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The Japan Times: News & Business
Grandmasters and the future of global growth
Wed, 06 Jan 2010 12:10:00 -0800
CAMBRIDGE, Mass. — As the global economy limps out of the last decade and enters a new one in 2010, what will be the next big driver of global growth? Here's betting that the "teens" is a decade in which artificial intelligence hits escape velocity, and starts to have an economic impact on par with the emergence of India and China. Admittedly, my perspective is heavily colored by events in the world of chess, a game I once played at a professional level and still follow from a distance. Though special, computer chess nevertheless offers both a window into silicon evolution and a barometer of how people might adapt to it.
Obama on track in Asia
Wed, 06 Jan 2010 12:11:00 -0800
With one exception, U.S. relations with East Asian countries are better today than when the Obama administration took office. This is no small accomplishment since the Bush administration left Asia in good shape. Let's look at the exception first. The one relationship that has gotten worse under U.S. President Barack Obama is perhaps the most important one, between Washington and Tokyo. The fault lies primarily with Japan; a new government took power there, led for the first time ever by the Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ), which ran against the policies of the past.
Keys to keeping your New Year's resolutions
Wed, 06 Jan 2010 12:12:00 -0800
MELBOURNE — Did you make any New Year's resolutions? Perhaps you resolved to get fit, to lose weight, to save more money or to drink less alcohol. Or your resolution may have been more altruistic: to help those in need, or to reduce your carbon footprint. But are you keeping your resolution? We are not yet far into 2010, but studies show that fewer than half of those who make New Year's resolutions manage to keep them for as long as one month. What does this tell us about human nature, and our ability to live either prudently or ethically?
China fights the tide of history
Wed, 06 Jan 2010 12:13:00 -0800
The sentencing of a dissident to 11 years in jail on Christmas Day is the latest brick in the wall that the Chinese government is erecting in an effort to insulate that nation from the tide of history. Mr. Liu Xiaobo's crime? Being one of more than 300 people who signed Charter 08, a direct appeal for political liberalization in China. The verdict is a reminder of the intolerance and brute force that are the cornerstones of the Chinese political system. Mr. Liu is no stranger to controversy. He was a literature professor and writer who joined the protesters who occupied Tiananmen Square in the spring of 1989. As the end neared and the bloody denouement became all but inevitable, he encouraged the demonstrators to leave the square peacefully. After the crackdown, he was detained and held for 21 months without trial. In 1996, he was sent to a labor camp for three years after publicly calling for the release of those imprisoned for joining the protests.
Kan succeeds Fujii as finance minister
Wed, 06 Jan 2010 12:14:00 -0800
Deputy Prime Minister Naoto Kan will be the next finance minister, Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama said Wednesday after accepting the resignation of Hirohisa Fujii due to his poor health. Hatoyama told reporters that Kan, 63, accepted his offer of the new post. Hatoyama also said the latest personnel matters were also approved by Ichiro Ozawa, the powerful secretary general of the ruling Democratic Party of Japan.
Tokyo bourse's Saito urges listed units to merge with parent firms
Wed, 06 Jan 2010 12:15:00 -0800
As many as 400 listed subsidiaries of some of Japan's biggest companies should merge with their publicly traded parents, said Atsushi Saito, president of the Tokyo Stock Exchange. "We may lose a number of listed companies with that recommendation, but I would like to make a more orderly and fair market," Saito said in an interview at the bourse's headquarters last month. "They had better merge."
Japan Today: Japan News and Discussion
Politics › Kan says making MOF more transparent is major task, but mum on forex
Thu, 07 Jan 2010 11:08:00 +0100
Incoming Finance Minister Naoto Kan said Thursday that one of his major tasks will be to make the Finance Ministry more transparent to the public…
Crime › 48 men charged with posting obscene images, video of girl on Internet
Thu, 07 Jan 2010 08:16:00 +0100
A total of 48 men aged 18 to 55 have been charged with circulating obscene photographs and video of a junior high school girl on…
Crime › Police release video image of Tiffany robber
Thu, 07 Jan 2010 08:15:00 +0100
Police on Wednesday secured an arrest warrant for the man who stole four rings from the Tiffany store in Shinjuku’s Mitsukoshi Alcott department store on…
Picture of the Day › Robot shopper
Thu, 07 Jan 2010 07:36:00 +0100
A robot named "Robovie-II," developed by Japanese robotics research institution ATR, moves around at a grocery store during a shopping assisting experiment in Kyoto on…
World › More terror suspects returning to fight after Guantanamo release
Thu, 07 Jan 2010 07:14:00 +0100
More of the terror suspects released from the Guantanamo Bay prison are returning to the fight, the Pentagon said Wednesday. A new report shows the…
World › Yemen opposes any U.S. troops in terror fight
Thu, 07 Jan 2010 07:04:00 +0100
Yemen's foreign minister said Wednesday that his country opposes any direct intervention by U.S. or other foreign troops in the fight against al-Qaida. Foreign Minister…
