Search - 2014

 
 
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / TELLING LIVES
Apr 15, 2015

Family overcomes learning and health challenges to make cafe dream a reality

Originally a nurse by profession, Rhonda Tezuka is overcoming cultural barriers and helping others to take charge of their own health and welfare.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Apr 15, 2015

Vagina artist pleads not guilty to obscenity charge

Taking the stand on the first day of her trial, Megumi Igarashi said she is fighting the charge to challenge the widely held belief in Japanese society that female genitals are “shameful.”
EDITORIALS
Apr 15, 2015

Window-dressing in Thailand

The lifting of martial law in Thailand hasn't resulted in democracy as most would describe it.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Companies
Apr 15, 2015

Toyota backs Prius in next-gen auto wars

When Scott Fisher bought his 2006 Prius, there weren't many other choices that gave him use of the carpool lanes on his drive to work in New York. That changed last year when the Long Island lawyer traded in his car for a Honda Accord Hybrid.
Japan Times
WORLD
Apr 15, 2015

Shipwreck off Libya claimed 400 migrants, survivors say

About 400 migrants died in an attempt to reach Italy from Libya when their boat capsized, survivors said on Tuesday, the latest tragedy in the Mediterranean where the death toll from shipwrecks has surged this year.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Apr 14, 2015

Thais flock to Japan for holiday, ignore freeze on flight increases

Thai tourists took advantage of a weaker yen and relaxed visa restrictions to flock to Japan over the three-day Songkran holiday ending Wednesday, but a temporary freeze on Thai flight increases to the country was likely to impact numbers.
Japan Times
TENNIS / MATCH POINT
Apr 14, 2015

Expert says hiring Nishikori would boost American companies in Japan

His meteoric rise in the rankings over the past two seasons has made Kei Nishikori both a superstar on the court and a valuable commodity off it.
COMMENTARY / World
Apr 14, 2015

Have we seen the end of the U.S. tax revolt?

With only 1 percent of Americans rating taxes as the nation's top problem, it appears that the U.S. tax revolt is all but over.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Apr 14, 2015

'Jim Lambie: Sun Rise Sun Ra Sun Set'

April 11-June 21
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Companies
Apr 14, 2015

Orix targeting U.S. fund manager valued at ¥150 billion or more

Orix Corp., one of the nation's most acquisitive financial firms, is in early talks to purchase a U.S. fund manager as part of efforts to double its assets under management, Chief Executive Officer Makoto Inoue said.
Japan Times
WORLD
Apr 14, 2015

Boko Haram abducted at least 2,000 women and girls, report says

Boko Haram Islamic militants have kidnapped at least 2,000 girls and women since the start of last year, turning them into cooks, sex slaves and fighters, and sometimes killing those who refused to comply, Amnesty International said on Tuesday.
ASIA PACIFIC / Crime & Legal
Apr 14, 2015

Indonesian lawmakers propose bill to ban alcohol consumption

Two Islamic parties have proposed laws to ban all alcohol consumption and bring jail terms of up to two years for offenders in Indonesia, home to the world's largest Muslim population, the Jakarta Post reported Tuesday.
WORLD
Apr 14, 2015

U.S. presses for probe into row at U.N. over whistle-blowers who warned of computer shipments to North Korea

Whistle-blowers at the United Nations patent agency say their concerns that computer shipments to North Korea may have violated sanctions were stifled for years.
Japan Times
BASEBALL / Japanese Baseball / HIT AND RUN
Apr 13, 2015

Swallows pitchers off to hot start on mound this year

The Tokyo Yakult Swallows' pitchers were unlikely candidates to flirt with history, the good kind at least, when the season began March 27. Not when they were coming off a 2014 in which they posted the worst ERA in Japan among starters, relievers, and, unsurprisingly, overall as a team.
EDITORIALS
Apr 13, 2015

Textbooks toe the government line

The government would do well to remember that uniform textbooks compiled by the state during and before World War II went hand in hand with Japan's militarism.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Apr 13, 2015

The hunt for the cause of recessions continues

While theories abound, economists still really don't know what causes recessions.
Japan Times
JAPAN / EXPLAINER
Apr 13, 2015

Abe camp's push for white-collar merit pay seen as no-overtime wages ploy

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's administration submitted a revised Labor Standards Law to the Diet earlier this month that would allow firms to exempt well-paid skilled workers from work-hour regulations — the so-called white-collar exemption system, which would effectively do away with overtime pay.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / LAW OF THE LAND
Apr 12, 2015

Bridging corruption and legitimacy: amakudari

Amakudari reaches into almost every aspect of civil and economic life, quietly taking its cut in the form of higher prices, obscure but lucrative monopolies and seemingly bizarre regulations.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Apr 12, 2015

Robots leave behind Chinese factory workers

Chinese factory owners are increasingly turning to automation, leaving millions of low-skill workers with an uncomfortable sense of impending obsolescence.
WORLD
Apr 12, 2015

Man charged in US bomb plot called strange, troubled

Topeka Kansas
COMMENTARY / COUNTERPOINT
Apr 11, 2015

Abe gets negative reviews ahead of U.S. visit

At the end of this month Prime Minister Shinzo Abe will visit Washington, D.C. He can expect the red carpet treatment because he has ticked more boxes on the Pentagon's wish list than all his postwar predecessors combined.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Economy / YEN FOR LIVING
Apr 11, 2015

Outdated Otsuka Kagu business model is at the root of family feud

Retailers know that image maintenance is important for their bottom lines, as proven by Otsuka Kagu Ltd.'s 37.8 percent drop in sales last month compared to March 2014.
COMMENTARY / World
Apr 11, 2015

Investment bust following historic pattern

Business investment has been slow to rebound during the weak economic recovery, but this is to be expected given past trends following recessions.
Japan Times
BASEBALL / Japanese Baseball
Apr 10, 2015

Hatakeyama's 11th-inning homer carries Swallows past Giants

There were funky uniforms on both sides, and a slew of great plays in the outfield. In the end, it was Kazuhiro Hatakeyama and the Tokyo Yakult Swallows who put their stamp on the first round of a colorful battle for Tokyo supremacy.
JAPAN / Politics
Apr 10, 2015

China at center of growing security risks in East Asia: defense paper

China's rapid military buildup and increasing assertiveness in the seas and skies made 2014 a "year of growing risks to security" in East Asia, the Defense Ministry's core policy arm said Friday in its annual report.

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