Search - features

 
 
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Sep 1, 2016

Tailored loans support restoration of Kyoto's historic townhouses

For generations, artisans and merchants in Kyoto lived in thousands of traditional machiya townhouses that are steadily disappearing or falling into disrepair.
EDITORIALS
Aug 31, 2016

A new name for old conspiracy bill

If passed, legislation that criminalizes the acts of plotting and preparing to commit crimes will lead to greater government surveillance.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Aug 31, 2016

'Self/Less': Losing oneself in the narrative

The age of excessive high-tech is a good time to be filthy rich, especially if you happen to be an entitled scoundrel whose level of wealth-fueled egomania makes Scrooge look like a benevolent fuddy-duddy. In "Self/Less," Ben Kingsley as New York real estate mogul Damian is that scoundrel, and he pushes...
ASIA PACIFIC
Aug 31, 2016

A new generation of jihadis awakens in Indonesia

During a May 2011 shootout, Indonesia's counterterrorism forces killed the leader of a militant group thought to be behind a series of failed bomb attempts around the city of Solo in Central Java.
Japan Times
JAPAN / CHUBU CONNECTION
Aug 29, 2016

Foreign part-timers proliferate in Chubu as scarce Japanese flee drunks at pubs

Foreign students working part-time in izakaya (pubs) are rising rapidly in the Chubu region amid the increasing tendency of many young Japanese to avoid drunk customers.
Japan Times
LIFE / Travel / BACKSTREET STORIES
Aug 27, 2016

Vintage ventures in Tabata Ginza

The midday sky swirls with typhoon clouds as I set off to explore a little shopping area known as Tabata Ginza in Tokyo's Kita Ward. I'm thrilled to be in the charismatic company of a third-generation rakugoka (traditional storyteller) who lives nearby. I met Mikio Katsura, 32, by chance in Tabata last...
Japan Times
LIFE / Digital / ON: GAMES
Aug 27, 2016

Games you've been waiting a long time for

An endless exploration
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Companies
Aug 26, 2016

IPhone ready to play catch-up in Japan with swipe-to-pay chips

Apple Inc. is planning a new iPhone feature for Japan that will let people pay for mass-transit rides with their smartphones instead of physical payment cards. A future iPhone will include technology called FeliCa, a mobile tap-to-pay standard in Japan developed by Sony Corp., according to people familiar...
Japan Times
CULTURE
Aug 25, 2016

Koenji's Awa Odori festival celebrates 60 years

For the past few weeks, visitors and residents in Koenji have been haunted by a song — a plaintive, pentatonic melody that seems to circle endlessly, never quite resolving. You can hear it playing over speakers on the station platform just before the train doors close. It's there again as you walk...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Aug 24, 2016

'The Myth of the American Sleepover': Missing some identifying teen spirit

It's one hot night near the end of summer somewhere in leafy suburban America, and a bunch of high school kids — from baby-faced freshmen to confident seniors — ride bikes out to their favorite swimming holes, cruise around in cars blaring tunes, wander from house to house thinking that the next...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Stage
Aug 23, 2016

Flamenco fusion set to fire up Tokyo

Surrender to the heat of September as the Antonio Gades Company brings its sultry blend of ballet and flamenco to Tokyo, showcasing three of its classic works in two separate programs at Bunkamura's magnificent Orchard Hall.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Stage
Aug 23, 2016

Dance icon Saburo Teshigawara's 'Magic Flute' brings abstract notes to Mozart's final gem

Since studying visual arts and sculpture before taking up ballet at the age of 20 in 1973, Saburo Teshigawara has become a world-renowned choreographer and dancer whose unique style and aesthetic sense has even drawn him commissions from the Paris Opera Ballet, Frankfurt Ballet and Nederlands Dans Theater....
Japan Times
JAPAN / CHUBU CONNECTION
Aug 22, 2016

In Aichi, ashes of the dead shift to conveyer belt system as Japan grays

The first columbarium in the Chubu region to use an automated cinerary box conveyor system opened last month in Nagoya as the popularity of tombs that do not require much maintenance grows.
JAPAN / Media / BIG IN JAPAN
Aug 20, 2016

How to teach moral education in a relative age?

