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JAPAN

Japan Times
JAPAN / EXPLAINER
Feb 12, 2019
Japanese companies warming up — slowly — to four-day workweek
Once synonymous with long work hours, Japanese companies are beginning to embrace — or at least consider — the idea of a four-day workweek.
Japan Times
Japan's temples turn to social media, video streaming and apps to lure visitors
Temples across the country, including in the Chugoku region, are increasingly turning to mobile apps, videos and social media to entice visitors.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Regional voices: Chubu
Feb 12, 2019
Nagoya firm Jtekt develops gnarly skateboard bearings ahead of sport's Tokyo Olympic debut
Jtekt Corp., a Nagoya-based parts manufacturer affiliated with Toyota Motor Corp., has developed an upgraded version of Ninja, the brand name for its bearings used for skateboards, ahead of skateboarding making its Olympic debut at the 2020 Tokyo Games.
Japan Times
JAPAN / ANALYSIS
Feb 12, 2019
More in Japan see U.S. as 'major threat,' while cyberattacks and climate change top concerns, survey shows
The surprising shift in perceptions of the U.S. under Trump was “the largest change in sentiment among the global threats tracked.”
Japan Times
JAPAN
Feb 12, 2019
Vietnamese woman flees during immigration checks at Narita airport
The Tokyo Regional Immigration Bureau said Sunday that a Vietnamese woman fled during immigration checks at Narita International Airport in Chiba Prefecture.
JAPAN
Feb 12, 2019
Four Chinese ships sail in Japanese waters near Senkaku Islands
Four Chinese government ships sailed for about two hours in Japanese territorial waters around the Senkaku Islands in the East China Sea on Monday, according to the Japan Coast Guard.
JAPAN
Feb 12, 2019
Tepco to deploy robot for first contact with melted fuel from Fukushima No. 1 nuclear disaster
The owner of the wrecked Fukushima No. 1 power plant is trying this week to touch melted fuel at the bottom of the plant for the first time since the disaster almost eight years ago, a tiny but key step toward retrieving the radioactive material amid a ¥21.5 trillion ($195 billion) cleanup effort.

ASIA PACIFIC

Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Feb 12, 2019
China defers key New Zealand tourism event amid concerns of growing diplomatic rift
China has postponed a major tourism campaign in New Zealand days before its launch and Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern's visit to Beijing has been further delayed as concerns mount of strained ties over China's growing influence in the Pacific.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC
Feb 12, 2019
Air New Zealand flight reportedly turned away from China due to reference to Taiwan
An Air New Zealand plane on its way to Shanghai was forced to return to Auckland after several hours in the air Saturday because paperwork for the flight included a reference to Taiwan, Stuff reported, citing people familiar with the matter.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC
Feb 12, 2019
Pompeo warns allies that permitting Huawei products could hinder cooperation with U.S.
Secretary of State Mike Pompeo warned U.S. allies Monday against deploying equipment from Chinese telecoms gear manufacturer Huawei on their soil, saying it would make it more difficult for Washington to "partner alongside them."
ASIA PACIFIC
Feb 12, 2019
China's space debris cleanup may be cover story for arms against U.S. satellites, Pentagon says
China is developing sophisticated space capabilities such as "satellite inspection and repair" and debris cleanup — "at least some of which could also function" as weapons against U.S. satellites, according to the Defense Intelligence Agency.

WORLD

Japan Times
WORLD / Politics
Feb 12, 2019
Venezuela opposition envoys visit Vatican, as Holy See pushes Guaido's cause with divided Italy
Envoys for Venezuela's self-declared caretaker leader, Juan Guaido, met Vatican officials and lobbied the Italian government for support on Monday in their quest to keep international pressure on socialist President Nicolas Maduro.
Japan Times
WORLD / Politics
Feb 12, 2019
Russia and Turkey agree on decisive action in Syria's Idlib, news agency RIA reports
Russia and Turkey agreed on Monday that they needed to take decisive measures to stabilize the situation in Syria's Idlib province after talks between the two country's defense ministers, Russia's RIA news agency reported.
Japan Times
WORLD / Science & Health
Feb 12, 2019
Earth's earliest mobile organisms lived 2.1 billion years ago, Gabon shale fossils indicate
Scientists have discovered in 2.1-billion-year-old black shale from a quarry in Gabon the earliest evidence of a revolutionary development in the history of life on Earth, the ability of organisms to move from one place to another on their own.
Japan Times
WORLD
Feb 12, 2019
U.S.-led coalition warplanes hit last Islamic State enclave in eastern Syria
U.S.-led coalition warplanes struck Islamic State's last stronghold in eastern Syria and hundreds of civilians fled the besieged enclave on Monday as U.S.-backed fighters pressed their campaign to seize it.

