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JAPAN

Japan Times
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
May 4, 2019
Talking trash: The sport of collecting as much waste as possible
Thanks to Netflix, many are familiar with Japanese clutter-buster Marie Kondo and her soothing remedies for the melancholy brought on by conspicuous consumption. Kondo is already a superstar in Japan, where closet sizes barely keep up with snowballing affluence, but she wasn't the first in her field,...
Japan Times
JAPAN / Media / Japan Pulse
May 4, 2019
Social media fails to follow traditional news outlets' stricter approach to portrait rights in Japan
A man in Chiba Prefecture became irritated last month at how long it was taking for a barrier at a rail crossing to open. Losing patience, he fetched a hand saw from his van and removed the barrier arm so that he could drive through.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Media / BIG IN JAPAN
May 4, 2019
Deciphering the curious act of talking to oneself
Talking to oneself is not respectable. It suggests many things, none of them good: abysmal loneliness, a mental screw loose, a social wire frayed, insanity, dementia. Shukan Post magazine this month cites experts in dementia who see solitary dialogue as a potential premonitory sign — not a conclusive...
Japan Times
Japan Times 1944: Potatoes to be grown on Diet Building lawn
Neat squares of Irish potatoes, sweet potatoes and corn will dot the spacious lawn of the Diet Building grounds in a movement not to leave any cultivable land idle. The work on the first plot in the Diet grounds was tackled by 45 attendants of the Diet Building on Wednesday. Another plot of 100 tsubo will be dug up and planted by the end of May.
Japan Times
Japan's gang members are running out of places to hide
Membership in organized crime syndicates has been decreasing about 10 percent each year since 2011, according to National Police Agency statistics.
JAPAN / Politics
May 4, 2019
New group of South Korean lawmakers plans fence-mending visit to Japan; Nam Gwan-pyo named new ambassador
Moon Hee-sang, speaker of South Korea's National Assembly, has set up a group of lawmakers to beef up interchanges with Japanese politicians, the office of the assembly's press secretary announced on Friday.
JAPAN
May 4, 2019
140,000 people greet Japan's Emperor Naruhito as he makes first public appearance since accession
Emperor Naruhito expressed his hopes for progress toward world peace on Saturday at the Imperial Palace, where tens of thousands of people gathered to witness his first public greeting since ascending to the throne on May 1.

ASIA PACIFIC

ASIA PACIFIC
May 4, 2019
Background on the royal instruments for Thai king's coronation
During Thailand's main coronation event for King Maha Vajiralongkorn on Saturday, the monarch was presented with five royal regalia marking the legitimacy of his reign.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC
May 4, 2019
North Korea fires several rounds of short-range 'projectiles' into Sea of Japan, South Korea says
North Korea fired several rounds of unidentified short-range "projectiles" into the Sea of Japan on Saturday, the South Korean Joint Chiefs of Staff said.

WORLD

Japan Times
WORLD / Politics
May 4, 2019
Congress gives U.S. attorney general deadline to release full Mueller report
President Donald Trump and a senior U.S. House Democrat tightened the screws on U.S. Attorney General William Barr on Friday over the Mueller report, making new demands on him after an already tough week for the Justice Department chief.
Japan Times
WORLD / Politics
May 4, 2019
Foreign government leases at Trump World Tower stir more emoluments concerns with U.S. lawyers
The U.S. State Department allowed seven foreign governments to rent luxury condominiums in New York's Trump World Tower in 2017 without approval from Congress, according to documents and people familiar with the leases, in what some experts say could be a potential violation of the U.S. Constitution's...
Japan Times
WORLD
May 4, 2019
Venezuela's neighbors accuse Nicolas Maduro of protecting 'terrorist groups' in Colombia
The Lima Group regional bloc on Friday accused the government of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro of protecting "terrorist groups" in Colombia, keeping up pressure days after an attempted military uprising failed to dislodge Maduro from power.
WORLD
May 4, 2019
U.S. OKs nearly $6 billion in weapons sales to Persian Gulf allies
The U.S. State Department has approved a possible $6 billion worth of weapons sales to Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates in three separate packages, the Pentagon said on Friday after notifying Congress of the certification.
Japan Times
WORLD
May 4, 2019
Boeing 737 slides into Florida river with 136 on board; no fatalities
A Boeing 737 commercial jet with 136 people on board slid into the St. John's River near Jacksonville, Florida after landing on Friday, a spokesman for Naval Air Station Jacksonville said.
Japan Times
WORLD
May 4, 2019
South Sudanese parties agree on six more months to form unity government
South Sudan's ruling and opposition parties agreed on Friday to give themselves six more months to form a unity government as part of a peace deal they signed in September, the regional group IGAD said in a statement.
Japan Times
WORLD
May 4, 2019
Trump and Putin discuss possible new nuclear accord, White House says
U.S. President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin spoke for more than an hour on Friday, discussing the possibility of a new nuclear accord, North Korean denuclearization, Ukraine and the political situation in Venezuela, the White House said.

