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COMMENTARY / World
Jan 25, 2013

Address shows Obama is playing make-believe

There was a make-believe quality to U.S. President Barack Obama's second inaugural address, as if all that's required to solve serious problems are the intelligence to produce proper policies and the political grit to get them approved. Perish the thought that there are deep conflicts among the things...
EDITORIALS
Jan 3, 2013

New fossil fuel resources

While there have been heated discussions over what to do with Japan's nuclear power generation, it is important for the government not only to promote development of green energy sources but also to make serious efforts to exploit new fossil fuel resources, especially in the ocean, to operate the thermal...
EDITORIALS
Dec 8, 2012

Bridging the pension gap

Because the government is gradually raising the age at which retirees can start receiving the kosei nenkin pension — a pension for corporate workers — it is requiring companies by law from April 2013 to re-employ in principle employees who are age 60 or older and want to continue working, until they...
COMMENTARY / COUNTERPOINT
Nov 18, 2012

It'll take more than few fine or foreign words to make Australia Asian

Australians have always been uncomfortable with their nation's geography.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Nov 17, 2012

Resona targeting loans at retiring entrepreneurs

Resona Holdings Inc. is targeting retiring entrepreneurs to boost lending by some ¥600 billion through businesses they sell and rental properties they invest in.
COMMENTARY / COUNTERPOINT
Nov 11, 2012

Heartening new film will add to rising dementia awareness in Japan

"My mother having dementia turned into a chance for us to relate to each other again and even have fun in each other's company."
COMMUNITY / How-tos / LIFELINES
Oct 16, 2012

Retirees can be rehired, but often under worse conditions

Reader PW teaches at an international school in Tokyo and wants to know about Japan's retirement laws:
EDITORIALS
Oct 6, 2012

Future of senile dementia

The health and welfare ministry says that the number of elderly people suffering from senile dementia and in need of nursing care has topped 3 million this year. As Japan's population continues to gray, the number of such elderly people will inevitably increase.
BUSINESS
Oct 5, 2012

Tokyu, Vietnam partner building 'Japanese town'

Railway operator and real estate developer Tokyu Corp. is helping create a "Japanese town" in Binh Duong, north of Ho Chi Minh City.
ENVIRONMENT / OUR PLANET EARTH
Sep 23, 2012

Japan's nuclear phaseout: Is it all smoke and mirrors?

On Sept. 14, Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda's administration announced that Japan would end nuclear-power generation by 2040. Five days later his Cabinet failed to endorse the new policy; but on the same day, Sept. 19, Trade Minister Yukio Edano insisted that the government would still act "based on"...
EDITORIALS
Aug 13, 2012

Keeping retirees employed

The Lower House on Aug. 2 passed a bill to make it obligatory in principle for enterprises to keep employing through the age of 65 all workers who want to continue to work after reaching the mandatory retirement age of 60. The bill is aimed at securing employment for such workers until they start receiving...
COMMENTARY
Aug 8, 2012

The reasons for America's Generation Squeezed

I worry about the future — not mine but that of my three children, all in their 20s. It is an axiom of American folklore that every generation should live better than its predecessors. But this is not a constitutional right or even an entitlement, and I am skeptical that today's young will do so. Nor...
COMMENTARY
Jun 18, 2012

State of economic disparity in the age of dashed ideals

During the 1980s and 1990s, a number of countries were ruled by political parties upholding the credo of "market fundamentalism" as their governments vigorously pushed neoliberalism.
BUSINESS / YEN FOR LIVING
Jun 15, 2012

Is nursing care insurance making nursing care recipients worse?

As nursing care costs continue to rise, some care items need to be reviewed.
EDITORIALS
Jun 14, 2012

Bottom line of welfare

A weekly magazine in April reported that the mother of an entertainer earning an annual income of ¥50 million has been receiving public livelihood assistance known as seikatsu hogo (literally livelihood protection). Through a blog of a Diet member and other media, the entertainer was identified as TV...
BUSINESS
Jun 8, 2012

Nuke share may fall 50%, Tokyo Gas exec says

Japan may cut its reliance on nuclear power in half through 2030, according to Shigeru Muraki, executive vice president of Tokyo Gas Co.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
May 31, 2012

Nissan poised to sell green-vehicle credits

A new front is opening in the emerging market for electric vehicles — not for selling cars, but for credits required to meet clean-air rules.
COMMENTARY
May 28, 2012

China, too, faces challenge of an aging society

Parallel to its economic development, China is facing the challenge of a rapidly aging population. This is happening at a time when urbanization and industrialization is quickly increasing in the country. It is a trend that has weakened traditional family support networks, particularly for the elderly....
COMMENTARY
Apr 16, 2012

Look at Social Security for what it is: welfare

Would Franklin Roosevelt (the 32nd U.S. president) approve of Social Security? The question seems absurd. After all, Social Security is considered the New Deal's signature achievement. It distributes nearly $800 billion a year to 56 million retirees, survivors and disabled beneficiaries.
COMMENTARY
Apr 10, 2012

World Bank could use a competitive advantage

From a turn of phrase by Jim O'Neill of Goldman Sachs in 2001, a grouping was born in 2009. BRICS (Brazil, Russia, China, India and South Africa) make up two-fifths of the world's population, one-fifth of world gross domestic product and one-seventh of world trade. Yet, they account for two-thirds of...
EDITORIALS
Apr 3, 2012

Support foreign health professionals

Thirty-five Indonesians and one Filipino have passed Japan's fiscal 2011 national qualification test to become certified care workers. The Indonesians came to Japan in 2008 and the Filipino in 2009 under Japan's economic partnership agreements (EPAs) with their countries. Despite all being professionally...
COMMENTARY
Mar 14, 2012

Japan's cautionary tale for the U.S.

Since the financial crisis, a shadow has hovered over the U.S. economy: Japan. Could what happened there happen to us? The bursting of Japan's real estate and stock bubble in the early 1990s has had lasting consequences: a "lost decade" (actually, two) of meager growth and weak job markets. Though hardly...
COMMENTARY
Feb 27, 2012

Don't sweat the power shift

On Feb. 15, just as Chinese Vice President Xi Jinping arrived in the United States for a four-day visit, U.S. President Barack Obama told an audience of American workers in Milwaukee: "Manufacturing is coming back!" Coming back from China, that is. But while the Master Lock Co. of Milwaukee has moved...
JAPAN / Media / BIG IN JAPAN
Feb 26, 2012

Media continues to despair over Japan's fall

Japan's decline has no historical parallel. It is a current fed by two streams — economic and demographic. Economically, barring an unforeseen upsurge, gross domestic product is forecast to fall 16 percent by 2025, 42 percent by 2050. Demographically, in 50 years there will be 40 million fewer Japanese...
COMMENTARY / World
Feb 22, 2012

Urban pride key to our modern sense of self

What is the big story of our age? It depends on the day, but if we count by centuries, then surely humanity's urbanization is a strong contender. Today, more than half of the world's population lives in cities, compared to less than 3 percent in 1800. By 2025, China alone is expected to have 15 "mega-cities,"...

Longform

Mount Fuji is considered one of Japan's most iconic symbols and is a major draw for tourists. It's still a mountain, though, and potential hikers need to properly prepare for any climb.
What it takes to save lives on Mount Fuji