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BUSINESS / Companies
Apr 4, 2019

SoftBank to seek $15 billion more for huge Saudi-backed Vision Fund

For SoftBank Group Corp., $100 billion (¥11 trillion) isn't enough. The conglomerate, which has reshaped the technology startup landscape with its Saudi-backed Vision Fund, is in talks with investors to add as much as $15 billion more to its already massive fund, according to people familiar with the...
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / THE FOREIGN ELEMENT
Apr 3, 2019

'Tell a friend, bring a friend, make a friend' at Speakeasy

When you move to a new city, it can be hard to find your crowd. That task is made even harder the more complex your identity is.
JAPAN / Politics
Apr 2, 2019

What's in a name? Reiwa reflects today's politics, Japan's cultural history and a social philosophy

Media hype over Reiwa, the newly announced name for the upcoming era, continued unabated Tuesday. At the same time, a majority of people appeared to happily welcome the name, which means "auspicious" (rei) and "peace" or "harmony" (wa).
JAPAN / Politics
Apr 1, 2019

Reiwa: Japan reveals name of new era ahead of Emperor's abdication

In a much-awaited moment that heralded the approach of a new chapter in Japan's history, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga announced Monday that the new Imperial era will be named Reiwa, in one of the final steps toward initiating the nation's first Imperial succession in three decades.
EDITORIALS
Mar 30, 2019

Ensure the elderly are driving safe

Traffic accidents involving senior drivers are a serious problem that must be addressed as elderly license holders will continue to increase alongside Japan's rapid aging.
Japan Times
WORLD / Politics
Mar 23, 2019

Hundreds of thousands march in London to demand new Brexit referendum

Hundreds of thousands of people opposed to Britain's withdrawal from the European Union marched through central London on Saturday to demand a new referendum as the deepening Brexit crisis risked sinking Prime Minister Theresa May's premiership.
EDITORIALS
Mar 23, 2019

'Indirect' deaths from disasters

The government can and should do more to prevent disasters from killing people who survive the initial danger.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Media / Japan Pulse
Mar 16, 2019

Alarming results in literacy survey stir debate on social media in Japan

A Feb. 16 report on the country’s literacy has been causing a stir on social media, prompting a number of users to warn of impending intellectual doom.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC
Mar 16, 2019

Suspect in Christchurch shootings charged with murder in first court appearance

The main suspect in mass shootings at two New Zealand mosques was charged with one count of murder a day after an attack that killed 49 people and wounded dozens, prompting the prime minister to vow reform of the country's gun laws.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Mar 14, 2019

Building walls of futility

Trump, the fence builder of the West, would be wise to remember the fate of the Soviet Union.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Regional Voices: Hiroshima
Mar 13, 2019

Is flashing the peace sign in front of the Hiroshima A-bomb memorial appropriate?

The newsroom of the Chugoku Shimbun recently received a letter of complaint from a 76-year-old whose daily ritual is to take a stroll around the Hiroshima Peace Memorial every morning.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / Japan
Mar 12, 2019

Heisei Era: Slow decline or hope for new collaboration?

How Japanese view the Hesei Era varies by generation, with young people having a more positive image of it than older generations.
Japan Times
JAPAN / GENERATIONAL CHANGE
Mar 12, 2019

Entrepreneur's message to Japan's forgotten non-college-educated youth: You can choose your life

It wasn't until he turned 18 that Daisuke Kuse saw businessmen dressed in dapper suits up close and personal. Until then, Kuse — having spent all of his childhood surrounded by working-class families and friends in a small town in Kyoto Prefecture — had barely the foggiest idea of who they were....
EDITORIALS
Mar 11, 2019

Eight years after the 3/11 disasters

The restoration of infrastructure crippled in the disasters may be nearly completed after eight years, but the rebuilding of people's lives disrupted by the catastrophe, including psychological support for them, remains an ongoing challenge.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Mar 9, 2019

The fight against HIV isn't over yet

The virus has been eradicated from a second patient. In the 20 years since the first cure, the science of prevention and management has transformed.
Japan Times
JAPAN / 3/11: Moving forward
Mar 8, 2019

Tohoku tours shed light on life in the aftermath of the 3/11 tsunami and Fukushima nuclear disaster

This is the second in a series examining how the northeast and the nation are progressing with efforts to deal with the March 2011 earthquake, tsunami and nuclear crisis.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Science & Health
Mar 4, 2019

Blind Japanese inventor harnessing technology to improve lives of visually impaired

Dr. Chieko Asakawa's life motto: Make the impossible possible — by never giving up.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Feb 24, 2019

All the American presidents' pronouns

U.S. leaders' rhetoric has grown less analytical over the past century and more confident. But Trump may be as far as that trend can go.
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...
COMMENTARY / World
Feb 12, 2019

How good advice on skin cancer can be bad for your blood pressure

A lack of sun puts darker-skinned people at greater risk for hypertension.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / WHY DID YOU LEAVE JAPAN?
Feb 9, 2019

Yu Nakamura: A sweet affinity between Japan and Thailand

An entrepreneur and cultural innovator, Yu Nakamura helps Thai farmers with her coconut sugar business.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / 20 QUESTIONS
Feb 9, 2019

Tatsuhiko 'Ryu' Akashi knows you're never too old to play

Medicom Toy's urban vinyl and other designer toys keep the inner kids alive in their adult fans.
COMMENTARY / World
Feb 9, 2019

How much is your pet worth?

The cold calculus of 'loss aversion' economic theory gives the wrong answer.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Feb 8, 2019

The best diet for the planet isn't the best for humans

If you listened to Mother Earth, you'd probably eat more corn and soy than nutritionists suggest.
COMMUNITY / Voices / FOREIGN AGENDA
Feb 6, 2019

Japanese law needs to catch up with the realities of trans life

Last month, the Supreme Court ruled that the current law for gender transition is constitutional, though it registered that this law may fail to align with our current society. The law requires people wishing to change their official gender to be unmarried, have no minor children, be surgically sterilized...
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Feb 5, 2019

Facebook bums us out, but we'll pay for it anyway

Those who deactivated their accounts for a month were less anxious and depressed.
CULTURE
Feb 5, 2019

Game for a laugh: Learning to become a manzai comedian

As I stand in the cramped wooden gangway at the side of the stage, going over my lines in a frantic whisper, I am reminded of something that American comedian Patrick Harlan had told me when we first met four months ago.

Longform

After pandemic-era border regulations eased, Indian migrants began returning to Japan. Their population now stands at more than 50,000 across the country.
How remote work is rewriting the migrant experience in Japan