Search - 2012

 
 
Japan Times
JAPAN / NATIONAL SPOTLIGHT
Jun 15, 2014

'Womenomics' push raises suspicions for lack of reality

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe may be a political hawk who believes Japan can once again become a macho state that can hold its own against regional threats, but as he looks for money and muscle he is turning to an unlikely source: women.
Japan Times
WORLD / Politics
Jun 15, 2014

ISIS leader fights to supplant al-Zawahri as world's deadliest terrorist

The leader of radical Sunni fighters who have made rapid military advances in Iraq is the rising star of global jihad, driven, Islamist fighters say, by an unbending determination to fight for and establish a hard-line Islamic state.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / TELLING LIVES
Jun 15, 2014

Activist yearns to return to a truly democratic Burma

From his adopted home in Tokyo, veteran democracy advocate Kyaw Kyaw Soe pushes for change in Myanmar and supports his fellow refugees in Japan.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / ADOPT ME!
Jun 15, 2014

State-of-the-art dog shelter opens in Kansai

A new ARK facility to house rescued dogs in Hyogo Prefecture sets a new standard for animal welfare centers in Japan.
Japan Times
LIFE / Lifestyle
Jun 14, 2014

Happy endings: foreigners working in Japan's film industry

Film is supposed to be a universal language, but the film business in any given country is usually run by the locals for the locals. The one great exception is Hollywood, which has been making films for the world since the silent days and is open to talent, preferably English speaking, from around the...
Japan Times
JAPAN / Media / BIG IN JAPAN
Jun 14, 2014

Vietnam seen as a potential role model for Japan

Although tourism and trade between Japan and the Socialist Republic of Vietnam have expanded rapidly in recent years, when compared with other ASEAN countries such as Malaysia, Singapore and Thailand, Vietnam has maintained a fairly low profile in the Japanese media. But suddenly the country is being...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Books
Jun 14, 2014

One woman's mark on the nation's Constitution

In December 2012, 89-year-old Beate Sirota Gordon knew she was dying. The women's rights advocate and tireless promoter of cross-cultural exchange in the arts was ill at home in the New York borough of Manhattan. Yet, she pulled herself out of bed one morning, dressed formally and sat in a chair to await...
Japan Times
OLYMPICS / OLYMPIC NOTEBOOK
Jun 14, 2014

USOC chief calls for changes in bid voting

Larry Probst, the United States Olympic Committee chairman, won't win a popularity contest within the IOC anytime soon.
BUSINESS / Economy
Jun 14, 2014

Noda says Abe buying into 'voodoo economics'

Sour grapes are in season in Tokyo as Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's predecessor steps up and slams the incumbent's tax plans.
COMMENTARY / World
Jun 14, 2014

Chinese World Cup woes provoke self-doubt

China's long-suffering soccer fans keep looking for proxies at World Cup time, all the while grumbling under their breaths about the government's control-freak approach to choosing athletes for the national team and a lack of youth developmental leagues outside of the official system.
JAPAN / Politics / ANALYSIS
Jun 13, 2014

Details of JA-Zenchu reform left unclear

Will the core entity of Japan's monster agricultural conglomerate survive mounting public criticism of its huge vested interests?
Japan Times
SOCCER / World cup / PREMIER REPORT
Jun 13, 2014

Hodgson giving nothing away ahead of opener

We know seven of the England team Roy Hodgson will select for the opening 2014 World Cup final tie against Italy. Two others are virtually certain. It is the Manaus Two that have kept the media guessing, looking for the tiniest of tips that would complete England's starting XI.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Jun 13, 2014

Abe might be the world's best leader

An American finance professor who says he used to be a Shinzo Abe skeptic now calls Japan's prime minister the most effective national leader in the world right now.
COMMENTARY / World
Jun 13, 2014

