Search - 2014

 
 
Japan Times
JAPAN / GENERATIONAL CHANGE
Feb 1, 2015

App maker on quest for unique, crowd-pleasing products

Daisaku Yamamoto, an up-and-coming Web services creator, recounts being an attention-seeker as a child, always trying to differentiate himself from everyone else.
Japan Times
BASEBALL / BASEBALL BULLET-IN
Jan 31, 2015

Fortune could shine on Cubs once again in '15

Two events that occurred last month have me thinking this could finally be the year the Chicago Cubs win the World Series and end a 107-year drought. The Cubs obtained outfielder Dexter Fowler from the Houston Astros in a Jan. 19 trade, and that was followed by the sad news on Jan. 23 of the death of...
WORLD / Politics
Jan 28, 2015

Billionaire Koch brothers launch 2016 U.S. 'electoral arms race'

Democrats acknowledged on Tuesday that it may be impossible to match the nearly $900 million that the conservative billionaire Koch brothers said their political network will spend during the 2016 campaign cycle.
COMMENTARY / World
Jan 26, 2015

Risks to democrats who nod to blurred truth

Democratic societies are faced with the temptation to close one's eyes and ears to inconvenient truths. For example, we do not want to admit that Russian President Vladimir Putin has long since crossed the line into war with regard to Ukraine.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Jan 26, 2015

Japanese rice: The new, safe luxury food in China

First it was European infant formula, then New Zealand milk. Now Chinese consumers are adding Japanese rice to the list of everyday foods they will bring in from abroad at luxury prices because they fear the local alternatives aren't safe.
COMMENTARY / World
Jan 23, 2015

Obama tries to out-Putin Putin

In his State of the Union address earlier this week, U.S. President Barack Obama showed that he's either blind to the dangers of the deteriorating relationship between Moscow and the West or is faking pride in a victory that is not even on the horizon.
WORLD / Science & Health
Jan 23, 2015

Superbug spread through contaminated endoscopes sickened dozens in Seattle

A drug-resistant superbug infected 32 people at a Seattle hospital over a two-year period, with the bacteria spreading through contaminated medical scopes that had been cleaned to the manufacturer's recommendation, officials said on Thursday.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Politics
Jan 22, 2015

Abe forced to walk a fine line in oil-rich Middle East

The seizure of two Japanese nationals by the Islamic State militant group is raising questions about Japan's Middle East policies and the effectiveness of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's brand of personal diplomacy.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Economy / ANALYSIS
Jan 19, 2015

Japan's liquidity trap holds warning for ECB: Japan Credit

Investors who predict the European Central Bank will start buying government bonds this week to fight deflation shouldn't expect too much if Japan is any guide.
BASEBALL / Japanese Baseball / HIT AND RUN
Jan 17, 2015

Abe leaves big shoes to fill at catcher's spot in lineup

A few seasons ago, in 2012, the Yomiuri Giants won the Japan Series just a few days after the San Francisco Giants clinched the World Series title. While the two teams already shared a nickname and color scheme, it was the first time they'd reached the pinnacle of their respective leagues in the same...
Japan Times
BASKETBALL / HOOP SCOOP
Jan 15, 2015

Revolving door with coaches damaging growth of Japanese game

A troubling trend is one of the hallmarks of the 2014-15 Japan men's pro basketball season.
COMMENTARY / World
Jan 15, 2015

Moving toward the next Chinese economy

After more than 30 years of extraordinary growth, the Chinese economy is shifting onto a more conventional development path. The difficult rebalancing now under way could lead to an economy that's stronger than ever.
EDITORIALS
Jan 13, 2015

Strong-arming Okinawa's governor

A reported Abe administration plan to sharply trim spending on measures to spur Okinawa's economy in fiscal 2015 smacks of an attempt to coerce Okinawa's new governor into ending his resistance to construction of a new U.S. military facility in the prefecture.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Jan 13, 2015

Delivering on the promise of 'Abenomics'

If politicians themselves participate in the taxpayer identification system, bureaucrats forgo some of the power that excessive regulation affords them and businesses give up some of their special tax benefits, the Abe government may yet fulfill its promise and build a thriving economy.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / Japan
Jan 13, 2015

