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Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC
Oct 31, 2020

U.S. says coronavirus can’t be controlled. China aims to prove it wrong.

The United States is hitting records in daily coronavirus cases. But China, the country first afflicted with the scourge, is having a different experience.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Oct 30, 2020

Filmmaker Eiji Han Shimizu finds his 'True North' in animated film about North Korea

Eiji Han Shimizu seeks to accurately reflect the experiences of prisoners in North Korean camps with his animated film.
Japan Times
WORLD
Sep 15, 2020

Jack ‘Murph the Surf’ Murphy, heist mastermind, dies at 83

He called himself "Murph the Surf,” a tanned, roguish, party-loving beach boy from Miami, and he transfixed the nation in 1964 by pulling off the biggest jewel heist in New York City history — the celebrated snatching of the Star of India, a sapphire larger than a golf ball, and a haul of other gems...
Japan Times
LIFE / Digital
Aug 2, 2020

Japan on air: The best podcasts about the Land of the Rising Sun

The Japan Times' recommendations for nine Japan-related podcasts, covering everything from the day's headlines to language and culture.
Japan Times
CULTURE
Jun 19, 2020

YouTuber Laranzo Dacres highlights the experience of being Black in Japan

The YouTube channel The Black Experience Japan explores the lives of black people living in Japan through interviews and a journalistic approach.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / Japan
May 15, 2020

Changing lifestyles and nightlife in Japan's post-pandemic 'new normal'

Like it or not, our world is going to be different moving forward, and some of the biggest changes may be in Japan's entertainment districts.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / Japan
Apr 7, 2020

How to embrace the spirit of altruism

Success in life or work is determined by attitude multiplied by effort and ability.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Feb 14, 2020

'Shape of Red' shows what Japanese women really want

Yukiko Mishima addresses the dangers of traditional gender roles with her latest film, 'Shape of Red,' adapted from a Rio Shimamoto novel.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Entertainment news
Feb 6, 2020

Kirk Douglas, Hollywood's tough guy on screen and off, dead at 103

Kirk Douglas, the cleft-chinned movie star who fought gladiators, cowboys and boxers on the screen and the Hollywood establishment, died on Wednesday at the age of 103, his son Michael Douglas said.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / WHY DID YOU LEAVE JAPAN?
Jan 25, 2020

Hiroko Tanahashi: A journey from film studies to multimedia art

Inspired by manga featuring New York, Francis Ford Coppola's 'The Godfather' and the diversity of Western cities, Hiroko Tanahashi moved to the U.S. and Germany to pursue multimedia arts.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Books / 2010S: DECADE IN REVIEW
Nov 2, 2019

Our critics' favorite Japanese books of the decade

As 2020 approaches, The Japan Times' book reviewers look back at a decade of literature and their favorite and most impactful books written about Japan or by Japanese writers.
Japan Times
LIFE / Lifestyle / WHY DID YOU LEAVE JAPAN?
Oct 26, 2019

Miho Beck connects cultures with travel

Miho Beck's encounter with some heavy metal fans in an English pub in Manchester provided the lightbulb moment that redefined the way she thought about travel, eventually leading to the start of her travel experience platform, TripJunction, some 25 years later.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / WHY DID YOU LEAVE JAPAN?
Oct 12, 2019

Leaving the urban jungle for northern wilds

Having traded city life in Tokyo for the nature of Chena, Alaska, Masako Tokida says she can't imagine returning to an urban existence in Japan any more.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Sep 11, 2019

Actress Honoka Matsumoto is tackling tough issues on her journey to the top

22-year-old Honoka Matsumoto's latest film looks at the issue of same-sex marriage in Japan, one of a number of difficult topics the actress has taken on in her roles
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Economy / TICAD 7 Special
Aug 27, 2019

A messenger in name and actions

"I want people to feel happy through music," said singer Misia, who endeavors to bridge Africa and Japan through the power of music.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / WHY DID YOU LEAVE JAPAN?
Aug 24, 2019

Atsuko Kuwana: Jumping in at the deep end

Disability, Kuwana says, is no barrier to achieving goals in life
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / WHY DID YOU LEAVE JAPAN?
Aug 17, 2019

