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Japan Times
JAPAN / CHUBU CONNECTION
Jan 30, 2017

'Unpopular' Nagoya on hunt for catchphrase, logo to pitch its appeal to tourists

In an effort to become a travel destination instead of a mere transit point, Nagoya is asking the public to help create a slogan or catchphrase the city can use for tourism posters and websites to improve its appeal.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / KNOWING KISSATEN
Jan 27, 2017

Chatei Hatou: A pilgrimage site for traditional coffee

When Starbucks arrived in Japan in 1996, it should have spelled trouble for Doutor, the dowdy coffee chain that had dominated the market since the 1980s. In fact, the opposite happened: by cultivating demand for gourmet coffee, Starbucks actually revived the fortunes of its hot dog-vending homegrown...
Japan Times
JAPAN
Jan 25, 2017

Vendors cash in on Trump mania with premium burgers, chocolate and toilet paper

While foreign products paying homage to new U.S. President Donald Trump are hot items online in Japan, the country's manufacturers and shops have also developed a range of items of their own — from premium hamburgers to chocolate.
Japan Times
WORLD / Politics / ANALYSIS
Jan 25, 2017

Merkel's bid for fourth term is complicated by coalition partner SPD's choice of popular Schulz as leader

Angela Merkel's path to a fourth term as Germany's chancellor just got more complicated.
Japan Times
JAPAN / CHUBU CONNECTION
Jan 23, 2017

Aichi nursing school teaches students how to feign senility to improve care for dementia patients

The School of Nursing and Health at Aichi Prefectural University has developed a course that trains students how to act like people with dementia.
CULTURE / Music
Jan 22, 2017

G.Rina balances bubble-era kitsch with modern song construction on 'Live & Learn'

Nostalgia for the 1980s typically takes one of two forms in contemporary Japanese music. Artists either embrace laid-back, acid jazz-leaning pop, or they double down on the washed-out fuzz of old VHS tapes. G.Rina finds a balance on "Live & Learn," her first major label release. Ignore the keytars she...
WORLD
Jan 18, 2017

Canadian energy firms at bigger risk from cyber, bomb attacks, spy agency says

Canada's main spy agency last year warned energy companies about an increasing risk of cyber espionage and attacks on pipelines, oil storage and shipment facilities and power transmission towers using homemade explosives, according to a classified document obtained by Reuters.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Jan 17, 2017

'Elizabeth Peyton: Still Life'

Jan. 21-May 7
ASIA PACIFIC
Jan 17, 2017

Philippines defense chief calls China arms on South China Sea islands 'troubling'

China's recent installation of weapons on artificial islands in the disputed South China Sea was "very troubling", the Philippines' defense minister said Tuesday, after Manila quietly protested Beijing's activities.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / DAVOS SPECIAL 2017
Jan 17, 2017

A taste of high-quality Japanese food and drink

Davos participants again this year will have a chance to taste and experience the finest the world of Japanese gastronomy has to offer at the Central Sporthotel Davos on Jan. 18.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / DAVOS SPECIAL 2017
Jan 17, 2017

Home to cutting-edge technology and innovation

Saitama City, a major bedroom community of Tokyo, is home to many leading technology companies that Japan can be proud to showcase to the world.
Japan Times
JAPAN / CHUBU CONNECTION
Jan 16, 2017

Renovated Toyota museum puts visitors in driver's seat of automotive history

The Toyota Automobile Museum in Nagakute, Aichi Prefecture, has fully renovated the permanent exhibition in its main hall for the first time since it opened in 1989.
COMMENTARY / World
Jan 15, 2017

As Trump era looms, Beijing fortifies the South China Sea

Since last year's surprising election of Donald Trump, Beijing has looked to up the stakes and increase its leverage in the disputed South China Sea. This past December, China seized a U.S. Navy unmanned underwater vehicle near the Philippines. The seizure was made outside of Beijing's expansive and...
Japan Times
JAPAN
Jan 13, 2017

Rural 'furusato nozei' beer, beef thank-yous costing urban Japan much-needed revenues

Want a free case of craft beer? If you send ¥30,000 or more of your taxes to the town of Yamanouchi in Nagano Prefecture, they'll send you 24 bottles of a locally brewed beer to say thanks.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Politics / OKINAWA BEAT
Jan 13, 2017

Okinawa prepares for new effort to block Henoko base by rallying local opposition

Okinawa Prefecture is scrambling to plot its next move in the wake of a recent Supreme Court ruling siding with the central government's effort to relocate the operations of a U.S. military base within the prefecture despite fierce local opposition.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC
Jan 11, 2017

China sends aircraft carrier into Taiwan Strait

Taiwan's Defense Ministry said Wednesday that China's only aircraft carrier had transited the Taiwan Strait amid soaring tensions between Beijing and Taipei.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / THE FOREIGN ELEMENT
Jan 11, 2017

Secondhand bookshop exorcizing ghosts of the past

The first floor of the crumbling art deco building where my daughter lives in Riga, Latvia, houses a well-patronized secondhand English bookstore. I've bought several titles there. It led me to wondering why a business of this kind, a social space for readers, can thrive in the tiny Latvian capital,...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Jan 10, 2017

Tokujin Yoshioka_Spectrum: Resonant Rainbows Radiate from Prisms

Jan. 13-March 26
Japan Times
JAPAN / CHUBU CONNECTION
Jan 9, 2017

Gifu college to restore Nagoya's treasured 1935 Benz fire engine

Nagoya has contracted Nakanihon Automotive College in Sakahogi, Gifu Prefecture, to repair a Mercedes-Benz firetruck from 1935 in its possession.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Jan 8, 2017

Don't fear robots; they won't render us jobless

"Rogue One," the latest in the Star Wars franchise, has had mixed reviews but features one undisputed star: K-2SO, a gangly robot with the best lines. Movies of the distant future always tap into current anxieties, and the latest alarm is that the robots are coming. Droids may not conquer the world,...
CULTURE / Books
Jan 7, 2017

Defining J-Horror: The erotic, grotesque 'nonsense' of Edogawa Rampo

In Japanese literature, there is a type of horror story that centers on an individual's obsession with a single idea. It arises from the most innocent and everyday circumstances, but gradually this single idea becomes all-consuming, blurring the line between sanity and madness. In some cases, the transformations...
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.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / EARLY START
Jan 6, 2017

Have breakfast in Tokyo where time has frozen, but the coffee's hot

Visiting one of Japan traditional coffee shops, known as kissaten, is a unique way to start to the day.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Jan 6, 2017

Chatty and funny, elite North Korean defector becomes media star in South

South Korea's newest celebrity took an unusual route to the nation's TV screens — years spent working his way up through the ranks of North Korea's diplomatic corps, followed by months secluded in the custody of the rival South's spy agency.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Jan 5, 2017

Tokyo-based luthier who replicates storied violins is one of a kind

Throughout the history of classical music there have been composers who, in moments of inspiration, created masterpieces that have stayed with us for centuries. Just as important are those musicians who, through their own virtuosity, re-create those masterpieces — a talent that was particularly appreciated...
Japan Times
BASKETBALL / B. League / B. LEAGUE NOTEBOOK
Jan 5, 2017

Alvark Tokyo steaming along behind potent offense

The Alvark Tokyo are firing on all cylinders as the B. League's inaugural season reaches its midway point.

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