Search - 2012

 
 
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Jun 28, 2012

Tax hike risks stunting growth in '14

Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda risks stalling the economy by pushing through his consumption tax increase, which may dampen spending even as it aids efforts to tame the world's largest debt burden.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Jun 28, 2012

DJ Kentaro set to scratch a new itch

Only a handful of artists can say they've reached the top of their trade, but Kentaro Okamoto is one of them. As DJ Kentaro, his record-scratching skills got him noticed by beat heads worldwide back in 2002, when he won the DMC World DJ Final in London. But, now this DJ wants an image change.
JAPAN / ANALYSIS
Jun 27, 2012

More hurdles in store for Noda

Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda managed to get the Lower House to pass the contentious tax hike bill, but his troubles are far from over, as demonstrated by the no votes cast by the Democratic Party of Japan's kingpin, Ichiro Ozawa, and more than 50 of his followers.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Jun 27, 2012

Sony, Panasonic to collaborate on OLED TVs

Sony Corp. and Panasonic Corp. have agreed to jointly develop televisions using OLED displays as they try to rebound from a combined ¥1.2 trillion in losses last year.
JAPAN / EXPLAINER
Jun 26, 2012

Cremation finds favor even with royal clan

Cremation has been the norm for dealing with the deceased in modern-day Japan — where communities are crowded and land is scarce.
COMMENTARY / World
Jun 26, 2012

Clarity in the conflict of austerity versus growth

It seemed clear that Germany (or at least this rather large gathering of government, business, and labor leaders) remains committed to the euro and to deeper European integration, and recognizes that success will require Europe-wide burden-sharing to overcome the ongoing eurozone crisis. The reforms...
EDITORIALS
Jun 25, 2012

Tasks for the extended Diet session

Because of a deal between the ruling Democratic Party of Japan and the opposition Liberal Democratic Party and Komeito, bills incorporating Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda's plan to raise the consumption tax are likely to be passed by the end of the current Diet session, which has been extended by 79 days...
COMMENTARY
Jun 25, 2012

The Beach Boys get around, a half-century on

Three hours before showtime, Brian Wilson says: "There is no Rhonda."
BASKETBALL
Jun 24, 2012

Chiba to quit bj-league

The Chiba Jets, coming off a mediocre 18-34 inaugural season, are jumping ship to the JBL's re-branded top league for the 2013-14 campaign.
ENVIRONMENT / OUR PLANET EARTH
Jun 24, 2012

There's none so blind as those who deny they cannot see

Buddhism teaches that all human suffering is rooted in greed, anger and ignorance. Whether true or not, it is clear that related human failings are compromising our planet: our material greed, our ignorance of natural systems, and most of all, our dogged denial.
CULTURE / Books
Jun 24, 2012

A woman's world

PASSIONATE FRIENDSHIP: The Aesthetics of Girls' Culture in Japan, by Deborah Shamoon. Univ. of Hawai'i Press, 2012, 181 pp., $27.00 (paperback) The subject of this book is one that is baffling to outsiders, but visible on the streets of Tokyo, especially the more fashionable parts, and in fiction, dress...
SOCCER / PREMIER REPORT
Jun 23, 2012

England must step it up to advance

It was Jock Stein, the former Celtic manager, who said of tournament football: "You qualify in your boiler suit and then put on your tuxedo."
BASKETBALL
Jun 23, 2012

HeatDevils bolster roster for 2012-13

The Oita HeatDevils missed the playoffs in 2011-12, finishing 23-29 in the bj-league, or five less wins than the sixth-place Shimane Susanoo Magic in the Western Conference. So it was back to the drawing board for one of the bj-league's original franchises.
BUSINESS
Jun 23, 2012

Sony, Panasonic prepared to reveal OLED TV tieup

Sony Corp. and Panasonic Corp., Japan's biggest makers of TVs, may announce an agreement next week to cooperate in making sets that use new organic light-emitting diode displays, company officials said.
Japan Times
BASKETBALL / BJ-LEAGUE NOTEBOOK
Jun 22, 2012

Grouses need coach after Shimoji steps down

After nearly finishing with their first winning season in franchise history, the Toyama Grouses will not have Kazuaki Shimoji at the helm in 2012-13. Serious health issues appear to be the primary factor, league insiders told The Japan Times.
EDITORIALS
Jun 22, 2012

Heed sentiment on Osprey

The government is trying to persuade local governments concerned in Okinawa and Honshu to accept a U.S. plan to station 24 MV-22 Osprey tilt-rotor aircraft at U.S. Marine Corps Air Station Futenma in Ginowan, Okinawa Prefecture, to replace the same number of CH-46 Sea Knight helicopters stationed there....
CULTURE / Music
Jun 21, 2012

Kiwa Kiwa Festival

Emerging in March of this year promising to "challenge the limits of 'independent,' " Kiwa Kiwa — a music website and promoter (and cafe, curiously) — launched in a flurry of activity including disc and live reviews as well as columns from a quartet of local Tokyo indie musicians. It was a bold move...
COMMENTARY / World
Jun 21, 2012

Discerning purpose beyond power

The rerun of the Greek parliamentary election on June 17 was only the latest symptom of the most serious crisis to plague Western democracies and open societies since the 1960s. Liberal democracies in the West today are struggling to avoid — and in doing so are exacerbating — a crisis of identity,...
EDITORIALS
Jun 21, 2012

Tepid vote for Europe in Greece

Greece and Europe have gained some breathing room — but not much — after Sunday's parliamentary elections in Greece. A victory by the conservative New Democracy (ND) party offers hope that the country will support a government that backs the existing austerity program, permitting Greece to stay in...
Japan Times
BASKETBALL
Jun 20, 2012

Gardow done as Chiba coach

After an up-and-down inaugural season, the Chiba Jets will have a new coach for the 2012-13 campaign.
JAPAN
Jun 20, 2012

International Baccalaureate classes to be taught in Japanese: government

Students in Japan may soon be able to qualify to apply for foreign universities by attending educational programs taught in Japanese, according to the education ministry.
Japan Times
BASKETBALL
Jun 20, 2012

Gunma selects forward Sugasawa with No.1 pick in bj-league draft

A pair of bj-league franchises took the first step toward building their rosters for the 2012-13 season during Tuesday's draft day event in Tokyo.
Japan Times
BASKETBALL / ONE-ON-ONE WITH ...
Jun 20, 2012

Tyler learned many lessons in first NBA season

The Japan Times has published periodic interviews with bj-league players since the fall of 2006. This is the first One-on-One interview featuring a former bj-league player now in the NBA.
Jun 20, 2012

Helping Myanmar transform

Across the Mideast, and now in Myanmar, one of the great questions of contemporary global politics has resurfaced: How can countries move from a failing authoritarianism to some form of self-sustaining pluralism?

Longform

Professional cleaner Hirofumi Sakurai takes a moment to appreciate some photographs in a Gotanda apartment whose occupant died alone.
The last cleanup: Life and death in a lonely Japan