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May 02, 2024
 

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Sakura Murakami
Reuters
For Sakura Murakami's latest contributions to The Japan Times, see below:
Japan Times
JAPAN / Politics
Oct 23, 2018
Scandals, immigration and constitutional reform set to dominate extraordinary Diet session opening Wednesday
The 48-day session is likely to include debates on a draft proposal from the ruling LDP to revise the war-renouncing Constitution, among other key issues.
Japan Times
JAPAN / EXPLAINER
Oct 22, 2018
Can Tokyo's new Toyosu market live up to the Tsukiji brand?
The Toyosu wholesale market opened its doors for the first time earlier this month after relocating from Tsukiji, where it was famed for being one of the largest seafood and fish markets in the world and for catering to the finest restaurants in Tokyo.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Oct 13, 2018
Tokyo's Toyosu market opens doors to eager public
The Toyosu wholesale food market opened its doors to the public for the first time Saturday, allowing tourists to wander the massive complex, browse exhibits and dine at some of the famous restaurants that relocated from the Tsukiji district last week.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Oct 11, 2018
Officials express optimism as Tokyo's Toyosu market opens doors for first time since Tsukiji closure
The noisy clanging of bells that had once sounded at the famed Tsukiji market marked the first tuna auction for fishmongers at the Toyosu wholesale market Thursday at a newly built facility in Tokyo’s Koto Ward.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Oct 6, 2018
History on ice: Workers and tourists say 'sayonara' to Tokyo's Tsukiji market
With scores of plump tuna lining the floor, auctioneers rhythmically called out prices and bidders signaled with their hands. It was before daybreak, and the Tsukiji fish market looked like it was starting a normal business day.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / How-tos / LIFELINES
Sep 19, 2018
What does Japan's Nationality Act really mean for its dual citizens?
Given the present 'don't ask, don't tell' attitude of the Justice Ministry, it would be highly unusual if Naomi Osaka was forced to relinquish her U.S. citizenship at the age of 22.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Sep 19, 2018
New app identifies underwater creatures at Japan aquariums with the tap of a finger
Ever struggled to identify the name of a fish when visiting an aquarium?
Japan Times
JAPAN / Society / Deep Dive
Sep 18, 2018
Japan's 'danchi': Public housing blocks highlight the complexity of interculturalism
Stroll through Shibazono Danchi in Kawaguchi, Saitama Prefecture, on a weekend and you will find children shrieking with glee. They run across its communal playground or splash about in the fountain of the public housing complex as elderly residents enjoy leisurely walks in the background. Apartment blocks as high as 15 floors, their balconies dotted with drying laundry, tower over a courtyard lined with trees.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Sep 3, 2018
Online map plots the many spots that boast a view of Mount Fuji
The Japan Map Center on Monday released an online guide to locations where Mount Fuji can be viewed, showing that the nation's renowned 3,776-meter volcano can be observed from as far as 300 km away.
