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Japan Times
JAPAN / CHUBU CONNECTION
Feb 6, 2015

Shikoku taps drones to aid isolated islands

A drone built by a Nagoya-based company has completed a trial run to see if unmanned aircraft can be used to transport goods from Kagawa Prefecture to an island in the Seto Inland Sea.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Feb 5, 2015

When nostalgia entangles with an unsettling past

When Koichi Watari, the director of the Watari Museum of Contemporary Art contacted Yoshitomo Nara to organize a solo exhibition of his work, the artist was traveling around Hokkaido and Sakhalin with photographer and hard-core explorer Naoki Ishikawa. Nara suggested to Watari that they do a two-person...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Feb 5, 2015

Message trumps the medium at JMAF

When Canadian philosopher Marshall McLuhan coined the phrase "The medium is the message" in the mid-1960s, the ensuing dialogue on media theory encouraged an approach that persists to the present day: to examine new types of technology through the societal and cultural changes that they engender.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Feb 3, 2015

Negicco's new album turns the onion idols into Shibuya-kei's new hope

The crowd at the sold-out Liquidroom show furiously pumps glowsticks shaped like green onions in time with the beat coming out of the venue's sound system. They scream when three young women appear, and the energy only grows as the first song of the night gets rolling. It gets especially loud when they...
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Feb 2, 2015

Ford CFO says Toyota gains $10 billion advantage on weak yen

Ford Motor Co.'s top financial executive said the weak yen hands Japanese automakers as much as $11,000 more profit per car and allowed Toyota Motor Corp., the world's largest automaker, to earn an extra $10 billion in 2013. Ford wants the U.S. to intervene against what it sees as currency manipulation....
JAPAN / EXPLAINER
Feb 2, 2015

Japan's political satire offers comic wordplay — but rarely any offense

The tragic murders at the French satirical weekly Charlie Hebdo touched off worldwide debate about what forms of satire in the public sphere are appropriate, and under what conditions.
Japan Times
JAPAN / CHUBU CONNECTION
Jan 30, 2015

Art exhibition in Nagoya illustrates kids' growth stages

Aichi Toho University in Nagoya is hosting the World Children's Painting Exhibition in the L building in Heiwagaoka in Meito Ward until March 11.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Jan 29, 2015

Art is long, when life can be short

Given Japan's continual seismic activity, what happened at 5:46 a.m. on Jan. 17, 1995, was unavoidable. The devastation and loss of life that occurred with the magnitude 7.3 quake in Kansai became a yardstick only now surpassed by the Great East Japan Earthquake of 2011. While the aftereffects of the...
Japan Times
LIFE / Travel / HOTELS & RESTAURANTS
Jan 29, 2015

Rose bath, champagne at Royal Park; Granvia Osaka elegant dinner course; Cerulean Tower Valentine's Fair

Rose bath, champagne at Royal Park
Japan Times
JAPAN
Jan 28, 2015

Jordan reportedly offers to swap would-be bomber for captured pilot; no mention of Goto

Jordanian state-run television reported Wednesday that Amman was ready to release an Iraqi failed suicide bomber on death row if the Islamic State group freed a captured Jordanian pilot, citing a government minister in the Middle East country.
BASKETBALL / ONE-ON-ONE WITH ...
Jan 27, 2015

Shiga's Woodbury embraces pursuit of excellence

The Japan Times features periodic interviews with players in the bj-league. Terrance Woodbury of the Shiga Lakestars is the subject of this week's profile.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink
Jan 27, 2015

Pommeke makes fries the main dish

Tokyo boasts plenty of Belgian culinary spots, from beer bars to chocolate shops. Chef Bart Sablon even points out that there is a Belgian waffle store right around the corner from Pommeke, a recently opened operation where the 39-year-old works as executive chef. "That's a total coincidence, though,"...
SUMO / SUMO SCRIBBLINGS
Jan 27, 2015