Shiori Aiba: Getting the right paperwork

Life in Berlin inspires textile designer Aiba to branch out into jewelry.
JAPAN / Media / BIG IN JAPAN
May 18, 2019

Aging population spurs drive to tidy nation's cluttered homes

KonMari? Let's, by all means.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / Japan
May 13, 2019

On migrants and belonging

There are some strategies by which Japanese and foreign advocates for migrants can argue for their rights to work and belong in Japan.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / TELLING LIVES
May 8, 2019

Photographing Tokyo's human side: Isaac Aquino finds an 'interloper' in us all

Isaac Aquino has just quit his job as a reporter, and he seems quite pleased with himself. The soft-spoken Filipino recently decided to go all in on Tokyo Interlopers, an Instagram account he launched three years ago, by focusing on a business MBA.
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 / Science & Health / NATURAL SELECTIONS
Mar 22, 2019

How many times do we have to die before we are dead?

Thanatometabolomics, a new field of science that looks at how biomarkers can help determine time of death, brings up new questions on the definition of 'dead'
Japan Times
JAPAN / Media / Japan Pulse
Mar 9, 2019

Spotify has one eye on untapped podcast market in Japan

Spotify paid nearly $340 million to acquire podcast producer Gimlet Media and services provider Anchor in deals disclosed to the Securities and Exchange Commission last month, prompting analysts to start considering what this all meant for the industry.
Japan Times
WORLD / Science & Health
Feb 12, 2019

Earth's earliest mobile organisms lived 2.1 billion years ago, Gabon shale fossils indicate

Scientists have discovered in 2.1-billion-year-old black shale from a quarry in Gabon the earliest evidence of a revolutionary development in the history of life on Earth, the ability of organisms to move from one place to another on their own.
In 2020, 38% of all households were single-person. That figure is projected to rise to 44.3% by 2050.
JAPAN / Society / Longform
Jul 21, 2025

The rise of AI companionship in a lonely Japan

AI chatbots are becoming stand-ins for pets and partners — offering comfort, connection and raising new concerns.
Reporters and photographers, including long-time baseball beat writer Keizo Konishi, swarm around Ichiro Suzuki during the World Baseball Classic in San Diego in 2009.
BASEBALL / MLB
Jul 27, 2025

Three decades and a pile of notebooks: The beat writer who chronicled Ichiro’s career

For nearly three decades, this journalist's job revolved around one man — Ichiro Suzuki. But covering the baseball legend was never boring.
Hajime Kawano and his family traveled from Japan to see Ichiro Suzuki be inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, New York, on Sunday.
BASEBALL / MLB
Jul 28, 2025

Ichiro's Hall of Fame induction becomes family affair for some fans

Some traveled from Japan to the United States to be part of Ichiro's big moment.
Kunshiro Kiyozumi, 97, who was the youngest crew member of the Imperial Japanese Navy submarine I-58 in World War II, on his way to a restaurant to have lunch in Matsuyama, Japan, on April 29.
JAPAN / History
Jul 29, 2025

Last soldiers of Imperial Japanese Army have a warning for younger generations

"In their last breaths, no one shouted for the long life of the emperor,” said one veteran about his comrades. "They called out for their mothers, whom they would never see again.”
Ralph Edwards (far left), Capt. Robert Lewis (rear left), Bertha Starkey (rear center), Marvin Green (rear right), Kiyoshi (seated, left) and Chisa Tanimoto (seated, right), Koko Kondo (front left) and her three younger siblings, on the show “This Is Your Life,” on May 11, 1955
JAPAN / History / FOCUS
Aug 12, 2025

How an A-bomb survivor found forgiveness for Hiroshima bombers

Koko Kondo’s anger was extinguished when she saw the co-pilot of the Enola Gay bomber recall with regret what he and his crew had done on Aug. 6, 1945.

Longform

Members of the nonprofit group Japan Youth Memorial Association search for the remains of dead soldiers in a cave in Okinawa Prefecture in February.
The long search for Japan’s lost soldiers