Search - 2013

 
 
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Companies
Aug 22, 2014

Suzlon in talks for Japanese offshore wind partner, Tanti says

India's Suzlon Energy Ltd. may seek a Japanese partner to make offshore wind turbines, attracted by access to cheap yen loans as projects at sea get costlier and more complex.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Aug 21, 2014

Harasser of manga author draws maximum sentence

The unrepentant man driven by jealousy to repeatedly threaten the author of a popular basketball manga gets a 4 1/2-year prison term, the longest allowed.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Aug 21, 2014

Sukiyaki Meets the World ... and the world gets to meet Toyama

In June of 1963, Kyu Sakamoto's "Ue wo Muite Aruko" — better known as "Sukiyaki" overseas — became Japan's first, and only, No. 1 hit single in the United States.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Aug 21, 2014

'Playing with Sound: Yuri Suzuki'

All of designer-artist Yuri Suzuki's works involve an element of play and focus on our relationship with sound, noises, music and electronics. As his first major solo exhibition in Japan, "Playing with Sound" is an interactive show that offers visitors unusual aural experiences and introduces them to...
Japan Times
WORLD / Science & Health
Aug 21, 2014

Fears of Ebola slow tourist flow to Africa

The Ebola outbreak in West Africa is putting off thousands of tourists who had planned trips to Africa this year, especially Asians, including to destinations far from the nearest infected community such as Kenya and South Africa.
WORLD / Society
Aug 21, 2014

U.S. Supreme Court puts hold on gay marriage in Virginia

The U.S. Supreme Court stopped gay marriage in Virginia from going ahead on Wednesday, staying an appeals court ruling that had struck down a state ban.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Aug 20, 2014

No leader of the pack, but still a heartthrob

What is it with women and bad boys on motorcycles — including college boys with pretensions to being bad? A conundrum of my youth. Yes, I understood the appeal of a Marlon Brando or James Dean with a big thrumming machine between his legs, but why did the women I knew prefer riding on a Honda with...
BUSINESS
Aug 20, 2014

Two Belgian nuclear reactors may be closed permanently

Two Belgian nuclear reactors owned by GDF-Suez unit Electrabel may remain offline until spring and may need to be halted permanently, Belgian state broadcaster VRT reported on Tuesday.
Japan Times
WORLD
Aug 20, 2014

Missouri racial violence recalls apartheid, U.N. rights chief says

Clashes between police and protesters in the St. Louis suburb of Ferguson are reminiscent of the racial violence spawned by apartheid in her native South Africa, the top U.N. human rights official said in an interview Tuesday.
WORLD / Crime & Legal
Aug 20, 2014

U.S. government's nuclear watchdog victim of cyberattacks: report

The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission was "successfully hacked" three times in recent years in attacks involving tainted emails, according to an internal investigation on cyberattacks at the agency, Nextgov.com reported on Tuesday.
SOCCER
Aug 19, 2014

Longtime BBC announcer Gordon, 78, dies

James Alexander Gordon, who read out the soccer results on BBC radio for 40 years and had one of the most recognizable voices in broadcasting, has died at the age of 78.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC
Aug 19, 2014

Chinese military's ability to wage war eroded by graft, its generals warn

As tensions spike between China and other countries in Asia's disputed waters, serving and retired Chinese military officers as well as state media are questioning whether China's armed forces are too corrupt to fight and win a war.
EDITORIALS
Aug 19, 2014

Higher standards for assemblies

Recent instances of strange or illegal behavior on the part of municipal and prefectural assembly members, including a bawling jag by a Hyogo assemblymen whose hand was caught in the cookie jar, have given many citizens cause to suspect that the overall quality of their local lawmakers is deteriorating.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Aug 19, 2014

Musician Rory Viner turns Japan's suicide statistics into a song

Train delays due to jinshin jiko, which euphemistically translates to "human accident" — often a suicide on the tracks — are far from an infrequent occurrence in Tokyo.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Aug 19, 2014

Old and new mingle sweetly at Summer Sonic

After Queen finished "Another One Bites The Dust" — 10 minutes before 8 p.m. on the Sunday of this year's Summer Sonic in Chiba — hundreds of fans darted for the exits of QVC Marine Field Stadium. Security guards and staff with megaphones tried to direct them as some dashed to the left for Kraftwerk,...
COMMENTARY / World
Aug 19, 2014

Halt program that militarizes U.S. police forces

The U.S. Congress must take decisive steps to scale back the 'militarization' of American police forces by the Defense Department's donation of surplus equipment and weapons.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Aug 18, 2014

Nonprofit group aims to help female students meet their potential

Tokyo-based nonprofit organization Hanalabs is offering female college students in Japan a chance to advance their careers by devising solutions to social problems affecting communities in need of revitalization.
JAPAN
Aug 18, 2014

Japanese man feared captured by Islamic State in Syria

The Foreign Ministry tries to confirm whether a Japanese man has been captured by the Islamic State in Syria after his purported interrogation is uploaded to the Internet.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / THE FOREIGN ELEMENT
Aug 18, 2014

Challenges can't compare to the rewards of cross-cultural adoption in Japan

Five years ago, my Japanese husband and I adopted a 3-year-old boy who had been placed in an orphanage when he was a month old. His birth mother, too young to care for him, had likely decided that giving him up was his only chance for a better life. After we first took him home, he would barely acknowledge...
COMMENTARY / World
Aug 18, 2014

Welcoming refugees to fill labor shortages

Why doesn't Japan, Canada and other governments admit more refugees for resettlement with a view toward addressing the governments' labor shortages?
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Aug 18, 2014

Mt. Gox insider's Kraken exchange to open in Japan next month

Jesse Powell knew Mt. Gox was not long for this world more than two years before the once-dominant bitcoin exchange went bankrupt in February.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Companies
Aug 18, 2014

Top-paid Nikkei 225 female exec shows Japan gender hurdles

Only one female executive made it to the top-earner list of the Nikkei 225 companies last year. She is an American who lives in New York.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / LEARNING CURVE
Aug 17, 2014

Could the lingua franca approach to learning break Japan's English curse?

Learning English as a lingua franca (ELF) involves approaching the language as a tongue shared by non-native speakers around the world rather than as a lingo that must be mastered to native-speaker level.

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