Search - 2014

 
 
COMMENTARY / World
Jan 27, 2014

Beware, the robots are coming

If you are an accountant, real estate agent, retail shop assistant, technical writer or telemarketer. Your jobs could be in imminent danger from the rampaging bots.
BASKETBALL
Jan 26, 2014

East tops West in All-Star Game

In a fast-paced game highlighted by slam dunks (19 in all) and rapid-fire 3-point shooting (the teams combined for 87), a stellar start and balanced scoring carried the Eastern Conference to a 98-91 triumph over the Western Conference at the 2013-14 All-Star Game on Sunday afternoon.
COMMENTARY / World
Jan 26, 2014

War appetite outlasts an era

If there is no longer a British Empire and the American effort to sustain Europe while creating a new, balanced, Israel-friendly greater Middle East has failed, does the continued appetite for war and conquest mean that Darwin was wrong?
COMMUNITY / How-tos / LIFELINES
Jan 26, 2014

No time for free reading? You can make it up at university

I hope 2014 has started well for all our readers. Lifelines kicks off the Year of the Horse with an email from overseas reader Hannah, who has several questions about the Japanese education system:
COMMENTARY / World
Jan 26, 2014

Mindless inventiveness for checkered legacies

To say that the late Ariel Sharon's eight-year-long coma had given Israel time to 'come to terms' with his checkered legacy is a cliche that deserves to be swept away.
Japan Times
LIFE / Travel / BACKSTREET STORIES
Jan 25, 2014

History and humor lap Hamamatsucho's shores

Tokyo hosts plenty of pint-size public sculptures, but none so "wee" as the brazen boy standing on the platform between lines 3 and 4 at Hamamatsucho Station in Minato Ward. Just back from a trip to Brussels, I am stunned to glimpse there a bronze replica of the Belgian capital's most cheeky landmark,...
Japan Times
BASEBALL / Japanese Baseball / HIT AND RUN
Jan 25, 2014

Tanaka's exit puts focus on Maeda

Outside of New York Yankees fans, the conclusion of Masahiro Tanaka's move to the majors probably had the biggest effect on Kenta Maeda and the Hiroshima Carp.
BUSINESS
Jan 25, 2014

Automakers gird for Super Bowl

From the Muppets to James Franco, Hollywood will be working hard for carmakers at the Super Bowl.
COMMENTARY / World
Jan 24, 2014

Making sense of China's economic growth model

Although China's economy has expanded at a staggering pace over the last three decades, its growth model is now widely agreed to be exhausted. Many economists endorse a shift to consumption-driven growth propelled by gains in efficiciency.
COMMENTARY / World
Jan 24, 2014

The enigma of European defense

What accounts for European citizens' support for the establishment of a common security and defense policy when most European leaders have demonstrated a clear lack of interest in creating one
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Companies
Jan 24, 2014

Sony expected to lower profit outlook again

Nintendo Co. shocked investors last week by lowering its profit forecast for the year. Analysts are concerned Sony Corp. could be next.
BUSINESS
Jan 23, 2014

Nomura sees Japanese IPOs doubling to ¥1 trillion in 2014

Nomura Holdings Inc., the nation's top manager of initial public offerings in 2013, expects debut share sales will almost double to ¥1 trillion this year as buyout funds recoup investments amid a stock rally.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Companies
Jan 23, 2014

Toyota outsold GM, VW in '13, sees 3% growth this year

Toyota Motor Corp. outsold General Motors Co. and Volkswagen AG in 2013 to lead the global auto industry for the second straight year and forecast 3.4 percent growth for 2014 on rising demand in the U.S. and China.
Japan Times
JAPAN / DAVOS SPECIAL 2014
Jan 23, 2014

'Abenomics' returns spotlight to Japan

Takeshi Niinami, CEO of Lawson Inc., remembers how Japan captured the attention of world leaders gathered in Davos a year ago.
Japan Times
JAPAN / DAVOS SPECIAL 2014
Jan 23, 2014

