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Japan Times
CULTURE / Books
Feb 11, 2017

'Japanese Robot Culture: Performance, Imagination and Modernity': Yuji Sone examines the enduring love of robots

It is an experience many in Japan now know: a visit to a SoftBank mobile phone vendor that ends in an attempt to converse with a small, white machine called Pepper.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics / ANALYSIS
Feb 5, 2017

North Korea offers first foreign test to Trump administration

As U.S. President Donald Trump grapples with domestic crises and transition issues, the country that is widely seen as representing his largest foreign policy challenge is gearing up some 10,000 km away to test an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) capable of striking the United States.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Media / DARK SIDE OF THE RISING SUN
Feb 4, 2017

Honesty is the best policy for lost property

Last month, I withdrew some money — ¥100,000 to be precise — from an ATM near Tokyo's Shibuya Station.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC
Jan 31, 2017

Mattis reaffirms pledge to defend South Korea against 'evolving' North Korean threat

U.S. defense chief James Mattis spoke with his South Korean counterpart over the telephone Monday to reaffirm Washington's commitment to defending its Asian ally, the Pentagon said in a statement, amid concerns over North Korea's nuclear program.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Jan 31, 2017

Americans gather near U.S. Embassy in Tokyo to protest Trump's travel ban

A group of demonstrators show up near the U.S. Embassy in Tokyo to protest President Donald Trump's executive order suspending the entry of refugees and restricting immigration from seven Muslim-majority countries.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC
Jan 28, 2017

North Korea appears to have restarted plutonium reactor, think tank says

North Korea appears to have restarted plutonium production for its nuclear weapons program at its main Nyongbyon reactor complex, commercial satellite imagery released by a think tank showed Friday.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Jan 16, 2017

China shoppers ended 2016 on spending spree but headwinds seen brewing

Chinese consumers flocked to malls, restaurants and cinemas ahead of the year's biggest holiday season, highlighting the consumption power transforming the economy.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Media / BIG IN JAPAN
Jan 14, 2017

The little black screen we just can't take our eyes off

A great weight sits perched on us. It's called a head. It houses our brain and presents our face to the world. It comprises roughly 10 percent of our body weight. Heavy enough at the best of times, it grows heavier as it inclines forward. Held high, it's a 5.5-kilogram burden on the neck of a person...
COMMENTARY / Japan
Jan 7, 2017

Japan tries to break away from workaholism

Putting in long hours might convince your boss that you're a diligent employee, but after a point it becomes self-defeating.
ASIA PACIFIC
Jan 4, 2017

Indonesian military says cooperation with Australian military suspended

Indonesia suspended cooperation with the Australian military in December for "technical reasons," a spokesman for the Indonesian defence forces said on Wednesday, after offensive material was seen at an Australian training base.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC / ANALYSIS
Jan 4, 2017

Trump's North Korea red line could come back to haunt him

In three words of a tweet this week, U.S. President-elect Donald Trump vowed North Korea would never test an intercontinental ballistic missile.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC
Jan 3, 2017

Startups using birds of prey, anti-drone guns to take out straying unmanned aerial vehicles

A boom in consumer drone sales has spawned a counter-industry of startups aiming to stop drones flying where they shouldn't, by disabling them or knocking them out of the sky.
COMMENTARY / World
Jan 2, 2017

Sayonara to the year that was

U.S. President Barack Obama topped the 2016 list of winners and losers in Asia, but not in a good way.
BUSINESS / Tech
Dec 30, 2016

The top tech stories of 2016

The Japan Times newsroom selected these tech and digital stories as the most important of 2016.
COMMENTARY / World
Dec 29, 2016

U.S.-China drone spat: more than meets the eye

Both the U.S. and China are pushing — and even tearing — the legal envelope as they jockey for advantage in the South China Sea.
WORLD
Dec 29, 2016

Russia opens criminal case after bear's killing causes outcry

Russian investigators said on Wednesday they had opened a criminal case into a group of men who filmed themselves crushing a bear to death by repeatedly driving over it in off-road vehicles in the Siberian tundra.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Dec 26, 2016

Japan's communications ministry finalizes plan for 30,000 Wi-Fi spots by 2020

The Internal Affairs and Communications Ministry announces its finalized plan to establish 30,000 free Wi-Fi access points nationwide in time for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / LABOR PAINS
Dec 25, 2016

Worrying times for job security in Japan

The year 2016 was no walk in the park for workers nationwide. At one extreme, we have Matsuri Takahashi, a 24-year-old worker who felt she had no other choice but to take her life as a result of overwork.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Dec 15, 2016

Japan places a big bet on Asia's casino bubble

The odds are stacked heavily in favor of the LDP-dominated Diet legalizing casinos but Tokyo may be too late to the party.
BUSINESS / Companies
Dec 14, 2016

Line seeks to shake up messaging business to spur growth

Line Corp. is planning to shake up its staff and business to build on the 20-plus percent share gain since the messaging company pulled off the tech world's biggest public offering of the year.
COMMENTARY / World
Dec 13, 2016

Capitalism is for everyone?

Capitalism clearly doesn't work for everyone, but Louis Kelso's vision of social capitalism just might.
Japan Times
LIFE / Language / BILINGUAL
Dec 12, 2016

To email in Japanese, take a layer cake of etiquette and stuff it with meaning

Having set up a bunch of standard remarks at the beginning and end of your email, your job is then to fill it with meaning.

Longform

A small shrine perched atop rocks braves the waves hitting the shoreline during a storm in Shimoda, Shizuoka Prefecture. The area is under threat of a possible 31-meter-high tsunami if an earthquake strikes the nearby Nankai Trough.
If the 'Big One' hits, this city could face a 31-meter-high tsunami