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Japan Times
SOCCER / J. League
Feb 25, 2014

Sanfrecce emboldened as chase for third straight title looms

Sanfrecce Hiroshima know they could not have won last year's J. League title without a bit of luck, but that will not stop the two-time defending champions from believing they can make it three in a row when the new season starts on Saturday.
Japan Times
LIFE / Digital / ON: GAMES
Feb 24, 2014

Japan finally gets the PS4, "Ryu ga Gotoku" goes back in time and "Assassin's Creed III" has a killer box set

At last, PS4 in Japan
COMMENTARY / World
Feb 24, 2014

Crisis of water scarcity continues to stalk China

While much attention is paid to the consequences of environmental pollution in China, a separate crisis of water scarcity is brewing with equally dangerous consequences for people's health and for the country's development.
JAPAN / EXPLAINER
Feb 24, 2014

Should young criminals face harsher penalties?

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's Cabinet approved a bill this month to bolster punishments issued under the juvenile law. This is partly in response to growing calls by people victimized by juvenile offenders to reduce their apparent impunity.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Feb 24, 2014

China, eyeing Japan, seeks WWII focus for Xi during Germany visit

China wants to make World War II a key part of a trip by President Xi Jinping to Germany next month, much to Berlin's discomfort, diplomatic sources said, as Beijing tries to use German atonement for its wartime past to embarrass Japan.
JAPAN / Politics / KANSAI PERSPECTIVE
Feb 23, 2014

Final season for 'Toru Hashimoto Show'?

Is the Osaka political drama revolving around “third force” failure Toru Hashimoto entering its final season?
Japan Times
JAPAN / WEDGE
Feb 23, 2014

'Cloud matching' inspiring startups

Cloud matching, the practice of matching buyers and sellers from a large pool of people, organizations and companies, is a field entrepreneurs are seeking out as a new business opportunity.
EDITORIALS
Feb 23, 2014

An equal vote is a priority

Talks between the ruling and opposition parties on rectifying vote-value disparity, which remains so wide among Lower House constituencies as to undermine the principle of equality under the Constitution, have made little headway.
Japan Times
WORLD / Politics
Feb 21, 2014

Obama's 'red line' on Ukraine draws derision

President Barack Obama's stern warning to Ukrainian officials Wednesday was the closest thing to a "red line" moment he has had since his threat in 2012 to act against the Syrian government if it deployed chemical weapons.
Japan Times
JAPAN / CHUBU CONNECTION
Feb 21, 2014

'Fallujah' asks where responsibility lies for 2004 Iraq War hostage issue

A movie documenting the lives of three Japanese who were taken hostage by an armed group in Iraq in 2004 during the Iraq War and were later released started playing on Feb. 8 in Cinemaskhole, a movie theater in Nagoya.
EDITORIALS
Feb 20, 2014

Expanding the temp workforce

A labor law revision being prepared by the government would remove the three-year limit on dispatching temporary workers to the same job, and thus expand the ranks of a workforce that traditionally has had little job security and received less pay than regular employees.
Japan Times
JAPAN / NATIONAL SPOTLIGHT
Feb 16, 2014

Local startup SoftBank on course to become global player

SoftBank CEO Masayoshi Son's 2010 speech about his new 30-year plan has proven to be more than a grandiose spiel as it barges into the global telecommunications market.
EDITORIALS
Feb 16, 2014

In the spirits of growth

Suntory Holdings Ltd.'s deal to buy Beam Inc. of the U.S. is the latest indication that heretofore risk-averse Japanese firms are becoming more aggressive in expanding overseas operations through mergers and acquisitions.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Feb 14, 2014

Drift rightward has been building for years

Fashion model Junko Amo made headlines on Aug. 15, 2002, when she initiated a visit to controversial Yasukuni Shrine with a group of some 180 people she met via 2channel, Japan's biggest Internet forum.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Companies / ANALYSIS
Feb 13, 2014

Toyota recalls persist as most Prius hybrids need fix

Toyota Motor Corp.'s Akio Toyoda, beset by recalls since taking over as president in 2009, is now finding more flaws in one of his most high-profile models and adding to a growing fleet of cars that need fixing.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Companies
Feb 11, 2014

Toyota plant closures put paid to Aussie industry

Toyota Motor Corp. will stop building cars in Australia in 2017, spelling the end of the local industry after Ford Motor Co. and General Motors Co. announced last year they also plan to pull out.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Feb 10, 2014

Student seeks Japan-Russia isle thaw

For Yuki Nishida, 23, the Soviet Union and Russia had long been the frightening foes who seized Kunashiri Island, where his grandmother lived, after Japan's World War II surrender.
EDITORIALS
Feb 10, 2014

Obstacles to green energy expansion

The review of the feed-in tariff system should not be perfunctory. The government should make serious efforts to remove obstacles to the expansion of renewable energy sources.
EDITORIALS
Feb 9, 2014

Wages of an economic upturn

Indications are that Japan may finally be on its way out of deflation, but prices are rising faster than workers' wages and the consumption tax hike in April will add to the burden on households.
Japan Times
WORLD
Feb 9, 2014

Water shortages leaving world high and dry

On Jan. 17, scientists downloaded fresh data from a pair of NASA satellites and distributed the findings among the small group of researchers who track the world's water reserves. At the University of California, Irvine, hydrologist James Famiglietti looked over the data from the gravity-sensing Grace...
Japan Times
JAPAN / CHUBU CONNECTION
Feb 7, 2014

Female scientists push for breakthrough in equality

Recent news that Haruko Obokata of Riken's Center for Developmental Biology found a new way to generate pluripotent cells cast a spotlight on women in the male-dominant field of science.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Feb 6, 2014

Tokyu launches Shibuya info page

Private railway Tokyu Corp. has opened a new Facebook page in five different languages to cash in on foreign interest in Shibuya, the soul of Japanese entertainment and youth fashion.
JAPAN
Feb 2, 2014

Momii's rise tests NHK's reputation

For millions of Japanese, and even Japan-watchers abroad, NHK is a trusted source of information: gray in tone perhaps, but neither black nor white on the issues. This assumption has been put to the test by new NHK Chairman Katsuto Momii, whose recent remarks have led many to wonder whether the public...

Longform

A man offers prayers at Hebikubo Shrine in Tokyo's Shinagawa Ward. The shrine is one of several across the country dedicated to the snake.
Shed your skin and reinvent yourself in the Year of the Snake