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The consumption tax increase next April will hit every household in Japan hard, with many people's financial future hanging on whether their wages rise enough to offset the impact of the hike, experts say.
Every parent is all too familiar with The Tantrum. The screaming, the flailing arms, the angry head butting — and the timing (normally in the most inconvenient public place possible).
International events undermine Japan's democracy. Shame on the International Olympic Committee for being a party to it.
Tucked away behind the main museums in Ueno, the Tokyo University Art Museum may not be on most people’s radar, but it is definitely one of the city’s top museums in terms of curatorial quality. Whenever I go there, I am always delighted by ...
Francisco Liriano showed up at PNC Park on Tuesday afternoon in a suit with his suitcase packed for a trip St. Louis. The message reverberated through the Pittsburgh Pirates clubhouse. After 21 years away from the playoffs, it was time for the best story ...
The first taxi driver really didn’t have a clue, going as far as to suggest that the address given him was a fabrication. The second driver, with the aid of a car navigation device, had more luck in finding the Fukuoka apartment of Dutch writer Hans Brinckmann. “You should have ...
After our 3,776-meter-tall friend Fuji-san won the coveted UNESCO World Heritage status this year, many people are wondering what site ...
My Japanese language skills mostly stink. And always have. Yet it’s an odor to which I’ve grown accustomed. My excuse ...
Sitting in his home recording studio in Tokyo, surrounded by dozens of instruments that he has collected over the years, Morgan Fisher is in the center of his universe.
As I headed out the door to do some trail running in the national park behind my house, I was surprised to make it only a few hundred meters before I was stopped dead in my tracks. The dead part was a tree that ...
If you think that “Sleepless in Seattle” was the only love story that the city has ever known, you’ve got a lot to learn. Seattle has many romantic tales to tell. This story wouldn’t have had a happy ending if Anna Morawska, 42, from ...
Like many before him, Trevor Skingle became fascinated with samurai ethics while learning a martial art. But for this Briton, the samurai respect for the arts in traditional Japan resonated with his own life choices. That happened when he was a physical education trainer ...
The surface of the coffee in my Starbucks cup begins its gentle dance, the signal to lift my head. No, this is not “Jurassic Park” and the vibration is not due to an approaching T-Rex. It’s Takadanobaba and the train station quivers with the ...
“From now on, I will carry my own water bottle,” I promised Mother Nature. She had just scolded me as I came around the corner by presenting me with an angry beach covered with garbage. And this was not the first time she has ...
Michael Anop, a longtime Tokyo resident and entrepreneur, says he is “very much a people’s person,” as demonstrated by a definite talent for connecting with the right individuals to make things happen. As a teenager, he dreamed of a career working with young people ...
I live with Bigfoot. Don’t tell anyone though, or the media will be all over it. Bigfoot is not as hairy as you might expect. He’s not even as big as you’d expect. But he does have a big foot. Bigfoot is my husband. ...
John Gribble gives a part of every day to creating. Whether it’s pinpointing the perfect word for a poem or plucking out a ditty on a guitar, his life and livelihood in some way proves creative. As a poet and teacher, Gribble has spent ...
As part of the Liberal Democratic Party’s “national resilience plan” to protect against natural and made-made disasters, I noticed one obvious natural disaster missing from the list: aging. Aging is bringing this country to ruins. Not only can the current pension system not support ...
“How was your trip to Las Vegas?” grins this friend who knows I never gamble. “Did you win a million bucks?” Not exactly. The truth is I nearly lost everything — twice. So he asks to hear the story about a trip I took ...
Visitors to Katie Adler’s interactive website, English with Katie, are greeted with Adler’s sunny smile, her mellow California accent and a wealth of hints to make using the language both easier and more enjoyable. She aims to help language learners in Japan take charge ...