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Japan Times
BUSINESS / DAVOS SPECIAL 2016
Jan 20, 2016

City supports and encourages high-tech innovation

Saitama City, a major bedroom community of Tokyo, is proud of many things, including the fact that it is home to 1 percent of the country's population, a percentage that is likely to rise as the population is still increasing.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Jan 19, 2016

Visitors to Japan surge to record 19.73 million, spend all-time high ¥3.48 trillion

A record 19.73 million people visited Japan in 2015, marking the first time in 45 years that the number of incoming travelers surpassed the outbound figure.
BUSINESS / Tech
Jan 18, 2016

Rise of the robots, genetics to eliminate more than 5 million jobs, World Economic Forum research claims

Over 5 million jobs will be lost by 2020 as a result of developments in genetics, artificial intelligence, robotics and other technological change, according to World Economic Forum research.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC / Society
Jan 18, 2016

Promise of clever children in year of monkey may boost births in China

Those born in the year of the monkey are said to be crafty, clever and charming. That has spurred some couples in China to delay parenthood until the less-auspicious sheep year ends — a balm for companies offering fertility products and obstetric services.
Japan Times
JAPAN / NATIONAL SPOTLIGHT
Jan 17, 2016

Foreign tourism emerges as bright spot amid Japan's dim economic prospects

With few positive signs of recovery for Japan's slumping economy, foreign tourism remains a sole ray of hope, and tourism authorities, local governments, industry players as well as retailers are eagerly awaiting another possibly record-breaking surge in Chinese tourists during next month's Chinese New...
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Jan 15, 2016

What happens after China's bubble goes pop?

Will China be a source of stability and strength for the world economy — or the opposite?
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Companies
Jan 15, 2016

Suntory to focus on Beam and own beer, not new deals: president

Suntory Holdings Ltd., the nation's third-ranked beer maker by market share, wants to focus on boosting profits at its Beam spirits unit and upgrading its own beers rather than on buying SABMiller PLC's Peroni and Grolsch brands in Europe.
BUSINESS
Jan 15, 2016

Chinese oil, nuclear companies to develop floating atomic platforms for offshore drilling

China National Offshore Oil Corp. and China General Nuclear Power Corp. will work together to develop nuclear technology for use in sea-based oil fields, the country's biggest offshore explorer announced on Friday.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Stage
Jan 14, 2016

Takehiro Hira steps into a 19th-century affair in the award-winning 'Kaku Onna'

Tokyo was bathed in warm sunshine in the run-up to 2016, and when Takehiro Hira meets me at a rehearsal studio his smile is beaming just as brightly — while in his arms he's carrying a box of mikan (mandarin oranges) to share with the rest of the team as they prepare for this month's rerun of Ai Nagai's...
Japan Times
JAPAN
Jan 12, 2016

Japan revamps map symbols that baffle tourists

The Geospatial Information Authority of Japan (GSI) has released a set of new standard symbols for foreign-language maps after criticism that some of its current pictograms are hard to understand or are even offensive.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Science & Health / ADVANCES IN PROGRESS
Jan 11, 2016

Japan moves to develop homegrown GPS

With the proliferation of smartphones and other devices, the use of GPS — the global positioning system — has become ubiquitous. From pinpointing one's location to getting directions online, satellite-based navigation is driving the interactive use of online maps.
COMMENTARY / World
Jan 11, 2016

The five stages of reacting to a North Korean nuke test

Despite Washington's bluster, there's not much it can do about North Korea's nuclear weapons program.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Companies
Jan 7, 2016

Warm winter means damp profits for Fast Retailing

Fast Retailing Co. cut its full-year operating profit forecast as unseasonably warm weather worldwide hurt sales of winter clothes for the retailer's Uniqlo brand of casual wear, the Yamaguchi-based company said Thursday.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Society / DEMOGRAPHIC CHALLENGES
Jan 6, 2016

Government weighs immigration to maintain population, boost workforce

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe in September announced administrative measures seeking to maintain a population of at least 100 million people over the next 50 years with a target of significantly raising the fertility rate to 1.8.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Jan 5, 2016

Russia's isolationism is official

Russia's latest National Security Strategy provides valuable material for the study of the angst, paranoia and befuddlement now gripping the Kremlin.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / JUST BE CAUSE
Jan 3, 2016

Battles over history, the media and the message scar 2015

A rundown of the top 10 human rights issues of the past year as they affected non-Japanese residents.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC
Jan 3, 2016

As water crisis deepens, India seeks mystical Saraswati river

Gagandeep Singh stands at the edge of a trench cutting through a sugarcane field in rural India. He looks down at a dozen or so men toiling in the mud in plastic flip-flops and bellows: "Dig!"
BUSINESS / Economy
Jan 3, 2016

Nearly 90% of companies expect economy to grow in 2016: poll

Nearly 90 percent of 101 major Japanese companies expect economic expansion in 2016, with many projecting private consumption and capital spending to recover from their 2015 doldrums, a Kyodo News poll found Saturday.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Jan 2, 2016

Seeing 2015 through a fragmented media lens

Media literacy means understanding that objective reality is impossible to comprehend, and that the best you can do to make sense of the world is to know how to interpret signals. Part of that process is identifying what's at stake: Newspapers and broadcasters have parties they think they need to please,...
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / COUNTERPOINT
Jan 2, 2016

In Abe's Japan, a woman's place is on the margins

On Dec. 16, Japan's Supreme Court struck a blow for patriarchy by refusing to strike down the law requiring married couples to adopt one surname, a regulation that weighs disproportionately on women since in almost all cases they adopt their husband's family name. For career women, this requirement burdens...
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC
Jan 1, 2016

China creates three new military units in push to modernize army

China has created three new military units and will update equipment as well as modernizing its command structure, state media said Friday, as part of a major overhaul of the armed forces announced by President Xi Jinping in November.
Japan Times
BASKETBALL
Dec 31, 2015

Kawabuchi using strength to spark basketball revival

Japanese basketball marked an unprecedented dark year in 2015 as its national governing body was suspended by FIBA. It was a tough penalty handed down in November 2014.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Dec 31, 2015

Why Abe's 'womenomics' program isn't working

There is a contradiction between the demands of 'womenomics' and Abe's call for women to have more babies.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Politics
Dec 31, 2015

Even if Abe camp prevails in next summer's poll, bid to revise Constitution no given

After taking Japan's helm for the second time in December 2012, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has had three good years, leading his Liberal Democratic Party to victory in two consecutive national elections, getting highly unpopular laws enacted without dooming his Cabinet, and winning three more years as...
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Economy
Dec 30, 2015

Economy tipped for gradual recovery in 2016 following year of sluggish growth

Japan's economy fell short of expectations for a solid recovery in 2015, but it is seen as likely to gain traction in fiscal 2016.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Economy
Dec 30, 2015

China eyes huge deficit to cushion reforms, slowing growth

China could run its biggest budget deficit in perhaps half a century next year as leaders turn to government spending to arrest the slowdown in the economy, policy advisers say, after a year of easing monetary policy has brought disappointing results.

Longform

Totopa in Tokyo’s Shinjuku Ward was picked by consultants TTNE as the best sauna of the year.
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