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BUSINESS / Companies
Feb 15, 2014

Rakuten acquires Viber web phone/messaging service for $900 million

Rakuten Inc., the Japanese online retailer controlled by billionaire Hiroshi Mikitani, is buying the Viber Internet messaging and calling service for $900 million as it moves into social networking.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Feb 11, 2014

Mitsume play the indie game, but are winning the mainstream

Mitsume subscribes to an easy-to-get-behind ethos regularly found in indie-rock communities: "Since our first album, we've been under nobody's control but our own," says lead vocalist Moto Kawabe. "We prefer to do whatever we can ourselves."
Japan Times
COMMUNITY
Feb 2, 2014

Parents of mixed kids look abroad for high schools

College preparation for bicultural young adults may include seeking out international as well as domestic opportunities. Some youngsters, however, are heading abroad much sooner — for high school or junior high school.
COMMUNITY / Issues / JUST BE CAUSE
Jan 24, 2014

Don't let ANA off the hook for that offensive ad

If ANA had really wanted to 'change the image of Japan,' it should have avoided racializing its product. Instead, it's just business as usual.
Japan Times
JAPAN / DAVOS SPECIAL 2014
Jan 23, 2014

YGL program inspires, educates

Oisix Inc. President Kohey Takashima's ambition has transformed his online food retail startup into the leading player in the industry in just over a decade, but his nomination as a Young Global Leader by the World Economic Forum has awoken in him another mission: to contribute to society.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Entertainment news
Jan 19, 2014

'Pilgrims' flock to site of death in Alaska's wilds

The old bus in which Chris McCandless died in 1992 in the interior of Alaska — made famous in Jon Krakauer's best-selling book "Into the Wild" and later in the Sean Penn film of the same name — long ago lost its windows to souvenir hunters.
BUSINESS / Companies
Jan 16, 2014

SoftBank ties up with cloud-based service for business

SoftBank Corp. has tied up with a service for corporate clients that allows workers to access their company's email and presentations via the cloud before destroying the online sessions.
Japan Times
LIFE / Digital / JAPAN WEB WATCH
Jan 16, 2014

Japan's mobile apps provide an 'A' for every 'Q'

Question and answer sites have for a decade been one of the most popular user-contributed services on the Web — and Japan is no exception. On the traditional Web, the market has been occupied by a few big players, but the recent popularity of smartphones has attracted new startups to the mobile Web...
EDITORIALS
Jan 11, 2014

More computers in education?

Two recent conflicting reports from government ministries expose the conundrum at the heart of the question of whether computers are helpful to education.
COMMENTARY / World
Jan 10, 2014

Hidden consequences of Snowden's revelations

The most insidious consequence of the Edward Snowden affair and the NSA controversy may be the destruction of trust in closer collaboration between the private sector and government in protecting vital electronic systems.
Japan Times
CULTURE / CULTURE SMASH
Jan 9, 2014

Anime/manga experts hopeful for year ahead

Aside from Hayao Miyazaki's sudden departure from filmmaking in September, the anime world saw some potentially hopeful developments in 2013.
Japan Times
LIFE / Style & Design / ON: DESIGN
Jan 6, 2014

New furnishing for the home, plus the latest from Postalco

Postalco keeps your money safe
Japan Times
JAPAN / GENERATIONAL CHANGE
Jan 5, 2014

Rebuilding hope, one stitch at a time

Most of the 19 women from the tsunami-hit city of Kesennuma, Miyagi Prefecture, who work for Tamako Mitarai's knitwear company had no professional experience as knitters.
LIFE / Digital
Dec 24, 2013

Even our Facebook 'grunts' could be monetized

As Mark Twain observed: "A lie can travel halfway around the world while the truth is putting on its shoes." And that was a long time before the Web. Which brings us to a meme that was propagating last week though social media. Its essence was an assertion that Facebook monitored — and stored — not...
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Dec 18, 2013

Sanrio said to violate children's privacy

Iron Man, Captain America and Spider-Man greet visitors to Disney's MarvelKids.com website, but parents may be surprised to learn that these superheroes may also open the door to tools that track their children's activities across the Web, according to federal complaints to be filed Wednesday.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / MIXED MATCHES
Dec 13, 2013

For Canadian traveler, last-minute meeting led to change of heart and new start in Japan

Michelle Takahashi works as an English teacher at a school for families who hope to raise their children in bilingual and multi-cultural environments. Together with Toru, a systems engineer at an IT-related U.S. company, and their two sons, she now lives in Kodaira, western Tokyo.
BUSINESS / TRAVEL INSIDER
Dec 10, 2013

Korean Air rail discounts; Cathay's extra miles; Air France kids treats

Korean Air rail discounts
Japan Times
LIFE / Style & Design / ON: FASHION
Dec 9, 2013

December offers Tokyo style and makeup shows, plus even more new high-end stores

Fashionably made up with Shiseido
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Companies
Dec 9, 2013

Amazon tries 'selling' Cyber Monday

Leave it to the country's online retail giant to create Japan's version of America's latest Christmas shopping spree.
Japan Times
WORLD
Dec 5, 2013

NSA tracking cellphone locations worldwide, Snowden documents show

The National Security Agency is gathering nearly 5 billion records a day on the whereabouts of cellphones around the world, according to top-secret documents and interviews with U.S. intelligence officials, enabling the agency to track the movements of individuals — and map their relationships —...
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Companies
Dec 4, 2013

Nintendo seen missing target as Sony, Microsoft dwarf Wii U

Nintendo Co.'s prospects for meeting its profit and sales forecasts for the year are diminishing after Sony Corp. and Microsoft Corp. each sold more game consoles in 24 hours than the Wii U maker did in nine months.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Dec 3, 2013

Alive wants to give music fans a say in who comes to Japan

You watched the video for their comeback single on YouTube, devoured the reviews and retweeted the hype. When the album came out, you bought it immediately and had it on repeat for weeks afterwards. And then you waited, waited ... but they never came.
CULTURE / Music / MONEY AND MUSIC
Dec 3, 2013

Spotify, Rdio and what didn't happen in 2013

This was supposed to be the year that changed the Japanese music business.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Dec 3, 2013

Nori represents Japan at BC One breakdancing competition

This past weekend's Red Bull BC One breakdancing event in Seoul was something of a battle of titans.
COMMENTARY / World
Dec 3, 2013

Bitcoins need to be better than real currency

Bitcoins appeal to people's libertarian side, because they challenge the control of money by governments that too often see inflation and deflation as instruments of policy. This virtual currency suggests the possibility of a future in which networks of individuals can make transactions for their own interests.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC
Dec 1, 2013

Who is Xi? Chinese leader enigma to world

In early November, China's most powerful man, Xi Jinping, stepped into a rustic farmhouse while on an inspection tour in far-flung Hunan province. The occupants' sole electrical appliance, a fluorescent light bulb, burned overhead. Shi Pazhuan, the family matriarch, was confused. "What should I call...

Longform

Ichiro Suzuki, one of the most iconic players in NPB and MLB history, was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame with 99.7% of the vote.
With Hall of Fame induction, Ichiro makes himself heard loud and clear