Search - 2017

 
 
Japan Times
JAPAN / KANSAI PERSPECTIVE
Dec 24, 2017

Expo, casinos and shinkansen at top of Kansai's 2018 agenda

For Kansai, many of 2017's events will remain newsworthy in 2018. Here are some of the bigger topics expected to be closely followed in the region.
Japan Times
WORLD
Dec 24, 2017

Pena Nieto under pressure as Mexico murders top 23,000, a record high, in first 11 months of year

According to official data, Mexico this year has registered its highest murder total since modern records began, dealing a fresh blow to President Enrique Pena Nieto's pledge to get gang violence under control with presidential elections due next year.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / WHY DID YOU LEAVE JAPAN?
Dec 23, 2017

Yokosuka native Haruna Kamezaki attains the American dream

Kamezaki was born in the mid-1980s and grew up in a household 'full of American records and movies, because my parents — and especially my dad — loved American culture.'
Japan Times
JAPAN / Media / Japan Pulse
Dec 23, 2017

A picture of food is worth 1,000 words for businesses on Instagram

With end-of-year parties now in full swing, social media users are curating their profiles with "Insuta-bae" photographs that capture them enjoying enviable times.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Science & Health / NATURAL SELECTIONS
Dec 23, 2017

A year of discoveries gives scientists something to aim for in 2018

In my round up of this year's science stories I'm going to choose some big ones as well as some stories that made less of an impact but still resonated with me.
Japan Times
MULTIMEDIA
Dec 23, 2017

[VIDEO] Gunpla Builders World Cup 2017 World Championship Award Ceremony

Japan Times
MULTIMEDIA
Dec 22, 2017

December 22, 2017

Japan Times
BUSINESS
Dec 22, 2017

East Russian port of Nakhodka chokes on coal amid Asia demand but can't kick dependency

The far eastern Russian port of Nakhodka on the Sea of Japan is swathed in coal dust. It blankets the streets, clogs the air and is blamed by some for a rise in respiratory diseases among the city's 150,000 residents.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Dec 21, 2017

China's creditor imperialism

Just as European imperial powers employed gunboat diplomacy, China is using sovereign debt to bend other states to its will.
ASIA PACIFIC
Dec 21, 2017

North Korean soldier defects to South via DMZ, shows up at guard post in fog

South Korean guards fired warning shots across the heavily militarized border with North Korea on Thursday as a soldier from the North defected, officials said, complicating efforts to ease tensions over Pyongyang’s weapons programs.
Reader Mail
Dec 21, 2017

Crown Princess Masako can highlight the needs of people with disabilities

Earlier this month, Crown Princess Masako appeared in public with her husband and Prime Minister Shinzo Abe to help celebrate 2017 Week of Persons with Disabilities. As expected, their role was simple: a photo shoot with the pamphlet for the event and very few words. Apolitical puppets these royals truly...
Japan Times
LIFE / EVENTS AND INFORMATION
Dec 21, 2017

Candles illuminate Ginza night

On Dec. 22, Ginza's Corridor Street will be illuminated with the flickering lights of around 2,000 candles during Ginza Candle Night 2017.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Markets
Dec 21, 2017

Bank of Japan maintains stimulus as inflation lags behind economic growth

The Bank of Japan left monetary stimulus unchanged in the final policy meeting of 2017 on Thursday, remaining on cruise control as it waits for a pickup in stubbornly low inflation.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Companies
Dec 21, 2017

Alipay pursues Chinese tourists in hard-to-crack Japanese market

Alipay, a third-party mobile and online payment platform by Alibaba Group Holdings Ltd., is chasing Chinese tourists to Japan, where it's signing up a growing number of retailers and eyeing the long-term potential of the nation's $45 billion digital payments market.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC / Crime & Legal
Dec 21, 2017

Philippine police chief defends high body count racked up by 'Davao Boys' squad in drug war

The police chief of the Philippines on Wednesday stood by the head of a secretive unit behind dozens of killings in the country's war on drugs, saying officers fired only in self-defense and the death toll reflected the danger and the scale of the narcotics problem.
Japan Times
WORLD / Crime & Legal
Dec 21, 2017

German police nab alleged Islamic State militant in ice rink truck attack plot

German police arrested a 29-year-old man they said was an active member of Islamic State who was plotting a truck attack on an ice rink.
Japan Times
WORLD / Crime & Legal
Dec 21, 2017

Six bodies hung from bridges near Los Cabos tourist resort amid Mexico's most murderous modern year

The bodies of six men were found hanging from three different bridges near the Mexican tourist resort of Los Cabos on the Baja California peninsula on Wednesday, local authorities said.
Japan Times
MULTIMEDIA
Dec 21, 2017

[VIDEO] Tokyo Skytree Town Dream Christmas 2017

Japan Times
MULTIMEDIA
Dec 20, 2017

December 21, 2017

BUSINESS / Tech
Dec 20, 2017

SoftBank leads $120 million funding in financial technology startup Lemonade

SoftBank Group Corp. is betting that technology can overhaul the home insurance industry by leading a $120 million (about ¥13.6 billion) round in Lemonade Inc.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Dec 20, 2017

Working in the film industry as a non-Japanese has its own challenges

Japan is home to one of the most lucrative movie industries in the world, and also one of the most prolific: 1,149 films received a theatrical release during 2016, over 600 of which were domestic productions. It can be hard to stand out in such a crowded marketplace and the challenges are often compounded...

Longform

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