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Japan Times
LIFE / Style & Design / ON: DESIGN
Aug 25, 2019

Enhancing the power of a flower

From elegant bud vases to innovative color-changing vessels, ceramists in Japan prove you don't need an elaborate bouquet to highlight flowers in the home.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Companies
Aug 22, 2019

Designer Thomas Heatherwick injects green relief into Tokyo's concrete jungle with new Mori project

Construction of a sprawling new property development for Mori Building Co. in central Tokyo, which will house Japan's tallest skyscraper at around 330 meters when completed in 2023, finally kicked off earlier this month after three decades of negotiations with landlords.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Aug 21, 2019

'Dance With Me': Short on laughs, but big on energy

The Japanese film industry has made many musical films, but almost no Hollywood-style musicals. One reason why is Eizo Sugawa's "You Can Succeed, Too" (1964), a singing, dancing salaryman musical inspired by the Broadway hit "How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying." Billed by the Toho studio...
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / Japan
Aug 14, 2019

Beating the heat at the Tokyo Olympics

Hosting the games will call on the best of Japanese expertise, innovation and imagination to bring out the best in the athletes competing in very challenging conditions.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / THE HIGH GROUNDS
Aug 10, 2019

10 coffee shops in Tokyo that are worth the buzz

This past year, The High Grounds has covered some of the most innovative coffee in Japan. This final entry in the series is only one fanatic's list of 10 places to get your coffee fix in the capital.
Japan Times
LIFE / Travel / BACKSTREET STORIES
Aug 2, 2019

The little curiosities of Monzen-Nakacho

From craft goods and antiques to unusual galettes and premium sake, Tokyo's Mon-Naka neighborhood has it all.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Jul 31, 2019

Fuji Rock '19: Janelle Monae, Vince Staples and Khruangbin lift soggy spirits

As the Green Stage went dark for Sia's Saturday night performance at this year's Fuji Rock, the downpour that had started around noon had already stolen the night.
Japan Times
LIFE / Travel
Jul 26, 2019

Nagano's famed Jonen mountain hut celebrates 100 years of stunning vistas

First opened in 1919, the Jonen-goya mountain hut is still going strong at 100 — offering adventurous hikers in Nagano Prefecture's Japan Alps a place to rest and recharge.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Jul 24, 2019

Tempalay pledges to put on a show at Fuji Rock

The recording of Tempalay's third full-length album, "With Love from the 21 Century," should have been a high point for lead vocalist and guitarist Ryoto Ohara. The group he fronts had climbed up the ranks of Japan's music community since forming in 2014, and even got a shout out from BTS, arguably the...
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Voices / FOREIGN AGENDA
Jul 24, 2019

Going in blind to Japan's Fuji Rock Festival

Our writer recalls heading to one of the country's biggest outdoor music festivals both as a first-timer and a blind Scotsman.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Jul 23, 2019

The art of play: Japan's history of fun

'Styles of Play: The History of Merrymaking in Art' at the Suntory Museum of Art delves into various amusements,with over 100 exhibits, ranging from the Muromachi Period (1392-1573) to the Edo Period (1603-1868).
JAPAN / Media / BIG IN JAPAN
Jul 20, 2019

New era aside, Showa nostalgia continues to keep rolling along

The new Reiwa Era is now into its third month and histories are starting to appear about the Heisei Era that preceded it. In late June, the publishing arm of the Mainichi Shimbun released a 384-page softcover book titled "Heisei-shi Zenkiroku" ("Chronicle 1989-2019"). The same week, the Nikkei Shimbun...
Japan Times
Rugby
Jul 20, 2019

Cheer song 'Daenzakura' unites players and fans

Music and sports are completely different fields. There are many situations, however, where their paths cross. Often it's music and songs that help cheer up fans and teams and allow supporters to develop strong bonds with the players and each other.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Voices / FOREIGN AGENDA
Jul 10, 2019

Tokyo is big, Kyoto is polite, but Osaka's for the Scots

Writer William Lang says the frankness and openness of Osakans is a common trait of the people he remembers from growing up in Glasgow.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Jul 8, 2019

At Harvard, thoughtcrime is now a punishable offense

In America all it takes to ruin your life is one bad decision. Even if you're just a kid.
Japan Times
LIFE / Language / BILINGUAL
Jul 8, 2019

Get in tune with the sound of Japanese vocabulary

Certain Japanese words sound like they should represent an action, can you guess what a word means by how it's pronounced?
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / Japan
Jul 4, 2019

Time to end BOJ's grand experiment?

Central banks are back on the center stage of the global economic policy debate. The U.S. Federal Reserve and the European Central Bank now appear ready to ease monetary policy — in a turnaround from just some months ago when people were looking for "exit" and additional rate hikes.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Jul 2, 2019

A musical pilgrimage to an adopted homeland with DYGL

Scroll through the comments under DYGL's videos on YouTube, and the same reaction comes up again and again: I could've sworn this lot were from England.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / NATURE'S PANTRY
Jun 29, 2019

On Shodoshima, one salt maker is reviving a lost art

With the end of Japan's decades-long government salt monopoly, the country's artisanal salt-makers are once again thriving.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Jun 26, 2019

'The Journalist': Uncovering the dark side of Japan

Before Donald Trump made "fake news" the buzzword of choice for dissemblers and autocrats, Japanese netizens were already starting to question the veracity of what they read in the papers, albeit for very different reasons.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / 20 QUESTIONS
Jun 22, 2019

David Wang: Designing a space between Asia and the world

Now that technology has made it so easy to get the word out, it's a great time for Japanese brands to join the Asian online marketplace says David Wang of Pinkoi.
Japan Times
LIFE / Lifestyle / CHILD'S PLAY
Jun 16, 2019

Mashiko: Pots of fun for kids and parents

Young children and ceramics are not an obvious mix — the former having an alarming tendency to break the latter the second they come into contact with one another. But there is one situation when combining the two works like magic: children's pottery classes.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Jun 12, 2019

Dai Watanabe: Forging his own path, away from the familiar

Though he rarely acknowledges the fact in public, Dai Watanabe is the son of Ken Watanabe: arguably Japan's most internationally known actor since Toshiro Mifune. Among Japanese media, the fact is common knowledge, though in interviews with Watanabe junior, the subject is often off-limits.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC / Crime & Legal
Jun 11, 2019

Tokyo Detention House, in spotlight after Carlos Ghosn's extended stay, rejects criticisms

The case against Nissan Motor Co.'s former Chairman Carlos Ghosn has recently put Japan's controversial criminal justice and detention system in the spotlight, provoking calls for an overhaul of procedures that keep suspects in detention longer if they continue to deny allegations made against them....
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Jun 11, 2019

Press freedom: 'No one is above the law' is a slogan, not a policy

Blowing the whistle on state crimes is not a threat to national security; only to the reputation of ministers and generals.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Companies
Jun 10, 2019

Employees sour on Tesla amid cost-cutting and layoffs

Tesla Inc's rankings at two high-profile job websites have declined, suggesting that job dissatisfaction at the electric car company is intensifying amid layoffs, strategy shifts and executive turnover.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Jun 4, 2019

Ryuji Miyamoto: Looking back to go forward

'Invisible Land' at the TOP Museum doesn't showcase Ryuji Miyamoto's best-known works. Instead, it offers insight into the photographer's development of a style that led to international recognition.

Longform

Rock group The Yellow Monkey played K-Arena Yokohama in June as part of a nationwide tour. Concerts are increasingly popular in the age of social media as users value in-person experiences.
Inside Japan’s arena boom: Sports, sound and city-building