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BUSINESS / Tech
Dec 19, 2014

Google planning built-in Android system for cars

Google is laying the groundwork for a version of Android that will be built directly into cars, sources said, allowing drivers to enjoy all the benefits of the Internet without even plugging in their smartphones.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Dec 18, 2014

'Captain Cook's Voyage and Banks' Florilegium'

As the finale of a series of shows commemorating Bunkamura The Museum's 25th anniversary, this exhibition features the florilegium works of Joseph Banks (1743-1820). Banks, a naturalist and botanist, was appointed as a member of the scientific expedition onboard Captain James Cook's HMS Endeavour. During...
CULTURE / Music
Dec 16, 2014

Rock, J-pop and dance: Albums we liked in 2014

The year-end album charts in Japan have a tendency to prop up the same acts year after year: Exile, anything that ends in a "48," and almost every group from the Johnny & Associates stable of boy bands. Writers at The Japan Times, however, spent the year looking past the charts to find a few gems lurking...
Japan Times
JAPAN / History
Dec 13, 2014

Tokyo Station at 100: all change

“Tokyo Station is not just a station, it is a symbol of Japan. It has always been a part of progress in rail technology but it's much more important than that. It is a landmark that represents Japan.'
Japan Times
JAPAN / CHUBU CONNECTION
Dec 12, 2014

Takayama mobilizes to protect voters from bear attacks

Polling stations in one mountain city are bracing for an unusual kind of disruption on election day: bear attacks.
BUSINESS / Companies
Dec 11, 2014

Sony PlayStation to make China debut next month as ban ends

Sony Corp. will release its PlayStation 4 console in China next month, following Microsoft Corp. into the world's biggest game market after the government eased restrictions.
BUSINESS / Companies
Dec 10, 2014

Honda halts U.S. sales of Acura sedan because of brake fault

Honda Motor Co. told U.S. dealers to stop selling some of its Acura TLX sedans because the parking lock may fail to engage, the latest quality shortcoming at the automaker after President Takanobu Ito took a pay cut.
Japan Times
Figure Skating / ICE TIME
Dec 9, 2014

Gold's motive for GP Final pullout in question

When you grow up in a country or culture, you can usually tell when somebody from the same place or background is being insincere. The tone of voice and body language often give them away.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink
Dec 9, 2014

Christmas in Tokyo is pretty sweet

Just before the Halloween decorations were taken down and packed up, the signs advertising Christmas cakes went up. Bakeries, department stores and convenience stores all seem to have a corner for small cakes topped with whipped cream and tiny Santa Claus figurines. A traditional Japanese holiday feast...
EDITORIALS
Dec 8, 2014

Amending the Constitution

The political landscape emerging from the Dec. 14 Lower House election will impact when or whether a revision to Japan's Constitution becomes a major agenda item.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Tech / ADVANCES IN PROGRESS
Dec 7, 2014

Synthetic fluorite puts lens biz in focus

Iwatani Corp. brightened the outlook for camera fans in October by announcing it had developed the world's first viable technology for synthesizing high-purity fluorite — an element critical to making the world's best lenses.
Japan Times
LIFE / Style & Design
Dec 6, 2014

Code + culture: new media art from Japan

Domestic media artists have been using programming code in recent years to create some astonishing works of art. We look back at how this scene developed over the years and examine four contemporary artists who have defined the way the genre has evolved.
Japan Times
Places
Dec 6, 2014

Day trips from Tokyo

Tokyo has plenty to offer to visitors and residents, but for those times when you need something different, something slower, something roomier, here are few select days trips out of Tokyo.
Japan Times
JAPAN / CHUBU CONNECTION
Dec 5, 2014

Nagoya YWCA offers language classes with day care

The Nagoya YWCA School of Japanese Language in Aichi Prefecture has added a "Bambina" course to its curriculum.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Dec 3, 2014

Looking Japan's film-industry myths in the eye

Who doesn't love a listicle titled "(X) surprising things you never knew about (Y)"? What surprises me about a lot of commentary on the Japanese film industry — from insiders and outsiders alike — is how it substitutes judgment calls (usually of the "Japanese films are crap" variety) for out-in-plain-sight...
BUSINESS
Dec 3, 2014

North Korea's fingerprints reportedly found on Sony hack

North Korea may have had a hand in the digital attack against Sony Pictures Entertainment that used destructive malware to disable systems and destroy data, according to two sources with knowledge of the investigation.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Dec 2, 2014

Taking vocal software beyond Miku

Tokyo-based electronic musician mus.hiba has worked with a handful of vocalists during his short stint as a producer. However, many of them haven't been human.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Dec 2, 2014

Shizuoka set for a rock fest with local flare

A raucous bassist shouting at the top of his lungs, a guitarist who models himself on AC/DC's Angus Young and a drummer dressed in nothing but a fundoshi (loincloth) — meet The Wemmer.
Japan Times
BASKETBALL / ONE-ON-ONE WITH ...
Dec 1, 2014

Iwate's Randall stays focused on winning

The Japan Times features periodic interviews with players in the bj-league. Scootie Randall of the Eastern Conference-leading Iwate Big Bulls is the subject of this week's profile.
COMMUNITY / Voices / VIEWS FROM THE STREET
Dec 1, 2014

Yokohama: How can you make your Christmas in Japan more ... Christmassy?

Many foreigners will spend the Christmas holiday in Japan away from family. So how do they attempt to create the feeling of a Western Christmas like those they knew back home?
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Tech
Nov 30, 2014

Unreleased films feared filched in Sony attack; North Korea suspected

Two as-yet unreleased films might have been stolen in a cyberattack on Sony Corp. that may be linked to North Korea.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Nov 28, 2014

Missing out on an Iran deal

Negotiators may have let slip the most opportune moment for ending the standoff on Iran's nuclear program.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Nov 28, 2014

A modern annex for an old favorite

I always feel a little inadequate arriving at the Tokyo Metropolitan Teien Art Museum, shambling up its gravel drive in my slovenly journalist garb and running one hand over my face to check if I've shaved that day. It's such an elegant venue that I feel I really should be arriving in more style, possibly...
Japan Times
JAPAN / CHUBU CONNECTION
Nov 28, 2014

Flash cards help foreign children learn kanji

An elementary school teacher from Aichi Prefecture has developed a unique new way for foreign children to learn Japanese from flash cards.

Longform

After pandemic-era border regulations eased, Indian migrants began returning to Japan. Their population now stands at more than 50,000 across the country.
How remote work is rewriting the migrant experience in Japan