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Japan Times
JAPAN / KANSAI PERSPECTIVE
Oct 27, 2013

Hashimoto's relevancy beginning to fade

When the candidate backed by Osaka Mayor and Nippon Ishin no Kai (Japan Restoration Party) co-leader Toru Hashimoto was defeated in September by Sakai Mayor Osami Takeyama, a staunch Hashimoto foe, it marked what is widely seen as the beginning of the end of the whole Hashimoto-Nippon Ishin movement,...
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Oct 26, 2013

Singh seeks to mend fences with Beijing

Six months after a military standoff on their disputed border, the leaders of China and India signed a defense cooperation agreement last Wednesday to limit the risk of further confrontations.
Japan Times
WORLD
Oct 26, 2013

Saudi driver's license protest kick-starts nation's women's rights movement

Women's rights activists in Saudi Arabia were set to get behind the wheel en masse Saturday to protest their government's refusal to allow women to have driver's licenses — a demonstration that comes just two years after a similar push. While the earlier effort was not successful, it did kick-start...
JAPAN
Oct 25, 2013

Tax hike may induce firms to use more temp workers

In what could be an unintended consequence, the sales tax hike set for next April may tempt companies to replace their regular workers with "haken" temporary workers, some tax law experts say.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Companies
Oct 23, 2013

Honda betting on fun with mini sports car as drivers look to cut costs

Honda Motor Co., which expects half of the vehicles it sells in Japan this year to be minicars, will unveil its first mini sports car since 1996 amid booming demand for more fuel-efficient, cheaper autos.
COMMENTARY / World
Oct 22, 2013

ACA website to New Yorker: drop dead for now

The not-typically-quotable U.S. House Speaker John Boehner does have a point when he asks how we can we tax people for not buying Obamacare from a website that doesn't work.
Japan Times
ENVIRONMENT
Oct 21, 2013

With ban on lead in hunters' bullets, California hopes to protect condors

By 1982, the number of California condors in the wild had dwindled to 22, an entire species nearly wiped out by, among other threats, lead poisoning from hunters' ammunition.
COMMENTARY / World
Oct 21, 2013

India's turn toward ASEAN gains momentum

India's 'Look East' policy was again in focus as Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh visited Brunei and Indonesia to boost his nation's profile in a region increasingly suspicious of China.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Economy
Oct 21, 2013

Thatcher-esque disparities a reality under Abe

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe evokes the late Margaret Thatcher as he repeats 'there is no alternative' to his platform of economic change. One of the byproducts: prospects for a Thatcher-type division of wealth.
EDITORIALS
Oct 18, 2013

Revitalizing the SDP

Under its newly elected leader, the Social Democratic Party must go beyond shouting 'Protect the pacifist Constitution!' if its mission is to build a more equitable Japanese society.
COMMENTARY / World
Oct 17, 2013

Making do without Obama

More attention has been given to U.S. President Barack Obama's decision to cancel his trip to Asia because of Beltway politics than to what the regional ministers did without him.
BUSINESS / THE VIEW FROM EUROPE
Oct 13, 2013

Crumbling keiretsu networks good sign for foreign firms and Japan

For years and decades, foreign observers have cried foul over various barriers — both existing and perceived — to the Japanese economy. Their main target is usually the keiretsu, the closely knit business networks automakers exclusively maintain with groups of 200 to 300 suppliers.
Japan Times
WORLD / Politics / ANALYSIS
Oct 8, 2013

U.K. political pledges reveal divide

After a year that saw him lead the charge for gay marriage in Britain, Prime Minister David Cameron seemed to go back to his roots this week. Serving up red meat to his base at the Conservative Party's annual conference, Cameron repeatedly blasted the left and offered a core vision of tax cuts, reduced...
EDITORIALS
Oct 6, 2013

Japan must go green

In releasing the first part of its fifth assessment report on Sept. 27, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change said that temperatures are likely to rise by 0.3 to 4.8 degrees Celsius and sea levels could rise by 26 to 82 cm by the end of the 21st century compared with the latest 20 years.
BUSINESS / Markets
Oct 6, 2013

World's biggest pension fund readies powder for new Japan growth stock index

Japan's Government Pension Investment Fund plans to boost investment in growth stocks to increase returns and may eventually allocate several trillion yen to such equities, the Nikkei newspaper said.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Oct 3, 2013

A taxing challenge to revival

As Shinzo Abe goes ahead with a sales-tax increase aimed at getting a handle on Japan's huge debt burden, he risks killing Japan's best chance for an economic recovery.

Longform

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