Search - 2013

 
 
COMMENTARY / World
Jan 13, 2014

Power without purpose in Moscow

By suppressing opposition in Moscow, Grozny and elsewhere, Putin has only put a lid on a boiling pot. Part of the Kremlin's difficulty stems from its remarkable lack of vision — a fundamental failure to understand what Russia is, will be, or can become.
EDITORIALS
Jan 9, 2014

Tepco's flawed turnaround plan

Tepco should further streamline its operations and explore new avenues of business growth, such as the retail sale of electricity in parts of Japan, rather than return to its old model that depended on nuclear power for profitability.
Japan Times
CULTURE
Jan 9, 2014

Tao makes the cut in new drama

At age 28, actress and model Tao Okamoto is already one of the few women in history — along with actress Farrah Fawcett and Jennifer Aniston's Rachel character from "Friends" to name a couple — to have a haircut named after her.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Stage
Jan 8, 2014

New York's Apples make a big impression

In the last three months since I arrived in New York to study American drama with a grant from the Asian Cultural Council, a U.S. nonprofit dedicated to international cultural exchange, I have been to the theater more than 70 times — including at least a dozen visits to somewhere that's been a truly...
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Jan 8, 2014

Sake boom revives rice types as Abe eyes exports

Farmers on Japan's west coast will sow Nihonbare rice this year for the first time in a decade as growers around the country return to older varieties to meet demand for record sake exports.
COMMENTARY / World
Jan 7, 2014

Will the bitcoin bite the dust?

Bitcoin was one of Oxford Dictionaries' runners-up for the word of the year for 2013. The virtual currency has received a partial blessing from the chairman of the U.S. Federal Reserve. But will it bite the dust because of its volatility?
Japan Times
JAPAN / GENERATIONAL CHANGE
Jan 5, 2014

Rebuilding hope, one stitch at a time

Most of the 19 women from the tsunami-hit city of Kesennuma, Miyagi Prefecture, who work for Tamako Mitarai's knitwear company had no professional experience as knitters.
Japan Times
LIFE / Style & Design
Jan 4, 2014

Kenya Hara: the future of design

Sitting at a plain white table in a meeting room high up on the 12th floor of a narrow building in central Tokyo, product designer Kenya Hara asks me to picture a shallow plate in my mind. "Now imagine a slightly deeper plate," Hara says, "that gets deeper and deeper and eventually becomes a bowl."
EDITORIALS
Jan 3, 2014

Dubious cure for doctor shortage

The education ministry's recent decision to approve creation of a new medical school at an existing university in Tohoku marks a new development in the government's oscillating policy on the education of doctors.
BUSINESS / Economy / ANALYSIS
Jan 3, 2014

Economy faces headwinds in 2014

The first stage of the sales tax hike next April will likely put a major drag on growth this year, although the nation will avert an outright recession, economists say.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Politics
Dec 31, 2013

Abe's quest to revive, reshape nation rides on the economy

Just six months ago, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe was riding high after his party swept the Upper House election. Now things aren't looking so rosy.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Dec 31, 2013

Tokyo prepares to get schooled in the art of beats

Although the major spectacle looming on Tokyo's horizon is undoubtedly the 2020 Olympics, there is one event this year that will be eagerly anticipated by anyone who spends longer on their gym playlist than their workout: The Red Bull Music Academy (RBMA) is set to take place here in October.
COMMENTARY / World
Dec 31, 2013

A terrible year for Syria and Egypt

Even with the most optimistic assessments, the Syrian conflict is unlikely to be settled in 2014. As for Egypt, nearly 20,000 people have been sentenced or are now facing trials for belonging to or supporting the 'wrong' political camp.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Dec 31, 2013

Energy rivals to face eased demand

Even as new renewable energy projects come online and changes in the law designed to increase competition and use power generated from all sources more efficiently start to come into effect this year, predictions for the nation's energy landscape show total energy consumption slightly down.
COMMENTARY
Dec 30, 2013

Rescue of Europe must involve reform of euro

Eurozone members whose path to regaining competitiveness through price and wage reductions is too long and grueling, and whose societies risk being rent asunder by the imposition of austerity, may have to temporarily exit the monetary union.
EDITORIALS
Dec 28, 2013

Year of ups and downs for Japan

Japan in 2013 was besieged by problems in politics, business and society even while several key events helped to rekindle a sense of confidence in Japan.
COMMENTARY / COUNTERPOINT
Dec 28, 2013

Incredible India and the New Delhi Dissensus

On a recent visit to New Delhi, I met an activist promoting the rights of dalits (untouchables), who quipped, playing off a current national-branding campaign: "India is indeed incredible . . . but only in paradox."
COMMENTARY
Dec 27, 2013

Extremists threatening Libya

Sunday's suicide bomb attack in Libya hat killed 13 soldiers should be a signal that the world can no longer afford to stand aside as this oil-rich nation of 6 million people appears to slide into chaos.
BUSINESS / Markets
Dec 27, 2013

'Abenomics' turns Japanese hedge funds into world's best performers

Japanese hedge funds are heading for record returns this year as investors bet that Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's economic policies will succeed in reviving the world's third-largest economy.
COMMENTARY / World
Dec 26, 2013

U.S. 'sledgehammer' justice sidelines the judge

'Sledgehammer' justice waged against nonviolent repeat offenders in the U.S. is said to have removed the role of judges and to have turned prosecutors into sentencers.
BUSINESS / Economy / ANALYSIS
Dec 24, 2013

Debt-issuance levels point to lack of concern for debt: experts

Experts say the draft fiscal 2014 budget doesn't show that the Abe team is serious about revising the debt-driven fiscal structure as more than 40 percent of the budget will be paid for through new debt issuance.

Longform

Visitors walk past Sou Fujimoto's Grand Ring, which has been recognized as the largest wooden structure in the world.
Can a World Expo still matter? Japan is about to find out.