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JAPAN
Apr 1, 2019

Top secret: A look at how Japan's new era name, Reiwa, was picked and kept under wraps

When Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga unveiled that Reiwa would be the name of Japan's next Imperial era on Monday, it was a moment that finally put an end to months of fierce media competition to get the scoop before the official announcement.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Companies
Apr 1, 2019

Carlos Ghosn and Nissan CEO Saikawa considered adding fourth partner to alliance, email shows

Last September, two months before his arrest in Tokyo, then-Nissan Motor Co. Chairman Carlos Ghosn and the carmaker's chief executive officer considered bringing in a new partner for the alliance with Renault SA and Mitsubishi Motors Corp., according to an email.
LIFE / Language / BILINGUAL
Apr 1, 2019

Heisei it ain't so! An era of great vocabulary is ending

In the beginning there was the word. More precisely, the prefix. When the Heisei Era officially started, on Jan. 8, 1989, Japan's economy was still merrily bubbling along. That must have been one reason for the popularity of 超 (chō, hyper-). The prefix itself is anything but new, but the idea to make...
Japan Times
MULTIMEDIA
Apr 1, 2019

April 1, 2019

Japan Times
JAPAN
Apr 1, 2019

Tokyo taxis show off true colors to make ride-hailing easier

With the Olympics — and an anticipated influx of even more foreign tourists — a little more than a year away, local companies are finding more ways to get in on the act of showcasing Japanese know-how and enhancing the overall experience of visitors.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Apr 1, 2019

Thai king's rebuke of Thaksin points to junta-backed regime taking office

Thailand's King Maha Vajiralongkorn issued a rare rebuke of former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra about a week after an inconclusive national election, making it more likely that a pro-military party would form a government.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Apr 1, 2019

Trump's sale of F-16 fighters to Taiwan seen making China nervous politically

The U.S. may finally sell Taiwan the warplanes it has sought for more than a decade to defend against China. Their arrival would deal more of a political shock than a military blow to Beijing.
Japan Times
SATOYAMA CONSORTIUM
Mar 31, 2019

Regional resources spawn fresh initiatives

At the seventh Satoyama Cafe in Tokyo, Naoto Akagi, president of the Ashitaka incorporated association in Maniwa, Okayama Prefecture, spoke about how the association effectively uses the resources of the city's northeastern rural district of Chuka.
Japan Times
WORLD / Politics
Mar 31, 2019

Britain's Theresa May under pressure to forge softer EU divorce deal

Britain's exit from the European Union was in disarray after the implosion of Prime Minister Theresa May's Brexit strategy left her under pressure from rival factions to leave without a deal, go for an election or forge a much softer divorce.
JAPAN / Help Wanted?
Mar 31, 2019

Foreign workers are on the way, but are Japanese businesses ready?

A new visa program designed to lure more workers to Japan takes effect Monday, and government officials and industry leaders hope two new types will help alleviate the national labor shortage.
Japan Times
LIFE / Style & Design
Mar 31, 2019

Baku Sakashita: In light of good design

Designer and artisan Baku Sakashita sheds light on his striking Suki series of lamps and the history of design in Japan.
Japan Times
LIFE / Digital / ON: GAMES
Mar 31, 2019

Tough, fun and retro gaming

FromSoftware introduces its toughest game yet; Nintendo Labo goes 3D and Yoshi gets crafty
COMMUNITY / Issues / LAW OF THE LAND
Mar 31, 2019

Heisei's legal legacies include greater civic participation

With Emperor Akihito abdicating on April 30, the Heisei Era that began Jan. 8, 1989, after his father's death will also come to an end. With this column I'd like to look back at some of the noteworthy changes that occurred to Japan's laws and legal institutions during the past three decades.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Mar 31, 2019

Can Tokyo and Seoul break their deadlock?

Tokyo and Seoul should consider who will be the losers and more importantly, who will be the winners, from a prolonged division in the bilateral relationship?
Japan Times
BASKETBALL / B. League
Mar 30, 2019

Jets outplay East rival Brex, extend winning streak to 11

Between them, the Chiba Jets Funabashi and Tochigi Brex have won a remarkable 85 of 102 regular-season games this season.
COMMUNITY / Voices / OVERHEARD
Mar 30, 2019

Room with a view

'Is the ISS (International Space Station) a hotel for astronauts?'
Reader Mail
Mar 29, 2019

Sympathy for the Korean public will

Philip Brasor's Media Mix column in the March 17 edition was very enlightening. To my shame, I learned about the March 1 Movement in Korea in 1919 only at my age of 71. Brasor tells us that Japanese media as well as the government never mentioned the grave incident that occurred in the Japanese colony...
Reader Mail
Mar 29, 2019

Can rail survive only in big cities?

Reading the article "Train driver on Tokyo's Yamanote Line lives out childhood dream" in the March 21 edition, I felt mixed emotions. The Yamanote Line, a poster child for prosperous Tokyo, has been improved to the point where they plan a new train with AI, while local rail networks like JR Shikoku and...
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Tech
Mar 29, 2019

The complex fortune growing inside Bytedance, the world's most valuable startup

Software engineer Zhang Yiming started out producing apps for sharing jokes before focusing on news aggregation. That pivot proved lucrative.
WORLD / Politics
Mar 29, 2019

Puerto Rico governor slams 'bully' Trump as hurricane relief fight rages on

Puerto Rico Gov. Ricardo Rossello, who has clashed with President Donald Trump over disaster aid and has complained that residents of the U.S. territory are treated like "second-class citizens," indicated that he's tired of being pushed around by the White House.
JAPAN / Science & Health
Mar 29, 2019

Fukushima radioactive contaminants found as far north as Alaska's Bering Strait

Radioactive contamination from the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant crippled by tsunami in 2011 has drifted as far north as waters off a remote Alaska island in the Bering Strait, scientists said on Wednesday.
BUSINESS / Companies
Mar 28, 2019

Sony chairman, who keyed firm's turnaround with bet on PlayStation and image sensors, to retire

Sony Corp. Chairman Kazuo Hirai, the architect of a turnaround at the once-dominant electronics giant, will retire in June after spending more than three decades at the company.
Japan Times
MULTIMEDIA
Mar 28, 2019

March 29, 2019

BUSINESS / Companies
Mar 28, 2019

Nissan-funded panel recommends abolishing chairman post to prevent single leader from holding excessive power

To prevent a sole executive from wielding excessive power, Nissan Motor Co. should abolish its chairman position and strengthen an independent monitoring governance system, a panel of experts commissioned by the carmaker said Wednesday.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Tech
Mar 28, 2019

Japan's internet giants team up as mobile payments race intensifies

Line Corp. and Mercari Inc. are joining forces on mobile payments as the nation's internet companies race to dominate cashless transactions in the world's No. 3 economy.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC / ANALYSIS
Mar 28, 2019

Anti-satellite weapons are rare, high-tech and risky to test

India tested an anti-satellite weapon on Wednesday, saying the indigenously produced interceptor was used to destroy an object in orbit.
PRESS / Corporate Trends
Mar 28, 2019

ジャパンタイムズ、「国際平和のための世界経済人会議東京セッション」にメディアパートナーとして参加

株式会社ジャパンタイムズ(本社:東京都千代田区、代表取締役社長:堤丈晴)は、2019年4月17日に開催される「国際平和のための世界経済人会議 東京セッション」において、メディアパートナーとして参加いたします。

Longform

Koichi Tagawa’s diary entry from Aug. 9, 1945, describes the day of the atomic bombing of Nagasaki.
The horrors of Nagasaki, in first person