In praise of Hakuho, from those in the know

In the days since yokozuna grand champion Hakuho pushed ozeki Kisenosato from the ring on Day 13 of the Hatsu Basho at Ryogoku's Kokugikan to claim his 33rd Emperor's Cup, the man from Mongolia has been featured in media around the globe.
CULTURE / Japan Pulse
Jan 26, 2015

I wanna rock 'n' roll all night, and be kawaii, ev-er-y day

The Momoiro Clover Z + Kiss collaboration transcends generations, styles and sense.
JAPAN / Politics
Jan 25, 2015

Abe says likelihood of video being real is 'high'

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe says the static video purportedly showing a photo of Japanese hostage Hau00adruu00adna Yuu00adkau00adwa is probably authentic.
Japan Times
LIFE / Lifestyle
Jan 24, 2015

Smoke signals: Can Tokyo ever go smoke-free?

Japan has long held a reputation of being something of a paradise for smokers. Tobacco is, at least by Western standards, relatively cheap and people can still light up in many of the country's restaurants and bars. In fact, before the turn of the century smokers could pretty much puff away on a cigarette...
Japan Times
LIFE / Travel / BACKSTREET STORIES
Jan 24, 2015

Monkeying around in Sarugakucho

Sarugakucho — which loosely translates as "monkey fun town" — is a hot spot near Daikanyama Station in Shibuya, Tokyo. As a place to hang out, this area sets the bar pretty high: Its backstreets are a zoo of uber-cute boutiques offering exclusive jeans, aromatic drip coffee made with gourmet beans,...
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics / ANALYSIS
Jan 24, 2015

Obama looking to leverage ties with Modi during India trip

Barack Obama will do something in India on Monday that an American president almost never does in public: He'll sit in one place, in a foreign country, for hours.
EDITORIALS
Jan 23, 2015

Auschwitz's lessons for Japan

The 70th anniversary, on Tuesday, of the Soviet Army's liberation of Nazi Germany's Auschwitz concentration camp should serve as a chance for Prime Minister Shinzo Abe to reflect on Japan's wartime behavior in the Asia-Pacific region.
LIFE / Digital / ON: GAMES
Jan 23, 2015

Five things to keep you ahead of the game

Last year's monster hits "Pokemon Omega Ruby" and "Alpha Sapphire" are the theme to a new pop-up cafe in Shibuya. As Nintendo 3DS remakes of the 2002 Game Boy Advance titles "Pokemon Ruby" and "Sapphire," the new versions, with beefed-up graphics and new content, sold more than two million copies in...
Japan Times
JAPAN / Society
Jan 23, 2015

Activist says Uganda documentary may aid LGBT cause

Japan has developed a more favorable view of sexual minorities in recent years, but activist Mameta Endo wants to raise awareness of the issue further by encouraging people to take in a documentary that captures the hatred, harassment, and risk of prison time such people face in Uganda.
Japan Times
JAPAN / CHUBU CONNECTION
Jan 23, 2015

Japan, Korea scholars join hands on history in fence-mending bid

Researchers in Japan and South Korea are working together to file a joint request to get historic materials documenting the Korean missions to Japan placed in UNESCO's Memory of the World Register to help improve the strained diplomatic relationship.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Jan 22, 2015

'Yokoo Tadanori: Great Nirvana'

This collection of more than 300 nehanzo (nirvana statues) was originally accumulated by the artist Tadanori Yokoo.
Japan Times
LIFE / Travel / HOTELS & RESTAURANTS
Jan 22, 2015

Chocolate delight at Hyatt Regency; Ritz-Carlton offers berry good buffet; Peninsula Spa soothes, pampers

Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC / Society
Jan 22, 2015

Social media pressure Cambodian leaders

The CCTV footage is blurry but graphic. A gunman stands over a cringing victim, firing bullet after bullet into his body until the Phnom Penh street is spattered with blood.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Jan 21, 2015

A Single Shot (Japan title: Tenraku no Judan: Hitsuji)

Director: David M. Rosenthal Language: English

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