Search - special

 
 
Japan Times
LIFE / Lifestyle
Oct 29, 2014

Stretch your fright nights right into the weekend

This year, many people in Japan celebrated Halloween early. Last weekend saw parades, parties and trick-or-treating at special events across the country, but for those who grew up in places that historically celebrate the holiday, Oct. 25 may have been a bit too soon to get spooked.
EDITORIALS
Oct 27, 2014

Ending maternity harassment

A Supreme Court ruling last week underscores the fact that nearly three decades since the enactment of Japan's law on equal employment opportunities regardless of gender, the nation still lacks effective ways to prevent women from being forced to abandon career paths once they become pregnant.
Japan Times
LIFE / Style & Design
Oct 25, 2014

Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week Tokyo: young blood

Ten years have now passed since Tokyo first strutted its stuff on the international catwalk and yet the metropolis still lacks the pulling power of rivals such as Milan, New York and Paris. As if the domestic industry didn't have enough on its plate, the wheels threatened to come off the spring/summer...
Japan Times
LIFE / Travel / BACKSTREET STORIES
Oct 25, 2014

Dead reckoning in the haunts of Honancho

Halloween in Tokyo rarely gets scarier than the price of imported pumpkins, but I've heard that Honancho — a terminal station on the Marunouchi subway line — hosts an uber-spooky obakeyashiki (ghost house). Navigating the station's dank, barely-lit stairwell at Exit 2, I'm already apprehensive.
Japan Times
SOCCER / PREMIER REPORT
Oct 25, 2014

Reds' woes run deeper than Balotelli

Jose Mourinho called him "unmanageable" at Inter Milan. Manchester City manager Roberto Mancini ran out of patience with him. He lasted 18 months of his 4½-year contract at AC Milan.
Japan Times
JAPAN / HOTEL SPECIAL 2014
Oct 24, 2014

Anniversary plan offers a heavenly sleep

The Westin Tokyo marked its 20th anniversary on the 14th of this month and, in celebration of this milestone year, the hotel is holding a-year-long anniversary fair and offering special events and offers throughout the hotel's facilities, covering the restaurants, accommodations, spa and wedding areas....
Japan Times
JAPAN / HOTEL SPECIAL 2014
Oct 24, 2014

One-of-a-kind Pokémon Hotel Experience

For young "Pokémon Trainers" around the world, The Peninsula Tokyo is now the newest hunting field to test their skills.
Japan Times
JAPAN / HOTEL SPECIAL 2014
Oct 24, 2014

Renovating an iconic hotel

One of Japan's — if not the world's — most iconic hotels, and a member of the select luxury hotel collection, The Leading Hotels of the World, the venerable Hotel Okura Tokyo will from September 2015 embark on a renovation of its main building with completion of the new facilities scheduled for spring...
Japan Times
JAPAN / HOTEL SPECIAL 2014
Oct 24, 2014

Love the wine you're with

Finding the perfect wine to complement a delicious meal at one of the excellent restaurants at the Grand Hyatt Tokyo hotel in Roppongi is much less of a daunting prospect since the hotel welcomed its newest sommelier, Manuel Rodrigues, earlier this year.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Oct 22, 2014

Prosecutors set to decide whether to indict Tepco execs over nuclear disaster

The judicial review is unlikely to result in prison terms, legal experts say, but it could drag the company into criminal court, rehashing details of the meltdowns.
Japan Times
Places
Oct 21, 2014

Where the tricks and treats will be in Tokyo this Halloween

The Halloween juggernaut continues to gather steam in Japan year after year. We give you our picks of the lot for 2014, from family-friendly to adult cosplay.
JAPAN / Politics
Oct 20, 2014

Abductees' families still skeptical on sending reps to N. Korea

Many relatives of abductees said Monday they remain skeptical about the government's decision to send officials to Pyongyang to learn firsthand the status of North Korea's latest probe into the victims' fates.
JAPAN / NATIONAL SPOTLIGHT
Oct 19, 2014

