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EDITORIALS
Jan 6, 2014

Attracting more tourists to Japan

If Japan is really serious about attracting 20 million tourists a year by the time of the 2020 Olympics, the nation has a lot more to do to make visitors feel more welcome.
EDITORIALS
Jan 6, 2014

No substitute for overseas travel

Whatever the reasons are for why younger Japanese aren't traveling overseas as much as the older generations, travel can be the best way for people to learn of different cultures and stem the tendency to show bias against people of different ethnic or cultural backgrounds.
COMMENTARY / World
Jan 6, 2014

Obama's Asian 'pivot' went flying off like a divot

Even in Washington-centric Washington, President Barack Obama gets the award for having the worst year in Asia. His 'pivot to Asia' looked more like a divot.
COMMENTARY / World
Jan 6, 2014

NSA-less costs of making life safe

Aren't there other ways of spending tens of billions of dollars that would save more lives than America's National Security Agency is credited with saving each year
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Companies
Jan 6, 2014

Subaru shaking niche status with strong share gain in U.S.

Subaru, the auto unit of Fuji Heavy Industries Ltd., added the most U.S. market share of any foreign carmaker last year as the brand long known for quirky all-wheel-drive vehicles continued to win more mass-market fans.
BUSINESS / Economy
Jan 6, 2014

Arrival of 'bad inflation' trend bodes ill for Japan's rebound

Price increases are prompting Japanese shoppers to buy less mayonnaise, showing the fragility of any economic rebound unless wages keep up with living costs.
JAPAN / Politics
Jan 6, 2014

Utsunomiya unveils basic policies in race to replace Tokyo's Inose

The 2020 Tokyo Olympics and Paralympics should not harm the environment, lawyer Kenji Utsunomiya said Monday as he threw his hat into the Tokyo gubernatorial election.
COMMUNITY / Issues / LEARNING CURVE
Jan 5, 2014

English fluency hopes rest on an education overhaul

Ringing in 2014, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has a dream: One nation that will actively re-engage with the global marketplace.
Japan Times
WORLD / Science & Health
Jan 5, 2014

Wolf numbers surge across Europe

A twig snaps, a crow calls, but nothing moves in the dense pine forests of Spain's Guadarrama mountains. Vultures and eagles soar over the snowcapped peaks and wild boars roam the valleys below, as they have for centuries. But for the farmers who work this land, a threatening and worrying comeback is...
JAPAN / Media / BIG IN JAPAN
Jan 4, 2014

Cash, sex, the mob? Weeklies seek clues in gyōza king's killing

Just when it was starting to look like 2013 would end with minimal gun violence in Japan, two socially prominent individuals were shot dead in the space of two days.
CULTURE / Books
Jan 4, 2014

Imagining Edo Period intrigue from the U.S.

At the climax of "Shinju"(1994), Laura Joh Rowland's first mystery novel, gallant yoriki (police sergeant) Sano Ichiro rescues the shogun from an assassination plot and earns himself a big promotion. It's a pyrrhic victory leading to what Sano immediately realizes will be a thankless position that risks...
COMMENTARY / World
Jan 3, 2014

Let's score leaders by deeds

2013 has too many anti-heroes. We need to have leading newspapers, universities or think tanks judge world leaders' performances as if they were in a league.
Japan Times
JAPAN / GETTING SERIOUS ABOUT ENGLISH
Jan 2, 2014

Schools fret about assistant teachers ahead of proposed 2020 reforms

With education reform expected to place a great deal of emphasis on English, officials worry about the uneven quality of foreign assistant language teachers.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Jan 2, 2014

'Seventh Code'

One of the more baffling and maddening aspects of the pop music scene here for a lot of foreign observers, especially those who write about it for the English-language media, is the long-continuing and now overwhelming popularity of girl idol groups, whether or not their names end with "48." For the...
Japan Times
LIFE / Lifestyle / CHILD'S PLAY
Jan 2, 2014

'Baby cafe' lets moms unwind while the children play

Tokyo has long been a city that caters for pets, with its countless cat cafes, dog cafes and even rabbit cafes dotted across the capital. But what about cafes for babies of the human variety?
BUSINESS / Companies
Jan 2, 2014

Mitsubishi, Mitsui pull out of deal to buy Aussie LNG

Mitsubishi Corp. and Mitsui & Co. have withdrawn from an agreement to buy liquefied natural gas from Woodside Petroleum Ltd.'s Browse venture in Australia after delays to the project.
BUSINESS / Companies
Jan 2, 2014

Komatsu bets on local concrete boom as global mining sales falter

Construction equipment maker Komatsu Ltd. expects spending on disaster reconstruction and prevention, as well as preparations for the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games, to boost earnings in its home market.
WORLD / ANALYSIS
Jan 2, 2014

Political power struggle behind South Sudan crisis

U.S. and African officials seeking to mediate an end to South Sudan's bloodshed are, in effect, trying to repair rifts in the very liberation movement that they supported for years.
CULTURE
Jan 1, 2014

NHK's yearlong drama 'Gunshi Kanbei' takes cues from Korean success stories

Strap yourselves in, you're in for a hair-raising ride.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Politics
Dec 31, 2013

Abe's quest to revive, reshape nation rides on the economy

Just six months ago, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe was riding high after his party swept the Upper House election. Now things aren't looking so rosy.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Dec 31, 2013

Tokyo prepares to get schooled in the art of beats

Although the major spectacle looming on Tokyo's horizon is undoubtedly the 2020 Olympics, there is one event this year that will be eagerly anticipated by anyone who spends longer on their gym playlist than their workout: The Red Bull Music Academy (RBMA) is set to take place here in October.

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?