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Japan Times
JAPAN / EXPLAINER
Dec 23, 2013

Automated driving tech comes to the fore

In November, a prospective customer was at the wheel of Mazda Motor Corp.'s new sport utility vehicle during a demonstration in Fukaya, Saitama Prefecture. With a sales rep in the passenger seat, the 38-year-old man drove the car toward a urethane mat hanging 7 meters ahead to test the collision avoidance...
Japan Times
WORLD
Dec 23, 2013

'The bug that ate Christmas'

In West Virginia's scenic Canaan Valley National Wildlife Refuge, with its gently sloping mountains and emerald expanses of timber, Mike Powell relishes the perks of his job as a caretaker of the land: the sounds of a gurgling stream and the fresh pine scent of evergreens.
Japan Times
ENVIRONMENT / OUR PLANET EARTH
Dec 21, 2013

Protecting nature to protect ourselves

This month's column takes an intrepid look at efforts to expand protected areas in Japan and worldwide, areas that are essential to conserve biological diversity and mitigate natural disasters.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Dec 20, 2013

Japan Inc. builds mountain of cash

Japanese companies' cash holdings rose to a record last quarter, highlighting Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's struggle to spur the investment and wage increases needed to end a 15-year deflationary malaise.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Voices / VIEWS FROM THE STREET
Dec 18, 2013

Tokyo: If you could be prime minister for a day, what would you do?

Top concerns for would-be PMs around the metropolis: Fukushima, demographics, women in the workplace, the consumption tax, education, energy, English — and beer.
BUSINESS
Dec 16, 2013

'Tankan' signals drop in spending

Big businesses pare their spending projections for the year, signaling headwinds for 'Abenomics' ahead of April's tax hike and doubts the recovery is sustainable, the 'tankan' report says.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Dec 16, 2013

Abe shows totalitarian bent

The president of a Japanese university classifies the Abe administration as neither conservative nor liberal. Instead, he calls it 'totalitarian' and suggests that Japan is drifting away from European ideals based on democracy and individualism.
COMMENTARY / World
Dec 16, 2013

Long reform march from China's Third Plenum

Although China's leadership succession was completed earlier this year, the policy agenda for the coming decade has only just been revealed at its Third Plenum.
Japan Times
WORLD / Science & Health
Dec 16, 2013

Father's diet may affect offspring

Watching what you eat and drink isn't just for moms-to-be anymore. New scientific evidence suggests that the father's diet before conception might be just as important to a child's health.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / LEARNING CURVE
Dec 15, 2013

The war on katakana starts at school

Eliminating katakana's use as a pronunciation aide would benefit Japanese students' ability to communicate, but that clearly can't be achieved overnight. However, it's still worth putting up a 'faito.'
WORLD / Politics
Dec 15, 2013

White House delayed rules before election

The White House systematically delayed enacting a series of rules on the environment, worker safety and health care to prevent them from becoming points of contention before the 2012 election, according to documents and interviews with current and former administration officials.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / MIXED MATCHES
Dec 13, 2013

For Canadian traveler, last-minute meeting led to change of heart and new start in Japan

Michelle Takahashi works as an English teacher at a school for families who hope to raise their children in bilingual and multi-cultural environments. Together with Toru, a systems engineer at an IT-related U.S. company, and their two sons, she now lives in Kodaira, western Tokyo.
Japan Times
WORLD / Science & Health
Dec 13, 2013

Hubble spots geysers spurting from Jupiter moon Europa

The search for life in the solar system took a twist Thursday with the announcement that Europa, a moon of Jupiter first discovered by Galileo, shows signs of water geysers erupting from its south pole.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Dec 12, 2013

Director Cuaron examines all angles when shooting 'space'

Last month, we heard Paul Greengrass, director of "Captain Phillips," talk in detail about his choppy, handheld, visceral filming style. This month, we get to hear from Alfonso Cuarón, director of the massive hit "Gravity," whose style is about 180 degrees different.
EDITORIALS
Dec 11, 2013

Japan's future path with India

The Abe administration appears inclined to use Japan's relationship with India for expediency — as a means of checking China — when it should be cultivating longer-range cooperative ties.
COMMENTARY / World
Dec 10, 2013

A perfect role model for an imprisoned politician

Former Ukraine Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko, now the imprisoned leader of that country's opposition, writes a tribute to South Africa's Nelson Mandela, emphasizing that one of the few gifts that imprisonment can bestow is the ability to begin to see more clearly the inner workings of the human soul.
COMMENTARY / World
Dec 10, 2013

Five myths about helping out the Philippines

Among common misconceptions about assistance to victims of communities shattered by storms or earthquakes are that locals wait for the international community to come save them and that goods and services are 'free' donations.
WORLD
Dec 10, 2013

Drinking water project pumps up Dead Sea

The Dead Sea has been rapidly disappearing for the past 50 years, one of the world's natural wonders careening toward ecological collapse.
EDITORIALS
Dec 7, 2013

English teachers to study abroad

In a bold move to raise the level of English instruction, the Tokyo Board of Education plans to start sending its junior high and high school teachers to an English-speaking country for three months of study.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Dec 7, 2013

Inequality threatens Mandela legacy

Nelson Mandela emerged from 27 years in apartheid jails in 1990 pledging to seize South Africa's mines and banks. Four years later, his government slashed spending and courted foreign investors, paving the way for the longest period of growth in the country's history.

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