Search - 2013

 
 
COMMENTARY / World
Jun 1, 2014

Only amnesiacs could laud this recovery path

American graduates this season are entering an economy where more than 40 percent of recent college grads are either unemployed or in jobs that do not require a college degree. Barack Obama seems to suffer from amnesia concerning the policies that produced the robust recovery from the severe recession of 1981-82.
Japan Times
JAPAN / EXPLAINER
May 26, 2014

Spousal tax break targeted to get wives out of house

The government is considering cutting a tax benefit that critics say deters wives from seeking full-time employment, as part of efforts to spur the economy.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC / Society / ANALYSIS
May 22, 2014

For 'dirty man of Asia,' Russian gas deal offers clean solution

"If I work in your Beijing, I would shorten my life at least five years," Premier Zhu Rongji, a career politician from Shanghai, quipped in 1999, referring to the notorious air pollution in China's northern capital.
EDITORIALS
May 20, 2014

Shrinking current account surplus

Japan's current account surplus for fiscal 2013 falls sharply from the peak reached just six years ago, indicating that the old export-driven model of economic growth may be over.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Companies
May 15, 2014

Panasonic, Sharp pull up as Sony lags

Vigorous streamlining efforts paid off for Panasonic Corp. and Sharp Corp., two of Japan's three major electronics firms, in fiscal 2013, but Sony Corp. struggled to rebuild as its mainstay businesses continued to lose money.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Companies
May 15, 2014

Mizuho most pessimistic of the big banks

Mizuho Financial Group Inc. led the nation's three biggest banks in forecasting a drop in earnings for this year as loan growth loses momentum and returns from stock investments wane.
BUSINESS / Companies
May 12, 2014

Sharp logs ¥11.5 billion net profit after a harrowing two-year slump

Sharp Corp. posted its first net profit in three years in fiscal 2013, earning ¥11.5 billion after losing a staggering ¥545.3 billion in fiscal 2012, the electronics maker said Monday.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
May 7, 2014

Lawyer for Japan's Universal offered to pay ex-staffer to stop helping casino probe, document indicates

A lawyer for pachinko machine maker Universal Entertainment offered to bribe an ex-worker to retract a claim the firm paid bribes over a casino project, documents show.
Japan Times
WORLD
May 6, 2014

White House to unveil dire climate warning in new report

The Obama administration will release an updated report on Tuesday showing how climate change touches every part of America as the administration seeks to convince the public on the need for a crackdown on carbon pollution.
BUSINESS / Economy
May 1, 2014

Assured BOJ foils analysts' predictions

The confidence that Bank of Japan officials are demonstrating in achieving their inflation target is lowering the chances of additional monetary easing this year even as the economy weakens.
COMMENTARY / World
May 1, 2014

Heavy metal contaminants stalk China's farms

China released a report in April disclosing that much of its arable land is contaminated with heavy metals that are entering the food chain. It doesn't bode well for consumers and suggests that China increasingly will have to import food.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Media
Apr 30, 2014

Advisers assess Japan Times performance after INYT tie-up

Now that The Japan Times is being distributed together with the International New York Times, the advisory board members agreed that there should be a newsroom shift toward even more coverage of Japan.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Companies
Apr 28, 2014

JPX misses estimates as slump continues

Japan Exchange Group Inc., the main bourse operator in the world's second-largest equity market, tumbled in afternoon trading after forecasting full-year profit that missed analyst estimates.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Companies
Apr 21, 2014

Mt. Gox CEO Karpeles sought both control, escape

In June 2011, when customers of now-bankrupt bitcoin exchange Mt. Gox agitated for proof that the Tokyo-based firm was still solvent after a hacking attack, CEO Mark Karpeles turned to the comedy science fiction novel "The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy".
COMMENTARY / Japan
Apr 14, 2014

Internet raises misconduct risk

The road to glory for a scientific pioneer leads to temptations to plagiarize background info and must pass through a panel of 'referees' who may be inclined to judge a research paper by the name of the author rather than its contents.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Companies
Apr 9, 2014

Corporate America's offshore cash pile rises to $2.1 trillion: study

Foreign profits held overseas by U.S. corporations to avoid taxes at home nearly doubled from 2008 to 2013 to top $2.1 trillion, a private research firm's said in a report, prompting a call for reform by the Senate's top tax law writer.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Apr 8, 2014

Oreskaband vocalist iCas talks politics and 10 years in the music game

The first topic that comes up when I sit down with Oreskaband's singer/guitarist Naoko "iCas" Yoshioka isn't music or her band, it's a lunchtime variety show called "Waratte Iitomo!" The finale aired March 31 and she asks me if I saw it, which I hadn't. She insists that I watch it.
EDITORIALS
Mar 29, 2014

Japan failing its obligation to aid asylum seekers

How can Japan justify accepting just six of the 3,777 people who applied for asylum status in 2013? Most of the applicants already resided here legally as visa holders. Japan must do better.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC / Science & Health / FOCUS
Mar 27, 2014

Indonesian forest fires feed air pollution across Asia

High above the vast Indonesian island of Sumatra, satellites identify hundreds of plumes of smoke drifting over the oil palm plantations and rain forests.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / FOCUS
Mar 22, 2014

With sanctions, Putin looks east

When President Vladimir Putin signed a treaty last week annexing Crimea, to great fanfare in the Kremlin and anger in the West, a trusted lieutenant was making his way to Asia to shore up ties with Russia's eastern allies.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / THE FOREIGN ELEMENT
Mar 17, 2014

Ailing U.S. veteran wins payout over Agent Orange exposure in Okinawa

The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs has granted compensation to another former service member for exposure to Agent Orange while stationed in Okinawa during the Vietnam War era, despite U.S. denials that the defoliant was ever present there.
COMMENTARY / World
Mar 17, 2014

Asia's tourism campaigns could benefit from a little cleaning up

As Asia welcomes more and more visitors, its leaders and policymakers must take steps toward a more sustainable tourism industry and supporting infrastructure. That includes cleaning up the beaches.
COMMENTARY / World
Mar 16, 2014

Singh: missing for a decade

It would be interesting to know just what Prime Minister Manmohan Singh — in office for a decade but rarely in power during that time — thinks the job requires beyond being a sycophant toward the first family.
Japan Times
BASKETBALL
Mar 15, 2014

JBA reveals plan for pro hoops circuit, restructuring for 2016-17 season

In 2016, the Japan Basketball Association will launch a new professional men's basketball league, it announced on Saturday evening.

Longform

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