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Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Mar 15, 2016

'Kuniyoshi & Kunisada: From the Collection of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston'

Ukiyo-e prints were once the equivalent of today's TV shows and magazines. During the Edo Period (1603- 1868), they often illustrated kabuki theater stars and portrayed the latest fashion trends, even at times serving as cosmetics catalogs or tourist guidebooks.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Mar 14, 2016

Smartphone gamers blow small fortune on their obsession

Just before the New Year holiday in Japan, ads for a smartphone game called Granblue Fantasy began appearing on television and in magazines.
Japan Times
JAPAN / CHUBU CONNECTION
Mar 14, 2016

Aichi firm touts automated driving technology

Aisin Seiki Co. is putting its automated driving technology to practical use by developing a system that can pull a vehicle safely to the side of a road if the driver becomes suddenly incapacitated.
COMMUNITY / Issues / LAW OF THE LAND
Mar 13, 2016

Making an impression in Japan: a hanko primer

Everything you wanted to know about chops, from cheapo ¥100-shop seals to the Privy Seal of Japan, which is wielded by the Emperor and hewn from pure gold.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Companies
Mar 8, 2016

SoftBank to split responsibility for Japan, overseas operations

SoftBank Group Corp. plans to divide its Japanese and overseas operations, splitting the responsibility for managing some ¥9.2 trillion of investments spanning the broadband and mobile industries and a stake in China's largest Internet-shopping service.
ASIA PACIFIC
Feb 29, 2016

Indonesia demolishes capital's largest red-light district

Bulldozers started demolishing hundreds of buildings in the Indonesian capital's largest red-light district on Monday as part of a nationwide effort to eradicate prostitution in the world's most populous Muslim-majority nation.
Japan Times
WORLD / Politics
Feb 28, 2016

Canadians gear up to handle any influx of Americans if Trump wins presidency

Americans have said it many times before when eyeing a White House prospect they view as unpalatable: "If that guy is elected president, I'm moving to Canada!"
Japan Times
BASKETBALL
Feb 28, 2016

Japan helping rise of 3x3 basketball

Japan hasn't really appeared on the global map in basketball's conventional five-man game.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Media / BIG IN JAPAN
Feb 27, 2016

Rocket tests have Japanese media wondering: How do you solve a problem like (North) Korea?

North Korea — what to make of it? Nobody knows. In an age of secrecy stripped bare, it has succeeded in being unfathomable. It's horrible — on that most observers agree; but how horrible? To what purpose? In spite of, or because of, what obstacles to its survival?
Japan Times
Rugby
Feb 27, 2016

Fans enjoy experience of Sunwolves' Super Rugby debut

The end result wasn't what they had hoped for, but the Sunwolves' Super Rugby debut drew a large throng of fans, both Japanese and foreign, and it gave them a lot of excitement at the Prince Chichibu Memorial Rugby Ground in Tokyo on Saturday afternoon.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Feb 25, 2016

2014 Sony Pictures hackers linked to assaults elsewhere, investigators say

The perpetrators of the 2014 cyberattack on Sony Pictures Entertainment were not activists or disgruntled employees, and likely had attacked other targets in China, India, Japan and Taiwan, according to a coalition of security companies that jointly investigated the Sony case for more than a year.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Feb 19, 2016

The only thing Gesu no Kiwami Otome. is guilty of is padding 'Ryoseibai'

Gesu no Kiwami Otome. (the full stop is included in the name) entered the year fresh off a Japan Record Award nomination and a solid debut on NHK's "Kohaku Uta Gassen," the country's defining music program. With the band's second album, "Ryoseibai," set for release in mid-January Gesu was in the middle...
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / THE UNRELIABLE FOOD CRITIC
Feb 19, 2016

A new ceremony for tea in the rundown heart of Osaka

In Japan — especially in Japan — food and drink have always been about more than merely nutrition or a mere succession of tastes. They have also been a pretext for bringing people together in social rituals that don't have to be ancient, formal or solemn: rituals focused on food and drink can also...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Feb 17, 2016

