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Japan Times
JAPAN / Regional Voices: Hokkaido
Jun 6, 2022

Bento-maker sets example with language lessons for Vietnamese trainees

Asahikawa Ekitachiuri Shokai in Hokkaido says the classes make communication and work easier, and that trainees will have more job options after they return to Vietnam.
Japan Times
PODCAST / deep dive
Feb 9, 2022

The rise and fall of Japan's ski industry

Japan Times contributor Francesco Basetti joins Deep Dive to discuss the rise and fall of the Japanese ski industry, and how resorts are faring with so few people able to enjoy them.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Regional Voices: Hokkaido
Jan 31, 2022

Hokkaido towns seek coexistence with foreign workers

Municipalities are coming up with ideas to welcome newcomers as members of communities while also trying to stop young people from leaving their hometowns.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Jan 2, 2022

How the pandemic changed Japan’s health care system

COVID-19 has overhauled work practices and exposed the divisions between the public and private sectors of the medical system.
COMMENTARY / Japan / Perspectives
Oct 2, 2021

Has Japan’s COVID-19 response really been that bad?

Mainstream media has painted a bleak narrative about how Japan has handled the pandemic, but comparative data shows it has, for the most part, responded much better than its G7 peers.
BUSINESS / Longform
Sep 20, 2021

Kyoto is facing bankruptcy. What happens now?

Massive budget cuts have been proposed to stem the losses now that international tourism to the city has all but dried up.
SUMO / INSIDE SUMO
Jun 2, 2021

Dual yokozuna promotion could join list of recent rare events in sumo

The possibility remains that ozeki Terunofuji and Takakeisho could both be offered the white rope depending on how results pan out at next month's Nagoya Basho.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Economy
Jun 1, 2021

‘Womenomics’ author Kathy Matsui seeks to bring ESG to Japanese startups

The ex-Goldman Sachs executive is aiming to build a fund to invest in sectors including health care, fintech, next-generation work and education, and well as the environment.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Apr 25, 2021

What will the new normal look like for China?

In the short term, the successful COVID-19 response by China will allow it to temporarily strengthen its position. But in the long term, its problems aren't going anywhere.
BASKETBALL
Mar 31, 2021

Kenichi Sako elected to FIBA Hall of Fame

The former national team player and current Akatsuki Five assistant coach will join 11 other basketball luminaries when their 2020 class is inducted on June 18.
BASEBALL / Japanese Baseball / NPB Preview
Mar 25, 2021

Six players to watch in the Central League in 2021

Japanese baseball is back on Friday, which makes this a great time to single out a few players in the Central League who fans should keep an eye on this season.
Japan Times
LIFE / Lifestyle
Mar 20, 2021

The pandemic left Japanese students studying abroad scrambling. A year later, what’s happened to their academic dreams?

Students who had their programs disrupted are grappling with tough choices: study online, wait until borders reopen or abandon their study abroad.
Japan Times
ENVIRONMENT / Longform
Feb 21, 2021

Can Japan embrace an alternative approach to plastic?

Japanese companies are rethinking how we make, use and dispose of products by creating substitutes to fossil fuel-based plastics.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World / Geoeconomic Briefing
Feb 7, 2021

What is needed to bring back freedom of movement

As Japan struggles to find a way to resume normal life and international travel, a lesson could be learned from Taiwan's approach.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Jan 9, 2021

Japan's attempts to promote home ownership leave renters in cold

People are moving out of Tokyo into the suburbs and countryside in response to COVID-19.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / Japan
Aug 25, 2020

Japan's take on a most unconventional Democratic convention

The reaction in Tokyo was mostly even-handed, if a little less enthusiastic than the coverage in the U.S. media.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Jul 28, 2020

Japan persists with 'Abenomask' giveaway, reigniting social media outcry

The government is pushing ahead with the distribution of its much derided 'Abenomasks' even though commercially made masks are now readily available.
A acting torch bearer participates in a torch relay test in Troyes, France, on March 22.
OLYMPICS
Apr 15, 2024

Paris' Olympic flame to be lit in Greece

Spectators will be able to attend the torch relay events for the first time since the COVID-19 pandemic.
A 2-megawatt solar farm in the city of Fukushima. “Megasolar” refers to farms with a minimum output of 1 MW of electricity — enough to power around 300 homes for a year.
ENVIRONMENT / Energy / OUR PLANET
May 26, 2024

‘Megasolar’ is a dirty word in Japan. Where do solar projects go from here?

