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Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Mar 28, 2019

Chai, Otoboke Beaver and Yahyel: The Japanese musicians representing at SXSW 2019

Every year, more than 2,000 bands flock to Austin, Texas, for the South By Southwest Music Conference and Festival (SXSW). The internationally recognized event has recently leaned heavy on tech, but music still plays a big part. During this year's mid-March music showcase, Japan was represented by a...
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Mar 23, 2019

It won't be an egg that kills you

A correlation between ill health and eating eggs doesn't actually tell us much.
Japan Times
BASEBALL / MLB
Mar 22, 2019

Yusei Kikuchi feels blessed to have been Ichiro's teammate

Yusei Kikuchi went silent for exactly one minute, struggling to both express himself and maintain control of his emotions.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Politics
Mar 22, 2019

Tsuyoshi Hoshino, the Heisei Era's last maestro of Japan's Diet formalities

When at home, Liberal Democratic Party lawmaker Tsuyoshi Hoshino wouldn't dare let the hours pass without a humidifier on. The whole time the device is humming, he is also wearing a neck gaiter. Whenever he goes out, he makes sure his bag contains a constant supply of cough drops.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Mar 20, 2019

Technocracy replaces philosophy

In much of Asia, the left-right ideological struggle is over and it is technocracy and technology that now reign supreme.
COMMENTARY / World
Mar 20, 2019

Hero to zero — exports turn to source of fragility in Asia

A decades-old economic model needs reappraisal as the global downdraft causes trade-reliant economies to reel.
Japan Times
BASEBALL / MLB
Mar 18, 2019

MLB players revel in Japan's 'carnival' stadium atmosphere

Major League Baseball and Nippon Professional Baseball aren't really so different on the field. Everyone is playing the same game and the rules are more or less the same, with some exceptions.
Japan Times
LIFE / Language / WELL SAID
Mar 18, 2019

Hay fever can make life hard enough to use the adjective 'tsurai'

A word that indicates hardship, agony and pain, you're most likely to hear it at this time of year because of spring allergies or hangovers from cherry blossom parties.
Japan Times
LIFE / Digital / ON: TECH
Mar 17, 2019

Startups get a boost in Japan

Late February was a productive time for startups, with two important events taking place in Japan: Slush Tokyo 2019, a major nonprofit conference, and Tohoku Growth Accelerator Demo Day in Sendai, Miyagi Prefecture, a smaller conference that also offers advice to fledgling startups. Here are a few projects from the events that garnered attention.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Mar 17, 2019

Michael Jackson's influence cannot be canceled

Credible accusations of abuse against an artist don't make his art less great, but they do make it less enjoyable.
Japan Times
WORLD / Politics
Mar 17, 2019

Yellow vest protest violence flares as demonstrations enter fourth month

Rioters set fire to a bank and ransacked stores on Paris's Champs Elysees avenue on Saturday in a new flare-up of violence as France's yellow vest protests against President Emmanuel Macron and his pro-business reforms entered a fourth month.
Japan Times
Events
Mar 16, 2019

Irish eyes are smiling in Japan

The first ever St. Patrick's Day parade in Tokyo made history for a number of reasons — least of all for the fact that it was the first such parade in Asia, and it unfolded on a sidewalk in Roppongi.
Japan Times
LIFE / Travel
Mar 15, 2019

Galleries galore! Tokyo’s must-visit museums

Which are the best museums to visit when in Tokyo? Read on to find our favorite galleries and exhibition spaces, exhibiting everything from fine art to the weird and the wonderful.
COMMENTARY / World
Mar 15, 2019

Britain's next great Brexit mistake

A short delay before the U.K. leaves the EU won't work — Brexit should be canceled.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Tech
Mar 15, 2019

Microsoft targets video game developers in challenge to Amazon's cloud dominance

Microsoft Corp. on Thursday said it is combining elements of its video gaming and Azure cloud computing businesses to court game developers, an action designed to use the strength of its XBox gaming franchise to gain ground on cloud services leader Amazon.com.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Mar 13, 2019

