Search - news

 
 
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / JAPAN LITE
Feb 25, 2018

High-tech Pyeongchang Olympics needed more low-tech support for foreign tourists

Attending the Pyeongchang Olympics in South Korea reminded me of what Japan still needs to do as it gears up to host one of the world's most prominent sports events.
OLYMPICS
Feb 24, 2018

Canadian skier arrested for stealing a car

Canadian ski cross athlete David Duncan has been charged with stealing a car in the early hours of Saturday morning, South Korean police said.
COMMENTARY / World
Feb 24, 2018

How to test your favorite conspiracy theory

In most cases, witnesses are unreliable, and the stories are too complicated to be true.
BUSINESS
Feb 24, 2018

'Premium Friday' got off to lukewarm start in 2017 with 11% participation: METI

The consumer spending campaign isn't gaining much traction outside big cities, but the economy ministry and the private sector promise to forge on with more incentives.
Japan Times
WORLD / Politics
Feb 24, 2018

U.S. ready to open Jerusalem embassy in May

The United States said on Friday it will open its embassy to Israel in Jerusalem in May, a move from Tel Aviv that reverses decades of U.S. policy and is bound to trouble U.S. allies that have already objected.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC
Feb 24, 2018

U.S. imposes more North Korea sanctions, Trump warns of 'phase two'

The United States said on Friday it was imposing its largest package of sanctions to pressure North Korea to give up its nuclear missile program, and President Donald Trump warned of a "phase two" that could be "very, very unfortunate for the world" if the steps did not work.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Companies
Feb 23, 2018

Nissan and DeNA to launch self-driving taxi trial in Yokohama

Nissan and the game maker plan to hold a two-week experiment in Yokohama to develop a ride-hailing app for self-driving cabs.
BUSINESS / Companies
Feb 23, 2018

Tobacco giants, including Japan Tobacco International, dodge trial as Dutch prosecutors reject murder case

The Dutch public prosecutor's office has said it won't pursue a case against tobacco makers Philip Morris International Inc., British American Tobacco PLC, Japan Tobacco International and Imperial Tobacco Benelux, all accused by an anti-smoking lobby group of attempted murder and manslaughter.
JAPAN
Feb 23, 2018

WTO backs Japan complaint against South Korea's Fukushima import ban

Tokyo welcomes a World Trade Organization ruling against South Korea's ban on seafood from Fukushima Prefecture but Seoul plans to appeal.
JAPAN / Politics
Feb 22, 2018

Opposition lawmakers find at least 117 errors in botched labor survey, as scandal over Abe's key work style reforms deepens

In another revelation, labor minister Katsunobu Kato confirmed original response papers used in the survey — which he previously claimed had been discarded — were found in a basement at the ministry.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Tech
Feb 22, 2018

New Japan travel app pairs Microsoft's AI chatbot with Navitime guidance

Two Tokyo-based firms and Microsoft Japan on Thursday launched an English-language tourism app with an AI agent to target a surge in inbound tourists that is projected to continue.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC / Society
Feb 22, 2018

Bangladesh preparing barren islet to house 100,000 Rohingya refugees, denies it's a concentration camp

Bangladesh is racing to turn an uninhabited and muddy Bay of Bengal island into home for 100,000 Rohingya Muslims who have fled a military crackdown in Myanmar, and top officials have given conflicting signals about whether the refugees will be stranded there.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Feb 22, 2018

Pollen projection: Japan's hay fever season, already underway, to be worse than last year, forecaster says

Spring may still be a few weeks away, but if you are experiencing red, swollen and itchy eyes it could be because this year's hay fever season has already begun — with meteorologists saying that cedar and cypress pollen counts could be twice as high compared with last year in some parts of the country....
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Tech
Feb 22, 2018

Twitter cracks down on tactics used by 'bots' to spread false stories

Twitter Inc. said on Wednesday it would no longer allow people to post identical messages from multiple accounts, cracking down on a tactic that Russian agents and others have allegedly used to make tweets or topics go viral.
COMMENTARY / Japan / SENTAKU MAGAZINE
Feb 21, 2018

The false promise of missile defense

Excessive spending on missile defense could be detrimental to other defense programs, leading to a weakening of the nation's overall defense capabilities.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Feb 21, 2018

TPP remains largely unchanged in attempt to lure back U.S., Japanese official says

Details released Wednesday reveal that the 11 remaining Trans-Pacific Partnership countries have managed to agree on terms close to the agreement's original form.
Japan Times
WORLD
Feb 21, 2018

Two-day toll in rebel Ghouta area outside Damascus reportedly 250, highest since 2013

Pro-government forces pounded the rebel-held district of eastern Ghouta outside the Syrian capital of Damascus on Tuesday, in a surge of violence that a war monitor said had killed at least 250 people since Sunday night.
JAPAN
Feb 21, 2018

Japan to buy at least 20 more F-35A stealth fighters, with some or all assembled in U.S.: sources

Japan plans to buy at least 20 additional F-35A stealth fighters over the next six years, some or all of which it may purchase directly from U.S.-based Lockheed Martin Corp. rather than having them assembled by Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Ltd., its primary defense contractor, three sources said.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Feb 21, 2018

North Koreans dropped out of meeting with Pence at last minute, U.S. says

U.S. Vice President Mike Pence was prepared to hold a historic meeting with top North Korean officials during his visit to the Pyeongchang Winter Olympics in South Korea earlier this month but was rebuffed by the North at the last minute, U.S. officials said Tuesday.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Feb 20, 2018

Japan's discretionary labor system: What you need to know

As Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and government officials clash with opposition lawmakers over a proposal to expand an overtime work system called the discretionary labor system, here's a look at how the system works.

Longform

Tetsuzo Shiraishi, speaking at The Center of the Tokyo Raids and War Damage, uses a thermos to explain how he experienced the U.S. firebombing of March 1945, when he was just 7 years old.
From ashes to high-rises: A survivor’s account of Tokyo’s postwar past