Search - 2015

 
 
JAPAN / Society
Sep 21, 2016

License center sign flub: Older drivers are 'terrible'

They were mistakes, but they unintentionally made a serious point: Two signs in clumsy English at a new driver's license center in Kyoto pointed out that older drivers may be unfit to take the wheel.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Sep 21, 2016

Getting migration governance right

At this month's summit, U.N. member governments should acknowledge the gap between the ideals they espoused last year and the harsh realities many migrants and refugees still face today.
COMMENTARY / World
Sep 20, 2016

Latin America has a different migration problem

Latin America is united in its rejection of Donald Trump's immigrant-bashing rhetoric but has been quietly practicing his policies at home.
COMMENTARY / World
Sep 19, 2016

Finding the right answer to China's THAAD dilemma

The costs of China's coddling of North Korea now far outweigh the benefits.
ASIA PACIFIC / Society
Sep 16, 2016

In Asia, female entrepreneurs steer business toward social work: poll

Across Asia, women are re-examining society's problems through a business lens, playing a more leading role than women in other regions in harnessing the power of markets to tackle poverty and social ills, according to the first experts' poll on the best countries for social entrepreneurs.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Science & Health
Sep 14, 2016

Expensive drugs threaten to sink Japan's health care system

An aging population is not the only cause of headache for policymakers trying to keep the nation's medical costs down — now they have "superexpensive" drugs to deal with.
Figure Skating / ICE TIME
Sep 13, 2016

Medal haul in Yokohama shows depth of young talent

This past weekend's sweep of the women's singles at the Yokohama Junior Grand Prix illustrated just how deep Japan's talent pool is now.
COMMENTARY / World
Sep 12, 2016

Time to seize the climate's low-hanging fruit

An amendment to the Montreal Protocol to phase out hydrofluorocarbons could be a boon for climate-change mitigation.
SUMO / SUMO SCRIBBLINGS
Sep 11, 2016

Kisenosato set to profit from Hakuho's absence at Autumn Basho

Early on Thursday, it was announced that yokozuna Hakuho had decided to skip the upcoming Autumn Grand Sumo Tournament in Tokyo due to injury.
BUSINESS / Companies
Sep 9, 2016

Idemitsu scion's defiance imperils $1.7 billion refinery merger

In Japan's carefully choreographed corporate world, public power struggles are generally frowned upon. Shosuke Idemitsu, 89, apparently doesn't roll that way.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Sep 8, 2016

The UNHCR Refugee Film Festival finds increased focus on Europe for 11th edition

The status of refugees and displaced people continues to worsen since the European refugee crisis first gained widespread attention in 2015. In the news refugees may be portrayed as powerless victims, but the tremendous strength they show in taking strides toward a better future is anything but. The...
BUSINESS / Tech
Sep 8, 2016

Manhole covers get new mission: predicting floods

Sudden storms called "guerrilla downpours" have been hitting with increasing frequency over the past five decades and are now considered a growing disaster threat.
Japan Times
WORLD / Politics
Sep 8, 2016

Republicans seek to use spending bill to close door on Syria refugees

Some conservative U.S. Republican lawmakers want to tie President Barack Obama's Syrian refugee resettlement program to a spending bill that must pass in order to keep the federal government open after the fiscal year ends on Sept. 30.
JAPAN / EXPLAINER
Sep 5, 2016

English heads for elementary school in 2020 but hurdles abound

The Japanese school system's English-teaching regimen will undergo a major revamp in the near future as the government tries to nurture more worldly talent in an age of globalization.
Japan Times
Rugby
Sep 5, 2016

Joseph digs in for long haul after taking Japan reins

New Japan national rugby team head coach Jamie Joseph has warned fans to expect pain before pleasure as he builds toward the 2019 World Cup on home soil.
Japan Times
JAPAN / GENERATIONAL CHANGE
Sep 4, 2016

Champion of craftsmen on mission to showcase Japan's masters online

Keigo Omaki, director of the video website Nippon Teshigoto Zukan (Japan Handwork Encyclopedia), has an almost addictive interest in traditional items made by Japanese craftsmen, and he's not sure why.
Japan Times
CULTURE / TV & Streaming
Sep 3, 2016

Net TV in Japan: Full stream ahead?

As consumers move away from regular terrestrial TV toward online video content, it appears that the domestic TV industry itself needs to undergo its own paradigm shift.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / COUNTERPOINT
Sep 3, 2016

Complicating Taiwan's love affair with Japan

This month, the Ama (grandma) Museum will open in Taipei. It will be a venue dedicated to Taiwan's wartime "comfort women" who provided sexual services under duress at Japanese military brothels.
JAPAN / Media / DARK SIDE OF THE RISING SUN
Sep 3, 2016

One year on, gang splinter is tough to explain

More than a year has passed since the country's largest crime syndicate, the Yamaguchi-gumi, split into two. More than a dozen gangs defected from the Yamaguchi-gumi on Aug. 27, 2015, to form the Kobe Yamaguchi-gumi, headed by Kunio Inoue, as a rival syndicate and, even now, the reasons for the breakup...
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Sep 2, 2016

Apple hopes for e-money growth in cash-carrying Japan

Apple Inc.'s plan to allow Japanese customers to use iPhones to pay for their daily commute underscores the potential for digital payments to grow in a nation where people still prefer to hold cash.
Japan Times
BASKETBALL / B. League / B. LEAGUE NOTEBOOK
Sep 1, 2016

Sharpshooter Roby expected to give NeoPhoenix boost

Richard Roby, a driving force behind the Akita Northern Happinets' success over the past three seasons, brings his high-octane offensive output to the San-en NeoPhoenix for the launch of a new era.
Japan Times
WORLD
Aug 29, 2016

Iran reportedly deploys Russian-made S-300 missiles at its Fordow nuclear site

Iran has deployed the Russian-supplied S-300 surface-to-air missile defense system around its Fordow underground uranium enrichment facility, Iranian state media reported Monday.
COMMENTARY / World
Aug 29, 2016

The comeback of middle-wage jobs in America

Middle-wage workers are the fastest growing segment of the U.S. labor market, but can America's education system to provide the skills that the economy now demands?
COMMENTARY / World
Aug 29, 2016

Why Obama let Iran's 'Green Movement' fail

President Barack Obama missed a golden opportunity when he refused to prove U.S. support for Iran's pro-democracy movement in 2009.
COMMENTARY / World
Aug 28, 2016

Rise of the robots is not the future we should fear

Lost jobs and destroyed industries give way, over time, to new industries and jobs.
Japan Times
LIFE / Lifestyle
Aug 27, 2016

Does Japan get enough sleep?

Scientists confirm that sleep deprivation has a detrimental impact on physical and mental health.

Longform

Visitors walk past Sou Fujimoto's Grand Ring, which has been recognized as the largest wooden structure in the world.
Can a World Expo still matter? Japan is about to find out.