Search - 2014

 
 
COMMENTARY / World
Feb 6, 2015

One-child policy didn't give China too many boys

Research suggests that it was China's liberalizing economic reforms of the 1970s and 1980s that might have been responsible for today's heavily skewed gender ratio in favor of boys.
EDITORIALS
Feb 6, 2015

Protecting the elderly from fraud

The number of cases of the 'it's me' scheme to swindle senior citizens out of their savings is soaring of late as swindlers devise new ways to avoid the police crackdowns.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Companies
Feb 5, 2015

McDonald's Japan posts ¥22 billion loss after food woes

McDonald's Corp.'s Japan affiliate reported its first full-year loss in 11 years as the fast-food chain faced fallout from food scandals and after labor disputes at U.S. ports forced it to ration french fries.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Feb 5, 2015

Thai general to solicit Japan

Thailand's self-appointed prime minister will pay an official visit to Tokyo on Sunday to sign a deal involving on a high-speed train project and to seek Japan's endorsement of his country's military government.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Feb 5, 2015

New threats, new costs as Japanese companies face up to new tactics from cyberattackers

A spate of high-profile cybercrimes and data leaks in recent months has left companies wondering if they will be next. They worry about the safety of their computer networks as hackers devise new ways to penetrate traditional defenses.
BUSINESS / Companies
Feb 4, 2015

Japan Tobacco to quit drinks business after 26 years

Japan Tobacco Inc. will exit the drinks business that it has built over the past 26 years, as an "increasingly challenging" operating environment in Japan makes it difficult for the unit to turn a profit.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Economy
Feb 4, 2015

Families hit as inflation outruns wage rises

Increases in the cost of living outpaced annual earnings that rose for the first time in four years in 2014 as the Abe administration sought to reflate the economy.
COMMUNITY / Voices / COMMUNITY CHEST
Feb 4, 2015

Readers' letters: bursting bubbles on gaijin life and the Hague child-abduction treaty

A couple of readers' mails in response to recent Just Be Cause columns by Debito Arudou.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Economy / FOCUS
Feb 4, 2015

Japan execs leaving Citigroup, EG Capital flags wider loan retreat

The departures of Tokyo-based loan executives from Citigroup Inc. and General Electric Capital Corp. highlight the retreat of foreign banks from the nation's lending market.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Feb 2, 2015

Ford CFO says Toyota gains $10 billion advantage on weak yen

Ford Motor Co.'s top financial executive said the weak yen hands Japanese automakers as much as $11,000 more profit per car and allowed Toyota Motor Corp., the world's largest automaker, to earn an extra $10 billion in 2013. Ford wants the U.S. to intervene against what it sees as currency manipulation....
COMMENTARY / Japan
Feb 1, 2015

Japanese and U.S. law schools at a crossroads

Law schools in Japan and the U.S. find themselves trapped between a rock and a hard place as the number of applicants continues to shrink in the face of a bleak legal job market.
Japan Times
JAPAN / GENERATIONAL CHANGE
Feb 1, 2015

App maker on quest for unique, crowd-pleasing products

Daisaku Yamamoto, an up-and-coming Web services creator, recounts being an attention-seeker as a child, always trying to differentiate himself from everyone else.
Japan Times
BASEBALL / BASEBALL BULLET-IN
Jan 31, 2015

Fortune could shine on Cubs once again in '15

Two events that occurred last month have me thinking this could finally be the year the Chicago Cubs win the World Series and end a 107-year drought. The Cubs obtained outfielder Dexter Fowler from the Houston Astros in a Jan. 19 trade, and that was followed by the sad news on Jan. 23 of the death of...
WORLD / Politics
Jan 28, 2015

Billionaire Koch brothers launch 2016 U.S. 'electoral arms race'

Democrats acknowledged on Tuesday that it may be impossible to match the nearly $900 million that the conservative billionaire Koch brothers said their political network will spend during the 2016 campaign cycle.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Jan 26, 2015