JAPAN
Aug 31, 2018
Justice Ministry to enforce rule designating number of weeks Japanese-language schools must be in session
The measure is intended to ensure that students who enter Japan to learn the language do not spend the majority of their stay working.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Politics
Aug 28, 2018
Japan will overhaul Immigration Bureau to create agency for expected surge of blue-collar workers under new status
The move comes as the government seeks to accept more foreign workers and introduce a new status of residence amid a serious labor crunch.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Aug 21, 2018
Saitama starts recruiting homestay hosts for Tokyo 2020 athletes' families
The prefecture's project is intended to help the families and others involved in the games secure lodging and offer opportunities for them to experience Japanese culture and cuisine.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Society
Aug 20, 2018
As summer vacations end, grass-roots movements in Japan work on counseling suicidal students and truants
The first day of September is the deadliest day for troubled young people in Japan, according to a 2015 Cabinet Office white paper.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Society
Aug 16, 2018
Bucking superstition, Japanese woman tunnels way to top of civil-engineering world
For civil engineer Reiko Abe, 55, being competent at her job was never enough. Her sex and the superstitions surrounding it caused her to be turned away from job interviews and construction sites in Japan.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Aug 7, 2018
Hostage Jumpei Yasuda's wife speaks of hope for his release in first public appearance since his detention
Journalist's spouse said she is grateful for the help provided by the government and apologized to the public for the trouble caused by her husband's captivity.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Aug 1, 2018
Katsura Imperial Villa to allow more visitors, charge ¥1,000 from November
The Katsura Imperial Villa, or Katsura-Rikyu, located in Kyoto and originally built as a holiday home for the Imperial family, will welcome more visitors from Nov. 1 at a charge of ¥1,000 for those aged 18 or older, the Imperial Household Agency said Tuesday.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Jul 27, 2018
Wife of Nepalese man who died during interrogation sues state, Tokyo Metropolitan Government
The wife of a 39-year-old Nepalese man who died in March last year while being interrogated by prosecutors filed a lawsuit with the Tokyo District Court on Friday, demanding about ¥7 million in damages from the central government and the Tokyo Metropolitan Government.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Society
Jul 26, 2018
Female leaders encourage women to be confident and believe in themselves at Tokyo conference
With "womenomics" often touted as a key policy of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, the government has been working to increase women's participation in the workforce, politics and other areas in recent years.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Jul 26, 2018
Japan sends last six Aum death row inmates to the gallows
Some speculate the Justice Ministry wanted to draw a curtain on the shocking crimes before the end of the Heisei Era, set for next April.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Jul 20, 2018
Former president of bankrupt travel agency Tellmeclub gets six years for fraud
The Tokyo District Court on Friday found Chikako Yamada, the former president of failed travel agency Tellmeclub, guilty of falsifying her company's financial records to fraudulently receive funding from two banks. She was sentenced to six years in prison.
'So hot you can't breathe': Extreme heat hits the Philippines
A pedestrian cools himself with a folding hand fan as he waits for a ride along a road in Manila on Wednesday, as extreme heat hit the Philippines.
Did Japan intervene to prop up the yen? Analysts think it did.
A man walks past an electronic board displaying the exchange rate for the yen against the U.S. dollar (right) in Tokyo on Tuesday.
Town to block view of Mount Fuji in response to overtourism
The town government of Fujikawaguchiko, Yamanashi Prefecture, decided to set up a 2.5-meter-high screen to prevent tourists from taking pictures of Mount Fuji looming behind a convenience store.
Number of vacant homes in Japan hits record high of 9 million
A vacant house in Tokyo is seen demolished in January 2020.
Weak yen fattens tourist wallets in Japan
People visit the Ameya Yokocho market in Tokyo's Ueno district during the Golden Week holiday on Tuesday.
Yellow sand allergy: A health issue made worse by climate change
A screenshot of the Meteorological Agency's satellite image of clouds and yellow sand (in pink) on Sunday.
Climate change, chalky grains and the risks for Japan’s rice farmers
A farmer plants seedlings in Satsumasendai, Kagoshima Prefecture. Japan’s self sufficiency rate for rice is nearly 100%, compared with 38% for food overall, on a calorie basis.
Japan wants you to spend more with ‘luxury tourism’
Performers play a traditional drum unique to Wajima, Ishikawa Prefecture, in the prefectural capital of Kanazawa on March 16 to mark the extension of the Hokuriku Shinkansen line to Tsuruga Station in Fukui Prefecture.
Theaster Gates’ ambitious ‘Afro-Mingei’ brings Black Chicago to Tokyo
Theaster Gates' “A Heavenly Chord” lines up church pews before seven speakers and a Hammond B3 organ, a type of electric organ prevalent in Black American churches.
Casa del Cibo: A thriving jewel born from Tohoku’s harsh past
When chef Ryohei Ikemi moved to Hachinohe, Aomori Prefecture, and opened Casa del Cibo in 2011, it was the first proper Italian restaurant in the city.

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