Search - article

 
 
Reader Mail
Oct 1, 2014

What's Abe been crowing about?

Regarding the Sept. 25 article "20% of college dropouts cite financial difficulties as reason": It's a sad state of affairs when Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has fun globe-trotting and lauding himself over what he claims are his great economic achievements while the reality at home becomes more desperate....
Reader Mail
Oct 1, 2014

Recalling a quiet Afghanistan

Gwynne Dyer might have mentioned in his Oct. 1 article, "An imperfect Afghanistan," that before the intervention of major world powers, Afghanistan was not a perfect country but, as I and thousands of other visitors in the 1960s and the '70s can vouch for, it was peaceful and quiet — no land mines,...
ASIA PACIFIC
Sep 30, 2014

Chinese receive limited coverage of 'illegal' Hong Kong protests

On a day when front pages of newspapers in Hong Kong and around the world carried stories on prodemocracy protesters confronting riot police in the city, the lead article in China's official People's Daily focused on a new book of President's Xi Jinping's speeches.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Sep 30, 2014

tofubeats calls on pals for his 'First Album'

Yusuke Kawai tries to start a para para dance halfway through his Sept. 5 DJ set, but the inside of an Apple Store isn't an ideal space for this endeavor. Kawai, who records under the name tofubeats, is performing a special show at the recently opened Omotesando store. Half of the floor eagerly watches...
Japan Times
JAPAN
Sep 29, 2014

Is the Asahi a scapegoat of nationalist media or victim of own missteps?

One of the nation's leading newspapers has been in crisis mode of late — a situation that may bode ill for liberal journalism at a time when nationalism appears to be making public inroads.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC / Science & Health
Sep 29, 2014

As Indian orbiter reaches Mars, at home, red tape binds space firms

As India celebrated becoming the first Asian nation to reach Mars, S.M. Vaidya, head of business at conglomerate Godrej's aerospace division that made the spacecraft's engine and thruster components, sounded surprisingly downbeat.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Media / BIG IN JAPAN
Sep 27, 2014

Tales from the city show cracks in the system

Why are people unhappy? Think back to just about any historical period you like, from the remote past to times within living memory; imagine people then looking at us now and saying, "How dare you be unhappy? You haven't earned the right!"
Japan Times
JAPAN / CHUBU CONNECTION
Sep 26, 2014

Campaigners fight to save derelict Mie silk mill but owner cites lack of cash

One of Japan's last surviving silk mills is rapidly falling into disrepair and could collapse despite a local campaign to save it.
EDITORIALS
Sep 24, 2014

New Komeito's raison d'etre

Natsuo Yamaguchi, the just re-elected chief of New Komeito, and other party leaders should realize that if the party fails to ensure that Japan stays on the pacifist road with respect to the passage of new legislation, it will lose its raison d'etre.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Sep 23, 2014

Irrational bias for Ukraine

The irrational bias for Ukraine in its standoff with pro-Russia rebels suggests there is something sick in the Western mentality that blocks sensible judgement where Russia is concerned.
WORLD / Politics
Sep 22, 2014

U.K.'s Cameron shifts tack on constitutional shake-up to mollify Scots

Scotland will get more autonomy with no "ifs or buts," Prime Minister David Cameron's office said on Sunday, after Scottish leader Alex Salmond accused him and other politicians of tricking Scots out of independence.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / THE FOREIGN ELEMENT
Sep 22, 2014

Kaikoura and Taiji: a tale of two whaling towns

The success of a New Zealand whale-watching eco-tourist destination could hold lessons for the ailing Wakayama port tarred by association with the 'Cove' dolphin hunt.
LIFE / Language / COMMUNICATION CUES
Sep 22, 2014

Melbourne found most livable city

Melbourne tops the ranking as the world's most pleasant city to live in for the fourth year running, according to an Economist Intelligence Unit poll.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / Japan / SENTAKU MAGAZINE
Sep 21, 2014

Rather than boon for Japan, U.S. shale oil is still rip-off

Japan's national wealth is draining away as its trading companies keeping paying premium prices for the oil on offer from the U.S. and the Middle East.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Sep 19, 2014