Risks to democrats who nod to blurred truth

Democratic societies are faced with the temptation to close one's eyes and ears to inconvenient truths. For example, we do not want to admit that Russian President Vladimir Putin has long since crossed the line into war with regard to Ukraine.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Jan 26, 2015

Japanese rice: The new, safe luxury food in China

First it was European infant formula, then New Zealand milk. Now Chinese consumers are adding Japanese rice to the list of everyday foods they will bring in from abroad at luxury prices because they fear the local alternatives aren't safe.
COMMENTARY / World
Jan 23, 2015

Obama tries to out-Putin Putin

In his State of the Union address earlier this week, U.S. President Barack Obama showed that he's either blind to the dangers of the deteriorating relationship between Moscow and the West or is faking pride in a victory that is not even on the horizon.
WORLD / Science & Health
Jan 23, 2015

Superbug spread through contaminated endoscopes sickened dozens in Seattle

A drug-resistant superbug infected 32 people at a Seattle hospital over a two-year period, with the bacteria spreading through contaminated medical scopes that had been cleaned to the manufacturer's recommendation, officials said on Thursday.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Politics
Jan 22, 2015

Abe forced to walk a fine line in oil-rich Middle East

The seizure of two Japanese nationals by the Islamic State militant group is raising questions about Japan's Middle East policies and the effectiveness of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's brand of personal diplomacy.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Economy / ANALYSIS
Jan 19, 2015

Japan's liquidity trap holds warning for ECB: Japan Credit

Investors who predict the European Central Bank will start buying government bonds this week to fight deflation shouldn't expect too much if Japan is any guide.
Japan Times
BASEBALL / Japanese Baseball / HIT AND RUN
Jan 17, 2015

Abe leaves big shoes to fill at catcher's spot in lineup

A few seasons ago, in 2012, the Yomiuri Giants won the Japan Series just a few days after the San Francisco Giants clinched the World Series title. While the two teams already shared a nickname and color scheme, it was the first time they'd reached the pinnacle of their respective leagues in the same...
Japan Times
BASKETBALL / HOOP SCOOP
Jan 15, 2015

Revolving door with coaches damaging growth of Japanese game

A troubling trend is one of the hallmarks of the 2014-15 Japan men's pro basketball season.
COMMENTARY / World
Jan 15, 2015

Moving toward the next Chinese economy

After more than 30 years of extraordinary growth, the Chinese economy is shifting onto a more conventional development path. The difficult rebalancing now under way could lead to an economy that's stronger than ever.
EDITORIALS
Jan 13, 2015

Strong-arming Okinawa's governor

A reported Abe administration plan to sharply trim spending on measures to spur Okinawa's economy in fiscal 2015 smacks of an attempt to coerce Okinawa's new governor into ending his resistance to construction of a new U.S. military facility in the prefecture.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Jan 13, 2015

Delivering on the promise of 'Abenomics'

If politicians themselves participate in the taxpayer identification system, bureaucrats forgo some of the power that excessive regulation affords them and businesses give up some of their special tax benefits, the Abe government may yet fulfill its promise and build a thriving economy.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / Japan
Jan 13, 2015

Now Abe must follow through

Three factors played important roles in securing Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's extraordinary victory in last month's elections: falling oil prices, rising skepticism about China's peaceful intentions and Abe himself supplanting the role of labor unions by demanding that companies give pay raises.
WORLD / Crime & Legal
Jan 13, 2015

Some New York police use chokehold as first response, inspector general finds

A new inspector general blasted the New York City Police Department for failing to punish officers who used banned chokeholds on citizens, sometimes as a first response in a confrontation.
COMMENTARY / Japan / COUNTERPOINT
Jan 10, 2015

The people's Emperor speaks truth to power

Emperor Akihito began the new year with a statement that pointedly referred to two major controversies: war memory and nuclear energy. His thoughts on these demonstrate why he is so admired by the public and underscore the crucial role the 81-year-old monarch plays in contemporary Japan.

Longform

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