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Japan Times
LIFE / Japan Showcase / GREAT TAMBA AREA
Feb 7, 2014

Walking in the steps of samurai

There is no embellished castle tower to keep watch over Sasayama, a city ringed by the mountains of central HyogoPrefecture. Only thick stone walls mark the site where an early 17th-century fortress stood. Even in those days, the castle keep was a relatively unimpressive construction when compared to...
Japan Times
JAPAN
Feb 6, 2014

Tokyu launches Shibuya info page

Private railway Tokyu Corp. has opened a new Facebook page in five different languages to cash in on foreign interest in Shibuya, the soul of Japanese entertainment and youth fashion.
COMMENTARY / World
Feb 6, 2014

Hollande's split may scar the female electorate

French President Francois Hollande's glacial dismissal of the 'official' First Lady — 18 words long, including three uses of the personal pronoun 'I' — will do him no good with the French electorate.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Feb 6, 2014

'Mogura no Uta: Sennyu Sosakan Reiji (The Mole Song: Undercover Agent Reiji)'

Directors in a profitable rut often feel the urge to try something new, even though the box office tells them to keep making the same old. Sometimes a change of genre can work wonders. After grinding out 48 episodes of the "Tora-san" dramedy series, Yoji Yamada ventured into the feudal past for the first...
Japan Times
LIFE / Lifestyle / CHILD'S PLAY
Feb 6, 2014

Exploring a land designed with children in mind

There are pros and cons to raising a child in the heart of one of the most densely populated places on the planet.
COMMENTARY / World
Feb 4, 2014

South Korea's Japanese mirror

Japan and South Korea have similar social and economic problems. The difference is that South Korea may still have time to ameliorate some trends and avoid a quagmire of permanent low growth and long-term decline.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / TOKYO BAR ADVENTURE
Feb 4, 2014

Share a premium cocktail with man's best friend

Bar Black Sheep is a gem hidden in the middle of Shibuya for those who want to drink premium cocktails without having to empty their wallet. Customers are first greeted by the owner's dog, an adorable Shiba Inu that goes by the name Hana-chan and enjoys a pat on the head while you sip on the bar's original...
COMMUNITY / Voices / VIEWS FROM THE STREET
Feb 3, 2014

Tokyo: What do you make of the Japan Sumo Association's decision to charge fans $120 to watch live tournaments online?

The Japan Sumo Association has just introduced a pay-per-view system for live streams of top tournaments. Costing $10 per day and $15 for the final day, or $120 for the entire tournament, the concept drew sharp criticism from overseas fans.
COMMENTARY / COUNTERPOINT
Feb 1, 2014

Can local voices derail the Super Shinzo Express?

Voters in Nago, northern Okinawa Island, threw down the gauntlet on Jan. 19 when they reelected as mayor the incumbent, Susumu Inamine, a staunch opponent of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's plan to relocate the U.S. Marine Corps Air Station Futenma from the congested city of Ginowan in the south to the Henoko...
COMMENTARY / World
Feb 1, 2014

Climate change looks too big to ignore or fix

There are no global institutions even remotely capable of getting the world to reduce its energy consumption. So, unless we get a cheap, clean renewable, we're probably all going to be getting hotter.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Jan 31, 2014

Japan and China's great African game

It's no longer Western powers vying for African land and the continent's wealth as they had until the outbreak of World War I. The power struggle now is among Asian nations, most notably China and Japan.
JAPAN / Politics
Jan 31, 2014

Diet grills NHK boss on remarks

In a bid to dodge criticism that he is unqualified to lead NHK, its embattled president, Katsuto Momii, tells the Diet the contentious remarks at his first official press conference were not the broadcaster's official views but his own.
BUSINESS / Companies
Jan 31, 2014

Hitachi to top Canon's market value

Hitachi Ltd., which quit making TV sets in 2012 to focus on industrial-power and infrastructure units, is poised to surpass Canon Inc. in market value as camera sales are sapped by smartphones.
LIFE / Japan Showcase / GREAT TAMBA AREA
Jan 31, 2014

Sightseeing off the beaten track in rural Kyoto

Mere minutes after the Sagano Scenic Railway train leaves its terminus in the popular suburb of Arashiyama just outside Kyoto, civilization abruptly falls away. Behind us lies a metropolis of at least a million people; out the windows, the only signs of life are a few Japanese macaques cavorting among...
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Companies
Jan 30, 2014

SKY Perfect JSAT plans all-Japan channel in Indonesia

SKY Perfect JSAT Corp. announced Thursday it will launch a channel next month in Indonesia that will show Japanese programs around the clock to popularize Japanese content in the growing economy and promote Japan itself.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Voices / VIEWS FROM THE STREET
Jan 29, 2014

Osaka and Nagoya: What are your hopes for the year ahead?

The LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender) deaf community has trouble finding interpreters who know about LGBT issues. I hope to interpret at LGBT events and help spread interest in Japanese sign language.
Reader Mail
Jan 29, 2014

Statement will haunt NHK chief

It is regrettable that the new NHK chairman made such a controversial statement about "comfort women" during the war.
Japan Times
MORE SPORTS
Jan 29, 2014

Pro Bowl week improves Japanese coaches' football knowledge

A pair of Japanese coaches once again had the opportunity to experience football's highest level by being a part of Pro Bowl activities last week in Hawaii. This is the fourth consecutive year that the program has been held by the NFL in conjunction with the Hawaiian Tourism Authority.
COMMENTARY / World
Jan 28, 2014

Marijuana's sobering lessons from Prohibition

Like alcohol after the repeal of Prohibition, legal marijuana will be a profitable business kept on a tight leash. And we should expect the public health consequences tol be mixed, though hardly a disaster.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Companies
Jan 28, 2014

Venture capitalist eyes new $300 million fund

Gen Isayama grew up in Tokyo and then spent a decade working in the venture-capital business in Northern California. Now he's starting a $300 million fund aimed at blending the best of Silicon Valley and Japan.

Longform

Tetsuzo Shiraishi, speaking at The Center of the Tokyo Raids and War Damage, uses a thermos to explain how he experienced the U.S. firebombing of March 1945, when he was just 7 years old.
From ashes to high-rises: A survivor’s account of Tokyo’s postwar past