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Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC / Society
Feb 21, 2019

India's top court orders eviction of more than 1 million forest dwellers

India's Supreme Court has ordered the eviction of more than 1 million indigenous people and others who live in forests after the federal government failed to defend a law aimed at protecting their rights.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink
Feb 21, 2019

Inua scoops Arrival of the Year prize at the World Restaurant Awards

At the inaugural awards ceremony for The World Restaurant Awards (WRA) in Paris on Feb. 18, Tokyo-based Inua took home the Big Plate award for Arrival of the Year, a prize for new restaurants that opened between Sept. 1, 2017, and Sept. 30, 2018. Of the five Japan-based restaurants on the 2019 WRA shortlist,...
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Feb 21, 2019

U.S. and China are sketching out statements on six issues that could halt trade war, sources say

The United States and China have started to outline commitments in principle on the stickiest issues in their trade dispute, marking the most significant progress yet toward ending a seven-month trade war, according to sources familiar with the negotiations.
Japan Times
Rugby
Feb 21, 2019

Organizing committee chief Akira Shimazu hopes World Cup will be catalyst for growth

With half a year to go until the first-ever Rugby World Cup in Asia, organizing committee chief Akira Shimazu insisted that the hosts are focused on making the tournament in Japan a "ground-breaking" event.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Feb 21, 2019

Pyongyang purge: Kim reportedly shuffling team for nuclear talks following defections and alleged spying

Veteran North Korean diplomats are being sidelined from nuclear talks ahead of the second summit with the United States as recent defections and allegations of spying undermine the trust of leader Kim Jong Un, South Korean officials and experts say.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC
Feb 21, 2019

Daughter of missing North Korean diplomat Jo Song Gil has returned home, Italy says

North Korea informed Italy last year that the daughter of its acting ambassador had asked to return home after her father left his post in Rome, the Italian foreign ministry said on Wednesday.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Feb 21, 2019

Telling the musical story of Japan's ambient era

At the time, the Japanese music scene of the 1970s felt pretty flat to Daisuke Hinata. "But (then) Yellow Magic Orchestra (YMO) and Plastics came out, and we thought the market would open up for more new sounds," the Los Angeles-based musician tells The Japan Times. Along with three Japanese classmates...
Japan Times
WORLD / Science & Health
Feb 21, 2019

Why do zebras have stripes? Because they make bad landing strips for flies

Scientists are providing new evidence to answer the long-standing question about why zebras have stripes. It appears stripes make terrible landing strips, bamboozling the fierce blood-sucking flies that try to feast on zebras and carry deadly diseases.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Feb 21, 2019

Former New Zealand PM Jenny Shipley denies writing pro-China article in Communist Party paper

A former New Zealand prime minister has denied writing an article attributed to her by the official newspaper of China's ruling Communist Party that praised the Asian giant's economic development at a time of strained ties.
Japan Times
WORLD / Society
Feb 21, 2019

America bars entry of U.S.-born Islamic State propagandist held by Kurds in Syria, saying she isn't a citizen

An Alabama woman who joined the Islamic State group in Syria won't be allowed to return to the United States with her toddler son because she is not an American citizen, the U.S. said on Wednesday. Her lawyer is challenging that claim.
Japan Times
WORLD / Crime & Legal
Feb 21, 2019

U.S. Justice Department expecting to receive Robert Mueller report within days, sources tell CNN

The U.S. Department of Justice may announce as early as next week that special counsel Robert Mueller has given the attorney general his report on the federal Russia investigation, CNN said on Wednesday, citing unnamed sources.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Feb 21, 2019

Britain able to 'manage' Huawei risks and has no evidence of spying, cybersecurity official says

Britain is able to manage the security risks of using Huawei equipment in national telecoms networks and has not seen any evidence of malicious activity by the company, the head of Britain's National Cyber Security Centre said on Wednesday.
Japan Times
WORLD / Society
Feb 21, 2019

As population zooms toward 100 million, Egypt tells poor families 'Two is Enough'

Nesma Ghanem is hoping for a fourth child even though her doctor says her body can't handle a pregnancy at the moment. She has three daughters and would like them to have a brother.
EDITORIALS
Feb 20, 2019

Don't set the bar too low for North Korea

When they meet in Hanoi next week, Trump must get Kim to say to the world that he is willing to dismantle his nuclear weapons and that he is not waiting until the U.S. withdraws its nuclear umbrella.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Feb 20, 2019

Amazon's winner-take-all approach to small businesses

If small businesses are to survive in the digital age, the online economy can't be allowed to be winner-take-all.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Feb 20, 2019

Localization 101: How to release a Steven Soderbergh film in Japan

Hollywood sends its products all over the world but global audiences can have widely different experiences of the same Hollywood movie. In Italy, dubbing foreign films is standard; in Japan, subtitling is, though dubbing has become more common, especially for films targeted at younger audiences.
Japan Times
LIFE / Lifestyle
Feb 20, 2019

Heavy metal: Moonlighting knights and medieval swordplay in Tokyo

Jay Noyes, clad head to toe in the steel armor of a medieval knight, is steadily advancing toward me with a longsword, which he intends to hit me with.
SOCCER / J. League / J. LEAGUE NOTEBOOK
Feb 20, 2019

F. Marinos boss Ange Postecoglou seeks consistency in 2019

One of the many intriguing storylines heading into the 2019 J. League season is how much progress Yokohama F. Marinos can make after a season that thrilled and frustrated in equal measure.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics / ANALYSIS
Feb 20, 2019

Ahead of Trump-Kim summit, focus shifts from immediate denuclearization to longer-term approach

With the second North Korea-U.S. summit just a week away, the focus of that meeting has shifted from demands that Pyongyang immediately relinquish its nukes to whether the two parties have the wherewithal to lay the groundwork for such an ambitious goal in the long term, interviews with leading U.S....
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / BLACK EYE
Feb 20, 2019

The onus is still on us to be black history

A few years back, I wrote a piece for Black History Month in which I challenged people of African descent living here in Japan to "be black history." I implored them not to necessarily dwell on the past but to: "Dwell on the now instead. Because everything you do now becomes history and herstory the...
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Feb 20, 2019

China regulator requests pause in new video game applications to clear backlog

China's top content regulator has asked local authorities to stop submitting requests to monetize new video games while it processes a backlog of applications built up after a lengthy pause last year, three people with knowledge of the matter have said.
BUSINESS / Markets / CURRENCY MARKET
Feb 20, 2019

UBS wealth management unit still bullish on yen despite Bank of Japan chief's warning of further easing

The "sharply undervalued" yen is poised for a revival even after Bank of Japan Gov. Haruhiko Kuroda surprised markets by warning of further potential policy easing, according to UBS Global Wealth Management.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Feb 20, 2019

'Fly Me to the Saitama': Tokyo takes on its revolting neighbors

Places considered cool and uncool sometimes exist in uneasy proximity, like New York City and New Jersey — or Tokyo and Saitama. The prefecture adjacent to the Japanese capital has the image of being a land of boring commuter towns with no cultural attractions beyond shopping malls and family restaurants....

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