TOKYO — Last month, as Americans tuned in to the final episode of “Game of Thrones,” Japan was indulging in its own television fantasy world. In this one, a woman dares to leave work at 6 p.m. sharp. The determination of Yui Higashiyama, a 30-something project manager who wants nothing more than to get out […]
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You’re reading this week’s At War newsletter. Sign up here to get it delivered to your inbox every Friday. Email us at atwar@nytimes.com. When a Japanese F-35 fighter jet crashed into the Pacific Ocean on April 9, much of the American technology behind the world’s first $1 trillion weapon sunk to the seafloor, where anyone […]
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TOKYO — One of the tankers that were attacked in the Gulf of Oman was struck by a flying object, the ship’s Japanese operator said on Friday, disputing at least part of the account of United States officials who had blamed Iran for the attack. “Our crew said that the ship was attacked by a […]
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<img data-attachment-id="1677308" data-permalink data-orig-file="https://www.thetruthaboutcars.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/lexus_100182217_l.jpg" data-orig-size="1024,682" data-comments-opened="1" data-image-meta="{"aperture":"0","credit":"","camera":"","caption":"","created_timestamp":"0","copyright":"","focal_length":"0","iso":"0","shutter_speed":"0","title":"","orientation":"0"}" data-image-title="2012 Lexus HS" data-image-description=" Lexus ” data-medium-file=”https://www.thetruthaboutcars.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/lexus_100182217_l-450×300.jpg” data-large-file=”https://www.thetruthaboutcars.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/lexus_100182217_l-610×406.jpg” class=”aligncenter wp-image-1677308 size-large” src=”https://www.thetruthaboutcars.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/lexus_100182217_l-610×406.jpg” alt width=”610″ height=”406″ srcset=”https://www.thetruthaboutcars.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/lexus_100182217_l-610×406.jpg 610w, https://www.thetruthaboutcars.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/lexus_100182217_l-75×50.jpg 75w, https://www.thetruthaboutcars.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/lexus_100182217_l-450×300.jpg 450w, https://www.thetruthaboutcars.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/lexus_100182217_l-768×512.jpg 768w, https://www.thetruthaboutcars.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/lexus_100182217_l-120×80.jpg 120w, https://www.thetruthaboutcars.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/lexus_100182217_l.jpg 1024w” sizes=”(max-width: 610px) 100vw, 610px”>Car manufacturers don’t always strike a chord with consumers, and even studious brand Lexus is not immune from […]
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TOKYO — Shinzo Abe’s visit to Iran this week, the first to that country by a Japanese prime minister in more than 40 years, is the latest in a series of high-minded but long-shot efforts to lift Japan’s influence on the global stage. As he arrives in Tehran on Wednesday, Mr. Abe is putting himself […]
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<img data-attachment-id="1677240" data-permalink data-orig-file="https://www.thetruthaboutcars.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/shutterstock_405563629.jpg" data-orig-size="1000,641" data-comments-opened="1" data-image-meta="{"aperture":"0","credit":"","camera":"","caption":"","created_timestamp":"0","copyright":"","focal_length":"0","iso":"0","shutter_speed":"0","title":"","orientation":"0"}" data-image-title="renault nissan dacia lot" data-image-description=" Gilles Lougassi/Shutterstock ” data-medium-file=”https://www.thetruthaboutcars.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/shutterstock_405563629-450×288.jpg” data-large-file=”https://www.thetruthaboutcars.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/shutterstock_405563629-610×391.jpg” class=”aligncenter size-large wp-image-1677240″ src=”https://www.thetruthaboutcars.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/shutterstock_405563629-610×391.jpg” alt width=”610″ height=”391″ srcset=”https://www.thetruthaboutcars.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/shutterstock_405563629-610×391.jpg 610w, https://www.thetruthaboutcars.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/shutterstock_405563629-75×48.jpg 75w, https://www.thetruthaboutcars.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/shutterstock_405563629-450×288.jpg 450w, https://www.thetruthaboutcars.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/shutterstock_405563629-768×492.jpg 768w, https://www.thetruthaboutcars.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/shutterstock_405563629-120×77.jpg 120w, https://www.thetruthaboutcars.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/shutterstock_405563629.jpg 1000w” sizes=”(max-width: 610px) 100vw, 610px”> The relationship between alliance partners Renault and Nissan remains incredibly strained. We’ve documented the souring […]
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Jared Diamond doesn’t use a computer. He relies “completely” on his secretary and on his wife for “anything” requiring one, as he puts it. Diamond also confesses that he lacks the ability to turn on his “home television set” and can “do only the simplest things” with his newly acquired iPhone. “Whenever friends have shown […]
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<img data-attachment-id="1674038" data-permalink data-orig-file="https://www.thetruthaboutcars.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/shutterstock_522460459-e1557852082783.jpg" data-orig-size="925,627" data-comments-opened="1" data-image-meta="{"aperture":"0","credit":"","camera":"","caption":"","created_timestamp":"0","copyright":"","focal_length":"0","iso":"0","shutter_speed":"0","title":"","orientation":"0"}" data-image-title="nissan logo" data-image-description=" By Anton Watman/Shutterstock ” data-medium-file=”https://www.thetruthaboutcars.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/shutterstock_522460459-e1557852082783-450×305.jpg” data-large-file=”https://www.thetruthaboutcars.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/shutterstock_522460459-e1557852082783-610×413.jpg” class=”aligncenter size-large wp-image-1674038″ src=”https://www.thetruthaboutcars.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/shutterstock_522460459-e1557852082783-610×413.jpg” alt width=”610″ height=”413″ srcset=”https://www.thetruthaboutcars.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/shutterstock_522460459-e1557852082783-610×413.jpg 610w, https://www.thetruthaboutcars.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/shutterstock_522460459-e1557852082783-75×51.jpg 75w, https://www.thetruthaboutcars.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/shutterstock_522460459-e1557852082783-450×305.jpg 450w, https://www.thetruthaboutcars.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/shutterstock_522460459-e1557852082783-768×521.jpg 768w, https://www.thetruthaboutcars.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/shutterstock_522460459-e1557852082783-120×81.jpg 120w, https://www.thetruthaboutcars.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/shutterstock_522460459-e1557852082783.jpg 925w” sizes=”(max-width: 610px) 100vw, 610px”> Nissan and Renault’s strained relationship is well documented at this point. And yet the scribes keeping […]
