Search - 2015

 
 
COMMENTARY / Japan
Jun 5, 2016

Is China winning the contest for South China Sea control?

China views the U.S. as a declining power that would not be able to sustain a major war in Asia.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink
Jun 4, 2016

Beer essentials: The craft beer boom in Japan shows no sign of running dry

Tomoko Sonoda was a college student during the "Dry Wars," the years immediately following the 1987 release of the game-changing light lager Asahi Super Dry. She and her classmates held tasting parties for the spate of new brews that were released by the three other major breweries in an attempt to compete....
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / COUNTERPOINT
Jun 4, 2016

Under Abe, Japan gets left behind at G-7 summit

For Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, the best thing about the recent G-7 Ise-Shima summit was that it gave him cover to wriggle out of a planned tax increase. He could pretend postponing the tax increase is a statesman-like concession to boosting global growth, rather than a way to pander to voters in the...
JAPAN
Jun 2, 2016

Japan ranked most popular spot for international conferences in Asia for fourth consecutive year

But a tally of countries that hosted international meetings says that Japan ranked seventh globally in 2015.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
May 29, 2016

Forget clubbing: Outdoor festivals offer a natural alternative

When the revised adult entertainment business law comes into effect on June 23, bringing an end to Japan's archaic ban on all-night dance parties, it will mark the end of what has been a challenging period for the nation's nightclubs. But beyond the major metropolises, at campsites and off-season ski...
COMMENTARY / Japan
May 29, 2016

Japan won't go quietly into the night as population falls

For a nation that rebuilt itself from the ashes of war, the modern challenge of repopulation should surely not prove impossible.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Politics / OBAMA VISITS HIROSHIMA
May 23, 2016

After 71 years, debate over A-bombs shows no sign of resolution

It was a fine, clear day in Hiroshima on Aug. 6, 1945. That fact determined the fate of the city, together with its numerous inhabitants.
Japan Times
BASKETBALL / BJ-LEAGUE NOTEBOOK
May 19, 2016

McHenry revels in Golden Kings' legacy

Winning a title to close out the Ryukyu Golden Kings' remarkable stretch of sustained excellence in the bj-league put a huge smile on Golden Kings legend Anthony McHenry's face.
Japan Times
SPORTS / MAN ABOUT SPORTS
May 17, 2016

Murphy making immediate impact at plate for NL East-leading Nats

Murphy's Law (If anything can go wrong, it will) plagued the Washington Nationals throughout the entire 2015 campaign.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
May 10, 2016

Unfriendly activist battles Japan CEOs to wrest returns by force

Tsuyoshi Maruki stands out like a lone wolf in Japan, where societal intolerance for aggressive shareholder campaigns has spurred a breed of friendly activists.
BASEBALL / Japanese Baseball / NPB NOTEBOOK
May 8, 2016

Suzuki always ready to contribute for Carp

Seiya Suzuki has gotten his fair share of playing time for the Hiroshima Carp this season, but he's not taking that for granted. Suzuki knows success will bring him even more opportunities, so the 21-year old doesn't want to waste a single chance to show what he can do.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
May 8, 2016

Saudi Arabia replaces oil minister, central banker as part of plan to reduce dependency on oil

Saudi Arabia's King Salman announced a government overhaul that saw the kingdom's top central banker and longtime oil minister replaced as part of sweeping economic changes led by his son to reduce the nation's reliance on hydrocarbons.
Japan Times
LIFE / Lifestyle
May 7, 2016

Domestic violence: 'Abuse was all I knew'

There's an almost dispassionate matter-of-factness in the way Risa Tanaka describes how she was tortured by her husband.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / COUNTERPOINT
May 7, 2016

Diabetes emerges as Japan's hidden scourge

Reading a review of British writer Bee Wilson's "First Bite: How We Learn to Eat" in the London Review of Books, I stumbled on an astonishing figure: 4 million people in the U.K. have diabetes. An unhealthy diet and increasingly sedentary lifestyle have taken their toll, causing a 65 percent surge in...
EDITORIALS
Apr 24, 2016

Insufficient electoral reform

The ruling coalition needs to explain why the nation is still being kept waiting for the fundamental reform needed to correct the gross disparity in vote values.
Japan Times
LIFE / Lifestyle
Apr 23, 2016

Making hay while the sun shines: Should Japan adopt daylight saving time in summer?

How many times have you been jolted awake in summer at 4:30 a.m. by rays of sunlight streaming through your flimsy curtains? Conversely, how many sunsets have you missed because you've been stuck in an office until it's officially time to go home?
COMMENTARY / World
Apr 18, 2016

Electric cars take a back seat to SUVs in China

The Chinese government is determined to make the smog-choked country a leader in eco-friendly electric cars, but consumers prefer big gas guzzlers.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Mar 30, 2016

Japan's first-ever hate speech probe finds rallies are fewer but still a problem

The Justice Ministry finds a “significant” number of xenophobic rallies held by nationalist groups still occur regularly.
BASEBALL / Japanese Baseball
Mar 21, 2016

Fighters catcher Ono works to strengthen bond with pitchers

The Hokkaido Nippon Ham Fighters' trip to Arizona for spring camp may have been for work, but it was also an exciting venture for many members of the team. Nippon Ham hadn't held camp abroad in 29 years, so it was a first for this generation of Fighters.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Mar 17, 2016

The Japan-U.S. alliance and robotics diplomacy

Tucked inside the 2017 U.S. defense budget request is about $15 billion to place relatively small research bets on over-the-horizon technologies that can help the U.S. military maintain a leading edge over any competitor over the long term. Close allies like Japan have an interest in seeing this effort succeed.
Japan Times
JAPAN / 5-YEAR MEMORIAL OF GREAT EAST JAPAN EARTHQUAKE
Mar 11, 2016

Symposium examines disaster risk reduction

March 11 marks five years since the devastating Great East Japan Earthquake and tsunami, and one year since the Third U.N. World Conference on Disaster Risk Reduction was held in Sendai, the center of the disaster-hit Tohoku region.
JAPAN / REVISITING 3/11
Mar 10, 2016

Fukushima researcher says region still 'stigmatized' by 2011 disaster

Hiroshi Kainuma thinks a lot about Fukushima. He's written a number of books and held hundreds of lectures on the crisis since 2012, but these days, he's concerned with the public's perception of his hometown.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Economy
Mar 8, 2016

Abenomics losing support with economists and voters alike

Abenomics has not had much impact reviving the fits-and-starts Japanese economy. That is the verdict of nearly two dozen economists canvassed in a new Bloomberg News survey.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Books
Feb 27, 2016

Tokyo's literature festival resurfaces

The Tokyo International Literary Festival got off to a good start. Both the inaugural 2013 event and the 2014 edition were successful, an auspicious beginning to forging cultural and artistic connections between Eastern and Western writers on a global stage. But since the festival's forced hiatus in...

Longform

Visitors walk past Sou Fujimoto's Grand Ring, which has been recognized as the largest wooden structure in the world.
Can a World Expo still matter? Japan is about to find out.