Hillary Clinton breathes, we hold our breath

Hillary Clinton's book, 'Hard Choices,' is another tease in the dance of the seven veils. Her book is neither fish nor fowl, neither an autobiography like Barack Obama's 'Audacity of Hope' nor a thrown-together candidate presentation like Mitt Romney's 'No Apology: The Case for American Greatness.'
JAPAN / Politics
Jun 12, 2014

Japan, China trade claims over latest aerial provocation

Tokyo and Beijing traded blame Thursday over the second close and potentially dangerous encounter in just over two weeks between Chinese SU-27 fighter jets and Japanese reconnaissance planes over the East China Sea.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics / FOCUS
Jun 12, 2014

As visitor numbers boom, North Korea becomes ultimate tourist trap

"Taking you to places where your mother would rather you stayed away from." That's how one Western travel agency advertises its tours to North Korea.
BASKETBALL / BJ-LEAGUE NOTEBOOK
Jun 12, 2014

With few players selected, draft becoming pointless

The bj-league's inaugural draft in June 2005 featured 26 players, including No. 1 overall pick Jo Kurino by the Oita HeatDevils. There were 102 players who participated in a league-organized tryout two weeks before the draft.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC / Science & Health
Jun 12, 2014

'Skinny' Southeast Asia starts to battle growing bulge

Many Southeast Asian countries are rolling out measures so people can make healthy choices before obesity turns into the full-blown epidemic seen in many Western countries.
EDITORIALS
Jun 12, 2014

Ramping up debate in the Diet

Lawmakers need to make sure that steps taken by the ruling coalition and two major opposition parties to reform Diet proceedings do not let government leaders off the hook in facing legislative scrutiny and regular debate.
Japan Times
WORLD / Politics
Jun 12, 2014

U.S. House Republican No. 2 Cantor to step down after election shock

A shock primary election defeat for Eric Cantor, the No. 2 Republican in the U.S. House of Representatives, left his political party in chaos on Wednesday as financial markets worried the shake-up might renew budget fights that in the past have caused government shutdowns and near credit defaults.
JAPAN / Politics
Jun 11, 2014

Japan, Australia discuss joint development of military technology

The foreign and defense ministers of Japan and Australia held a meeting to discuss how they will cooperate in developing defense equipment and technology.
JAPAN / Politics
Jun 11, 2014

China seeks UNESCO listing for Nanking Massacre, sex slave archives; Japan protests

The government has filed a protest against China's applications to have what it says are historical documents on the 1937 Nanking Massacre and Japan's wartime "comfort women" brothel system registered in the U.N. archive program, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga said Wednesday.
JAPAN / Politics
Jun 11, 2014

Abe bulldozes over DPJ in self-defense debate

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe once again underlined the necessity of reinterpreting the war-renouncing Constitution to allow Japan to engage in collective self-defense during a debate Wednesday, while the main opposition leader failed to capitalize on the opportunity to attack Abe and roll back his influence...
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Economy
Jun 11, 2014

Stand firm on 10% sales tax, Noda warns Abe

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe risks triggering market turmoil should he fail to raise the consumption tax to 10 percent next year, his immediate predecessor warned.
Japan Times
WORLD
Jun 11, 2014

U.S. pioneer living high life on retired jetliner

Deep in the woods and rolling hills outside Portland, Oregon, where orchards dot the landscape, a Boeing 727 sits at the top of a steep dirt driveway encircled by towering pines. For Bruce Campbell, it is home.
Reader Mail
Jun 11, 2014

New paradigm for the Olympics

Regarding the June 2 Reuters article "Architect blasts new Tokyo Olympics stadium as 'a sin, a crime' ": The pleas by the Japan Sports Council and by architect Edward Suzuki do not really contain in my mind a reasonable and convincing critique of the 2020 Tokyo Olympics stadium as proposed by Zaha Hadid,...

Longform

It's back to the classroom for some residents as municipal governments across the country conduct lessons to learn how to use new technologies.
Can aging Japan go digital without leaving anyone behind?