Search - 2015

 
 
EDITORIALS
Nov 12, 2014

Improving dementia care

The government must make greater efforts to to enable people with dementia to live as normally as possible for as long as possible.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Economy
Nov 12, 2014

Kuroda ally warns Abe against delaying consumption tax increase

An adviser to the Bank of Japan and longtime colleague of Gov. Haruhiko Kuroda is warning that a delay by Prime Minister Shinzo Abe to raise the consumption tax would have profound implications for monetary policy.
WORLD
Nov 12, 2014

U.S. urges IMF to cancel debt of Ebola-stricken countries

The United States on Tuesday proposed that the International Monetary Fund write off some $100 million in debt it is owed by Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone to free up more resources for those countries, the hardest hit by the Ebola outbreak.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / KANPAI CULTURE
Nov 11, 2014

Japan denied a dram of its winning whisky

Of the many things that Scotland has bequeathed to the world — golf, kilts and the baffling culinary phenomenon of fried Mars bars — my favorite by far is whisky. I have an enduring fondness for peaty and powerful Scotch whiskies from Islay and the Islands (as anyone foolish enough to leave me alone...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Nov 11, 2014

Ogre You Asshole's 'Papercraft' marks end of a conceptual trilogy

When it came time to make a fourth full-length, 2011's "Homely," Nagano rock act Ogre You Asshole was ready for a change.
EDITORIALS
Nov 11, 2014

No excuse for inaction on emissions

The latest report by the U.N. panel on climate change may not offer any new surprises concerning the threat of global warming, but it does remind us that doing too little, or waiting too long, to cut emissions of heat-trapping gases could be disastrous.
BUSINESS / Companies
Nov 11, 2014

Regional banks Higo, Kagoshima to merge in 2015

Regional lenders Kagoshima Bank and Higo Bank have agreed to merge next year to tackle the intensifying competition, shrinking population and economic stagnation afflicting the industry.
Japan Times
WORLD / Science & Health
Nov 11, 2014

European comet mission gears up for tough probe landing, possibly Wednesday

European scientists will this week make the first attempt to land a probe on the surface of a comet, the climax of a decade-long project to unlock some of the secrets of the universe.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Nov 10, 2014

Kuroda sprang easing surprise to head off damaging inflation forecast

Bank of Japan Gov. Haruhiko Kuroda not only surprised the markets with his latest splurge of monetary easing. He sprang it on his own Policy Board members just two days earlier, jolted into action to stop them from making a lowball forecast that might have sunk his flagship inflation target.
BUSINESS / Economy
Nov 10, 2014

Kuroda sprang easing surprise to head off damaging inflation forecast

Bank of Japan Gov. Haruhiko Kuroda not only surprised the markets with his latest splurge of monetary easing. He sprang it on his own Policy Board members just two days earlier, jolted into action to stop them making a low-ball forecast that might have sunk his flagship inflation target.
SUMO / SUMO SCRIBBLINGS
Nov 7, 2014

Kyushu Basho 2014: A tale of two Mongolians

There are two men to watch when the action gets underway at sumo’s final basho of 2014, down in Fukuoka on Sunday.
BUSINESS / Companies
Nov 7, 2014

Profits at Japanese firms approach all-time high, but not everyone is smiling

Japanese companies are headed toward their highest profits ever, as the falling yen boosts exporters from Toyota Motor Corp. to Uniqlo-operator Fast Retailing Co.
ASIA PACIFIC
Nov 7, 2014

U.S. Army to deactivate long-serving 'Iron Brigade' in South Korea

A U.S. Army combat brigade that has anchored the U.S. military presence in South Korea for nearly 50 years will be deactivated and replaced with a rotational unit as the service shrinks in size due to budget cuts, defense officials said on Thursday.
BUSINESS / Economy
Nov 7, 2014

U.S. jobless claims, wages data point to tightening market

The number of Americans filing new claims for unemployment benefits fell more than expected last week and compensation accelerated in the third quarter, in the latest signs of tightening labor market conditions.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Nov 6, 2014

New justice minister against outlawing hate speech

The newly appointed justice minister on Thursday gave clues as to her priorities in office, restating the ministry's intention to clean up a discredited foreign trainees program but saying she is disinclined to outlaw hate speech.
WORLD / Politics
Nov 6, 2014

Voters OK legal marijuana in Oregon, Alaska, and Washington, D.C.

Residents of Oregon, Alaska, and the U.S. capital voted to legalize marijuana on Tuesday, in key victories that could fuel the legalization movement as cannabis usage is increasingly recognized by the American public.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Nov 5, 2014

Parasyte: Gory invasion of the cannibal body snatchers

The closing film of this year's Tokyo International Film Festival, Takashi Yamazaki's "Kiseiju: Part 1 (Parasyte: Part 1)," arrives in theaters with a lot of hype. Based on Hitoshi Iwaaki's best-selling manga about the stealth invasion of Earth by alien parasites, the film is the first of a two-part...
EDITORIALS
Nov 5, 2014

To hike the consumption tax, or not

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe must address concerns about the economy's health before he makes a decision on whether to raise the consumption tax.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Nov 5, 2014

Washington takes hands-off stance on future of Myanmar's Suu Kyi

Despite hailing Myanmar opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi as "an icon of democracy," U.S. President Barack Obama is quietly acquiescing to the government's decision to bar her from running for the presidency in next year's election, U.S. officials say.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Companies
Nov 4, 2014

Lawson stores add tens of millions of Amazon products

Lawson Inc. customers will be able to order items from Amazon Japan for later collection, under an enhanced tie-up announced Tuesday.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / YEN FOR LIVING
Nov 4, 2014

The case for a higher consumption tax

If there has to be a tax, the consumption tax may be the fairest.
EDITORIALS
Nov 3, 2014

Putin's shortsighted military play

The rising number of Russian violations of neighbors' airspace of late suggests that President Vladimir Putin is betting that the West can be shown up as a paper tiger. But Russian behavior seems only to be pushing European governments to reduce their interactions with Moscow.

Longform

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