMMENTARY / World
Oct 24, 2011

Asian powers scrambling for regional space

Asia is witnessing a jostling among its major powers — China, Japan and India — for regional strategic space, and a flurry of activity by these countries is focused toward the Southeast Asia region, once a stable region but now a potential area for conflict. China, which is already a permanent member...
Japan Times
BUSINESS / INDIA-JAPAN SYMPOSIUM
Oct 24, 2011

India bids for closer East Asia ties for regional integration

India wants to play a role in the economic integration of Asia through closer ties with East Asian powers including China — despite a long history of political hostility — and Japan, journalists and experts from India said at a recent symposium in Tokyo.
COMMENTARY / World
Oct 18, 2011

The EU's clean-air turbulence

Passengers flying to and from Europe face higher fares from next year, and anyone flying to Japan or Asia will pay sharply more than those staying within Europe or going to the Middle East, thanks to new rules from the European Union in pursuit of an oxymoron, making air travel environmentally friendly....
Reader Mail
Oct 16, 2011

Nuclear debate clouded by quake

The triple tragedy of last March in Tohoku is no small matter. However, I have become increasingly vexed by statements found in the pages of The Japan Times and other leading newspapers that casually conclude the tragedy demonstrates the "danger" of nuclear power.
COMMENTARY / World / SENTAKU MAGAZINE
Oct 10, 2011

Tepco guarding its ground

Recent moves by Tokyo Electric Power Co. vis-a-vis Tepco's Management and Finance Investigation Committee, an independent government panel, show how the power company has tried to avoid being forced to sell large chunks of its assets.
COMMENTARY
Oct 7, 2011

Nuclear power's face looking rested

The catastrophic accident at Japan's Fukushima No. 1 nuclear plant earlier this year undermined confidence in, and support for, nuclear power around the world. The plant north of Tokyo on the Pacific coast was hit by a series of explosions, fires and serious radiation leaks after a massive earthquake...
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Oct 4, 2011

'Smart city' projects revived by disasters

Ever since the March 11 disasters exposed the nation's dependence on conventional power sources and infrastructure, energy-efficient "smart city" projects have drawn increasing attention.
COMMENTARY / World
Sep 29, 2011

Sage of Omaha could help Obama

President Barack Obama sure has been talking about Warren Buffett's taxes a lot lately. At his speech before a joint session of Congress this month, the president said that the billionaire shouldn't pay a higher tax rate than his secretary, a point Buffett has often made. The secretary's tax rate, and...
COMMENTARY
Sep 28, 2011

Let Greece default and live

Few things are as galling as being right too soon. Back in 1970, dissident Soviet historian Andrei Amalrik wrote a book boldly called "Will the Soviet Union Survive Until 1984?"
COMMENTARY / World
Sep 28, 2011

Long-range plan for Afghanistan would help

The U.S. focus on Afghanistan largely centers on withdrawing most forces by 2014 and reducing the cost of the war. These are important issues: By the end of fiscal year 2013, the United States will have spent $560 billion on the war, and current annual costs are more than $110 billion.
Japan Times
JAPAN / POWERING THE FUTURE
Sep 24, 2011

Despite headwinds, solar energy making progress, advocates say

Japan's largest solar panel plant is in full swing in Kunitomi, Miyazaki Prefecture, daily churning out up to 16,000 30-sq.-cm solar panels that have a conversion efficiency rate of more than 12 percent.
Japan Times
JAPAN / POWERING THE FUTURE
Sep 23, 2011

Current nuclear debate to set nation's course for decades

First in a six-part series about major sources of renewable energy in Japan and the prospects for their future use and development
BUSINESS
Sep 23, 2011

Honda spending $50 million on Ohio plant to restore full production in U.S.

Honda Motor Co. is spending $50 million to expand a transmission factory in Ohio as it upgrades U.S. assembly operations and works to restore full production slowed by an earthquake.

Longform

A small shrine perched atop rocks braves the waves hitting the shoreline during a storm in Shimoda, Shizuoka Prefecture. The area is under threat of a possible 31-meter-high tsunami if an earthquake strikes the nearby Nankai Trough.
If the 'Big One' hits, this city could face a 31-meter-high tsunami