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CULTURE / Music
Aug 27, 2015

Guitarist Inoran gets personal on 'Beautiful Now'

Kiyonobu Inoue, more commonly known as Inoran, is a very busy man. Aside from his day job, in which he plays to sold out arenas as a guitarist for rock band Luna Sea, he juggles being a producer, playing in a handful of other projects and managing a solo career. He admits life wasn't always this hectic,...
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / Japan / SENTAKU MAGAZINE
Aug 26, 2015

Anti-Abe feeling grows in SDF

Sentiment against Prime Minister Shinzo Abe is rising in the SDF over fears that his pending security legislation will increase the risk of going to war.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Aug 24, 2015

Cultural treasures are also victims of conflict

Of the 1,007 known World Heritage sites, 48 are now in danger of being destroyed due to military conflict.
JAPAN / CHUBU CONNECTION
Aug 24, 2015

Aichi meets challenge of surge in non-Japanese students

Schools in Japan are struggling to meet the needs of children with non-Japanese parents who come from a diverse range of countries.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Aug 23, 2015

Humanities under attack

Moves in the halls of power to downgrade, if not outright strip, the humanities and social sciences nation's universities are both outrageous and wrongheaded.
MORE SPORTS
Aug 22, 2015

Koga, Nagaoka guide Japan to victory in FIVB Women's World Cup opener against Argentina

Sarina Koga scored a team-high 14 points and Miyu Nagaoka added 13 as Japan got off to a good start in the FIVB Women's World Cup by beating Argentina 25-16, 25-19, 25-12 on Saturday at Yoyogi National Gymnasium.
Japan Times
JAPAN / History
Aug 22, 2015

Museum preserves dark chapter of history for future generations

The Memorial Museum for Soldiers, Detainees in Siberia and Postwar Repatriates was founded by the Ministry of International Affairs and Communications in November 2000 to pass on memories of World War II to future generations.
Japan Times
LIFE / Digital / ON: GAMES
Aug 22, 2015

Newest "Super Mario," Forza Motorsport" and Metal Gear Solid" games set to impress

"Super Mario" takes you to a whole new level
CULTURE / Music
Aug 21, 2015

Kis-My-Ft2 "Kis-My-World"

"Kis-My-World," the fourth studio album from Johnny & Associates' boy band Kis-My-Ft2, is all about positivity. On album opener " '4th' Overture," the guys preach hope and then shift into an upbeat vibe for the rest of the album.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / OSAKA RESTAURANTS
Aug 21, 2015

Takama: Affordably luxurious soba lunches

It would be easy to breeze past the understated exterior of soba restaurant Takama without ever realizing what's inside, but that would be unfortunate — especially if you like soba. Michelin-starred Takama is located on the same street that leads into Tenjinbashisuji Shotengai, one of Japan's — if...
BUSINESS / Companies
Aug 21, 2015

Toyota to add 1,400 workers for new Prius and Land Cruiser

Toyota Motor Corp. plans to add about 1,400 workers at factories in Japan as the automaker ramps up production of Prius hybrids and Land Cruiser SUVs, people familiar with the matter said.
Japan Times
LIFE / Travel / HOTELS & RESTAURANTS
Aug 20, 2015

Filtration system offers purified water; toasting anniversary with bubbly; rejuvenating spa treatments

Filtration system offers purified water
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Companies
Aug 20, 2015

Gundam-shaped tofu to go on sale Friday

Sagamiya Foods Co., known for producing Gundam robot-shaped tofu, will put the latest of its unusual tofu series on store shelves Friday.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC / Science & Health
Aug 18, 2015

South Korea to lure tourists with tax breaks on breast augmentation

South Korea is taking duty-free shopping to a whole new level, with plans to exclude face lifts, breast enlargements and liposuction from value-added tax for tourists.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Tech
Aug 17, 2015

Secret strategies of world's most lucrative apps

A few months ago, Yoshiki Watabe, a producer at Japan's DeNA Co., was looking to draw attention to the company's hit mobile game. He introduced a spiky-haired hero armed with an outsized sword — then gave players a mere four days to bring down an evil mega-corporation.
Japan Times
JAPAN / CHUBU CONNECTION
Aug 17, 2015