Vocal campaigns are pushing back against projects as dangerous eyesores, but "dual-use" approaches and community engagement may offer a solution.
Pedestrians holding umbrellas during a downpour in Tokyo in June 2023
JAPAN / Science & Health / OUR PLANET
Jun 2, 2024

The growing link between extreme rain and respiratory health in Japan

Researchers have found a strong association between respiratory mortality and severe downpours of the kind being made worse by climate change.
Japan midfielder Yu Hirakawa controls the ball during a match against the United States in Kansas City, Kansas, on June 11.
OLYMPICS
Jul 23, 2024

Japan eyes gold — and the future — as Olympic men's soccer campaign begins

With the squad being the only one in Paris not to feature any overage players, it is clear that this competition is partly about building for the future.
Attendees play the For All Time mobile game on smartphones at the NetEase Games booth at the Tokyo Game Show in the city of Chiba in September last year.
BUSINESS / Companies
Aug 30, 2024

Tencent and NetEase rethink Japan approach as game strategy stalls

The companies are reconsidering or scaling back many of their investments in Japanese studios, after years of spending yielded few hit games.
Kotozakura (left) defeats Tobizaru in a controversial finish to their bout on Day 3 of the Autumn Basho in Tokyo on Tuesday.
SUMO / INSIDE SUMO
Sep 11, 2024

Thrilling bouts — and controversy — have Autumn Basho off to hot start

Often the first three days of a sumo tournament see little more than jockeying for position, but not this tournament.
Yankees slugger Hideki Matsui hits a solo home run off Pedro Martinez of the Phillies in Game 2 of the World Series on Oct. 29, 2009.
BASEBALL / MLB
Oct 25, 2024

From Shinjo to 'Godzilla': The Japanese players who have made their mark on the Fall Classic

Tsuyoshi Shinjo got the ball rolling for Japanese stars in MLB’s Fall Classic in 2002, and stars Shohei Ohtani and Yoshinobu Yamamoto are set to join the growing club.
The Kashiwazaki-Kariwa nuclear power station in Niigata Prefecture, the world's biggest nuclear plant, on Aug. 5. Like many others in Japan, the plant is seeking clearance to restart, as the country grapples with how to shape its nuclear future.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Nov 19, 2024

Japan’s nuclear future: Caught between climate goals and reality

Japan is well short of hitting its nuclear power goals by 2030, with the challenging nature of reactor restarts likely impacting its emissions reduction targets.
Gensho Yasuda’s “Make a Girl” follows an inventor whose relationship with the robot girlfriend he builds becomes increasingly complicated as she develops an unexpected sense of independence.
CULTURE / Film
Jan 30, 2025

Indie animator Gensho Yasuda paves his own way with a DIY spirit

With “Make a Girl,” the young Japanese creator takes the leap from short videos to full-length films.
Ichiko Aoba’s latest full-length album, “Luminescent Creatures,” weaves in sounds mimicking whale songs and wind to express her fascination with the natural world and its interconnectedness.
CULTURE / Music
Mar 7, 2025

Ichiko Aoba’s intimate sonic fantasy born from dreams

The singer-songwriter turns her subconscious into songs about the natural world and its interconnectedness on “Luminescent Creatures.”
Motoaki Tanigo, whom fans affectionately refer to as “Yagoo,” is the CEO and founder of tech company Cover Corporation, which runs Hololive, an industry-leading virtual YouTuber talent agency.
CULTURE / Music
Mar 21, 2025

Virtual idols, real fans: Hololive’s bet on the future of pop

Hololive CEO Motoaki Tanigo, whom fans affectionately refer to as “Yagoo,” has global ambitions for his virtual YouTuber sensations.

Longform

Dangami House is a 180-year-old former samurai residence of the Kato clan, who ruled over Ozu, Ehime Prefecture, until the Meiji Restoration.
A house, a legacy and the quiet work of restoration in rural Japan