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TOKYO — The cracks in the world’s largest auto alliance grew wider on Monday, as Nissan Motor condemned threats by its French partner, Renault, to withdraw support for the Japanese automaker’s efforts to overhaul its governance. The message marks a new low in the relationship, and reflects the fallout of the collapse of a proposed […]
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TOKYO — Ever since she was a young girl, all Erica Takato wanted to do was work with small children. She earned a degree in early childhood education and started her career in a profession of utmost importance for Japan: teaching preschool. Until she got pregnant and was hounded from her job. A few weeks […]
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WASHINGTON — President Trump is increasingly blurring the line between America’s national and economic security, enabling him to harness powerful tools meant to punish the world’s worst global actors and redirect them at nearly every trading partner, including Mexico, Japan, China and Europe. Over a few weeks, Mr. Trump has declared European and Japanese cars, […]
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Next time you go outside, take a minute to look at your local leaf arrangements. You’ll probably notice a few different patterns. In basil plants, each leaf is about 90 degrees — a quarter-turn — from the last, a template called “decussate.” A visualization of a decussate leaf pattern. The redder the coloring, the stronger […]
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PARIS — It was supposed to be a transformative merger in an industry facing intractable challenges. But Fiat Chrysler and Renault ran headlong this week into a familiar problem in France: the government itself. With the two companies edging toward a deal, officials in Paris played a role that comes naturally — safeguarding jobs and […]
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Photo by The Asahi Shimbun via Getty Images; jeka1984 via iStock/Getty Images Plus In May, Japanese lawmaker Hodaka Maruyama took a trip to the islands off the coast of Japan, where he visited the home of a Russian family and did as many of us do while enjoying another’s hospitality: He drank—at least 10 glasses of cognac, […]
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TOKYO — After the stabbing of 17 schoolgirls and two adults at a bus stop near Tokyo last week, a shocked public has been grasping for answers as to what could possibly have driven someone to commit such a horrific act. Investigators and the news media have zeroed in on the fact that the attacker, […]
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The proposed merger of Fiat Chrysler Automobiles and Renault, a tie-up seen as a transformative deal in an industry facing with technological challenges, fell apart on Wednesday, and the recriminations started almost immediately. The stock prices of both companies — which jumped after Fiat announced its plan last week — are feeling the effects. In […]
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<img data-attachment-id="1676446" data-permalink data-orig-file="https://www.thetruthaboutcars.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/CCHISTORY_311189999_AR_-1_QASKVFYSRTIX.jpg" data-orig-size="1800,1080" data-comments-opened="1" data-image-meta="{"aperture":"0","credit":"","camera":"","caption":"","created_timestamp":"0","copyright":"","focal_length":"0","iso":"0","shutter_speed":"0","title":"","orientation":"0"}" data-image-title="1997 Toyota Cavalier" data-image-description=" Image GM ” data-medium-file=”https://www.thetruthaboutcars.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/CCHISTORY_311189999_AR_-1_QASKVFYSRTIX-450×270.jpg” data-large-file=”https://www.thetruthaboutcars.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/CCHISTORY_311189999_AR_-1_QASKVFYSRTIX-610×366.jpg” class=”aligncenter wp-image-1676446 size-large” src=”https://www.thetruthaboutcars.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/CCHISTORY_311189999_AR_-1_QASKVFYSRTIX-610×366.jpg” alt width=”610″ height=”366″ srcset=”https://www.thetruthaboutcars.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/CCHISTORY_311189999_AR_-1_QASKVFYSRTIX-610×366.jpg 610w, https://www.thetruthaboutcars.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/CCHISTORY_311189999_AR_-1_QASKVFYSRTIX-75×45.jpg 75w, https://www.thetruthaboutcars.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/CCHISTORY_311189999_AR_-1_QASKVFYSRTIX-450×270.jpg 450w, https://www.thetruthaboutcars.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/CCHISTORY_311189999_AR_-1_QASKVFYSRTIX-768×461.jpg 768w, https://www.thetruthaboutcars.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/CCHISTORY_311189999_AR_-1_QASKVFYSRTIX-120×72.jpg 120w” sizes=”(max-width: 610px) 100vw, 610px”>Today’s Question of the Day is a continuation of the styling theme we’ve had of late. The discussion centers […]
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TOKYO — Spend big and never mind the deficit. That’s what proponents of modern monetary theory, the unorthodox set of economic ideas that has inspired politicians like Bernie Sanders and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, see as the winning formula for American prosperity. For proof, its admirers point to Japan. Despite the highest debt in the developed world, […]
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TOKYO — Japan is the latest battleground for women revolting against the tyranny of high heels, as a fledgling movement seeks government protection from workplaces that require the footwear. Thousands of supporters have rallied behind the hashtag #KuToo — a pun based on the Japanese words for shoe (kutsu) and pain (kutsuu). It was started […]
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Yves here. Randy Wray has an important post on how, contrary to the views of some pundits, Japan isn’t following MMT principles, particularly with Prime Minister Abe raising the sales tax when Japan has a negative policy interest rate. However, and I hope people who are more current on Japan would pipe in, it’s not […]
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