Aaamyyy whips up a synth-heavy soundscape for the year 2615

"Body," the much-anticipated debut album from music maker Amy Furuhara, aka Aaamyyy (stylized as AAAMYYY), opens with an instrumental of tumbling beats, skittering hi-hats, wonky nighttime synth and pitch-shifted samples of a Spanish monologue — the portal of sound aims to transport the listener to...
SUMO
Mar 7, 2019

Hakuho, other challengers ready to chase spring glory

The Osaka Basho, which gets underway on Sunday, is arguably the most wide-open tournament sumo has seen in years.
SOCCER / From the Spot
Mar 6, 2019

With super club dreams, Vissel Kobe tries to rewrite history

Most sports writers have their own personal pantheon of inspirations. At the top of mine is Hunter S. Thompson.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / LAW OF THE LAND
Mar 6, 2019

Robot rights: From Asimov to Tezuka

Asimov's 'Three Laws of Robotics' are fictional rules, so why do we keep looking to them for guidance? The closest thing to real-world robot law we could have more seems likely to develop around the question of when autonomous military drones can make 'kill' decisions without human intervention.
Japan Times
JAPAN / YEN FOR LIVING
Mar 5, 2019

Japan's tax laws get in way of more women working full time

One of the key elements of the Abe administration's efforts to stimulate the economy is getting more women into the workforce. As it stands, Japan has one of the highest rates of working women in the developed world, so the problem is not so much jobs but rather the quality of the jobs women get and...
Japan Times
LIFE / Language
Mar 4, 2019

Navigating the tricky world of permission when speaking Japanese

When speaking Japanese, getting the basics of language relating to permission can be helpful, from asking a colleague to pick up your slack to requesting a photo with a celebrity.
Japan Times
TENNIS
Mar 4, 2019

Nick Kyrgios shaking up tennis world

A few hours after Roger Federer collected the 100th ATP title of his career in Dubai, Nick Kyrgios was preparing for his Mexican Open final against Alexander Zverev — on a jet ski.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / WHY DID YOU LEAVE JAPAN?
Mar 2, 2019

Tomoko Houtzager: Moving to the bush just to live off the land

A WWOOF trip to Australia leads to a new way of life for a former city girl.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics / ANALYSIS
Mar 2, 2019

Kim-Trump summit exposes frailties over North Korea

As the dust settles in the wake of the much-vaunted and, ultimately, failed second summit between U.S. President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un in Vietnam, are the two countries now back at square one?
Reader Mail
Mar 1, 2019

The battle with plastic goes on

As a long-time volunteer garbage collector in our community, I was very much interested in "As world drowns in plastic, a city in Kyoto fights back" in the Feb. 25 edition. And I also am afraid that our community, with its riverbank and greenery, may drown in plastic in the future.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Feb 26, 2019

Kim, Trump arrive in Hanoi ahead of second nuclear summit

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and U.S. President Donald Trump arrived in the Vietnamese capital of Hanoi on Tuesday for their second summit, where the two aim to find common ground in negotiations that could ultimately see the North relinquish its nuclear weapons.
Japan Times
Rugby
Feb 26, 2019

Fukuroi ready to welcome fans for Rugby World Cup

When it comes to international sports, the cozy western Shizuoka Prefecture town of Fukuroi has already been there and done that.
JAPAN / History
Feb 26, 2019

Writers recall their initiation to Japanese literature via Donald Keene

The Japan Times asked author Suzanne Kamata to reach out to some of her fellow writers for their memories and thoughts about Donald Keene, the noted scholar of Japanese literature who died Sunday in Tokyo at age 96. Here is a short collection of their replies.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Feb 25, 2019

Seoul says U.S. and North Korea could reach deal on end-of-war declaration

The United States and North Korea could reach a deal on declaring an end to the 1950-53 Korean War at a summit meeting this week between their two leaders, South Korea's presidential Blue House said Monday.

Longform

Koichi Tagawa’s diary entry from Aug. 9, 1945, describes the day of the atomic bombing of Nagasaki.
The horrors of Nagasaki, in first person