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JAPAN
May 31, 2013

Ground freeze urged to curb seepage into Fukushima No. 1 radioactive basements

To reduce the flow of groundwater into the crippled reactor buildings at Tokyo Electric Power Co.'s Fukushima No. 1 atomic plant, the government told Tepco on Thursday to freeze the soil around them.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
May 30, 2013

'Fast fashion' of South Korea, Singapore arrives

In the competitive Japanese "fast fashion" market, two new Asian brands have recently come in to challenge domestic and Western rivals.
EDITORIALS
May 30, 2013

'My number' is dangerous

The Diet enacts the 'My Number' ID card system, which ostensibly will ease payment of taxes and distribution of welfare benefits for citizens. But there's a price.
COMMENTARY / World
May 29, 2013

The Sino-American decade

Beyond the bilateral benefits, the rest of the global economy depends on Chinese and U.S. leadership — in terms of growth and global economic coordination.
COMMENTARY / World
May 28, 2013

The iron fist in a trade glove

By ratcheting up disputes in the East and South China seas, China shows it doesn't let booming bilateral trade get in the way of its territorial assertiveness.
Japan Times
ENVIRONMENT
May 28, 2013

Sandy's legacy: better hurricane forecasting

With hurricane season just a week away and a very active season predicted by meteorologists, thoughts are on what happened last year, when a tropical cyclone named Sandy raced north from the Caribbean, hung a sharp left off the mid-Atlantic coast and smashed into New Jersey and New York, killing 147...
Japan Times
BUSINESS
May 27, 2013

Delta ups ante in battle for New York fliers with $1.4 billion terminal

Delta Air Lines Inc. sharpened the jockeying for the highest-paying passengers in New York, the biggest U.S. aviation market, as it opened a $1.4 billion terminal at John F. Kennedy International Airport.
COMMENTARY / COUNTERPOINT
May 26, 2013

Is it safe? Ruling party pushes nuclear village agenda

In July 2011, then Prime Minister Naoto Kan ordered stress tests on all Japan's 50 nuclear reactors to assess their safety. By May 2012, they were all idled and for the first time in 40 years the nation was not generating a single kWh from nuclear energy.
COMMENTARY / World
May 25, 2013

Why U.K. exit from EU may now be a real possibility

The realization hits a recent visitor to the U.K. that Britain might actually leave the EU. Attitudes are hardening well ahead of a promised referendum on membership.
EDITORIALS
May 23, 2013

Ms. Park's triumphant U.S. visit

The prospect of a clash over defense policy between South Korea's new president and the U.S. has been diminished by North Korea's own ham-fisted behavior.
Japan Times
JAPAN
May 22, 2013

Osaka takes plunge with canal pool

If an Osaka company has its way, getting roaring drunk and jumping, or falling, into Dotonbori Canal after either a Hanshin Tigers victory or a wild night out in neighboring Shinsaibashi will be less risky, healthwise, but it will no longer be free.
COMMENTARY / World
May 22, 2013

Clock is running out for some key Asian reformers

Voters in the Philippines appear to have delivered a resounding victory to President Benigno Aquino in midterm elections. The son of former President Corazon Aquino looks set to control both houses of Congress, giving him a mandate to continue his reform policies. His biggest worry now is making them...
Japan Times
JAPAN / EXPLAINER
May 21, 2013

Fukushima No. 1 can't keep its head above tainted water

More than two years into the triple-meltdown crisis at the Fukushima No. 1 power plant, workers continue to wage a desperate battle to keep the stricken reactors cool while trying to contain the 400 tons of radioactive water produced by the process each day.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
May 19, 2013

Myanmar opening to U.S. influence — and business

T-shirts bearing images of U.S. President Barack Obama and Aung San Suu Kyi, Myanmar's prodemocracy leader, hang side by side in the shops just off busy Kabar Aye Pagoda Road in Yangon. It's a reminder of the history made in November when Obama became the first sitting U.S. leader to set foot in Myanmar,...
COMMENTARY / World
May 19, 2013

Wishing for China's trade, fearing its prowess

The Southeast Asian region has been caught in a dilemma — wanting to benefit from China's economic rise but fearing its intensifying military prowess.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Markets
May 18, 2013

JGB yield spikes raise alarm bells

Is it a sign of a full-fledged economic recovery or a looming catastrophe in the monetary making?
BUSINESS / Economy
May 16, 2013

Passage of 2013 budget to pave way for bonds

The Diet on Wednesday approved the ¥92 trillion budget for fiscal 2013 to support the immediate issuance of debt-covering government bonds.
COMMENTARY / World
May 16, 2013

UKIP rides wave of discontent

Britain as well as Japan must contend with xenophobic anti-establishment parties and politicians who want to take their nations back to imaginary periods of isolation.

Longform

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