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Japan Times
WORLD / EU SPECIAL 2013
May 9, 2013

Free trade accord would be worthy of celebration

On March 25 this year, Japan and the European Union announced the launch of negotiations toward an EU-Japan Free Trade Agreement. Business organizations on both sides, not least the European Business Council in Japan (EBC), raised a cheer, relieved that at last work could begin on unlocking the true...
Japan Times
BUSINESS
May 6, 2013

'Abenomics' meets curse of the second 100 days — will the mirage last?

The accomplishments of the first 100 days in office are a favorite benchmark for democratic leaders. It's thought to offer a preview of his or her worldview, ambition and political fortune.
COMMENTARY / World
May 6, 2013

New opportunities for ADB

Once again a leader from Japan has the opportunity to bring the Asian Development Bank into the modern world and to elevate the organization above backroom deals.
JAPAN / Media / DARK SIDE OF THE RISING SUN
May 5, 2013

Yakuza links put nation at added nuclear risk

On April 15, two alleged terrorists in Boston killed three people, injured more than 170 others and terrified a nation — for about $100 it cost them to modify pressure cookers into bombs. We should be glad they didn't come to Japan, where they may have been able to explode a ready-made nuclear dirty...
COMMENTARY / COUNTERPOINT
May 5, 2013

The right to die: letting individuals make the choice themselves

It was not the most elegant way to launch a national conversation about the right to die, but this past January Deputy Prime Minister Taro Aso, 72, certainly drew attention to the issue of terminal patients. Unfortunately he did so by saying that old people should "hurry up and die" to unburden the nation's...
Reader Mail
May 5, 2013

What was there to celebrate?

As for the front-page April 29 article "Sovereignty celebration hit by protests": Soon after the security treaty between Japan and the United States was furtively signed on Sept. 8, 1951, the San Francisco Peace Treaty was gloriously signed between Japan and the relevant countries.
JAPAN / Politics
May 3, 2013

Amending Constitution emerges as poll issue

As it marks its 66th anniversary, the fate of Japan's Constitution is set to become the focus of a political battle both in and beyond July's Upper House election.
JAPAN
May 2, 2013

60,000 sign petition in one week for fired Prada employee

As many as 60,000 people signed a petition in just a week to urge the Japanese arm of Italian fashion house Prada to withdraw its countersuit against a former employee who sued the company for firing her based on appearance.
CULTURE / Music / MONEY AND MUSIC
May 2, 2013

Universal-EMI is the dinosaur in the room

Last September, the European Commission and the U.S. Federal Trade Commission approved Universal Music Group's buyout of EMI. Since then, the two record companies have been merging their operations worldwide. In Japan, the combined Universal-EMI entity will have a market share of between 15 percent and...
COMMENTARY / Japan
May 1, 2013

Please, no more Yasukuni visits

For the White House to welcome Japan to the TPP talks and to tell China to back off on the Senkakus, while Japan's top leaders visit Yasukuni Shrine, is ridiculous.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Society
May 1, 2013

Female-friendly shared workspace a boon for moms

Yushi Katayama began to think seriously about leaving Japan after the birth of his son, Shota, in 2012.
BASEBALL / Japanese Baseball
Apr 28, 2013

Seibu's Spilborghs relishing life experience of playing in NPB

The first thing the hero, or heroes, of a Seibu Lions home victory does is stand on a makeshift podium near the Lions dugout and conduct an interview that is broadcast on the Seibu Dome P.A. system for fans to hear.
Japan Times
LIFE / Travel
Apr 28, 2013

A Pacific idyll where some go to escape, others to connect

A woman from western Japan, who calls herself "Amy," couldn't find paradise in Thailand, Cuba, Brazil or French Polynesia, so with the last of her $300 savings she bought a one-way ticket from Tahiti to Rarotonga. Then, claiming to be penniless, she walked from the airport to the police station and...
COMMENTARY / COUNTERPOINT
Apr 28, 2013

Abe-history: Premier again seems set on stoking controversy and ire

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe is no stranger to historical controversy. Back in 2001 he pressured national broadcaster NHK to revise a documentary about the judgment of an international people's tribunal regarding the war responsibility of Emperor Hirohito (posthumously known as Emperor Showa). And in 2007...
Reader Mail
Apr 28, 2013

Survival as a nation ruled by law

Regarding the April 18 article "Pulvers wins Noma translation prize": I can't thank former Japan Times columnist Roger Pulvers enough for his great contribution of introducing Japan's literary legacy to the world. That said, with all due respect, my thoughts are a little different from his March 31 article,...
JAPAN / Politics
Apr 26, 2013

Buoyant Abe's true colors emerging

Riding high in the polls, Prime Minister Abe begins to reveal his true colors as a right-leaning historical revisionist, four months into his administration.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Companies
Apr 26, 2013

Young Gree chief loses $2.6 billion to smartphone boom

In five years, Yoshikazu Tanaka became Japan's youngest billionaire as investors piled into Gree Inc., valuing his controlling stake in the early maker of phone-based games at $4 billion. Just 18 months later, that has shriveled to about $1.4 billion.
EDITORIALS
Apr 26, 2013

Yasukuni visits undermine diplomacy

Recent visits to Yasukuni Shrine by three Abe Cabinet members suggest that they view personal ideological urges as important as Japan's diplomatic interests.
Reader Mail
Apr 25, 2013

Fewer babies no cause for panic

Regarding the April 17 editorial, "Japan's depopulation time bomb": So much fuss has been made in the news media about the declining birthrate that it would be easy to mistake it for an impending disaster. Despite the pressure on an overburdened pension system, perhaps Japan should be looking further...
EDITORIALS
Apr 24, 2013

Worrying defense spending trends

The 0.5 percent decline in military spending worldwide in 2012 was the first real drop since 1998. But a closer look at the numbers leaves little reason to cheer.
COMMUNITY / Issues / THE FOREIGN ELEMENT
Apr 23, 2013

Renter guarantor system a headache for foreigners

Things were going well for Patrick after a year in Japan. He had found a job he liked, met a girl he planned to marry and was ready to move out of the small room his older brother, a longtime resident, was letting him use.

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’