Search - topics

 
 
BUSINESS
Nov 9, 2010

Top APEC officials lay groundwork for regional FTA

Senior regional officials concluded their meeting Monday at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum in Yokohama with a decision to pursue a regionwide free-trade zone.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Nov 3, 2010

Taiji-activists showdown staged

OSAKA — Members of the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society and other animal rights activists met Tuesday morning for the first time with the mayor and other officials of Taiji, Wakayama Prefecture, in a carefully stage-managed discussion of the port's contentious annual dolphin hunts.
BASEBALL / BASEBALL BULLET-IN
Oct 10, 2010

NPB news should be plentiful after playoffs finish up

Every year about this time, I am usually asked two questions about the off-season.
JAPAN / CHUBU CONNECTION
Jul 3, 2010

Foreigner suffrage, separate surnames stir passions in poll runup

Whether to grant permanent foreign residents voting rights for local-level elections and allow married couples to keep their respective surnames have become contentious issues ahead of the July 11 Upper House election.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / CLOSE-UP
May 2, 2010

Renho: Japan's fiscal firebrand

Renho, a first-term Upper House member from the ruling Democratic Party of Japan, shot to stardom in Japan last November when, as a member of a government committee tasked with screening ministries' budget requests, she had several fierce, face-to-face battles with bureaucrats.
Japan Times
JAPAN / EXPLAINER
Apr 6, 2010

2channel's success rests on anonymity

The nation's largest online forum, 2channel, draws millions of people ranging from the benign to the malignant, from police hunting criminals to politicians and corporations keeping their ears to the rail of public opinion.
BASKETBALL / HOOP SCOOP
Feb 20, 2010

Proposed new league will have major obstacles to overcome

To accurately describe what's been going on for several years now in this nation's pro hoop scene, I submit the following analogy:
CULTURE / Film
Sep 11, 2009

Keeping it plain, simple and brilliant

When one thinks of the grand old men of American cinema, directors who have spanned a few decades and continue to keep up the pace, there are but a handful of names to check.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / WORDS TO LIVE BY
Aug 27, 2009

Publisher Yumiko Tsukuda

Yumiko Tsukuda, 45, is the founder of Anika Co. Ltd., a publishing house in Tokyo, that prints books about the town and residents of Tsukuda on Tsukishima Island. Originally from Chiba, Yumiko moved to Tsukuda in 1998, partly because the town shares her last name but also because she fell in love with...
Japan Times
BUSINESS / TAKING A CHANCE
Aug 20, 2009

Starting up Net portal for women turns into lifetime career choice

Kikuko Yano was searching for a job she could do her entire life, and found it in the Internet firm she started on her own.
Reader Mail
Aug 2, 2009

Constant death wish toward Israel

Cesar Chelala's July 27 article, "Threats against Iran feed off modern myths," does not reveal anything new to anybody with the faintest interest in politics. The world has known for years about the pros and cons of the topics dealt with in the article. Moreover, while explaining his point of view on...
JAPAN
Jul 7, 2009

Balanced news key for Yahoo Japan

While Yahoo Japan's news service has grown bigger and more powerful with the rise of the Internet, it has become tougher for the media to broadcast news with important value to its audience, said Michihiro Okumura, who leads a team that selects Yahoo Japan's news topics for its front page.
EDITORIALS
May 10, 2009

World press freedom

In the middle of the Golden Week Holidays, newspapers around the world recognized their own special day on May 3: World Press Freedom Day. Officially established in 1993 by the U.N. General Assembly and organized annually by the World Association of Newspapers (WAN), the day offers an annual report on...
Japan Times
LIFE / Digital / JAPAN TIMES BLOGROLL
Mar 4, 2009

AltJapan

Author and translator Matt Alt runs AltJapan, an entertaining and informative blog launched in 2006. Calling it a "digital scratchpad," the Maryland native writes about a wide variety of Japan-related subjects, ranging from the role of Lolita girls in military simulations to the majesty of Japan's toy...
COMMENTARY / World / SENTAKU MAGAZINE
Apr 21, 2008

Is Japan's bureaucracy still living in the 17th century?

The roots of both the Japanese and French bureaucratic systems can be traced to Jean-Baptiste Colbert, who as controller general under "the sun king" Louis XIV was instrumental in ushering in mercantilism to Europe and exerted great influence over the government control of the private sector.
Japan Times
JAPAN / CABINET INTERVIEW
Oct 4, 2007

Machimura mulling bill-consultation bodies with opposition

The Liberal Democratic Party-New Komeito ruling coalition should create consultation bodies with the opposition camp, which now has a majority in the House of Councilors, to seek its opinion on important bills before any final decisions are reached, Chief Cabinet Secretary Nobutaka Machimura said.
BUSINESS / JAPANESE PERSPECTIVES
Apr 2, 2007

Think tanks offer Japan plenty of personnel with policymaking potential

The 21st Century Public Policy Institute (21PPI) is a think tank established by Keidanren in 1997. As it enters its 10th year this month, a revamp is in progress to beef up its activities.
EDITORIALS
Mar 3, 2007

Streamlining strategic decisions

A government panel has proposed creating a Japanese version of the U.S. National Security Council. The main task of the new entity would be to work out long-range diplomatic and defense strategies as well as cope with emergencies not limited to defense. The success of the new body would depend on whether...
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / PERSONALITY PROFILE
Feb 10, 2007

Tim Hornyak

Freelance writer Tim Hornyak is the author of 'Loving the Machine: The Art and Science of Japanese Robots.' He anticipates that the family robot will become a reality in Japan
EDITORIALS
Jan 29, 2007

Inconveniences of truth

This January, whether golfing in the snow country of Niigata, butterfly-watching in the Alps or skating over the ice in Texas, the weather is obviously stranger than ever before. The observation of the senses, or at least the quick read of a few news articles, should be enough evidence of global warming...
CULTURE / Books / THE ASIAN BOOKSHELF
Jan 14, 2007

Once in keeping with some of the best company

In the Company of Men: Representations of Male-Male Sexuality in Meiji Literature, by Jim Reichert. Stanford University Press, 2006, 282 pp., illustrations XI, $60.00 (cloth). The search for modernity in the Meiji Era (1868-1912) involved not only the discovery of some new subject matter but also the...
COMMENTARY / World
Aug 15, 2006

No shortcuts to free access

Last January, a major scandal broke over budget hotel chain Toyoko Inn Co.'s illegal removal of special guest rooms and parking spots set up for the disabled after the construction of those facilities had passed official inspection. Toyoko Inn converted the special rooms into normal rooms and the special...
EDITORIALS
Aug 11, 2006

Wrong way to improve education

I n Japan, teaching licenses remain valid permanently, but this system is heading for change. The Central Council for Education has proposed making it mandatory that teaching licenses be renewed every 10 years. The proposed change would affect not only future teachers but also the nation's 1.1 million...
JAPAN
Jul 30, 2006

Tokyo U. to start finance department

The University of Tokyo has announced it will establish a finance department within the Faculty of Economics when the new academic year starts in April.
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
May 8, 2005

TV show scrapes bottom of barrel in bringing Asia to Japan

One of the hoariest cliches of international politics is the idea that governments only have beefs with other governments, not with their citizens. The tragic irony is that the citizens suffer anyway. Maybe the majority of Iraqi people didn't like their tyrant, but one has to wonder how much they accept...

Longform

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