Now Abe must follow through

Three factors played important roles in securing Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's extraordinary victory in last month's elections: falling oil prices, rising skepticism about China's peaceful intentions and Abe himself supplanting the role of labor unions by demanding that companies give pay raises.
WORLD / Crime & Legal
Jan 13, 2015

Some New York police use chokehold as first response, inspector general finds

A new inspector general blasted the New York City Police Department for failing to punish officers who used banned chokeholds on citizens, sometimes as a first response in a confrontation.
COMMENTARY / Japan / COUNTERPOINT
Jan 10, 2015

The people's Emperor speaks truth to power

Emperor Akihito began the new year with a statement that pointedly referred to two major controversies: war memory and nuclear energy. His thoughts on these demonstrate why he is so admired by the public and underscore the crucial role the 81-year-old monarch plays in contemporary Japan.
BASKETBALL / BJ-LEAGUE NOTEBOOK
Jan 9, 2015

Rosters finalized for bj-league All-Star Game

Team rosters for the 2014-15 bj-league All-Star Game were announced on Friday, and veteran guard Kenya Tomori is the lone representative of the Gunma Crane Thunders, the host squad, who's been selected to play.
COMMENTARY / World
Jan 9, 2015

Br'er Rabbit and Br'er Fox

Today's crisis in Islamic society dates from its loss of unity in the collapse of the Ottoman Empire in World War I. Foreigners will never achieve peace and unity for them.
Japan Times
JAPAN / CHUBU CONNECTION
Jan 9, 2015

Female inmates OK'd to give birth without handcuffs

Pregnant female convicts will in the future give birth without having to wear handcuffs, after the father of a baby born to an inmate in Kasamatsu prison, Gifu Prefecture, lobbied against the rule.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Markets
Jan 8, 2015

Record bearish stock bets reflect skepticism over Abenomics

Bearish bets on Japanese stocks have surged to a record level because foreign investors are increasingly skeptical that Prime Minister Shinzo Abe will succeed in reviving the economy, according to financial services company Reorient Group Ltd.
BUSINESS
Jan 8, 2015

Chocolate shortage spurs call to revive cocoa farming in Amazon basin

With chocolate prices surging, a former Credit Suisse Group AG banker wants to help revive cocoa farming in the Amazon basin, where the beans are thought to have evolved about 15,000 years ago.
BUSINESS / Economy
Jan 8, 2015

Fed looks past a world in turmoil, confident in U.S. recovery

U.S. central bankers have looked beyond a global deflation threat, fear of energy-sector bond defaults, and a surge of oil patch layoffs to reach what appears to be a firm conclusion: the U.S. recovery is here to stay.
Japan Times
TENNIS
Jan 6, 2015

Nishikori expresses confidence as new season commences

For Kei Nishikori, one of the rising stars of men's tennis, the start of the new year could not come quick enough.
COMMENTARY / World
Jan 4, 2015

China needs to embrace 'creative destruction'

As 2015 starts, China's leaders should learn from the experience of Japan in 2014. The travails of 'Abenomics' should be a warning to Chinese President Xi JInping.
Japan Times
BASEBALL / BASEBALL BULLET-IN
Jan 3, 2015

Hillman embraces new opportunity with Astros

Happy New Year to all readers of the Baseball Bullet-In, and we will start 2015 with an update on the new job of former Hokkaido Nippon Ham Fighters manager Trey Hillman.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Entertainment news
Jan 3, 2015

Bono 'may never play guitar again'

Bono, the front man of the Irish rock group U2 who was injured in a cycling accident last year, said on Friday his recovery has not been easy and he may never play guitar again.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Jan 2, 2015

From president to dictator

President Vladimir Putin's regime is on the verge of transitioning from mild authoritarianism to outright dictatorship. The country's newly amended military doctrine is an especially ominous sign.

Longform

A small shrine perched atop rocks braves the waves hitting the shoreline during a storm in Shimoda, Shizuoka Prefecture. The area is under threat of a possible 31-meter-high tsunami if an earthquake strikes the nearby Nankai Trough.
If the 'Big One' hits, this city could face a 31-meter-high tsunami