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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.
Japan Times
LIFE / Travel / HOTELS & RESTAURANTS
Jan 23, 2020

Chocolate embodying style, romantic fervor

Some matches are meant to be. That's certainly the case with one of Tokyo's most iconic hotels, The Okura Tokyo, and celebrated Belgian Royal Warrant chocolatier Pierre Marcolini with the release of the Silver Heart Coffret ed. 2020 from Feb. 1 to March 31 (¥3,000 plus consumption tax) — just in time...
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / Japan
Dec 26, 2019

Japan's year that could have been

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe guided Japan's diplomacy in 2019 with a steady hand.
Japan Times
LIFE / Travel / HOTELS & RESTAURANTS
Dec 26, 2019

Playful strawberry treats with Japanese twist

A once-in-a-lifetime strawberry opportunity is the title and promise of the 2020 edition of Hilton Tokyo Odaiba's popular strawberry dessert buffet from Jan. 6 to May 8.
JAPAN / View from Osaka
Dec 15, 2019

Major issues loom as Kansai looks ahead to the new year

It was a busy 2019 for Kansai, particularly in the days leading up to the June Group of 20 leaders summit in Osaka. While the Tokyo Olympics will be the focus of much of the nation's attention in 2020, here are some major issues that will impact Kansai next year:
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.
NTT said last week it will take its data service unit NTT Data Group private. That followed its acquisition of its mobile service arm, NTT Docomo, in 2020.
BUSINESS
May 15, 2025

Listed subsidiaries get the ax in Japan after investor pressure

The trend stems from pressure on firm to cater to shareholders in response to activist campaigns, demands from the stock exchange and hostile takeovers.
Activists, filmmakers and survivors attend a symposium in Tokyo marking 60 years since the discovery of Niigata Minamata disease.
CULTURE / Film
Jun 11, 2025

Film symposium marks 60 years since Niigata Minamata disease outbreak

The disease caused by mercury poisoning was documented in such films as “Fighting Pollution” and “Minamata Mandala.”
A pollster for the national census leaves a note at a house in Funabashi, Chiba Prefecture, in September 2020 after no one answered the door.
JAPAN / FOCUS
Jun 11, 2025

Japan faces staffing challenges for crucial census

The pollster workforce is aging, while increased public concerns over privacy have led more residents to refuse to participate.
Tsutomu Uchida has experimented with various cultivation techniques since he started growing avocados in Shizuoka Prefecture in October 2020.
ENVIRONMENT / Climate change / OUR PLANET
Jun 22, 2025

As Japan warms, avocados emerge as an unlikely savior for farmers

In traditional mikan strongholds like Shizuoka, farmers are growing increasingly concerned about future production and seeing opportunities with avocados.

Longform

In 2020, 38% of all households were single-person. That figure is projected to rise to 44.3% by 2050.
The rise of AI companionship in a lonely Japan