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BUSINESS
Oct 6, 2012

BOJ refrains from stimulus despite political pressure

The Bank of Japan held off from more easing after adding to stimulus last month, preserving its policy firepower despite increased political pressure and signs of an economic contraction.
Reader Mail
Sep 30, 2012

Noda's about-face a plain shame

Regarding the Sept. 20 front-page article "Cabinet fails to OK new nuclear strategy": Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda has been criticized for backtracking on the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) and on the government's recent pledge to aim for zero dependence on nuclear power by 2030. Backtracking on TPP...
EDITORIALS
Sep 30, 2012

Spirituality on the rise

Is Japan a spiritual-oriented or materialistic society? The answer is definitively spiritual, according to the most recent national livelihood survey by the Cabinet Office. The highest percentage of Japanese ever — 64 percent — said they are now placing priority on "spiritual fulfillment" rather...
COMMENTARY
Sep 29, 2012

Two missed opportunities for Japan in island disputes

Since I have been requested to express my views on the territorial issues concerning the Takeshima islets and Senkaku Islands on several occasions recently, I thought it opportune to compile them into one coherent argument.
EDITORIALS
Sep 28, 2012

Mr. Abe makes his return

Former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe made a political comeback on Wednesday as the elected new head of the leading opposition Liberal Democratic Party. This is the first time that a person who has resigned as prime minister has been re-elected as the top leader of a political party. A big question about...
BUSINESS / JAPANESE PERSPECTIVES
Sep 24, 2012

Toll of double tax hikes on the economy will be even worse than in '97

The number of people in Japan aged 65 or older has reached 30.74 million, or 24.1 percent of the population, according to a government estimate released on the Respect for the Aged Day last Monday. The numbers are record highs and warn of snowballing health and welfare costs the country will soon have...
EDITORIALS
Sep 20, 2012

Cooler heads needed over islet row

In this 40th anniversary year of diplomatic normalization between Japan and China, the bilateral relationship has plummeted as demonstrations rage in many Chinese cities against the Japanese government's purchase of three of the five islets comprising the Senkaku Islands in the East China Sea, which...
Reader Mail
Sep 16, 2012

The will to fly the national flag

Regarding the Sept. 12 Kyodo article "Town eyes subsidy for residents to buy flag": The plan (by the Nakanoto municipal government, Ishikawa Prefecture) to subsidize the purchase of national flags to encourage more people to fly the flag demonstrates just how out of touch politicians are with the common...
Japan Times
JAPAN / Media
Sep 16, 2012

'The government could still save lives'

In the immediate aftermath of last year's Fukushima triple meltdown, Japan's government and pronuclear experts scrambled to dampen public concern. Experts waved away fears about radiation, cabinet ministers scoffed at comparisons to Chernobyl, and the word "meltdown" itself was effectively scoured from...
Japan Times
JAPAN / History / JAPAN TIMES GONE BY
Sep 16, 2012

Man eats dynamite, fighting intensifies in Shanghai, Tokyo may allow skyscrapers, Michael Jackson in Japan

A correspondent reports from Nagano that the magazine of Shiokawa, a powder-maker in Komoro in that prefecture, was broken into and had 600 sticks of dynamite stolen lately. T
COMMENTARY / World
Sep 15, 2012

Tehran's electoral strategy

Negotiations over Iran's nuclear program have again hit a wall, but the country's Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, appears unconcerned. Indeed, Khamenei seems convinced that neither the United States nor Israel will attack its nuclear facilities — at least not before the U.S. presidential election...
COMMENTARY
Sep 13, 2012

Airports: too few or too many?

A hot political question in London in recent weeks has been the need for more airport capacity to meet the needs of business in the 21st century. A neutral observer might think that this is essentially a matter that should be settled on the basis of supply and demand and the relationship between these...
BUSINESS
Sep 11, 2012

Growth in last quarter halved to 0.7% pace

The economy expanded in the second quarter at half the pace the government initially estimated, underscoring the risk of contraction in Japan as Europe's debt crisis caps exports.
COMMENTARY
Sep 8, 2012

Tokyo-Seoul: enough is enough!

Enough is enough! Obviously, the political leadership in Tokyo and Seoul never learned about the First Rule of Holes: When you find yourself in one, stop digging. Each side seems to be going out of its way to make a bad situation worse, even while providing private assurances that it won't let the situation...
EDITORIALS
Sep 8, 2012

Cloudy outlook for economy

In its latest monthly economic report released on Aug. 28, the government downgraded its assessment of the economy for the first time since October 2011 when the effects of the European sovereign debt crisis and the strong yen broadsided the economy.
BUSINESS
Sep 7, 2012

Rising tensions hurting China sales, Nissan exec says

Nissan Motor Co., the best-selling Japanese automaker in China, said deliveries are off as it cut back on marketing events in the wake of violent anti-Japan demonstrations last month.
COMMENTARY
Sep 3, 2012

China thrives in soft corner with two-track U.S. strategy

The U.S. strategy long has been geared against the rise of any hegemonic power in Asia and for a stable balance of power.
EDITORIALS
Sep 3, 2012

Preparing for Nankai megaquake

The Cabinet Office's Central Disaster Prevention Council said Wednesday that a megaquake of magnitude-9 in the Nankai Trough off the Pacific coasts and its ensuing tsunami could kill up to 323,000 people in 30 prefectures including Tokyo, with about 70 percent of the deaths tsunami-related. Malfunctioning...
Reader Mail
Aug 30, 2012

Another chance for Abe to lead

Regarding the Aug. 25 front-page article "On sex slaves, Hashimoto on same page as Abe": It is very hard to believe that former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe seriously thinks of himself as a viable contender for the Liberal Democratic Party presidency who should be given another chance to lead the country....
JAPAN
Aug 30, 2012

Censure motion against Noda OK'd

With the Sept. 8 end of the current Diet session nearing, political players in Nagata-cho engaged in a heated tit-for-tat battle Wednesday as the opposition-controlled Upper House passed a censure motion against Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda to try to push him into dissolving the Lower House.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Aug 30, 2012

Nankai quake projected toll radically raised

As many as 323,000 people in 30 prefectures could be killed by a major earthquake and ensuing monster tsunami that scientists say could hit in the Nankai Trough off the Pacific coast, the Cabinet Office's Central Disaster Prevention Council said Wednesday.

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