Impact of 2020 Olympics, Paralympics being felt

The scheduled 2020 Olympics and Paralympics in Tokyo have had a tremendously positive impact on Japanese people's mind-set, playing a large part in the return of a brisk economy, said a government official in charge of preparations for the games.
Japan Times
JAPAN / DAVOS SPECIAL 2014
Jan 23, 2014

YGL program inspires, educates

Oisix Inc. President Kohey Takashima's ambition has transformed his online food retail startup into the leading player in the industry in just over a decade, but his nomination as a Young Global Leader by the World Economic Forum has awoken in him another mission: to contribute to society.
Japan Times
JAPAN / DAVOS SPECIAL 2014
Jan 23, 2014

Young entrepreneur out to change education

The Global Shapers are highly motivated young people between the ages of 20 and 30 with the potential to be society's future leaders, according to the World Economic Forum, which selects them based on several factors, such as their initiative, commitment and potential to "make a difference."
Japan Times
JAPAN / DAVOS SPECIAL 2014
Jan 23, 2014

Reshaping Japan's next decade

(Publicity)
Japan Times
JAPAN / DAVOS SPECIAL 2014
Jan 23, 2014

Japan's traditional washoku cuisine feeds body and soul

Whenever I am away from my homeland for too long, there is one meal that fills my dreams. At the center is a bowl of plain steamed rice, white and glistening. On the side, a steaming bowl of fragrant miso soup. There's fish, perhaps sanma (Pacific saury), so hot from the grill that its skin sizzles when...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Stage
Jan 22, 2014

The Onodera enigma

The name of the late great Pina Bausch's acclaimed Tanztheater in the German city of Wuppertal may translate as "Dancetheater," but its works often owe more to abstract emotional action and snatched dialogue than to dance. Over in London, meanwhile, Simon McBurney's Complicite company has long been at...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Jan 22, 2014

Hiraki Sawa’s dream world: Worth the pause for thought

Sometimes it can be irritating visiting an exhibition of video-based art. You come in halfway through one of the videos or near the end of another, and you feel that you've missed something and wonder if you should stick around to watch it from the start.
Japan Times
SOCCER / J. League / J. LEAGUE NOTEBOOK
Jan 22, 2014

Popovic says Cerezo primed for title run

It is impossible to properly assess how each team will fare more than a month ahead of the start of the 2014 J. League season, but Cerezo Osaka have reason to be quietly confident about the year ahead.
COMMENTARY
Jan 21, 2014

Japan heading for darker days

It's still baffling why the Abe administration was in such a hurry to have the state secrets bill passed when various opinion surveys showed that the bill was opposed by about 80 percnet of respondens on the very day the Upper House voted on it.
COMMENTARY
Jan 21, 2014

A Dutch cure for the Dutch disease

When a country like the Netherlands, which built one of the world's most expansive welfare states in the 1960s and '70s, reverses course to reduce welfare dependency and to restore work incentives, it is worth noting.
COMMENTARY / World
Jan 20, 2014

Model general whose best defense was offense

Had Ariel Sharon never entered politics, he would still be known around the world as a military commander and tactician whose methods diverged from normal military practices, even in the unconventional Israeli army.
Japan Times
LIFE / Digital / ON: TECH
Jan 20, 2014

On: Tech looks at printing, scanning, apps and more

With the ongoing shift to smartphones in Japan, mobile flea-market apps have been getting a fair bit of attention recently. Fril (fril.jp), Mercari (mercari.jp), and Mom's Market (maifuri.jp) all stand out in this space as sellers of second-hand fashion and general goods, but newcomer A2mato aims to...
COMMENTARY / World
Jan 20, 2014

Syria could signal farewell to arms at Geneva II

The Geneva II conference on Syria, set to begin in Montreux, Switzerland, this week, is unlikely to achieve its goal of forming a transitional governing authority with full executive powers, but it could produce a ceasefire agreement between government and opposition forces.

Longform

Construction takes place on the Takanawa Gateway Convention Center in Tokyo, slated to open in 2025.
A boom for business tourism in Japan?