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Japan Times
BUSINESS / FOCUS
May 28, 2021

Chip crisis forces carmakers to rethink just-in-time ordering

The shortcomings of that system were made starkly clear this year as the automakers confronted a dearth of the chips they need to build advanced functions into their vehicles.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Science & Health
May 28, 2021

Japan set to approve Pfizer's COVID-19 shot for 12- to 15-year-olds

The move comes after the U.S. Food and Drug Administration lowered the minimum age for the vaccine to 12 on May 10.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC
May 28, 2021

Hong Kong passes Xi plan to end only open elections in China

The move effectively ends China's only experiment with open elections, a vestige of the democratic system implemented during last years of colonial rule.
JAPAN
May 28, 2021

Suga extends Japan's COVID-19 state of emergency to June 20

Restrictions of varying intensity are now in effect in more than three quarters of the country's 47 prefectures.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
May 28, 2021

Kuroda says BOJ will consider climate in monetary policy discussions

Until now, Kuroda has largely stuck to the view that the BOJ needs to consider climate change from the perspective of how it might present a risk to the financial system.
BASKETBALL / B. League
May 28, 2021

Brex and Jets set for showdown in B. League Finals

The finals will feature the two top teams from the regular season. Utsunomiya led the league with an .817 winning percentage while the Jets were second at .754.
Japan Times
JAPAN
May 28, 2021

Japan to consider sharing COVID-19 vaccines amid calls to help Taiwan

Japan approved AstraZeneca's vaccine last week, but there are no immediate plans to use the shots in the country amid lingering concerns over rare blood clots.
MORE SPORTS
May 28, 2021

Strong field promises an exciting, dramatic race

As the month of May leads us toward the hotter days just around the corner, it’s once again time for one of Japan’s great horse races, the Japanese Derby, or Tokyo Yushun, as it is sometimes called here in Japan. This Sunday sees the race run at its traditional home, Tokyo Racecourse in Fuchu, just...
Japan Times
JAPAN / Crime & Legal / EXPLAINER
May 28, 2021

Bill on rehiring teachers fired for sexual acts with children clears Diet

A new law aims to make it more difficult for educators who lost their teaching licenses due to acts of sexual violence to work again.
Japan Times
MORE SPORTS
May 28, 2021

Efforts being made to save horses after racing careers

In horse racing, it is simply a fact that the strong win and the weak lose.
JAPAN
May 28, 2021

Japan widens Tokyo vaccine center access after many slots remain open

Available slots were booked up within hours of the center being opened up to those age 65 and older in the surrounding prefectures of Saitama, Chiba and Kanagawa.
Rintaro Sekizuka runs a record store in both London and Tokyo’s Katsushika Ward.
LIFE / Lifestyle
Mar 8, 2025

Tokyo’s vinyl experts say overseas buyers are ‘sustaining the scene’

A weak yen makes rare vinyls a steal for tourists, and locals say it's all part of a circular musical exchange.
While Google may be the restaurant review medium of choice in other countries, Japan largely prefers Tabelog, where five-star reviews are rare and three-star reviews aren't what they seem.
LIFE / Food & Drink
Mar 9, 2025

On Japan's top foodie site, imperfection is gold

Cultural expectations may influence ratings on Tabelog, but reading between the lines might help you find the next hidden gem.
Bar Bota, the 37th-floor watering hole at the Four Seasons Osaka, looks out on a glittering cityscape better known for its cheap eats and drinks.
LIFE / Food & Drink
Mar 9, 2025

Slowly but surely, Osaka emerges from Kyoto’s fine-dining shadow

The majority of tourists go to Osaka with street food on their minds, but the city is rapidly improve its elevated dining options as well.
Forbidden from seeing friends and forced to devote herself to housework, Reina (whose name has been changed), a 37-year-old Filipino national living in the city of Nagoya, became socially isolated.
JAPAN
Mar 7, 2025

Foreign single mothers struggle with language barriers and visas

Experts are urging the government to create a safer environment where these women can continue living in Japan without fear.
“May You Have Delicious Meals” focuses on a trio of young office workers at the same workplace who have mixed feelings for food and each other.
CULTURE / Books
Mar 8, 2025