Abe's shift to regional woes fails to erase mistrust in LDP

Local experts and ex-bureaucrats pan Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's plans to rejuvenate stalled local economies, saying the idea is another half-baked initiative from the ruling Liberal Democratic Party.
COMMENTARY / Japan / SENTAKU MAGAZINE
Oct 19, 2014

Abe's inner circle sprouting horns over next tax bump

A major battle appears to be brewing between the office of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and the Finance Ministry — the most powerful bureaucracy in Japan — over whether to raise the consumption tax from the current 8 percent to 10 percent next fall.
Japan Times
ANNOUNCEMENTS
Oct 17, 2014

Celebrating On Sunday's first anniversary

Japan Times
LIFE / Travel / HOTELS & RESTAURANTS
Oct 16, 2014

Pink-ribbon pampering treatment; getting into the Halloween spirit; sake in the spa

Pink-ribbon pampering treatment
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Tech
Oct 15, 2014

Japan Robot Week offers new approaches to nursing care

Japan Robot Week kicked off Wednesday with a major Tokyo exhibition showcasing new technologies for everything from communications and remote video monitoring to disaster response.
OLYMPICS / ROBERT WHITING'S 1964 OLYMPICS RETROSPECTIVE
Oct 14, 2014

Opening Ceremony ushered in new era for Japan

The 1964 Tokyo Olympics had a profound impact on the capital city and the nation. In the second installment of a five-part series that will run during the next two weeks, best-selling author Robert Whiting, who lived in Japan at the time, examines the excitement surrounding the Opening Ceremony.
JAPAN / History / IMPERIAL ANNALS
Oct 11, 2014

Selective history: Hirohito's chronicles

Between July 30 and Aug. 2, 1945, when most of Japan's cities, including Tokyo, lay in smoldering ruins from U.S. aerial bombing and Hiroshima and Nagasaki were days away from being incinerated by American nuclear weapons, Emperor Hirohito sent an envoy to several Shinto shrines to pray for the "crushing...
OLYMPICS / ROBERT WHITING'S 1964 OLYMPICS RETROSPECTIVE
Oct 10, 2014

Olympic construction transformed Tokyo

The 1964 Tokyo Olympics had a profound impact on the capital city and the nation. In the opening installment of a five-part series that will run during the next two weeks, best-selling author Robert Whiting, who lived in Japan at the time, takes a look back at the preparations for the event.
EDITORIALS
Oct 10, 2014

Aiding more Minamata victims

Japan's government has restarted the process of officially recognizing more sufferers of Minamata disease — discovered decades ago to be the result of eating mercury-contaminated fish — under a new guideline that the Environment Agency adopted in March.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Oct 2, 2014

Ray of hope for democrats

For those Japanese who grumble about low voter turnouts in local and national elections, or who complain about the secretive character of political procedures, the open, democratic process of the recent Scottish referendum on independence was an object of envy.
JAPAN / Politics
Oct 1, 2014

Abductees' families warn official visit to Pyongyang may not yield answers

Some relatives of abductees say Tokyo should eschew North Korea's invitation to send officials to Pyongyang, believing it would yield few details on the fate of their loved ones.
JAPAN
Oct 1, 2014

Osaka mayor prepares to tackle anti-Korean group Zaitokukai

Osaka Mayor Toru Hashimoto is finalizing plans for a public debate with the right-wing, anti-Korean group Zaitokukai over the definition of hate speech and the need to balance freedom of expression with others' human rights.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Sep 30, 2014

tofubeats calls on pals for his 'First Album'

Yusuke Kawai tries to start a para para dance halfway through his Sept. 5 DJ set, but the inside of an Apple Store isn't an ideal space for this endeavor. Kawai, who records under the name tofubeats, is performing a special show at the recently opened Omotesando store. Half of the floor eagerly watches...

Longform

The byzantine process for converting a foreign driver’s license into a Japanese one entails mountains of paperwork and significant stamina — unless you're a lucky license holder from a country or region where these requirements are waived.
Driving in Japan isn’t hard. Getting the license is.