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BUSINESS
Mar 16, 2016

Japan eyes 40,000 fuel-cell cars, 160 hydrogen stations by 2020

Japan is aiming to have 40,000 hydrogen-powered cars on its roads by 2020, with plans for a 20-fold expansion to 800,000 by 2030, according to a report released by the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry on Wednesday outlining the future use of hydrogen and fuel cells.
Rugby
Mar 15, 2016

Ex-Fijian rugby center Rabeni dies

Former Fijian center Seru Rabeni, renowned for his bruising tackles and powerful running, has died at the age of 37, local media reported on Tuesday.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Mar 15, 2016

'Kuniyoshi & Kunisada: From the Collection of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston'

Ukiyo-e prints were once the equivalent of today's TV shows and magazines. During the Edo Period (1603- 1868), they often illustrated kabuki theater stars and portrayed the latest fashion trends, even at times serving as cosmetics catalogs or tourist guidebooks.
JAPAN / Society
Mar 15, 2016

Blogger's viral tirade on day care puts Abe on back foot

An anonymous Japanese blogger's tirade about failing to secure a day care place for her child has spurred Prime Minister Shinzo Abe into action.
EDITORIALS
Mar 15, 2016

Abe's drive to amend Constitution

Voters should strive to understand what government leaders and lawmakers aim to achieve by amending the supreme law.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Mar 15, 2016

Trump's Japan-bashing shows why he's unfit to lead America

The presidential candidate's fiery rhetoric risks relations with allies and Washington's two biggest bankers.
COMMENTARY / World
Mar 15, 2016

Prelude to war with China?

The South China Sea contretemps has taken a decided turn for the worse.
COMMENTARY / World
Mar 15, 2016

U.S. should stop making, selling cluster bombs

Cluster bombs should be called 'cowards' bombs' because civilians are frequently their victims.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Mar 15, 2016

Finnish go professional has all the right moves

Antti Tormanen, a native of Finland, was 12 when he developed a passion for the ancient board game of go after reading the Japanese manga "Hikaru no Go."
Japan Times
WORLD / Politics
Mar 15, 2016

Trump gears for key state showdown, denies any violence in 'lovefest' campaign

U.S. Republican presidential front-runner Donald Trump hunted for votes in three states on Monday ahead of a crucial round of nominating contests, and dismissed outbreaks of violence at his campaign events as "a little disruption."
JAPAN / Politics / EXPLAINER
Mar 14, 2016

How a U.N. committee riled Japan with its criticism of women's rights

Recent recommendations issued to Japan by the United Nations Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women sparked a sharp response from Tokyo.
COMMENTARY / World
Mar 14, 2016

U.S. president got foreign policy fundamentals right

There is one overriding task that has guided the exercise of American power abroad since 1945.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Mar 14, 2016

Why 3/11 didn't change Japan

The Fukushima crisis should have been a catalyst for change; instead it sustained policy inertia.
Japan Times
LIFE / Language / BILINGUAL
Mar 14, 2016

Japanese go out on a limb for health (but not for love)

You could say that health has become a national obsession — one of the most obvious side-effects of Japan's super-aged society.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Mar 14, 2016

Smartphone gamers blow small fortune on their obsession

Just before the New Year holiday in Japan, ads for a smartphone game called Granblue Fantasy began appearing on television and in magazines.
SOCCER / J. League
Mar 13, 2016

J. League branching out to grow brand in Asia

The J. League has grown steadily in the first two decades since its launch in 1993.
BASEBALL / Japanese Baseball
Mar 13, 2016

Hawks owner Son lauds club's business acumen

Masayoshi Son, the founder and CEO of SoftBank Group Corp., is rich. And his telecom and technology company has grown into a giant.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Mar 13, 2016

Rock act Boris and noise musician Merzbow attempt an interactive experiment on 'Gensho'

The Japanese word gō'on can be rendered in English as a "roaring sound." It's often used to describe the loud levels of volume at a concert, which typically hit around 120 decibels.
COMMENTARY / World
Mar 13, 2016

Predicting a crime you have not yet committed

Scientists have demonstrated that a computer can outperform human judges in predicting who will commit a violent crime. Whether to use this in real life raises many ethical issues.
ASIA PACIFIC
Mar 13, 2016

U.S. serves up Korean 'rocket salad' in war drill response to North's threats

There's more to do in South Korea's heavily forested Rocket Valley, just a few kilometers from the demilitarized zone separating the two Koreas, than fire rockets. In quieter times, people tend vegetable patches along ice-cold streams.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Mar 12, 2016

Reforms neglect nursing care problems

In recent weeks, there have been two major news stories related to the issue of senior nursing care. In one, the Supreme Court reversed a Nagoya High Court ruling that ordered a 94-year-old woman to compensate JR Tokai for damages caused in 2007 by her then 91-year-old husband, who, suffering from dementia,...
Japan Times
LIFE / Travel
Mar 12, 2016

Nagoya's big names, trains and automobiles

Mount Fuji whizzes by as I drive the Tokaido N700 series shinkansen from Tokyo to Nagoya. "Don't let the speed go above 270 kilometers per hour," warns Kaori Takagi. I heed the warning, though Takagi is not a shinkansen driver instructor. We are, in fact, in the simulator at the SCMAGLEV and Railway...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Books / ESSENTIAL READING FOR JAPANOPHILES
Mar 12, 2016

'Rough Living' captures the struggles of being a woman in the Meiji Era

Tokuda Shusei's "Rough Living," a translation of his 1915 novel "Arakure," explores lives of working-class people of the Meiji Era (1868-1912) and the rupturing social transformations taking place in Japan at the time.
COMMUNITY / Voices / OVERHEARD
Mar 12, 2016

On his last legs

Arriving at the jogging course just before a group of college soccer players start their 2-kilometer individual time trial is completely soul-destroying.
BASEBALL / BASEBALL BULLET-IN
Mar 12, 2016

Gambling, drugs, bullets provide cautionary tales for NPB's foreign players

Gambling, drugs, bullets in luggage, gambling again. More current and former players in Japanese baseball are being tagged with the yogisha (crime suspect) label following their names, and team officials are making the deep bows of apology and "There's nothing we can say" speeches. Some have stepped...
Japan Times
BUSINESS / YEN FOR LIVING
Mar 12, 2016

Japanese tourists' longing for Hawaii is still worth banking on

Airlines, travel agents and the Hawaiian tourist industry are betting big that the postwar Japanese love affair with Hawaii will endure.

Longform

Members of the nonprofit group Japan Youth Memorial Association search for the remains of dead soldiers in a cave in Okinawa Prefecture in February.
The long search for Japan’s lost soldiers