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Japan Times
LIFE / Language
Nov 5, 2018

A hiragana-kanji mix can make reading a lot easier

It's no news that Japanese writing is a complex affair. Apart from the sheer number of characters — 48 each for the hiragana and katakana syllabaries plus an almost open-ended number of kanji — there are also various rules about when to use what.
Japan Times
LIFE / Language / WELL SAID
Nov 5, 2018

A grammar point you won't need to be told twice

Today, we'll look at the Xu3088u3046u306bu8a00(u3044)u3046 pattern and some related expressions. Xu3088u3046u306bu8a00u3046 means to 'tell someone to do X,' and it's used when a person reports what they told someone to do, like how the mother told Takako to get milk.
JAPAN / EXPLAINER
Nov 5, 2018

To what extent will Japan's 2014 downturn repeat with the new tax hike?

The wallets of Japanese residents may get a little lighter next year, as the prices of most goods and services are set to rise under a new consumption tax system starting in October 2019.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Nov 5, 2018

Faced with worker shortage, Japan reshapes its legendary hospitality

Japan's capital expenditure boom is shifting to the services sector, stirring fears that self-checkout systems and software will take the human touch out of omotenashi, the country's vaunted commitment to hospitality.
JAPAN
Nov 5, 2018

Malicious descriptions about North and South Korean groups temporarily displayed on Google Maps

Malicious descriptions, such as one targeting the pro-Pyongyang General Association of Korean Residents in Japan, or Chongryon, were displayed temporarily on Google Maps, it was learned Sunday.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / INSIDER REPORT
Nov 5, 2018

'Sōgō shōsha': Navigating the changing currents of Japan's industries

The Tokyo Olympics in 1964 marked the emergence of Japan as a consumer economy with the population growing, incomes rising and the economy expanding. In fact, the Japanese economy averaged nearly 10 percent annual growth between 1957 and 1972. Sales of TVs, refrigerators, automobiles, and housing boomed....
Japan Times
JAPAN / Regional voices: Chubu
Nov 5, 2018

Superrealistic face masks by Japan firm attract attention from facial-recognition system developers

Superrealistic plastic face masks produced by a firm in Otsu, Shiga Prefecture, have recently attracted attention at home and abroad, from facial-recognition system developers to a Saudi Arabian royal family member.
BUSINESS
Nov 5, 2018

High-flying women are closing the exec pay gap with men in U.S., U.K.: report

High-flying women are catching up with men when it comes to executive pay but are still woefully underrepresented at the top of the working world, a pay comparison firm said on Monday.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Nov 5, 2018

Facebook tamped down on hoax sites but polarization and skewed news thrive

In February, the YourNewsWire page on Facebook was at its peak popularity, boosted by its salacious post claiming that Justin Trudeau, the Canadian prime minister, was Fidel Castro's love child.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Nov 5, 2018

Brazil media seen pulling punches as Jair Bolsonaro declares war on 'fake news' media's bottom line

For Brazil's right-wing President-elect Jair Bolsonaro, attacking critical press outlets almost daily on social media is not enough. Once in office, he vows to hit their bottom line.
Japan Times
WORLD / Society
Nov 5, 2018

Activists urge U.N. rights meeting this week to scrutinize China's treatment of Uighurs, Tibetans

Activists called for U.N. member states to pressure China this week to account for alleged human rights violations, including the suspected mass detention of 1 million Muslim Uighurs in far-western Xinjiang province.
Japan Times
BASKETBALL / B. League
Nov 4, 2018

Brex stomp Lakestars to maintain high-flying form

When the Tochigi Brex are in sync on offense, they are a very dangerous team.
JAPAN
Nov 4, 2018

Japan expects acceptance of 40,000 foreign workers in first year of proposed new visas rules: sources

Some 40,000 foreign workers are expected to be accepted in the first year the new visa categories go into effect, with the total rising to 250,000 after five years, government sources said Saturday.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / The Big Questions
Nov 4, 2018

Spearheading the next generation of entrepreneurs

Twenty-nine-year-old venture capitalist James Riney has some ideas on who may be the nation's next Mercari Inc.
BASEBALL / Japanese Baseball
Nov 4, 2018

Hawks rule the roost with dominating NPB title run

In the moments after the Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks clinched their second consecutive Japan Series title on Saturday, club chairman Sadaharu Oh was asked for his thoughts about this year's team.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Voices / COMMUNITY CHEST
Nov 4, 2018

An empty space on a Japanese train, a full mailbox of diverse views on the 'gaijin seat'

Baye McNeil's recent Black Eye column on the 'gaijin seat' garnered a great deal of attention. Here are some readers' responses.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / Japan
Nov 4, 2018

Good deflation: The right kind of intervention

Make no mistake — good deflation is an integral part of economic management in Japan.
EDITORIALS
Nov 4, 2018

Another reminder of North Korean rights abuses

It is important to remember that as the world engages Pyongyang, it must address the entirety of North Korean 'threats.'
BUSINESS / Economy / FOCUS
Nov 4, 2018

Japan’s busy year on trade likely to shake up the economy for years to come

The nation's deal makers are having a busy year, as the reincarnation of the Trans-Pacific Partnership moves a step closer to implementation and another trade pact may also be concluded.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Society
Nov 4, 2018

Aging Tokyo town lures young residents with offers of houses and land

An inconspicuous wooden teahouse stands midway on a winding road that connects the center of a remote mountainous town in western Tokyo to a scenic lake that supplies water to the capital.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Nov 4, 2018

Business and political leaders in Kyoto push for efforts to fight food loss

For Japan to achieve its goal of reducing household food waste by 50 percent by fiscal 2030 compared with 2000, consumers and manufacturers need to change how they think about food, participants at a recent meeting on food loss said.
Japan Times
WORLD / Politics
Nov 4, 2018

Twitter study finds coordinated pattern in misleading posts on U.S. voter fraud

With the U.S. midterm elections days away, researchers have identified what they called a coordinated network of Twitter accounts that are pushing false and misleading narratives about election integrity with hashtags like #VoterFraud.

Longform

Figure skater Akiko Suzuki was once told her ideal weight should be 47 kilograms, a number she now admits she “naively believed.” This led to her have a relationship with food that resulted in her suffering from anorexia.
The silent battle Japanese athletes fight with weight