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Japan Times
Events / Events Outside Tokyo
Jun 12, 2014

The world could be your oyster in Aichi

In Peru, the largest Incan festival, Inti Raymi (Festival of Sun), takes place on June 25 in honor of Inti, the sun god. In Japan, those in Aichi Prefecture on June 14 and 15 can celebrate, too, by enjoying performances by the Andean folk trio Ekekos, who will honor Inti by playing traditional panflutes...
Reader Mail
Jun 11, 2014

Outsider's remedy for Yasukuni

Occasionally an outsider might help resolve a contentious issue. As an American citizen with great respect for Japan, I would like to offer some thoughts about Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's visit in December to Yasukuni Shrine, which is dedicated to soldiers who died in service to Japan, and how Japan...
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Jun 11, 2014

Pokemon ring, Sailor Moon stick are among top toys

Takara Tomy's Pokemon Mega Ring was declared best boys' toy in this year's Japan Toy Prize contest, it was announced Tuesday.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC
Jun 10, 2014

Trial of Sewol crew begins, as captain of sunken ferry called 'murderer'

The trial for 15 crew of a South Korean ferry that sank in April, killing more than 300 people, most of them children, began Tuesday on charges ranging from negligence to homicide, with the word "murderer" ringing out as the captain entered the court.
Japan Times
SOCCER / World cup
Jun 10, 2014

Brazil ready to take on world's best on home turf

The World Cup kicks off on Thursday (Friday, Japan time) in the country that has won the tournament more times than any other — Brazil. Thirty-two teams will compete over the next month for a place in the final at Rio de Janeiro's Maracana Stadium on July 13.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / TELLING LIVES
Jun 10, 2014

Blue-eyed Austrian finds calling at shrine

Walking through the torii, or gateway, to the quiet and serene Konnoh Hachimangu Shrine in Tokyo's Shibuya Ward — minutes away from the hustle and bustle of Shibuya's main "scramble crossing" — and being welcomed by a blond and blue-eyed Shinto priest seems almost surreal.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink
Jun 10, 2014

The Kyoto neighborhood where dessert is the main course

Kitayama is five stops on the subway from downtown Kyoto, but it might as well be a million miles away for the tourists who trudge around the city in search of Kyoto tropes: temples, shrines, teahouses and geishas who are more than likely tourists dressed up for the day.
LIFE / Food & Drink / DESSERT WATCH
Jun 10, 2014

A chocolate ice cream dessert you may never forget

Eating Avalanche (¥1,350) at the Marunouchi Ozao branch of Belgian patisserie Debailleul is like falling in love. You can't get the treat off your mind and the silly grin off your face. As bitter hot chocolate is poured onto it, the spherical chocolate shell melts and crumbles away like an avalanche,...
Japan Times
JAPAN / Science & Health / ADVANCES IN PROGRESS
Jun 9, 2014

Algae underfunded in energy hunt

Could algae power your car? In the search for new energy sources, scientists are turning the green goo into oil.
Japan Times
LIFE / Style & Design
Jun 9, 2014

Be-Japon recycles traditional culture to survive modernity

Perhaps it's a case of, "Be careful what you wish for."
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Companies
Jun 8, 2014

Sony urges vigorous FIFA probe of Qatar World Cup 'bribes'

Sony Corp. became the first World Cup sponsor to call for a thorough investigation into accusations bribes were paid to secure the 2022 tournament for Qatar, raising pressure on soccer chiefs who have threatened to move the event if the allegations are proved true.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Media / BIG IN JAPAN
Jun 7, 2014

Japan's salarymen are bored to tears

It seems odd to be talking about boredom in such interesting times. Are you bored? Almost certainly you are, if Spa! magazine's insights are reliable. Polling 2,052 mid-career (age 35-45), moderately prosperous (annual income ¥4 million-¥6 million) businessmen (sic, men only), it found no fewer than...
COMMENTARY / Japan / COUNTERPOINT
Jun 7, 2014

Abe touts immigration, but refugees get shunned

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe may be considering letting down the drawbridges for 200,000 immigrants a year in order to offset Japan's declining population and boost the economy. At this year's Davos World Economic Forum, Abe stated that Japan needs more foreigners, but accepting enough to make a difference...
EDITORIALS
Jun 7, 2014

Global obesity: a growing crisis

A new global study showing that one-third of the world is now overweight shows that a global health crisis is imminent unless urgent steps are taken. For what it's worth, Japanese adults are the least obese among the industrialized countries.
Japan Times
WORLD / Crime & Legal
Jun 7, 2014

U.S. federal judge strikes down Wisconsin ban on gay marriage

A federal judge deemed Wisconsin's ban on same-sex marriage unconstitutional on Friday to the delight of gay couples who immediately began rushing to county offices to wed as word of the ruling spread.
JAPAN
Jun 6, 2014

Couple consider split after tiff over 'Frozen'

A Japanese businessman draws support after his wife threatens to divorce him because he didn't fall head over heels for the movie 'Frozen.'
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Markets
Jun 6, 2014

Zombie firms pressured to act

The government is targeting stagnant companies that lack the will to grow and has drafted a plan to help institutional investors pressure them into pursuing growth more aggressively.
COMMENTARY / World
Jun 6, 2014

U.S.-Taliban deal raises six intertwined issues

What should have been a joyous American family reunion, a chance to welcome home an army sergeant held by the Taliban for five years and a photo-op for a beleaguered U.S. administration is instead morphing into multilayered debate about Barack Obama's common sense when it comes to foreign policy.
EDITORIALS
Jun 6, 2014

Public pension reforms

A new labor and welfare ministry report highlights the possible need to extend the period during which workers pay premiums into national pension plans so that the benefits paid out to retirees can help sustain retirees' livelihoods at the levels promised.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Jun 5, 2014

Top retailers reach crossroads in labor shortage shakeout

Don Quijote and Uniqlo, two of the nation's best-known mass-market retailers, aren't waiting for the government's new growth policies due later this month before implementing their own labor reforms.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Jun 5, 2014

'Sad Tea'

Ensemble dramas about the ups and downs of love, and its various substitutes, are popular now — at least with indie filmmakers. (A contrast to Japan's commercial romantic dramas, which still focus on star-crossed couples, one of whom is usually dead by the closing credits.)
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Jun 5, 2014

'Balancing Act'

It's a sad, anxious world when a hard-working dad has no choice but to sleep in his car and eat at a soup kitchen. Such is the fate of 40-year-old Giulio (Valerio Mastandrea), whose act of infidelity (sex with a colleague in the archives room of the Rome city office where he works) causes a deep, irreparable...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Jun 5, 2014

'The Grand Budapest Hotel'

Wes Anderson has always been a bit of a mystery to me. His films are remarkably consistent in their approach and stylistic idiosyncrasies, yet they seem equally capable of leaving me rapturous ("Moonrise Kingdom") or cold ("The Darjeeling Limited"). I'm not alone here: Check out any fan's list of Anderson...
COMMENTARY / World
Jun 5, 2014

Forget self-driving cars, make me a cyborg

A finance professor and sci-fi fan thinks that the next big technology is 'cyborg technology' but that the press is ignoring it. It will include a number of health care technologies involving the integration of living tissue with engineered machinery.

Longform

An illustration features the Japanese signs for "ganbare" (good luck) and the Deaflympics, which will be held between Nov. 15 and 26.
A century of Deaf sport finds its moment in Tokyo