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LIFE / Language / COMMUNICATION CUES
May 4, 2015

Tour guide exam to be more relevant

The Japan Tourism Agency will revamp an exam for tour guides serving foreigners, following criticism that the test contains questions that are too difficult or simply irrelevant to the job.
Japan Times
JAPAN / KANSAI PERSPECTIVE
Apr 26, 2015

Cycling the Kyoto maze could get easier

As Kyoto residents know, bicycles are the best way to get around the congested city, which is taking steps to make it more amenable to foreign cyclists.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Society / FOCUS
Apr 16, 2015

Some prisons in Japan becoming 'like nursing homes' amid surge in elderly offenders

Most prisons spend a lot of time and effort keeping inmates from escaping, but a greater challenge is convincing some convicts to leave.
Japan Times
JAPAN / EXPLAINER
Mar 31, 2015

Translation tech gets Olympic push

Japan may not be the best in the world when it comes to speaking English, but it remains a pioneer in developing cutting-edge translation technology.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Mar 21, 2015

Security blanket: Should Japan beef up its anti-terrorism measures?

On Nov. 27, 2005, an unidentified terrorist group attacked the Mihama nuclear power plant on the Japan Sea in Fukui Prefecture, damaging the facility and creating fears of a radiation leak.
Japan Times
BASKETBALL
Dec 18, 2014

FIBA chief Baumann strikes tough tone on JBA ban

FIBA secretary general Patrick Baumann repeatedly stated that the Japan Basketball Association's "lack of vision" is a fundamental problem stunting the sport's development throughout the nation.
Japan Times
LIFE / Lifestyle
Nov 22, 2014

Seizing the initiative for women at work

Faced with a domestic economy that is sputtering, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has in recent months attempted to promote a sector that has long been underutilized in Japan — women.
EDITORIALS
Nov 11, 2014

No excuse for inaction on emissions

The latest report by the U.N. panel on climate change may not offer any new surprises concerning the threat of global warming, but it does remind us that doing too little, or waiting too long, to cut emissions of heat-trapping gases could be disastrous.
BUSINESS / Companies
Nov 10, 2014

GM-supplier Teijin targets mass-produced carbon fiber cars

A quarter of all "eco cars" will use carbon fiber within six years as automakers ranging from General Motors to Toyota turn to lighter materials to improve fuel economy, an Osaka-based supplier says.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Oct 23, 2014

Examining ASEAN up-and-comers

Cambodia, Laos and Myanmar are among the least-developed, but growing nations of the Association of South East Asian Nations, or ASEAN.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Sep 13, 2014

Gov. Masuzoe outlines grand tourism plan for Tokyo

Tokyo Gov. Yoichi Masuzoe sketches out his 'long-term vision' for the capital and lays out some of the steps needed to turn it into a tourism magnet.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Jul 13, 2014

A migrant structure for Japan

Setting numerical targets on immigration or the birthrate is a typical government planning tool, but migration is much more than a mathematical equation. Japan's government needs to give serious consideration to establishing an interministerial entity that ensures a 'whole-of-government' approach.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Jul 10, 2014

Shale oil to push U.S. past Russia, Saudi Arabia

Four years into the shale revolution, the U.S. is on track to pass Russia and Saudi Arabia as the world's largest producer of crude oil, most analysts agree. When that happens and by how much, though, has produced disparate estimates that depend on uncertain factors ranging from progress in drilling...
Japan Times
JAPAN / KANSAI PERSPECTIVE
Jun 22, 2014

Osaka on leading edge of casino debate

If Osaka Gov. Ichiro Matsui, Osaka Mayor Toru Hashimoto and their Osaka Ishin no Kai (One Osaka) members play their cards right, their gamble on casino legalization could hit the jackpot.
EDITORIALS
Jun 18, 2014

Boosting visitors to Japan

The government has adopted a set of measures aimed at achieving a target of doubling the number of visitors to Japan to 20 million in 2020.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Science & Health / ADVANCES IN PROGRESS
Jun 9, 2014

Algae underfunded in energy hunt

Could algae power your car? In the search for new energy sources, scientists are turning the green goo into oil.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Economy / FOCUS
Apr 30, 2014

To boost economy, recruiting stay-at-home dads

Manabu Tsukagoshi, a Tokyo-based consultant, took a month of paternity leave after his second child was born. That prompted his wife, a homemaker, to get a full-time job in the financial industry.
Japan Times
JAPAN / EXPLAINER
Apr 7, 2014

New SDF unit shores up thinly protected cyberborders

Japan has embarked on an effort to improve cybersecurity as an ever-increasing number of sophisticated computer viruses threaten to endanger national security.
BUSINESS / Economy
Mar 18, 2014

Analysts split on fiscal crisis timeline

Economists are split over how long the government has to rein in the world's biggest debt burden, a Bloomberg News survey shows, adding to a debate on whether the government should keep ratcheting up the sales tax.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Jan 28, 2014

New dawn breaking over Japan

Writing from Davos, Switzerland, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe says it is not twilight, but a new dawn, that is breaking over Japan, thanks to his administration's overcoming the notion that certain reforms could never be carried out.
Japan Times
SPORTS
Jan 1, 2014

The most viewed sports stories of 2013

The sports story most read online in the year in which Japan won the bid for the 2020 Olympics should come as no surprise. Baseball fans had plenty to celebrate, and figure-skating followers had no shortage of drama. Let's hope to see some Sochi gold medals in this round-up next year.
Japan Times
JAPAN / EXPLAINER
Nov 25, 2013

National Stadium plan hit as too grandiose

The new National Stadium planned for the Tokyo 2020 Olympics has come under the spotlight due to its huge size and massive costs, and for a design critics say doesn't fit in with its surroundings.

Longform

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