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June 08, 2025
 

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LIFE / Language / MORNING ENGLISH
May 11, 2015
Let's discuss visa overstayers in the news
Visa overstayers facing deportation orders marched through Tokyo's Ginza district on Wednesday afternoon, pleading for permission to remain in a country that many have called home for decades.
Reader Mail
May 9, 2015
U.S. military in Okinawa illegally
The pomp and circumstance that characterized the state dinner given by U.S. President Barack Obama for visiting Prime Minister Shinzo Abe ("State dinner for Abe at White House surprises with haiku, sake and R&B" in the April 30 edition) may camouflage the reality that Japan (Okinawa in particular) is...
Reader Mail
May 9, 2015
Discrimination is difficult to end
Regarding the May 3 book review "Marginalized in Tokyo's leatherwork districts," I was reminded how the word "rawhide" appeared in a TV cowboy drama's theme song, and how in the Showa late 30s, a friend of mine and I went to a shoemaker near Kyoto Station.
CULTURE / TV & Streaming / CHANNEL SURF
May 8, 2015
Visiting Kilauea Volcano in Hawaii; Swimmer Miki Kamata eyes return to form; CM of the week: Shop Japan
The most active volcano in the world, Kilauea, is located in a park on the island of Hawaii that is appropriately named Hawaii Volcanoes National Park. In June 2014, Kilauea exploded and a river of lava flowed out of it and eventually reached the village of Pahoa, 20 km away.
LIFE / Language / MORNING ENGLISH
May 4, 2015
Let's discuss caregivers in the news
A total of 78 people from the Philippines and Indonesia have passed the caregiver certification exam for fiscal 2014, the welfare ministry said Thursday.
ASIA PACIFIC
May 4, 2015
Ashes of ballerina Plisetskaya to be spread over Russia
The ashes of Maya Plisetskaya, the renowned Bolshoi Theater ballerina who died this weekend, will be scattered over Russia in accordance with her wishes.
Reader Mail
May 2, 2015
The world needs Rall's indignation
Thank you, Japan Times, for publishing Ted Rall ("Proof the U.S. is rotten to the core," April 28) and thank you, Ted Rall, for your continued righteous indignation about the injustices of this world.
CULTURE / TV & Streaming / CHANNEL SURF
May 1, 2015
Bizarre homes around the world; legendary Korean drama series; CM of the Week: Nisshin
Real estate and home renovation programs continue to be popular, but the housing-oriented special, "Osekkaina Sawabe Fudosan" ("Meddlesome Sawabe Real Estate Company"; NHK-G, Mon., 10:55 p.m.), aims for something out of the ordinary.
LIFE / Language / MORNING ENGLISH
Apr 27, 2015
Let's discuss Taco Bell in the news
U.S. fast food chain Taco Bell Corp. made a much-hyped re-entry into the Japanese market on Tuesday, opening a store in Tokyo's Shibuya Ward through Asrapport Dining Co., a Japanese operator of restaurant franchises.
CULTURE / TV & Streaming / CHANNEL SURF
Apr 24, 2015
Taiwanese gangster learns to bake; old lady detective; CM of the Week: Asahi Beverage
Japanese comics are as popular in the rest of Asia as they are in Japan. The 2012 Taiwanese drama series "Chocolat" (BS-TBS, Tues., 7 a.m.) is based on a manga originally serialized in Big Comic Spirits that itself was adapted as a Japanese TV drama in 2003.
LIFE / Language / MORNING ENGLISH
Apr 20, 2015
Let's discuss studying abroad in the news
As part of efforts to give its younger workers an incentive to acquire skills that will benefit their future careers at the company, Sony Corp. said Friday it will allow its junior employees to study abroad for two years.
Reader Mail
Apr 18, 2015
Land returns barely reduce base burden
Regarding the April 9 article "U.S. defense chief says new guidelines will 'transform' U.S.-Japan alliance": The stronger Tokyo and Washington say the Japan-U.S. alliance must be, the more viciously Okinawa will have to take the brunt of it all.
Japan Times
LIFE
Apr 16, 2015
Sakura 2015: one nation under a pink canopy
Spring in Japan brings a wave of blossoming cherry trees that is celebrated through the nation for a short few weeks. Despite a spell of strong winds and heavy rain this year, most trees hung on to their petals for a memorable sakura season. Here's one last look at this special time.
Reader Mail
Apr 11, 2015
Understanding of Vietnam War in U.S. is better
Regarding the April 5 Counterpoint column titled "America's memory wars and the Vietnam debacle," in two respects professor Jeff Kingston offers readers an incomplete and dated impression of the current state of American understanding of the Vietnam War.
Reader Mail
