Search - japan

 
 
EDITORIALS
Jul 22, 2013

Short of wholehearted support

The LDP and Komeito parties should not view their Upper House election dominance, amid low voter turnout, as carte blanche to ramrod through pet policy lines.
JAPAN / Politics / ANALYSIS
Jul 22, 2013

One-party rule back but Abe could blow it

The Liberal Democratic Party's sweeping Upper House election victory ends the divided Diet, but Prime Minister Shinzo Abe still faces a battle in tackling vexing issues.
JAPAN / Politics
Jul 22, 2013

Tokyo voters mixed but most seem to want LDP in charge

Many voters appear to be putting their faith in the Liberal Democratic Party despite the lack of 'Abenomics' evidence in their lives, The Japan Times finds.
JAPAN / Politics
Jul 20, 2013

Nation set for rare political continuity

After cycling through seven prime ministers in seven years, the Upper House election is about to see the nation break free from its most vexing political pattern: instability.
EDITORIALS
Jul 19, 2013

Critical issues at stake in election

Besides 'Abenomics,' voters in Sunday's Upper House polls would be wise to weigh the merits of constitutional revision and nuclear power generation.
EDITORIALS
Jul 18, 2013

Parties must clearly explain TPP

All parties in the Upper House campaign have done a deplorable job of promoting, or criticizing, Japan's participation in the Trans-Pacific Partnership free trade deal.
Japan Times
Reference / SO WHAT THE HECK IS THAT
Jul 15, 2013

Mosquito coils

Dear Alice, I have lived in Japan for almost 30 years, and nothing says 'summer in Japan' to me like the sight and smell of those once-ubiquitous green mosquito coils.
COMMENTARY / COUNTERPOINT
Jul 13, 2013

Kono Statement: Hit-and-run Abe vandalizes 20th anniversary

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe is pursuing dead-end diplomacy in East Asia at precisely a time when Japan most needs to shore up relations with neighbors so as to position itself well for China's ongoing rise. Alas, he doesn't grasp that regional reconciliation over history should be his calling card, not...
EDITORIALS
Jul 13, 2013

More people studying Japanese

The number of students learning Japanese worldwide rose 9 percent inn 2012 from 2009, indicating an underlying interest in a country that some call listless.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Companies
Jul 12, 2013

CEO sees Hoshino Resorts REIT as his ticket to worldwide expansion

Hoshino Resort Co., which has been operating luxury hotels for 109 years, wants to be as well known as Toyota Motor Corp. internationally, and President Yoshiharu Hoshino said Friday's real estate investment trust debut is a start.
BUSINESS / Economy
Jul 12, 2013

'Abenomics' dark side: hinterland pay cuts

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's cuts to local-government subsidies are like trying to "wring water from an old rag that's been squeezed dry," says Kazuya Yoshida, a 27-year municipal employee in Shijonawate, Osaka Prefecture.
EDITORIALS
Jul 12, 2013

China and Russia practicing again

Japan should take China and Russia at their word when they say Tokyo should not be concerned by their joint large-scale naval exercise in the Japan Sea this week.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Jul 11, 2013

Okinawans explore secession option

Okinawans are losing patience with Tokyo's repeated vows to reduce the prefecture's burden of hosting U.S. military installations and other hollow pledges, and some are seriously looking into the possibility of having the territory secede from Japan.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / THE FOREIGN ELEMENT
Jul 8, 2013

Driven by regret over neighbor's death, first-time filmmaker declares war on suicide

Rene Duignan is passionate about life — so much so that he made an award-winning film about it. Yet Duignan, 42, is not a professional filmmaker; he's an Irish economist working for the European Union delegation to Japan. The documentary, titled "Saving 10,000 — Winning a War on Suicide in Japan,"...
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / JUST BE CAUSE
Jul 8, 2013

Police 'foreign crime wave' falsehoods fuel racism

These Community pages have reported many times on how the National Police Agency (NPA) has manufactured the illusion of a "foreign crime wave," depicting non-Japanese (NJ) as a threat to Japan's public safety (see "Upping the fear factor," Zeit Gist, Feb. 20, 2007; "Time to come clean on foreign crime,"...
Japan Times
LIFE / Style & Design / ON: FASHION
Jul 8, 2013

This month's genuine pearls of fashion wisdom

Pearls of fashion win a Guinness World Record
JAPAN / Politics / GAME OF NUMBERS
Jul 5, 2013

Poll may see end to divided Diet but what follows may be worrisome

Unlike the past two House of Councilors elections, in 2007 and 2010, that saw opposition forces win big against the ruling parties, this time around they look to take the hit.
EDITORIALS
Jul 5, 2013

Views of history vex the future

South Korea has been critical of Japanese views of modern Asian history. Shinzo Abe must do more than parrot the importance future ties between the two nations.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Stage
Jul 4, 2013

'New' Royal Ballet spans the frontiers of dance

For the first time in three years, one of the world's most esteemed ballet companies is bringing its talent to one of the world's most appreciative audiences, as part of a tour that explores the parameters of dance.
JAPAN / Politics / GAME OF NUMBERS
Jul 4, 2013

Abe camp faces little true opposition, also little mandate

As one expert has it, the July 21 Upper House poll looks to be a cakewalk for Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's ruling bloc.
Reader Mail
Jul 3, 2013

Counting on Japanese solutions

I realize that agriculture is a sensitive topic in Japan. After living in Japan for almost 11 years, I became so appreciative of Japan and its people that I've encouraged my youngest son to return to Japan to study the language, deeply. He will attend International Christian University in Tokyo starting...
Japan Times
JAPAN
Jul 3, 2013

Rights activists demand end to exploitative trainee program

Japan has long drawn criticism from global watchdogs for failing to curb human trafficking, perhaps most conspicuously when it comes to foreign women brought in to work in the sex trade.

Longform

Sumadori Bar on Shibuya Ward's main Center Gai street targets young customers who prefer low-alcohol drinks or abstain altogether.
Rethinking that second drink: Japan’s Gen Z gets ‘sober curious’