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Reader Mail
May 21, 2020
Paternity leave won't work unless government steps in
Regarding the May 14 story “Paternity leave still not widely embraced in Japan: survey,” it is difficult to take paternity leave in Japan for a variety of reasons.
Reader Mail
May 21, 2020
Lack of testing real reason behind low COVID-19 numbers
There now seems to be a peer pressure shaped primarily by mainstream Japanese media and organizations with a strong political influence to conclude, without providing any convincing data to tell us what’s actually happening, that the coronavirus outbreak in Japan has already peaked and it’s about...
Reader Mail
May 21, 2020
Not everyone in Japan needs to learn English
The May 16 article by Glenn Newman, "Bad English in Japan: A conspiracy theory," doesn't demonstrate a real understanding of Japan or the issue at hand.
Reader Mail
May 21, 2020
Culturally constructed prejudice in English-language education
In his May 16 opinion piece "Bad English in Japan: A conspiracy theory," Glenn Newman suggests that government bureaucrats wish to keep English instruction in its current bad state in order to prevent young Japanese from emigrating from the country in the future, when their energy and skills will be...
Japan Times
WORLD / Science & Health
May 21, 2020
Top HIV scientist says he wouldn't count on a vaccine for coronavirus soon
A top U.S. scientist said on Wednesday that governments should not count on a successful vaccine against COVID-19 being developed anytime soon when deciding whether to ease restrictions imposed to curb the pandemic.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC
May 21, 2020
'I miss dancing': Elderly South Koreans lament loss of 'playground' as senior discos shut
For years, Jeong Nam-poong has found entertainment at daytime discotheques called colatecs that cater to older folks, often losing track of time while dancing the jitterbug under fairy lights and mirror balls.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC / Society
May 21, 2020
'Happily ever after' eludes some in Taiwan a year after Asia's first same-sex marriages
When Taiwan became the first place in Asia to allow same-sex marriage last year, university professor Lois was among thousands of gay people who cheered and waved rainbow flags on the streets of the capital Taipei.
Japan Times
WORLD / Science & Health
May 21, 2020
For first time, scientists spot an alien planet as it is being formed
Astronomers have gazed into what appears to be a planetary maternity ward, observing for the first time within a huge disk of dense gas and dust surrounding a newly formed star a planet in the process of being born.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
May 21, 2020
Air France axes A380 superjumbo and Emirates seen cutting deliveries
The world's largest airliner, the Airbus A380, took a step closer to the aviation archives on Wednesday as Air France said it would permanently axe its grounded fleet and sources said Emirates was in talks to reduce remaining deliveries.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Economy
May 21, 2020
Japanese exports in April fell most since 2009 as pandemic hit demand
Exports in April fell the most since the 2009 financial crisis as the coronavirus pandemic slammed demand for Japanese cars, industrial materials and other goods, likely pushing the world's third-largest economy deeper into recession.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
May 21, 2020
Izakaya pub aims to clean up with disinfectant spray machine
To enter, customers must pass through a fine mist of the chlorine-based disinfectant sprayed for 30 seconds.
Japan Times
WORLD / Science & Health
May 20, 2020
Climate change turning Antarctica's snow green
Antarctica conjures images of an unbroken white wilderness but blooms of algae are giving parts of the frozen continent an increasingly green tinge.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC / Science & Health
May 20, 2020
China's new outbreak shows signs that coronavirus could be changing
Chinese doctors are seeing the coronavirus manifest differently among patients in its new cluster of cases in the northeast region compared to the original outbreak in Wuhan, suggesting that the pathogen may be changing in unknown ways and complicating efforts to stamp it out.
Japan Times
WORLD
May 20, 2020
Surveillance and monitoring invade European post-pandemic workplaces
A "Romware Covid Radius bracelet” beeps every time a Tata Steel Ltd. worker in the U.K. or a docker at Belgium’s Antwerp port is within virus-catching distance of someone. At Bouygues SA construction sites and in Sanofi and Schneider Electric SE offices in France employees enter after thermal cameras...
Japan Times
WORLD / Society
May 20, 2020
As lockdowns fuel domestic abuse, social media users fight back
When British teenager Kaitlyn McGoldrick heard domestic violence was increasing under lockdown, she posted a video on social media showing victims how to make a silent emergency call to police without their attackers finding out.
ASIA PACIFIC / Crime & Legal
May 20, 2020
Man sentenced to death in Singapore via Zoom call
A man has been sentenced to death in Singapore via a Zoom video-call for his role in a drug deal, the city-state's first case where capital punishment has been delivered remotely.
Japan Times
TENNIS
May 20, 2020
John Millman says resumption of tennis season will reveal where officials' priorities lie
The timing of professional tennis' return will reveal whether the tours and federations are more interested in making money or looking after the health of players, Australia's John Millman said.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Companies
May 20, 2020
Facebook to limit offices to 25% capacity, require masks at work
The social media company outlined to staff globally how it plans to handle a return to major job sites starting July 6.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC / Society
May 20, 2020
The struggles of homeschooling in the world’s tiniest apartments
Tao Xiaorong spent a month’s rent to buy her 12-year-old son a used laptop in February, a few weeks after schools in Hong Kong closed and classes went virtual. But their internet service is so spotty that he’s had trouble participating in online classes.
JAPAN
May 20, 2020
Japan Defense Ministry probing hack of next-gen missile data, report says
Among the leaked details may have been range, propulsion and heat resistance, the report said.

Longform

After the asset-price bubble crash of the early 1990s, employment at a Japanese company was no longer necessarily for life. As a result, a new generation is less willing to endure a toxic work culture —life’s too short, after all.
How Japan's youth are slowly changing the country's work ethic