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Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / 20 QUESTIONS
Oct 21, 2017

Koto player Azumi Yamano revels in space and atmosphere

'The koto is a plucked string instrument in which the sound and music really reflect the player.'
COMMENTARY / World
Oct 21, 2017

Electric carmakers have an Africa problem

Volkswagen's recent failure to lock in the price of cobalt for five years points to a serious problem with the optimistic projections of an electric vehicle revolution.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Tech
Oct 20, 2017

Researchers analyze Kuroda's facial microexpressions to predict central bank policy moves

For decades, economists have tried to guess central bank policy direction by studying subtle changes in official language — now, researchers are finding new clues on policy, not in the words of central bankers but in their faces.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Oct 19, 2017

A new front opens in Asia's water war

In a water-stressed Asia, taming China's hegemonic ambition is now the biggest strategic challenge.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / Japan
Oct 17, 2017

The Kobe Steel fiasco tells a much bigger story

The Kobe Steel scandal offers insights into why more Japanese households aren't feeling the benefits of today's 2.5 percent growth.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Politics / ANALYSIS
Oct 17, 2017

Sino-Japanese rivalry deepens as Abe and Xi look set to consolidate grips on power

Asia's two biggest economies both have their most powerful leaders in decades — and neither one has much incentive to mend a relationship that has long been volatile.
Japan Times
LIFE / Language / NEWS IN NIHONGO
Oct 16, 2017

British novelist Kazuo Ishiguro wins Nobel Prize in literature

The Swedish Academy is awarding this year's Nobel Prize in literature to Nagasaki-born British novelist Kazuo Ishiguro.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Companies / Taking the Lead
Oct 16, 2017

Ippudo ramen chain credits its global success to localized tastes

Toshiyuki Kiyomiya likes to compare ramen to a carefully arranged universe in a bowl.
COMMUNITY / Issues / LAW OF THE LAND
Oct 15, 2017

Duck and cover: Regulation by and for the state, through the Japanese people

Bureaucrats rustle up policies that require citizens to do their duty, however irrationally.
Japan Times
JAPAN / History / THE LIVING PAST
Oct 14, 2017

Japan's 'way of the sword' baffles foreign observers

All cultures present aspects that cannot but baffle the foreign observer. For example: nothing in the native tradition equips a Japanese to grasp the concept of the blood of the crucified son of the one God washing believers clean of sin.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / Japan
Oct 13, 2017

Political realignment leaves voters on shaky ground

Japanese will vote in the Oct. 22 general election amid uncertainty and confusion resulting from the recent realignment of the political landscape.
Japan Times
JAPAN / History
Oct 12, 2017

Motosada Zumoto and the origins of The Japan Times

A 10-minute walk from JR Sapporo Station brings one to a small, white clock tower in the city center. The 13-meter-high Western timepiece is an iconic image of the city and Hokkaido.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Stage
Oct 12, 2017

It's more than 400 years old, but 'Richard III' is just as relevant today

Romanian theater director Silviu Purcarete has staged several plays in this country before, but now he's working with an all-Japanese cast for the first time as he prepares to present his brand-new "Richard III" at Tokyo Metropolitan Theatre in Ikebukuro from Oct. 18 to 30, ahead of a three-city tour....
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Oct 11, 2017

Don't expect China's new leaders to change

We now have five years of data on Xi Jinping's policies and predilections, and very little of it suggests he is deeply invested in a pro-market, reformist agenda.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / Japan
Oct 10, 2017

Main parties ignoring Japan's top security threat

Neither Shinzo Abe nor Yuriko Koike are addressing Japan's most difficult threat: demographic devolution.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / BLACK EYE
Oct 8, 2017

Vow to 'compete at the Japanese level' pays off for Oussouby Sacko, Kyoto Seika's next head

In his rise up the ranks, Malian academic positioned himself as a bridge between Japan and the outside world.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Oct 8, 2017

Japan has much to teach America about guns

Owning a gun in Japan is not viewed as a freedom equalizer. It's seen as a social disruption to the smooth and peaceful rhythm of daily life.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Entertainment news
Oct 8, 2017

Performance artists in China feeling the chill from official disapproval

One woman, a performance artist from Taiwan, tied herself up with bras, but left her nipples exposed. Another artist, a Romanian woman in a bathing suit, had someone write the Chinese characters for "control" and "art" across her buttocks.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / Japan
Oct 5, 2017

Kibo no To puts tax hike insanity in the spotlight

Win or lose on Oct. 22, the energized opposition force coalescing around Tokyo Gov. Yuriko Koike is already changing the political conversation for the better in three specific ways.
COMMENTARY / World
Oct 4, 2017

Negative obituaries prove Hugh Hefner was right

Critical obituaries of Hugh Hefner show puritan values still resonate loudly in America.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / BLACK EYE
Oct 4, 2017

Kyoto Seika's next dean, Oussouby Sacko, was schooled in the violent tumult of '80s China

Malian architect lived through protests by Chinese students targeting Africans just months before the Tiananmen Square massacre.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Oct 3, 2017

No Phillips head, no problem, says IKEA

Ikea's acquisition of a 'gig economy' firm is an admission that it can no longer take its customers' manual skills for granted.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Oct 3, 2017

Europe's populist revolt: A close-up

Can the rise of populism in Europe be contained?
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Oct 2, 2017

Myanmar's decades-old jihadi curse

It is vital to address the long history of Islamist extremism that has contributed to the Rohingya's' current plight.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Companies
Oct 2, 2017

Western Digital's battle for Toshiba: A tale of threats and culture clashes

Steve Milligan was ready to declare victory. A statement was drafted and a photographer was getting lined up for a handshake ceremony planned in Tokyo. As the brash Silicon Valley executive prepared to announce the biggest deal of his career, a prominent Japanese newspaper was reporting his consortium...
COMMUNITY / Voices / COMMUNITY CHEST
Oct 1, 2017

Kumano Kodo guide unfairly singled out

A letter regarding Amy Chavez's Japan Lite column 'Blame for 'bad tourists' to Japan lies with the advice they never receive.'
Japan Times
LIFE / Lifestyle
Sep 30, 2017

Winning the battle against breast cancer

Oct. 1 marks the start of the annual Pink Ribbon campaign to raise awareness about breast cancer.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Media / BIG IN JAPAN
Sep 30, 2017

The education system still has much to learn

There is a driven, compulsive quality to Japanese education, which emerges clearly in a report by Shukan Toyo Keizai magazine titled "Schools are breaking down."
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / Japan
Sep 28, 2017

Could Japan be ready for 'Koikenomics?'

In calling the latest of what's been a five-year flurry of election after election, Shinzo Abe admitted what households have long known: Abenomics is a dud.
COMMENTARY / World
Sep 25, 2017

America's engine is being slowed by complacency

America is losing the dynamic drive that made it the world's leading economic power.

Longform

Mount Fuji is considered one of Japan's most iconic symbols and is a major draw for tourists. It's still a mountain, though, and potential hikers need to properly prepare for any climb.
What it takes to save lives on Mount Fuji