The wartime moral ideal was blind obedience and self-sacrificing devotion to the nation. Could the upgrading of moral education be a first step on the road back to that?
COMMENTARY / World
Aug 19, 2016

India adopts new approach to muscle-flexing China

As they embark on their journeys to become global powers, it's in China and India's interest to remove mistrust by closely collaborating with one another.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Science & Health
Aug 19, 2016

Pedal-powered wheelchair a hit for therapy, rehabilitation

The ongoing effort to improve the wheelchair isn't just about electricity and advanced technology.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Companies / CHUBU CONNECTION
Aug 15, 2016

Special Mitsubishi Electric plant focuses on custom lifts for Asian venues

Made-to-order people movers, including spiral escalators and elevators with doors bearing elegant Islamic designs made at Mitsubishi Electric Corp.'s Inazawa Works, are becoming popular in Asia.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Aug 11, 2016

Wanted: Four women to save the world

In 1989, "Ghostbusters II" was released in theaters where it did well in terms of profit, less so in terms of critical response. Reviews didn't matter, though — the original 1984 film was so popular that fans couldn't wait to see a third sequel.
Japan Times
LIFE / Travel
Aug 11, 2016

Feel the spirits of the season at haunted houses

It's the Bon holiday season and there's a new "Ghostbusters" film on the way, which means spirits are likely on the minds of people in Japan. With that in mind, we checked out a few haunted houses in case you're looking for a summer scare.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Tech / FOCUS
Aug 10, 2016

Games industry unlikely to try to clone 'Pokemon Go'

Top video game companies, caught off-guard by the runaway success of "Pokemon Go," are wrestling with how to play catch-up after the augmented reality app became a worldwide phenomenon.
ASIA PACIFIC
Aug 9, 2016

New images suggest China has built reinforced hangars on disputed islands, think tank says

Recent satellite photographs show China appears to have built reinforced aircraft hangars on its holdings in the disputed South China Sea, according to a Washington-based think tank.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Aug 9, 2016

From home-made VR to intentionally lousy robots, hobbyists get their fill at Tokyo expos

Electronics hobbyists and model builders got their fill in Tokyo this weekend with two headline events in the DIY calendar.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Companies
Aug 8, 2016

In Olympic campaign, Nissan bets on a Brazilian recovery

Like so many things in Rio de Janeiro, Carlos Ghosn's turn in the Olympic Torch Relay on Friday didn't go as planned. Ghosn, who is chief executive officer at both Nissan Motor Co. and Renault SA, was supposed to finish his 200-meter leg right in front of a Copacabana hotel covered bottom to top in advertisements...
Japan Times
JAPAN / CHUBU CONNECTION
Aug 8, 2016

Ex-Nagoya official hopes to help others overcome stage fright

People who have stage fright often find their hands shaking, face turning red and minds going blank when they have to make a public speech.
Japan Times
CULTURE / TV & Streaming
Aug 7, 2016

'Invisible Tokyo' seeks out the stories of people living in the capital

What does it actually mean to be connected? To be unique and young in the country's biggest city? A new, self-proclaimed "neo documentary" on Amazon Prime Japan titled "Invisible Tokyo" has taken up the task to answer these ever-evolving questions.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC
Aug 6, 2016

Chinese Air Force flies 'combat patrols' over Spratlys, Scarborough Shoal in South China Sea

China's air force has sent bombers and fighter jets on "combat patrols" near the disputed Spratly Islands and the flash point Scarborough Shoal in the South China Sea, the latest in a series of stepped-up military moves that Beijing has said will become a "regular practice."

Longform

Visitors walk past Sou Fujimoto's Grand Ring, which has been recognized as the largest wooden structure in the world.
Can a World Expo still matter? Japan is about to find out.