Apr 11, 2015
Okinawa deserves better from Tokyo
Regarding the April 5 TimeOut story headlined "Okinawa: In the cross hairs of war," it is a pity that the pigheaded Yamato revisionists from Tokyo will not allow the Okinawan people to remember Japan's wartime atrocities as they themselves witnessed them.
Reader Mail
Apr 11, 2015
Some ideas for better English
The editorial titled "Disappointing levels of English" in the March 29 edition made me sad to know that many high school students have difficulty in learning English, particularly with speaking and writing. And also, this is another shocking reality, that about 60 percent do not like studying English....
Reader Mail
Apr 11, 2015
Japan must seek reconciliation
As a Japanese who was educated after the war, I quite agree with the "Japan abusing UNESCO" editorial by The Korea Times in the April 7 Global Perspectives column.
Reader Mail
Apr 4, 2015
Fluency requires direct interaction
At a recent conference on teaching English in Singapore (co-sponsored by Japan's education ministry), I attended some disappointing presentations by teachers from Japan, and wondered how Japanese students could ever hope to communicate in English if these were the researchers selected by Japan's bureaucratic...
CULTURE / TV & Streaming / CHANNEL SURF
Apr 3, 2015
Buddhist priests in a nutshell; Models survive on a desert island; CM of the week: Eneos
Producers of TV shows often try out their new creations during the wee hours and if they attract enough viewers the show is bumped up to prime time. That's the case with "Obosan Variety: Butchake-dera" ("Buddhist Priest Variety: In-a-nutshell Temple"; TV Asahi, Mon., 7 p.m.), whose prime time premiere...
Japan Times
TENNIS
Mar 31, 2015
Williams beats 15-year-old Bellis
When the ball whizzed past Serena Williams for an ace late in Sunday's match, the subdued crowd suddenly erupted with a roar.
Foreign tourists with unpaid medical bills in Japan to be denied entry
Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba speaks during ministerial meeting meeting on foreign residents in Japan on Friday at the Prime Minister's Office.
Japan eyes tougher rules for foreign residents and tax hike for tourists
A tax-free shop in Kyoto in April 2024. Last week, members of a Liberal Democratic Party study group drafted a proposal seeking to scrap the country's tax-free shopping system altogether.
Accidents raise concern over how Japan vets foreign drivers
Keita Ueno (right), the owner of Kiki Driving School and an instructor who supports both foreign nationals and Japanese citizens returning from abroad in getting their foreign driver’s licenses converted, is worried about the current lax system for the process.
Japan won’t wait for G7 summit for possible U.S. trade deal
Ryosei Akazawa, Japan's top negotiator in tariff talks with the U.S. speaks to reporters at the Japanese Embassy in Washington on Friday.
From ridicule to redemption: Rice crisis returns Koizumi to the spotlight
Agriculture minister Shinjiro Koizumi speaks to the media as he inspects a warehouse storing stockpiled rice in Kanagawa Prefecture on May 30.
What can Kenji Yanobe’s cosmic cats teach us about humanity?
Kenji Yanobe’s spacesuited cats are the main characters of “Ship’s Cat Island,” the inaugural exhibition at Hyper Museum Hanno in Saitama Prefecture.
From ridicule to redemption: Rice crisis returns Koizumi to the spotlight
Agriculture minister Shinjiro Koizumi speaks to the media as he inspects a warehouse storing stockpiled rice in Kanagawa Prefecture on May 30.
New Naoshima museum bets on Asia, not the West
Detail of Takashi Murakami, “Rakuchu-Rakugai-zu Byobu: Iwasa Matabei RIP” (2023-25)
Japan’s prison reform focuses on rehabilitation
Justice Minister Keisuke Suzuki speaks to reporters in Tokyo on Friday. Suzuki said preparations for the changes that will focus more on rehabilitation are being actively made at each correctional facility.
Accidents raise concern over how Japan vets foreign drivers
Keita Ueno (right), the owner of Kiki Driving School and an instructor who supports both foreign nationals and Japanese citizens returning from abroad in getting their foreign driver’s licenses converted, is worried about the current lax system for the process.

Podcast

One of the many entrances to the Kabukicho neighborhood in Tokyo’s Shinjuku Ward.
Kabukicho: Tokyo’s ‘stadium of desire’

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
By Alex K.T. Martin

SUSTAINABLE JAPAN

Smile! It’s ‘Sanrio Time,’ now and ever after
Smile! It’s ‘Sanrio Time,’ now and ever after

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