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Ben Dooley
For Ben Dooley's latest contributions to The Japan Times, see below:
Women with portable electric fans in the Yurakucho district of Tokyo on Sept. 12. In Japan, Cool Biz became especially popular with women, who tended to wear lighter clothes and often complained about the cold temperatures needed to make business suits comfortable for their male colleagues.
JAPAN / Society
Sep 24, 2023
Where did all the dark-suited Japanese businessmen go?
Under Cool Biz, salarymen and government workers don short-sleeved shirts in the summer as offices are kept above 28 degrees Celsius to save energy.
Rachel Culin, a disenchanted Toyota owner, standing between her Toyota Prius and new Chevy Bolt at her home in Mesa, Arizona. The world’s largest carmaker dominates the sales of hybrid cars but has been slow to sell all-electric vehicles, alienating some customers and hurting sales.
BUSINESS / Companies
Sep 8, 2023
Toyota, a hybrid pioneer, struggles to master electric vehicles
The world’s largest carmaker dominates the sales of hybrid cars but has been slow to sell EVs, alienating some customers and hurting sales.
Kohei Saito, a philosophy professor at the University of Tokyo who appears regularly in Japanese media to discuss his ideas, at home in Tokyo on March 16.
JAPAN / Society
Sep 7, 2023
Can shrinking be good for Japan? A Marxist bestseller makes the case.
Saito has tapped into what he describes as a growing disillusionment in Japan with capitalism’s ability to solve the problems people see around them.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Apr 13, 2023
A lonely cry for action as China locks up Japanese on spy charges
Hideji Suzuki says Japan failed him during his six years in a Chinese prison. China’s recent arrest of a Japanese citizen is again testing Tokyo’s resolve.
Japan Times
LIFE / Lifestyle
Mar 4, 2023
A Tokyo esports school coaxes dropouts back to class
Parents are realizing that nontraditional schooling is better than none at all.
Japan Times
MORE SPORTS
Feb 10, 2023
What’s a Japanese mobster to do in retirement? Join a softball team
The members of the Ryuyukai have done nearly 100 years of hard time, now they"re just looking to stay out of trouble.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Jan 6, 2023
Japan’s business owners can’t find successors. This man gave his away.
Nearly 60% of the countryu2019s businesses report that they have no plan for their future ownership.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Markets
Oct 22, 2022
Why Japan stands virtually alone in keeping interest rates ultralow
The yen is plummeting and inflation is climbing, but Japanu2019s economic circumstances have led to a view that raising rates would do more harm than good.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Aug 30, 2022
Why is this colorful little wheel suddenly everywhere in Japan?
Itu2019s the logo of the United Nationsu2019 Sustainable Development Goals. And Japan is all in.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Entertainment news
Jul 7, 2022
Author of manga 'Yu-Gi-Oh!' Kazuki Takahashi found dead in Okinawa
Takahashi's works are hugely popular at home and abroad, with his manga turned into a television series, movies and card games.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Jul 3, 2022
Japan’s secret to taming the coronavirus: peer pressure
The country has never mandated masks or vaccinations, but itu2019s evaded the worst of COVID-19, thanks to a fear of public shaming and the u201cself restraint police.u201d
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Jun 24, 2022
Japan 7-Eleven franchisee who rebelled against company loses in court
A judge ordered Mitoshi Matsumoto to hand his store, which he opened in 2012, over to the company and pay damages for lost business.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Economy
May 12, 2022
Japan has long sought more inflation and a weak yen. But not like this.
While overall inflation remains moderate, food and energy costs are rising rapidly u2014 an outgrowth not of increased demand, but of market turmoil.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Apr 28, 2022
Can Japan keep the lights on? The Ukraine war upends a big energy bet.
Liquefied natural gas was seen as a crucial transitional fuel in Japan's gradual shift to renewable energy. But then came the pandemic and the Ukraine war, which caused prices to soar.
Japan Times
LIFE / Lifestyle
Apr 25, 2022
This man married a fictional character. He’d like you to hear him out.
Akihiko Kondo and thousands of others are in devoted fictional relationships, served by a vast industry aimed at satisfying the desires of a fervent fan culture.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Apr 4, 2022
Asia welcomes travelers, but Japan says, not yet
Countries across region are reopening borders to tourists, but Japan continues to turn them away. And it is not rushing to change things.
Japan Times
LIFE / Digital
Mar 17, 2022
Beating Japan at its own (video) game: A smash hit from China
Genshin Impact, one of the worldu2019s hottest mobile games, has all the characteristics of a Japanese invention: giant robots and characters with huge eyes and spiky, rainbow-colored hair.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Society
Feb 3, 2022
In Japan, a thousand digital eyes keep watch over the elderly
The surveillance programs offer the promise of protecting those in cognitive decline while helping them retain some independence, but they have also evoked fears of authoritarian overreach.
Japan Times
PODCAST / deep dive
Jan 19, 2022
Trouble in paradise: Why is Ishigaki building a missile base?
The New York Times' Ben Dooley joins Deep Dive to discuss his recent reporting trip to Ishigaki, and why the island is currently building a missile base.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC
Dec 17, 2021
Japan's island paradise near the front line of tensions over Taiwan
Not long ago, Japan saw mostly economic opportunity with China, but with security challenges growing, the calculus has changed.

Longform

A statue of "Dragon Ball" character Goku stands outside the offices of Bandai Namco in Tokyo. The figure is now as recognizable as such characters as Mickey Mouse and Spider-Man.
Akira Toriyama's gift to the world