Perceived dangers posed by selfie sticks prompt bans at some tourist venues

As selfie sticks become popular among young people and foreign visitors, more tourist facilities in the Chubu region are banning them over the apparent dangers they can pose.
Japan Times
CULTURE / CULTURE SMASH
Aug 15, 2015

AKB48 turns to an American studio

AKB48’s  commercial success in Japan is often derided as a sign of the culture’s patriarchal infantilization of women, and the girl group’s inability to appeal to Western audiences a sign of Japan’s increasingly isolated ideas about femininity, sexuality and pop music. Put simply: outside of...
EDITORIALS
Aug 12, 2015

Keep hackers out of the driver's seat

Automakers and consumers need to recognize the increasing vulnerability of today's computer-laden cars to hacks.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Aug 11, 2015

There's a residual energy to Cai Guo-Qiang's explosive works

Japanese artist Taro Okamoto once said, "Art is an explosion." This was despite the fact that his own works were carefully planned and developed, as the exhibition "Taro Okamoto's Paintings: From Impulse to Realization" at the Taro Okamoto Museum of Art made clear back in 2006. Okamoto's famous dictum,...
Japan Times
JAPAN / CHUBU CONNECTION
Aug 10, 2015

Consultancy for firms seeking to expand overseas taps Japanese wives living abroad

A consulting agency based in Nagoya is hiring Japanese mothers living abroad as market researchers for companies aiming to expand overseas.
JAPAN / Media / BIG IN JAPAN
Aug 8, 2015

Weeklies' summer specials feature sports, crimefighting, frozen treats and horror

The National High School Summer Baseball Tournament this year observes its 100th anniversary, and Asahi Geino (Aug. 13) recalls 10 hard-fought games at Koshien Stadium that fans still remember. In a short follow-up, the magazine introduces the "new monster," as he's being called, 16-year-old Kotaro Kiyomiya,...
Japan Times
LIFE / Style & Design / ON: FASHION
Aug 8, 2015

Tokyo's cool beasts of fashion

Monstrously cute dining in Harajuku
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Aug 6, 2015

The ship that lays the Internet's backbone

Many people are probably unaware that the Internet used everyday to connect to content and people around the world is supported by undersea optical cable.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Aug 4, 2015

Dinh Q. Le's art of nuanced criticism

Dinh Q. Le says he's not angry about the American war in Vietnam anymore. This makes our interview a lot easier; we are both of Vietnamese descent and there is a chance that talking about the war could polarize us very quickly, even though we are one generation removed from those that fought.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Aug 4, 2015

Of kimono and cultural appropriation

Clueless identity politics activists in the U.S. are no friends of Japan's struggling kimono industry.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Companies
Aug 3, 2015

Retty plans IPO to fund global expansion of restaurant review app

Retty Inc., the Japanese restaurant-review app backed by an arm of Fidelity Worldwide Investment, plans a domestic initial public offering by mid-2017 to fund expansion into global cities, from San Francisco to Hong Kong.
Japan Times
JAPAN / CHUBU CONNECTION
Aug 3, 2015

Deep-sea creepy crawlies turned into crackers in Japan

Here's a novel treat: a senbei rice cracker made of giant isopods, creepy crawlies from the ocean deeps. The snacks are now on sale at a range of outlets in Japan and are quickly gaining popularity.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / How-tos / LIFELINES
Aug 2, 2015

Moriumius project brings young life and learning back to the Tohoku disaster zone

A unique educational project aims to revitalize the Miyagi town of Ogatsu, which lost around 80 percent of its buildings and 10 percent of its 4,300 population to the 3/11 disasters.

Longform

A small shrine perched atop rocks braves the waves hitting the shoreline during a storm in Shimoda, Shizuoka Prefecture. The area is under threat of a possible 31-meter-high tsunami if an earthquake strikes the nearby Nankai Trough.
If the 'Big One' hits, this city could face a 31-meter-high tsunami