Search - 2012

 
 
EDITORIALS
May 15, 2013

Make it easier for workers to raise kids

Enabling people to pursue a career while raising a child in Japan — beyond taking longer child-care leave — ranks as a major challenge for the Abe administration.
BASKETBALL
May 13, 2013

Fukuoka, Kyoto, Niigata join Yokohama in Final Four

The Final Four is set, with a pair of returning teams and two which haven't been to the big show for a few seasons.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
May 13, 2013

Can two U.S. senators' bipartisan bill finally halt 'Too Big to Fail' mantra?

Last month, an unlikely pair of senators — Sherrod Brown, an Ohio Democrat, and David Vitter, a Louisiana Republican — introduced a non-binding resolution calling for the end of the implicit subsidies that "too big to fail" (TBTF) banks enjoy.
COMMENTARY / Japan / SENTAKU MAGAZINE
May 13, 2013

Is missile defense useful?

As Japan pours huge sums of taxpayer money into its missile defense system, the SDF is functioning more like a subcontractor for the U.S. armed forces.
BASEBALL / Japanese Baseball
May 12, 2013

Hanshin's Murton living in the moment

The natural inclination is to ask Matt Murton what's changed. To find out how, exactly, he went from the lows of an often tumultuous 2012 campaign, to hitting just about everything in sight early this year.
BASKETBALL
May 12, 2013

Kyoto pulls off shocker in Game 1 of West semis

The Kyoto Hannaryz stunned the host Ryukyu Golden Kings in Game 1 of their Western Conference semifinal series on Saturday afternoon.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Books
May 12, 2013

Exploring the Northeast Asian rivalry for power, influence via official development assistance

Japan used to be the world's leading foreign aid donor in the 1990s, spreading most of its largesse around Asia. But since 2001, Japan has slipped to fifth in donor rankings as budget deficits and the absence of strong political support lead to cuts in development assistance.
CULTURE / Books
May 12, 2013

The boys who built a bridge between Japan and Europe

One of the most sensational events of Japan's "Christian century" was the European trip of "the four boys," described some years ago by Michael Cooper in "The Japanese Mission to Europe" (2005). The sight of these gracious princelings in the Catholic courts of Italy, Spain and Portugal moved and astonished...
LIFE
May 12, 2013

Trendsetting U.S. craft beers pour into Germany

Almost 65 years after Allied planes flew Western supplies into blockaded Berlin, a new American import is arriving by air: craft beer.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / ANALYSIS
May 11, 2013

Carmakers seen heading for big year

Japanese automakers are expected to reap further profits, possibly at record levels, in the current business year to next March thanks to the yen's decline and the positive U.S. economic outlook, experts said.
Japan Times
JAPAN
May 11, 2013

Universities lure students with upscale dorms

Universities in Japan are doing everything they can to attract students amid the aging society and decline in young people.
EDITORIALS
May 11, 2013

The good and bad of a weaker yen

Corporate Japan in general is reporting good results for the business year ended March 31, but not all companies are expected to benefit from an excessively cheap yen.
Reference / Q&A
May 10, 2013

How signs of a 'lost continent' came into JAMSTEC's underwater view

The Japan Agency for Marine-Earth Science and Technology and the Brazilian government announced Tuesday the discovery of a large mass of granite on the seafloor near Rio de Janero — a landmark finding that suggests a continent may have once existed there.
BASEBALL / Japanese Baseball
May 10, 2013

Wild pitch in 11th carries Marines to eighth straight win

Takashi Ogino had the chance to be the hero with the bases loaded and one out in the bottom of the 11th inning. It would've been fitting too, with the Chiba Lotte Marines star playing in his second game of the season, after missing most of 2012 with a leg injury.
Japan Times
BASKETBALL
May 10, 2013

Yokohama, Toyama set to battle for spot in Final Four

The Eastern Conference semifinals start on Friday night, with the Yokohama B-Corsairs aiming for a repeat trip to the Final Four.
JAPAN
May 10, 2013

Tourism goal sparks plan to expedite immigration process

The government may simplify the immigration process to make it easier for foreign tourists to enter Japan and achieve its goal of bringing in 25 million visitors a year by 2020.
Japan Times
JAPAN
May 10, 2013

Nation fails to make most of refugees

Refugees in Japan are acutely underutilized and the nation should stop turning a blind eye to their skills and potential if it wants to generate economic growth, according to freelance journalist Kaoru Nemoto, who describes them as "professionals of survival."
Japan Times
LIFE / Lifestyle
May 10, 2013

Ideas to trump names on TEDxTokyo stage

TEDxTokyo is set to kick off its fifth annual event on May 11 at Hikarie Hall in Shibuya Ward, featuring a bevy of talented speakers, among whom are many you've likely never heard of.
Japan Times
JAPAN
May 9, 2013

New group of female executives hopes to boost ranks in Japan Inc.

Though hard to detect at a distance, there are cracks in the glass ceiling of Japan Inc.
CULTURE / Music / JAZZ NOTES
May 9, 2013

Female jazz acts are the real Cool Japan

One of the highlights of my Golden Week this year was a concert by the Toshiko Akiyoshi-Lew Tabackin Jazz Orchestra at Blue Note in Tokyo. Reuniting her big band for the first time in a decade, Akiyoshi rolled back the clock with a superb set and some witty banter. The high point of the Sunday night...

Longform

A man offers prayers at Hebikubo Shrine in Tokyo's Shinagawa Ward. The shrine is one of several across the country dedicated to the snake.
Shed your skin and reinvent yourself in the Year of the Snake