Search - 2016

 
 
JAPAN / Crime & Legal / DARK SIDE OF THE RISING SUN
Apr 1, 2017

Gangsters in Japan aren't quite as intimidating as they used to be

The National Police Agency announced last month that the number of crime syndicate members fell below 20,000 in 2016.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Mar 28, 2017

The tortured artist is not just a cliche

Sai Hashizume's latest exhibition of precision realist painting, "This Isn't Happiness," is about updating some of the masters of Western art history. In her five new works, she deals prominently with the surrealist Rene Magritte and Vincent Van Gogh. She also adopts the ominous chiaroscuro of 17th-century...
EDITORIALS
Mar 26, 2017

Mixed recovery in land prices

The latest data on land prices testify to the slow progress in the government's efforts to reverse the population exodus from rural to urban areas and achieve more balanced economic growth nationally.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Mar 26, 2017

How corruption is fueling climate change

Corruption ensures that moneyed and powerful interests are free from rules that hold them in check, and explains why governments have so far fallen short of upholding their commitments to reduce emissions.
Japan Times
SOCCER / PREMIER REPORT
Mar 24, 2017

Southgate era commences with encouraging signs

It is a topic that has not, to the best of my knowledge, been debated — that England might fail to qualify for the 2018 World Cup finals. It is not so much a taboo subject, but a general acceptance that England will qualify (because this is what it does, it qualifies for finals) and then under-perform...
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Mar 24, 2017

Cherry blossom fever boosts companies' bottom lines

Every spring people across Japan are enraptured as the cherry trees explode into bloom, clothing the country in pink. The blossoms last for only a few short weeks, but in that time the fleeting flowers make for good business.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Tech
Mar 23, 2017

Japanese researchers, firms part of global effort to develop spray-on solar panels

Imagine a future when solar cells can be sprayed or printed onto the windows of skyscrapers or atop sport utility vehicles — and at prices potentially far cheaper than today's silicon-based panels.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Mar 22, 2017

Ex-BOJ member says government must allay pension jitters before reflating economy

Former Bank of Japan Policy Board member Sayuri Shirai says the central bank has done about all it can do to end the nation's deflationary mindset.
Japan Times
WORLD / Politics
Mar 21, 2017

Tillerson plans to skip NATO meeting, visit Russia in April, sources say

U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson plans to skip an April 5-6 meeting of NATO foreign ministers for a U.S. visit by the Chinese president and will travel to Russia later in the month, U.S. officials said Monday, a step allies may see as putting Moscow's concerns ahead of theirs.
EDITORIALS
Mar 20, 2017

Mixed outcome in wage talks

The results of the annual management-labor pay negotiations highlight the limitations of the Abe administration's drive to get export-led businesses to raise wages.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Mar 18, 2017

False sense of security? Experts weigh the threat that terrorism poses Japan

Widely regarded as a safe place to live, Japan currently sits in ninth position on the Global Peace Index's list of the most peaceful nations on the planet. The East Asian nation is generally believed to be an orderly society that has incredibly low homicide and assault rates, and it certainly doesn't...
Japan Times
LIFE / Travel
Mar 18, 2017

Taiwan: Where Japanese go to feel at home on vacation

Taiwan was Japanese soil for about five decades until the end of WWII. Amazingly, this is the one country where the Japanese imperialists managed to do more good than harm when they colonized it in 1895.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Mar 15, 2017

Workers at top companies get meager 2017 pay hikes in Abenomics setback

Major firms offered the lowest base-pay hike in four years, a setback for Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's campaign dubbed “Abenomics” to spur the long-sluggish economy.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Mar 15, 2017

Japan's power producers to face china coal pain after steel

First it was Japan's steel makers, now it's the nation's power producers that are set to pay for China's coal policies.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Mar 14, 2017

The electric vehicle rush started too early

The modern electric vehicle is conceptually inconsistent with how people want to use cars, and in many countries the environmental effect of switching to EVs is negligible.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Economy
Mar 13, 2017

Economy seen hurting as thousands of Japan's 'zombie' firms legally dodge bankruptcy

The owner of a car repair business in northwest Tokyo has been digging into his retirement fund to keep his shop going. He's in his mid-60s, he's not making money and he knows he'll eventually have to close down.
ASIA PACIFIC / Crime & Legal
Mar 13, 2017

Malaysia arrests five Filipinos for suspected links to Islamic State extremist group

Malaysian police said Monday they had arrested seven people, including five Filipinos, for suspected links to the Islamic State militant group.
EDITORIALS
Mar 11, 2017

Hometown tax donation system

The hometown tax donation program is rife with problems and should be abolished.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Society
Mar 11, 2017

Namie: one step forward, a few steps back

Evacuees from the Fukushima town of Namie are struggling to find a good reason to return to their homes.
Japan Times
JAPAN / AFTEREFFECTS OF MARCH 2011
Mar 10, 2017

Nuclear energy industry lacks new talent as Fukushima fallout turns off graduates

At a Tokyo job fair for the atomic energy industry on March 4, Kenta Kakitani, a graduate student at the University of Tokyo, hopes to some day become a nuclear plant design engineer.
Japan Times
BASEBALL
Mar 9, 2017

Senga impresses in WBC debut

Just when Australia thought it was safe to get back in the batter's box, with Japan ace Tomoyuki Sugano on the bench and out of pitches, it ran into the buzz saw that is Kodai Senga.
EDITORIALS
Mar 9, 2017

Taking a stand on defense research

University scientists should avoid the lure of easy government money aimed at promoting research with military applications.
Japan Times
JAPAN / AFTEREFFECTS OF MARCH 2011
Mar 7, 2017

Tsunami-hit Rikuzentakata rebuilding on raised ground, hoping to thrive anew

This is the first of a four-part series looking at the lasting impact of the March 11, 2011, disasters.
Japan Times
WORLD / Science & Health
Mar 7, 2017

Arctic sea ice may vanish this century even if climate goals met, study says

Arctic sea ice may vanish in summers this century even if governments achieve a core target for limiting global warming set by almost 200 nations in 2015, scientists said Monday.
Japan Times
WORLD / Politics
Mar 5, 2017

Offering no evidence, Trump claims Obama wiretapped him during campaign

U.S. President Donald Trump accused predecessor Barack Obama on Saturday of wiretapping him during the late stages of the 2016 election campaign, but offered no evidence for an allegation which an Obama spokesman said was "simply false."
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Economy
Mar 4, 2017

Yellen points to March rate hike as Fed signals end of easy money

The U.S. Federal Reserve's long-stalled "liftoff" of interest rates may finally get airborne this year as policymakers from Chair Janet Yellen on Friday to regional leaders across the United States signaled that the era of easy money is drawing to a close.

Longform

Construction takes place on the Takanawa Gateway Convention Center in Tokyo, slated to open in 2025.
A boom for business tourism in Japan?