Search - 2015

 
 
WORLD
Jan 31, 2015

Global nuclear safety push to be softened by U.S. objections

The United States looks set to succeed in watering down a proposal for tougher legal standards aimed at boosting global nuclear safety, according to senior diplomats.
EDITORIALS
Jan 30, 2015

Higher wages can boost economy

The prospect of Japanese companies granting wage increases this spring appears mixed as the annual talks on wage hikes get under way between labor and management.
EDITORIALS
Jan 30, 2015

New ODA policy raises risks

The Abe administration will soon endorse a new basic policy on official development assistance under which Japan may extend aid to the armed forces of developing countries provided the aid is used for nonmilitary purposes such as assistance in times of disaster.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Jan 30, 2015

Eroding language of austerity

After years of trudging through an economic slough of austerity, guarded by German warders, that left southern European states near to despair, the EU can see a ribbon of the light of dawn upon the horizon.
COMMENTARY / World
Jan 30, 2015

Commissioner Bud Selig's winning legacy

American baseball has a spring in its step as spring approaches, thanks partly to the winning legacy of a longtime fan from Milwaukee, retiring baseball commissioner Bud Selig.
COMMENTARY / World
Jan 30, 2015

Fanatics, charlatans and economics

National chauvinism and religious fundamentalism are here to stay, and with them the terrorism that extremists of all stripes embrace, because both phenomena are ideally suited to the age of the individual, providing imaginary answers to personal angst.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Economy
Jan 29, 2015

Retail sales unexpectedly slump, in challenge to 'Abenomics'

Retail sales unexpectedly fell in December, underscoring challenges to Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's effort to stoke a recovery in the world's third-biggest economy.
COMMENTARY / World
Jan 28, 2015

Starting South Korea's new growth engines

With a new economic strategy that nurtures more diversified sources of growth, while reducing the country's excessive reliance on exports and large enterprises, South Korea can reinvigorate and sustain strong growth.
COMMENTARY / World
Jan 27, 2015

Vested interests stalemate reforms in China

Unless and until China's top leaders overcome resistance from vested interests, progress on reform will remain sluggish.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music / STRANGE BOUTIQUE
Jan 27, 2015

Kuwata's left jab has nothing on the politics of ad money

If this column is going to be about one thing in 2015, it will be politics in music.
Japan Times
BASKETBALL / NBA / SPORTS SCOPE
Jan 27, 2015

Shameful practice of resting healthy players must end

"Being a professional is doing the things you love to do, on the days you don't feel like doing them."
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Economy
Jan 27, 2015

Nomura says 'Abenomics' more likely to derail amid doubt over tax pledge

Nomura Holdings Inc. says the probability that Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's economic policies will end badly is increasing.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Jan 26, 2015

Protecting a tolerant society

How people who champion tolerance should deal with intolerant people who violently attempt to force certain values on others is one of the thorniest challenges for a pluralistic democracy.
COMMENTARY / World
Jan 26, 2015

Big banks are chomping at the bit to resume riskier trading activities

The bigger U.S. banks are chomping at the bit to resume riskier trading activities including derivatives speculation, which allows banks to take on excessive risk.
LIFE / Language / COMMUNICATION CUES
Jan 26, 2015

Top speed of Nozomi to hit 285 kph

JR Tokai announced Dec. 19 it will raise the maximum speed of the Nozomi bullet train service to 285 kph between Tokyo and Shin-Osaka stations in 2015 thanks to advances in braking technology.
BASKETBALL
Jan 25, 2015

Wat's head into All-Star break with win over B-Corsairs

Aomori Wat's frontcourt standouts Gyno Pomare and Paul Williams made their presence felt against the Yokohama B-Corsairs on Sunday in the teams' final game before the bj-league's 2015-16 All-Star Game, which will be held on Feb. 1 in Maebashi, Gunma Prefecture.
COMMENTARY / World
Jan 25, 2015

Looser credit policies for China's better cities

The best way to sustain China's economic transition and prevent a hard landing is to implement looser monetary and credit policies that enable the most productive cities, companies and industries to generate new added value.
COMMENTARY / World
Jan 25, 2015

ASEAN captain Malaysia prepares to set sail into maritime disputes, 'democratic recession'

As Malaysia takes over the ASEAN chairmanship for 2015, it faces the challenges of intractable territorial disputes in the South China Sea and the 'democratic recession' in the region.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Books
Jan 24, 2015

Jonathan Clements: Diving alongside a slowly sinking nation

When the pop singer Justin Bieber was in Japan in the spring of 2014 he asked his driver to make an impromptu stop at a shrine in Tokyo. Naturally, Bieber posted some photos of his shrine visit online, but instead of getting likes, his photos prompted outrage. Bieber, like Prime Minister Shinzo Abe before...
Japan Times
SOCCER / J. League
Jan 24, 2015

New Marinos manager Mombaerts ready to get ball rolling

New Yokohama F. Marinos manager Erick Mombaerts says his players have exceeded expectations after one week on the job, and is determined to make a swift start to the 2015 J. League season.
COMMENTARY / World
Jan 24, 2015

U.S. wages lagging and no one knows why

The U.S. unemployment rate has dropped from a peak of 10 percent in October 2009 to 5.6 percent at the end of 2014. Yet, hourly wage gains haven't accelerated. Economists are baffled.
Japan Times
BASEBALL / Japanese Baseball
Jan 23, 2015

Former catcher Furuta voted into Japanese Baseball Hall of Fame

When bespectacled catcher Atsuya Furuta was ready to set out on a professional baseball career, he was told by many that pro ballplayers don't wear glasses.
EDITORIALS
Jan 23, 2015

Auschwitz's lessons for Japan

The 70th anniversary, on Tuesday, of the Soviet Army's liberation of Nazi Germany's Auschwitz concentration camp should serve as a chance for Prime Minister Shinzo Abe to reflect on Japan's wartime behavior in the Asia-Pacific region.
COMMENTARY / World
Jan 23, 2015

Obama tries to out-Putin Putin

In his State of the Union address earlier this week, U.S. President Barack Obama showed that he's either blind to the dangers of the deteriorating relationship between Moscow and the West or is faking pride in a victory that is not even on the horizon.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Jan 23, 2015

Damping the hysteria fanning Islamic alienation in the West

Much of the American reaction to the Charlie Hebdo episode has been fixed on launching an even larger military intervention in the Middle East, as if that could do any good addressing a problem inside the Western countries themselves.

Longform

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