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Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC
Dec 7, 2015

City land grab sowing seeds of China's next property boom

In the Chaoyang district of northeast Beijing, a nondescript wall covered in patriotic posters protects one of the city's most valuable treasures: a dirt field containing nothing but a few scattered trees.
ASIA PACIFIC
Dec 7, 2015

Smog rolls back into northern China after brief respite

Acrid-smelling smog rolled back into Beijing, shrouding the city of 20 million people in a gray haze four days after northern China reported the worst pollution in a year.
Japan Times
ENVIRONMENT / OLD NIC'S NOTEBOOK
Dec 5, 2015

All set for our woods' own horse power

Over the past three years, the C.W. Nicol Afan Woodland Trust has been bringing down people and horses from Tono and Morioka in Iwate Prefecture to help us take out trees we've been thinning from our woods here in northern Nagano Prefecture — and lately, too, from the adjoining national forest we've...
COMMENTARY / Japan
Dec 5, 2015

Exploiting student workers, interns is easy

Although times are slowly changing, companies still hold a decidedly upper hand when it comes to violating the basic rights of student workers.
Japan Times
WORLD
Dec 5, 2015

FBI investigating California massacre as 'act of terrorism'

The FBI is investigating the fatal shooting of 14 people in California by a married couple as an "act of terrorism," officials said Friday, noting the wife was believed to have pledged allegiance to a leader of the militant Islamic State group.
Japan Times
WORLD / Science & Health
Dec 4, 2015

El Nino monthly indicator reaches level not seen since 1997

A key monthly indicator for El Nino has reached a level not seen since 1997, when the weather pattern caused heavy rains and flooding in parts of South America and severe drought hit crops in Indonesia, according to the U.S. weather agency.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC
Dec 4, 2015

Forget 'smart' new cities; India needs old ones to be less dumb

Prime Minister Narendra Modi has grand designs to build 100 futuristic "smart" cities in India, but as this week's devastating flooding in Chennai shows, fixing today's accident-prone metropolises appears to be the more pressing task.
Japan Times
JAPAN / CHARITY DRIVE 2015
Dec 3, 2015

Priest's aid effort provide education in rural Cambodia

A Japanese nonprofit organization committed to helping disadvantaged Cambodian children receive an education celebrated the completion of its 19th school there in February.
BUSINESS
Dec 3, 2015

Japan preparing to test-fly MHI-built stealth jet

Japan is closing in on becoming the fourth nation to test fly its own stealth jet, a move that could further antagonize neighboring Asian countries that oppose Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's bid to strengthen the role of the Self-Defense Forces.
COMMENTARY / World
Dec 2, 2015

In Maldives, politics, greed trump climate change

Few places are as threatened by climate change as the Maldives, but the current regime, which took over in a coup, is more interested in selling oil-drilling licenses than in saving the nation.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Dec 1, 2015

Deep changes urged in Japan's male-centered work culture

A government advisory panel on gender equality calls on the nation to change the male-oriented work culture based on the outdated family model in which men work long hours while women take care of the home.
Japan Times
WORLD
Dec 1, 2015

A lotta hot air: Loquacious leaders make for a long day at climate summit

Clearly His Royal Highness Prince Moulay Rachid of Morocco is unaccustomed to being told to stop talking.
Japan Times
ENVIRONMENT
Nov 30, 2015

Smog chokes Chinese, Indian capitals as climate talks begin

The capitals of the world's two most populous nations, China and India, were blanketed in hazardous, choking smog Monday as climate change talks began in Paris, where leaders of both countries are among the participants.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Nov 30, 2015

Japan's plans to fuel world's cleanest cars hitting road block

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has big plans for Japan to lead the way in clean cars. His bureaucrats are getting in the way.
Japan Times
JAPAN / EXPLAINER
Nov 30, 2015

Stress test to join annual health checks as mental problems rise in corporate Japan

In light of the nationwide rise in mental health problems, the Industrial Safety and Health Law was revised last year to oblige companies to offer annual "stress checks" to employees starting Tuesday.
Japan Times
WORLD / Science & Health
Nov 30, 2015

Climate action plans of world's 48 poorest nations to cost $1 trillion

The world's 48 poorest countries will need to find around $1 trillion between 2020 and 2030 to achieve their plans to tackle climate change — and those plans should be a priority for international funding, researchers said.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC / Science & Health
Nov 30, 2015

China moves from climate deal holdout to driving force behind slashed emissions

Back in 2009, China was a reluctant partner during major climate negotiations in Copenhagen that eventually collapsed amid recriminations between rich and poor nations. This time around the world's biggest polluter is regarded as a driving force behind what could be a comprehensive deal at a world climate...
Japan Times
BUSINESS / LEXUS: AMAZING IN MOTION
Nov 30, 2015

Innovation fuels driving excitement

(Publicity)
COMMENTARY / World
Nov 29, 2015

Rethink the war on terror

Doing the same things over and over in the war on terror will only produce the same result: failure.
WORLD / Science & Health
Nov 29, 2015

Anonymous hacker group targets Iceland sites in whaling protest

Activist hackers from the Anonymous collective have claimed responsibility for bringing down five government websites in Iceland in a protest against whale-hunting by the North Atlantic nation.
Japan Times
WORLD / Crime & Legal
Nov 29, 2015

Suspect in Colorado clinic shooting had past brushes with the law

The 57-year-old man with a bushy white beard who is suspected of killing three people in a shooting rampage at a Planned Parenthood clinic in Colorado has a history of brushes with the law, including a "peeping Tom" complaint in his home state of South Carolina.
Japan Times
LIFE / Lifestyle
Nov 28, 2015

Is Tokyo killing the rest of Japan?

The overconcentration of people and resources in the capital could be holding back the remainder of the country.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / COUNTERPOINT
Nov 28, 2015

Asia mostly backsliding on democratic values

In Japan, lawyers are fortunately not arrested by the state for doing their job, as they are in China. Nor are academics faced with indictment for challenging mainstream history narratives, as in South Korea.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Nov 27, 2015

Climate — the new danger to our well-being

The world needs much stronger emission cuts than whatever comes out of the upcoming Paris talks on climate change.

Longform

Totopa in Tokyo’s Shinjuku Ward was picked by consultants TTNE as the best sauna of the year.
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