Breaking into and out of Japanese show biz

Eiji Uchida's scabrous new comedy about the struggles of a down-and-out indie film director, "Lowlife Love" ("Gesu no Ai"), confirms what I have known for years: Japanese show business can be brutal to the weak or clueless. They end up used and discarded, like so many human Kleenexes.
BUSINESS / TRAVEL INSIDER
Feb 16, 2016

Garuda adds luxury seats; Cathay offering discounts; China Airlines expands flights

Garuda adds luxury seats
Japan Times
LIFE / Lifestyle / CHILD'S PLAY
Feb 13, 2016

Trust robots to keep the kids occupied

'Can we go to the park?" In our household, this refrain is heard almost as frequently as "I want ice cream" and "I don't want to go to bed."
BASEBALL / Japanese Baseball / HIT AND RUN
Feb 8, 2016

Disgraced Kiyohara's situation similar to that of former pitcher Enatsu

Last week, a bat used by Kazuhiro Kiyohara during his high school days was removed from an exhibition celebrating the long and rich history of high school baseball at Koshien Stadium.
EDITORIALS
Feb 7, 2016

Investigators' abuse of DNA testing

DNA evidence in criminal cases must be handled in a more secure and transparent manner to ensure justice is served.
Japan Times
SOCCER / PREMIER REPORT
Feb 5, 2016

Mourinho makes most sense for Manchester United

So, it will have to be Jose Mourinho then.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives
Feb 5, 2016

Chiaki Hara reaches out to cancer survivors

Things were looking good for Chiaki Hara at the start of 2005. She was an accomplished actress, having starred in the 1997 tragic romance "Shitsurakuen" ("Lost Paradise") and 2002' drama "Aiki," and her profile as a social commentator was also on the rise. Then, at the age of 30, she was diagnosed with...
Japan Times
BASEBALL / MLB
Feb 4, 2016

Lucchino says MLB not an easy move for Japanese players

Larry Lucchino is very comfortable in Japan and it's no wonder why. Lucchino presided over one of the most successful periods in the history of the Boston Red Sox franchise, as the team's president and CEO from 2002-2015, and many of the Japanese players he helped bring on board played a role during...
BUSINESS / Tech
Feb 4, 2016

Meet the man who's making virtual reality feel more real

As a student at the University of Bristol, Tom Carter became obsessed with a seemingly impossible notion: letting people feel and manipulate virtual objects. A professor turned him on to an esoteric concept — using ultrasound to simulate tactile sensations — that was floated and abandoned back in...
BUSINESS / Economy
Feb 3, 2016

Economist says pre-bout parade of sumo sponsors gives clues to Japan Inc.'s health

When the giants of sumo wrestling prepared to step into the ring for last month's grand tournament in Tokyo, Akiyoshi Takumori fired up his spreadsheet.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Feb 1, 2016

Time for Japan's academia and media to wake up

Japan's media and academia are failing in their duty to question government policies.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Jan 31, 2016

Kyary ride does its part for 'Cool Japan'

"Cool Japan Heats Up" declares a sign welcoming visitors to an area of Universal Studios Japan (USJ) devoted to the country's hottest pop culture exports.
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Jan 30, 2016

NHK may need to rethink its 'taiga' formula

An article that appeared in December in the Yomiuri Shimbun weighed the prospects for the 2016 edition of NHK's year-long historical taiga drama series, which premiered Jan. 10. "Sanada Maru" is the title of the 55th marathon show, and the name of a fortification added on to Osaka Castle to protect it...
JAPAN / Politics
Jan 27, 2016

Abe stands by Amari but expects embattled minister to explain cash for favors allegation

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe stands by embattled economy minister Akira Amari, but says Amari has a duty to account for allegations of graft.

Longform

A small shrine perched atop rocks braves the waves hitting the shoreline during a storm in Shimoda, Shizuoka Prefecture. The area is under threat of a possible 31-meter-high tsunami if an earthquake strikes the nearby Nankai Trough.
If the 'Big One' hits, this city could face a 31-meter-high tsunami