Search - 2013

 
 
BUSINESS / Companies
Feb 14, 2014

Nomura profits big from Fortress sale

Nomura Holdings Inc., the nation's largest investment bank, said Friday it generated a ¥21 billion profit from selling its stake in U.S. asset manager Fortress Investment Group LLC.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Feb 14, 2014

Drift rightward has been building for years

Fashion model Junko Amo made headlines on Aug. 15, 2002, when she initiated a visit to controversial Yasukuni Shrine with a group of some 180 people she met via 2channel, Japan's biggest Internet forum.
Japan Times
BASKETBALL / NBL NOTEBOOK
Feb 13, 2014

Change of scenery helps Wakayama's Kawamura grow into all-around standout

Takuya Kawamura has been known as one of the best Japanese offensive machines in the last several years, winning multiple scoring titles in the Japan Basketball League, the predecessor of the NBL.
EDITORIALS
Feb 13, 2014

Transparent interrogations

It is time to refute, once and for all, the objections of police and prosecution officials and move forward to the day when the entire interrogation process for criminal susepcts, in principle, is recorded electronically.
JAPAN
Feb 12, 2014

Press freedom ranking falters due to secrecy law

Freedom of the press in Japan deteriorated further this year thanks to the enactment of the controversial state secrets bill, Reporters Without Borders says.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink
Feb 11, 2014

Tourists offered a rare glimpse of the Japanese dining table

For visitors to Japan, a ride on the subway or the high-speed shinkansen can take you to almost any corner of the country. But those who want to learn about the daily lives of the Japanese rather than look at temples may find it difficult to gain access to the sanctuary of a Japanese home.
COMMENTARY / World
Feb 11, 2014

Iraq near implosion as 'bad years' come back

Iraq's 'bad years' seem to be making a comeback, and this time the U.S. has little leverage over Iraq to control events from afar.
EDITORIALS
Feb 11, 2014

Protect Syria's suffering children

Since it began in March 2011, Syria's civil war has led to the deaths of as many as 10,000 children, with many more injured or missing. Japan must continue to do all it can to improve humanitarian relief.
COMMENTARY / World
Feb 11, 2014

Reviving China's economic rebalancing act

As China remains among the world's poorest countries, with per capita income amounting to less than $7,000, its position as the world's largest exporter of capital signifies a gross misallocation of resources. It should adopt a float exchange-rate regime as soon as possible.
COMMENTARY / World
Feb 11, 2014

Welfare state taking over the U.S. government

The budget story that is largely missed by American political leaders and the public is that the welfare state is strangling government's ability to respond to other national problems, because the constituencies for welfare benefits are more powerful than their competitors for federal support.
EDITORIALS
Feb 10, 2014

Obstacles to green energy expansion

The review of the feed-in tariff system should not be perfunctory. The government should make serious efforts to remove obstacles to the expansion of renewable energy sources.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Feb 10, 2014

Mutual fears of China, Japan

China and Japan are perceiving more and more threats from each other, and their overactive responses are causing strong sense of insecurity for the region. The vicious circle is driving an escalating arms race.
COMMENTARY / World
Feb 10, 2014

A wealthier Africa will depend on health care

One of Africa's biggest challenges to greater GDP growth and personal wealth is inadequate health care. Preventable and treatable diseases plague the population.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Companies
Feb 10, 2014

Sony suffering seen as prelude to Loeb-inspired revamp

Sony Corp.'s latest earnings disappointment held a silver lining: the company's willingness to entertain some of activist investor Daniel Loeb's suggestions. And it may be just the beginning.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Politics
Feb 9, 2014

Tokyo voters split by priority shift to welfare

Media outlets at home and abroad are playing up the Tokyo gubernatorial election as an effective public referendum on whether Japan should ditch its atomic plants, focusing on the battle between anti-nuclear candidate Morihiro Hosokawa and ex-health minister Yoichi Masuzoe, who is backed by pro-nuclear...
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / LEARNING CURVE
Feb 9, 2014

Globally focused International Baccalaureate diploma needs local-level support

The education think tanks were busy in 2013. As the Year of the Snake slithered to a close, the education ministry made headlines by announcing bolstered English education plans — again — in an attempt to better prepare Japanese students for an increasingly connected world.
EDITORIALS
Feb 9, 2014

Wages of an economic upturn

Indications are that Japan may finally be on its way out of deflation, but prices are rising faster than workers' wages and the consumption tax hike in April will add to the burden on households.
COMMENTARY / World
Feb 9, 2014

China's credit boom raises flags on risk levels

The growth of credit in China at a breakneck pace, including the spike in local-government debt by 70 percent since 2009, is raising serious concerns about the level of risk in China's financial system.
Japan Times
WORLD
Feb 9, 2014

Water shortages leaving world high and dry

On Jan. 17, scientists downloaded fresh data from a pair of NASA satellites and distributed the findings among the small group of researchers who track the world's water reserves. At the University of California, Irvine, hydrologist James Famiglietti looked over the data from the gravity-sensing Grace...
Japan Times
JAPAN / WEDGE
Feb 9, 2014

Eco-labels urged to save endangered marine life

2013 highlighted the decline in Japan's fishery resources, with baby eel trading at ¥3 million per kilogram — more expensive than silver — and the catch quota of bluefin tuna being slashed at the December meeting of the Commission for the Conservation and Management of Highly Migratory Fish Stocks...
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives
Feb 8, 2014

Yuichiro Miura: on top of the world

Ever wondered what it feels like to stand on top of the world? Eighty-one-year-old alpinist Yuichiro Miura should know: He's done it three times since turning 70. He became the oldest person to scale the world's tallest peak, Mount Everest, in May last year, a remarkable feat that spurred the government...

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