Obama must get Congress to approve conflict

Today's issue for the U.S. is not whether the president should declare war but only whether he should even seek congressional authorization, for the protracted use of force against the Islamic State.
Japan Times
JAPAN / CHUBU CONNECTION
Sep 19, 2014

Aichi mountains provide dramatic setting for terra-cotta amphitheater

In the mountains of Mihama, Aichi Prefecture, a curious art space is emerging. Ceramics artists Ximena Elgueda and Steven Ward are building "The Mountain Plaza," a terra-cotta amphitheater.
Japan Times
WORLD / Politics / ANALYSIS
Sep 18, 2014

Ignored and fed up, U.K. regions call for Scottish-style devolution

Scotland's chance to vote for independence has lit hopes in other regions of Britain that a reworking of political ties might boost their chances of self-rule too.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Politics
Sep 17, 2014

Amid Japan spying report, China mum on whereabouts of its ambassador to Iceland

China's Foreign Ministry refused to say on Wednesday where its ambassador to Iceland was or who was even representing Beijing in the country, following reports he had been arrested by state security for passing secrets to Japan.
Japan Times
BASKETBALL
Sep 17, 2014

Basketball star Oh reflects on journey to Japan

Asako Oh, a Japan women's basketball national team center, balked at enrolling in a Japanese high school about a decade ago. Now she has no regrets about her decision.
EDITORIALS
Sep 16, 2014

Repairing Japan-China ties

The leaders of China and Japan need to take quick action to repair mutual ties that have unraveled since the Japanese government two years ago nationalized three of the Senkaku Islands — over which China also claims sovereignty.
Japan Times
JAPAN / FUKUSHIMA FILE
Sep 14, 2014

Fukushima buoyed by rise in medical interns

Fifty-three of the 90 students who graduated from Fukushima Medical University in March are working as interns at hospitals in the prefecture, the most in the past 10 years.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World / SENTAKU MAGAZINE
Sep 14, 2014

Next consumption tax raise painting Abe into a corner

Ever since the Cabinet Office released preliminary figures last month that showed an annualized 6.8 percent decline in first-quarter GDP, a war of nerves has flared up between the prime minister's office and the Finance Ministry. The next consumption tax hike could be delayed.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Economy
Sep 13, 2014

Canada ratifies China deal that may help smooth relations

Canada has finally ratified a foreign investment protection agreement with China after a two-year delay, a step that may help ease tensions between the two countries and smooth the way for a possible visit to China by Prime Minister Stephen Harper.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Sep 12, 2014

Crucial lessons of 9/11 go unlearned

When one returns to America this week after spending some time overseas, one may question his own sanity, struck by the perception that the U.S. government seems bent on an almost suicidal road to war.
Japan Times
JAPAN / CHUBU CONNECTION
Sep 12, 2014

Aichi primes hydrogen car launch with 11-station plan

Dozens of hydrogen stations are expected to be built across the country to pave the way for the advent of fuel cell vehicles, but many of the facilities planned are clustered around a few key cities.
Reader Mail
Sep 10, 2014

Desperate people of Fukushima

In the Sept. 8 Kyodo article "Suicide consultations in Tohoku disaster areas on the rise: report," The Japan Times contents itself with the banality of statistics. The paper should help the reader understand why so many disaster victims in the Tohoku region feel so desperate. Do people there think the...
COMMENTARY / World
Sep 9, 2014

Which countries will NATO protect from Putin?

There is logic to the U.S. and EU response to Russian President Vladimir Putin's Soviet revanchism that even Putin appears to accept, if not acknowledge. It is that European countries have been divided into three levels of NATO 'protection.'
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink
Sep 9, 2014

Granola boom caters to the health and time conscious

Granola has come a long way in Japan, from a relatively unknown breakfast cereal five years ago to — along with pancakes and popcorn — a full-on fad food.

Longform

Totopa in Tokyo’s Shinjuku Ward was picked by consultants TTNE as the best sauna of the year.
Japan’s sauna movement: Relax, refresh, repeat