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Japan Times
JAPAN / History / JAPAN TIMES GONE BY
Nov 2, 2013

The last of the shoguns; fighting widens; Yokohama train crash kills 129; Emperor's health slips

The proposal of providing a large public park at Inokashira for the benefit of the people of Tokyo has been approved by the Municipal Council. The Emperor has graciously offered the use of an extensive lot in that locality for that purpose.
COMMENTARY / World
Nov 1, 2013

Next euro country in need of reform is Germany

The next German government — probably a grand coalition — will need to concentrate on basic issues affecting the next generation, including whether to establish a minimum wage.
BUSINESS / Economy
Oct 31, 2013

Wages slide for 16th month despite Abe's pleas

Salaries extend their longest slide since 2010, even as Prime Minister Shinzo Abe urges companies to raise wages as part of his bid to reflate the world's third-largest economy.
JAPAN
Oct 31, 2013

Major campaign launched to encourage young people to study overseas

In its drive to double the number of Japanese youths studying abroad by 2020, the education ministry has launched a campaign involving the private sector, which is eager to hire more graduates with overseas experience.
Japan Times
WORLD
Oct 31, 2013

NSA hacking into, stealing from Yahoo, Google data centers worldwide

The National Security Agency has secretly broken into the main communications links that connect Yahoo and Google data centers around the world, according to documents obtained from former NSA contractor Edward Snowden and interviews with knowledgeable officials.
Japan Times
WORLD
Oct 30, 2013

U.S. spying on friends prompts look at 'adversarial' international system

A week now after the initial revelation that the United States may have monitored the cellphone of German Chancellor Angela Merkel, there's little doubt that the story has been damaging for this country and for the National Security Agency, which earned the wrath of even longtime defender Sen. Dianne...
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC
Oct 30, 2013

Rescues of South Koreans abducted by North come with controversy

In divided Korea, even the homecomings can be bitter.
JAPAN
Oct 29, 2013

Tepco refuses to fund outside cleanup

Tokyo Electric Power is refusing to reimburse the Environment Ministry for more than u00a530 billion that has been spent to decontaminate land hit by radioactive fallout from the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear plant.
CULTURE / Music / STRANGE BOUTIQUE
Oct 29, 2013

Tokyo Boredom is blazing its own trail — and the first stop is Taiwan

Of all the cliches about Japanese music being bandied around, the one I find most baffling is the idea that bands here are "just copying Western music." It's a rehash of the old jibe, originally born from fear of Japan's rapid postwar industrial growth, about the Japanese being dedicated imitators but...
BUSINESS / Economy
Oct 29, 2013

IMF offers guarded praise to 'Abenomics'

"Abenomics" has brought positive results, but challenges remain as to whether Prime Minister Shinzo Abe can implement structural reform to bring about sustainable growth, the International Monetary Fund said Tuesday in its first preliminary assessment of his economic policies.
Japan Times
WORLD
Oct 29, 2013

NSA bills let Congress choose: End amassing of phone records or OK it

After nearly five months of controversy and debate, the U.S. Congress may face a clear choice over the National Security Agency's program to collect the phone records of nearly every American: endorse it or shut it down.
BASEBALL / Japanese Baseball
Oct 29, 2013

Giants' Houlton hungry to capture third consecutive Japan Series title

Recent years have been kind to the teams with D.J. Houlton on the roster.
EDITORIALS
Oct 28, 2013

Two tasks for the opposition

The Diet must thoroughly scrutinize the Abe administration's rationale for pushing to restart some of Japan's 50 nuclear reactors that have been offline for more than two years.
COMMENTARY / Japan / THE VIEW FROM NEW YORK
Oct 28, 2013

It's risky business updating authorities on intelligence

Updating the authorities with knowledge of their Western enemies led to the death by disembowelment of one of the more farsighted Japanese intellects in 1841.
COMMUNITY / Issues / THE FOREIGN ELEMENT
Oct 28, 2013

Getting published is easy; getting noticed is trickier

How can writers make themselves heard in the age of blog and self-publishing saturation? Japan-based authors offer a diverse range of views
Japan Times
LIFE / Language / BILINGUAL
Oct 27, 2013

Taking count of the sufficiency of Japanese suffixes

One of the first things new learners of Japanese must struggle with is the amazing variety of classifiers for numbers. When counting books, for instance, the number is followed by 冊 (satsu, volumes, as in issatsu, nisatsu etc.); for thin, elongated objects such as pencils it's 本 (hon, as in ippon,...
COMMUNITY / Issues / LEARNING CURVE
Oct 27, 2013

When it comes to discipline in class, leave it to the locals

Aaron Joseph remembers the email Interac sent him regarding his school placement in Sakai, Osaka, in August 2012.
JAPAN / KANSAI PERSPECTIVE
Oct 27, 2013

Hashimoto's relevancy beginning to fade

When the candidate backed by Osaka Mayor and Nippon Ishin no Kai (Japan Restoration Party) co-leader Toru Hashimoto was defeated in September by Sakai Mayor Osami Takeyama, a staunch Hashimoto foe, it marked what is widely seen as the beginning of the end of the whole Hashimoto-Nippon Ishin movement,...
Japan Times
WORLD / FOCUS
Oct 27, 2013

Atomic waste piles higher at U.S. plants

U.S. lawmakers have debated for decades where to put all the spent fuel generated by the nation's nuclear power plants. The dithering means that an unintended site has emerged: Illinois.
Japan Times
WORLD / Politics
Oct 27, 2013

Tea party darling Cruz burnishes conservative credentials in Iowa

Sen. Ted Cruz used a series of long-scheduled appearances in Iowa over the weekend to cast himself as the natural leader of a burgeoning conservative movement that nearly derailed the new health care law.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Oct 26, 2013

Get Koizumi: Nuclear village goes on offensive

This is a first for Japan: A political figure who not only undergoes a change of mind in public, but tries to make a difference after giving up the political power to do so.
LIFE / Style & Design
Oct 26, 2013

Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week Tokyo: Bold direction

Just as Tokyo is synonymous with manga, sushi and cute robotic playmates, so has fashion been a reigning symbol of the city's creative prowess.
COMMENTARY / COUNTERPOINT
Oct 26, 2013

Branding Japan: Not always onward and upward

Branding is not an exact science. Take for example the recent campaign by Fukushima Industries to launch a new consumer-friendly corporate mascot.
Japan Times
JAPAN / CHUBU CONNECTION
Oct 25, 2013

WWII sword returns after 70 years

A "katana" sword confiscated by the U.S. military at the end of the war was recently returned to its owner's family in Japan.

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