BUSINESS

Japan Times
BUSINESS / Companies
May 4, 2019
SoftBank said to be considering IPO for $100 billion Vision Fund
If pursued, an IPO would give investors in the fund a way to cash out part or all of their stakes.

Opinion

EDITORIALS
May 4, 2019
Address the vacant home problem
The government is doing a poor job of fixing the ever-worsening problem of unused houses.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
May 4, 2019
Dating advice for 'maximizers' and 'satisficers'
Researchers have some dating advice for 'maximizers' who can't stop comparison shopping.

Sports

SOCCER / J. League
May 4, 2019
Spirited attacking produces 1-1 draw for Bellmare, Grampus
The first match of the Reiwa Era for Shonan Bellmare and Nagoya Grampus did indeed feature “beautiful harmony” of a sort, with the two teams sharing a 1-1 result on Saturday after 90 minutes of spirited attacking on both ends at BMW Stadium.
BASEBALL / Japanese Baseball
May 4, 2019
Katsuya Kakunaka, Seiya Inoue deliver clutch hits as Marines top Fighters
There was sun, rain, a little hail, sun again and finally a blanket of gray clouds at Zozo Marine Stadium on Saturday.
Japan Times
BASKETBALL / B. League
May 4, 2019
Alvark, Jets post victories in semifinal series openers
The Alvark Tokyo scratched and clawed their way to a third-place finish in the brutal East Division during the regular season. Forty-four wins in 60 games was what they accomplished.
Japan Times
BASKETBALL / B. League / HOOP SCOOP
May 4, 2019
Nomadic Neumann lived an incredible basketball life
Johnny Neumann forged an unconventional path in life.
Japan Times
MORE SPORTS
May 4, 2019
Phoenix victorious in return
Taisuke Miyagawa needs some more time to make his comeback, but the Nihon University Phoenix have returned to college football.

LIFE

Japan Times
Hiyori: Oden crosses over to wine country
Few restaurants capture the Shinsen neighborhood feel better than Hiyori. Looking in from street level, you can tell that it's easygoing and convivial, the sort of place where you drop in for a quick drink, strike up conversation with your neighbors and end up staying the rest of the evening.
Japan Times
Kashiyama Daikanyama Cafe and Coteau: From Basque cheesecake to rooftop vistas of Daikanyama
The Daikanyama district continues to mushroom new developments, most of them notable more for their architecture than their carefully curated content. It would be tempting to lump the new Kashiyama building in that category, but there is definitely gastronomic substance to be found along with its undeniable style.
Japan Times
For Locobeer, success starts close to home
With only one full-time employee, Chiba Prefecture-based Locobeer has kept its local focus for over 20 years, all the while brewing an award-winning and eclectic lineup of beer.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / DESSERT WATCH
May 4, 2019
The new McDonald's McFlurry tastes like caramel, caramel and, well, caramel
The recently released McDonald's McFlurry Nama Caramel delivers on its promise of caramel flavor and sweetness, but not much else.

CULTURE

Japan Times
CULTURE / Books
May 4, 2019
'The Forest of Wool and Steel': Music and nature intertwine to paint a portrait of growth — review
Natsu Miyashita's 'The Forest of Wool and Steel' is a mesmerizing reading experience, a slow journey in how one young person renders an occupation into a vocation.
Japan Times
Lafcadio Hearn's 'Glimpses of Unfamiliar Japan': Reveling in the remote and mystical — review
Lafcadio Hearn's 'Glimpses of Unfamiliar Japan' is an unmissable book offering a visceral, firsthand experience of a Japan now largely vanished.
Japan Times
Come face to face with human mortality in Yukio Mishima's 'The Temple of Dawn' — review
A strange and uneven novel, Yukio Mishima's 'The Temple of Dawn,' the third volume in the 'Sea of Fertility' tetralogy, is an elegy to the loss of pureness in the Japanese national spirit.

COMMUNITY

Japan Times
Yosuke Hosoi: The mission to get it all on film
Studying film in New York, working in TV in Japan, and now living in Berlin, 'Yosuke Hosoi says international filmmaking is his calling.
COMMUNITY / Voices / OVERHEARD
May 4, 2019
A new era of weather?
'Considering the weather over the past few days, it's less Reiwa and more 'Rain-wa.''

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