‘May You Have Delicious Meals’: The ugly taste of office and gender politics

The English-language debut of Junko Takase’s Akutagawa Prize-winning novel serves complex prose in translation by Morgan Giles.
Ayako Urasawa shows a skirt with a pocket too shallow to hold a smartphone.
JAPAN / Society
Mar 7, 2025

Women in Japan call for clothing that has pockets

Many women's jackets, pants and skirts either lack pockets or have only shallow pockets.
Obstetrician and gynecologist Song Mihyon
JAPAN / Science & Health
Mar 7, 2025

Doctor urges awareness of a birth control pill covered by health insurance

“I think doctors need to tell their patients that a birth control pill covered by health insurance exists,” Song Mihyon said.
A welfare caseworker (Takumi Kitamura) heads down a dangerous path despite trying to do the right thing in “A Bad Summer.”
CULTURE / Film
Mar 7, 2025

‘A Bad Summer’: A scorching drama of simmering rage and its consequences

Hideo Jojo pushes into forbidden territory and navigates the darker currents of his latest film with assurance.
“The Place of Shells” takes place mostly in Gottingen, Germany, where both the author and the book's narrator live, while also jumping both geographically and temporally to Sendai, Japan, through memories of the 3/11 disaster and its aftermath.
CULTURE / Books
Mar 10, 2025

Grief ebbs and flows between two tragedies in 'The Place of Shells'

Mai Ishizawa’s debut novel, which won one of the three Akutagawa Prizes awarded in 2021, is also her first to be released in English, translated by Polly Barton.
Hiromi Okuda’s study abroad experience at the University of Mumbai inspired her to build a career at the intersection of social welfare and IT.
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / 20 QUESTIONS
Mar 7, 2025

Hiromi Okuda: 'Humans and emerging tech should exist symbiotically'

For the past 30 years, Hiromi Okuda has forged a career at the intersection of social welfare and technology.
Supporters of South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol hold placards showing a picture of Yoon during a rally near the Constitutional Court in Seoul on Feb. 25.
ASIA PACIFIC / Crime & Legal
Mar 7, 2025

South Korean court says Yoon can leave jail

The Seoul Central District Court accepted Yoon’s complaint against his arrest, it said Friday in a text message.
Ai Narabayashi, a member of the editorial department of Iwanami Shoten, the publisher of dictionary "Kojien," speaks during an interview in Tokyo in February.  Narabayashi said the dictionary has the duty to record the Japanese language without hiding anything and accurately explain the meaning behind words and phrases.
JAPAN / Society
Mar 7, 2025

Why an iconic Japanese dictionary chooses to retain misogynistic words

Publisher Iwanami Shoten considers it a duty for its "Kojien" dictionary to record and accurately explain the meaning and background of words and phrases.
The Nagasaki Prefectural Police headquarters in the city of Nagasaki. Nagasaki police have arrested a 54-year-old woman for allegedly locking her naked partner out on their balcony for the night three years ago, which led to the man's death from extreme cold.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Mar 7, 2025

Woman held over death of partner after locking him out naked on balcony

The temperature had fallen to a low of 3.7 degrees Celsius on the night of the incident in February 2022.
Kanagawa Prefectual Police headquarters in Yokohama
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Mar 7, 2025

Kawasaki man arrested for alleged murder in 2003

The arrest came after a skeletonized body was found in a bamboo forest in the city in 2010.
The illuminated advertising board of a host club in Tokyo's Kabukicho entertainment district. The bill approved by the government on Friday aims to ban hosts from emotionally manipulating customers into making excessive purchases — a common tactic in the industry.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Mar 7, 2025

Japan looks to crack down on host club exploitation with tighter regulations

Police received 2,776 consultations nationwide related to host clubs last year, with many involving women coerced into sex work to cover unpaid bills.
Shoshi Maekawa (center) speaks during a news conference in Kanazawa, Ishikawa Prefecture, on Thursday following the opening of his retrial.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Mar 7, 2025

Retrial ruling set for July 18 over 1986 murder in Fukui

In a hearing at the Kanazawa branch of the Nagoya High Court, Shoshi Maekawa said he was innocent of the junior high school student's murder.

Longform

Sumadori Bar on Shibuya Ward's main Center Gai street targets young customers who prefer low-alcohol drinks or abstain altogether.
Rethinking that second drink: Japan’s Gen Z gets ‘sober curious’