BUSINESS

Japan Times
BUSINESS / Companies
Feb 12, 2019
Nissan reports Carlos Ghosn's alleged ¥9.2 billion in understated income on firm's earnings statement
The automaker also slashed its full-year profit forecasts amid sluggish demand in the North America market and other markets worldwide.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Feb 12, 2019
Apple iPhone sales in China fell by 20% last quarter as Huawei units surged 23%: IDC
Apple Inc. iPhone sales in China fell 20 percent year-on-year in the fourth quarter of 2018, while sales for smartphones made by home-grown rival Huawei soared by 23 percent, according to data from industry research firm IDC.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Feb 12, 2019
Trump wants to meet with Xi 'very soon' over trade war, adviser says
The Trump administration said the U.S. president still wants to meet China's Xi Jinping in an effort to end the trade war, a sign of optimism as negotiators from the world's two biggest economies start their latest round of talks this week.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Feb 12, 2019
Fear of filing? Instead of refunds, U.S. taxpayers finding they may owe IRS
Adam Oleson has enjoyed a tax refund every year for the past couple of decades. He normally counts on it to make an extra house payment, reduce student-loan debts or pay down the credit cards.

Opinion

EDITORIALS
Feb 12, 2019
Implement support measures for new immigration law
The government needs to accelerate its efforts to take the necessary steps to prepare for welcoming foreign workers.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Feb 12, 2019
The state that accepted Japanese-Americans
The relationship between Japan and Colorado has been fantastic, in part because how the state's governor treated Japanese-Americans during World War II.
COMMENTARY / World
Feb 12, 2019
Europe and the new nuclear arms race
With the likely demise of the Intermediate Range Nuclear Forces Treaty, Europe is entering a potentially dangerous period.
COMMENTARY / World
Feb 12, 2019
South America is a battlefield in the new cold war
The Venezuela crisis is a test of Russian and Chinese power in America's backyard.
COMMENTARY / World
Feb 12, 2019
How good advice on skin cancer can be bad for your blood pressure
A lack of sun puts darker-skinned people at greater risk for hypertension.
COMMENTARY / World
Feb 12, 2019
See Iran's revolution as Iranians do
It was not about 'Muslim rage.' It was a rebellion against a Westernized, undemocratic technocracy.

Sports

DH talk brings back memories of reverse experiment
One thing the current conversation about a possible universal DH in MLB is showing is that a lot of people have great disdain for the concept of pitchers hitting.
Japan Times
BASKETBALL
Feb 12, 2019
Japan squad set for big challenges
The players and staff seemed relaxed. That is a good indication of their state of mind as they get into the final window of the FIBA World Cup Asian qualifiers.
MORE SPORTS
Feb 12, 2019
Three Japan teams consider forming new league
KYODO

LIFE

Japan Times
LIFE / Style & Design
Feb 12, 2019
Plastic fantastic: Examining the obsession over Japan's soft vinyl toys
It's a cold afternoon in mid-January and, inside a factory operated by Maruyama Toys in a quiet residential area in Tokyo's Katsushika Ward, Cory Privitera is making sofubi (soft vinyl toys).

CULTURE

Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Feb 12, 2019
Crossing 70 years of Katsushika Hokusai
Featuring an astounding 480 prints, spanning the entire 70 years of Katushika Hokusai's career, the new Hokusai exhibition at the Mori Arts Center Gallery is a great overview for ukiyo-e fans.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Feb 12, 2019
'Le Corbusier and the Age of Purism'
Feb. 19-May 19
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Feb 12, 2019
'Hasutaro: Growth, Memory, and Rebirth'
Feb. 16-March 17
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Feb 12, 2019
'Gather: Gift'
Feb. 16-March 16
Japan Times
CULTURE / Stage
Feb 12, 2019
'Kinkakuji': Staging a Japanese classic with a German twist
A new opera based on the quintessentially Japanese novel "Kinkakuji" is set to open in Tokyo following a premiere held not in Kyoto, where the famed golden pavilion of its title is to be found, but at the Opera National du Rhin in Strasbourg, France.

Longform

Mount Fuji is considered one of Japan's most iconic symbols and is a major draw for tourists. It's still a mountain, though, and potential hikers need to properly prepare for any climb.
What it takes to save lives on Mount Fuji