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May 14, 2025
 

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Japan Times
ENVIRONMENT / WILD WATCH
Aug 19, 2012

The air around us is teeming with life — it's just too tiny to see

As I approached the top of Mount Tarumae's western peak, located in Hokkaido's Shikotsu-Toya National Park, for a brief moment I thought an early reward was awaiting me in the form of clusters of ripe blueberries in the bush tops. At first glance it appeared that the bushes were in fruit, and it was...
JAPAN / Media / BIG IN JAPAN
Nov 20, 2021

Yukar: The timeless oral tales that are our window on Ainu life

Civilization overwhelmed Japan's indigenous population about 100 years ago.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / ADOPT ME!
Feb 7, 2021

Cumin the dog is starting to learn how wonderful life can be

He may look adorably goofy, with huge ears and a terribly skinny frame, but there has been nothing to smile about in Cumin's life until recently. At the tender age of 2 he has already had a rough time in life, but he's at ARK now and his gentle heart remains as strong as ever.
Japan Times
Special Supplements
Oct 2, 2020

Explore inspirations of classic Japanese aesthetic from daily life

Beauty is all around us. Whether it be vibrant, intricately designed attire or elegant tableware, the objects that surround us color the canvas of our daily lives. Since its opening in 1961, the Suntory Museum of Art has organized exhibitions that highlight the relationship between Japanese antiques...
Japan Times
LIFE / Language / BILINGUAL
Jan 14, 2020

Life begins at 60 (or at least it starts anew)

Japan Times writer Daniel Morales celebrates his 60th column with a lesson on turning 60, a special birthday in Japan.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Feb 14, 2019

Reality continues to leak from American life

The Green New Deal reveals Democratic progressives have embraced Trump's political style: A stew of frivolity and mendacity.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Dec 4, 2018

The extraordinary life and times of George H.W. Bush

The 41st U.S. president cared more about his legacy than the 1992 re-election he lost.
JAPAN / Media / DARK SIDE OF THE RISING SUN
Dec 2, 2017

Life as a gangster in Japan just isn't as fun as it used to be

A number of theories have been put forward on the reasons behind the 2015 split of the country's largest crime syndicate, the Yamaguchi-gumi.
COMMENTARY / World
Mar 4, 2016

Think life is hard now? Look back 100 years

Americans tend to forget the vast improvements that they've made in the past century.
Japan Times
LIFE / Lifestyle / CHILD'S PLAY
Apr 11, 2015

Take a slow, deep dive into marine life

Island nations have a unique relationship with the sea, and for Japan these connections often manifest themselves through its culture and cuisine. This can make an aquarium visit doubly interesting: Come for the fish, stay to watch the visitors as they admire each tank's inhabitants with a unique mixture...
Japan Times
LIFE
Aug 24, 2013

Long-gone writer tells it how it is

When Kenji Miyazawa was writing his stories and poems nearly a century ago, Japan was a country with a two-pronged mission: To become the first non-white, non-Christian nation to create a modern prosperous state — and to be the leader of an Asian revival.
COMMUNITY / Voices / HAVE YOUR SAY
Sep 4, 2012

For nikkei, It doesn't have to be a bug's life: readers bite back

Readers' responses to Debito Arudou's last Just Be Cause column, "For nikkei immigrants in Japan, it doesn't have to be a bug's life" (Aug. 7):
Reader Mail
Mar 1, 2012

Simpler life a welcome change

I enjoyed reading the sentiments expressed in Amy Chavez's Feb. 25 column, "Austerity — we've embraced it in the countryside." As an young American adult who went through adolescence in the transitional times of the 1990s and early 2000s, I feel that some of these ideas of simplicity ring true in my...
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / CLOSE-UP
Jun 7, 2009

Kang Sang Jung: Born but not Bred

Kang Sang Jung is one of the most influential ethnically Korean residents of Japan (zainichi). A political science professor at the University of Tokyo, he also gives lectures around the country, is a regular television commentator and has a column in the prestigious weekly current affairs magazine Aera....
Japan Times
ENVIRONMENT / WILD WATCH
Feb 20, 2003

How to label all life, and lichen?

I am an inveterate binocular user, rarely going anywhere without a pair. They are useful not merely for enjoying scenery, and birds and mammals in their natural settings, but also for the odd peregrine falcon perched incongruously atop an urban high-rise, or for admiring architectural detail in close-up...
COMMENTARY / World
Aug 28, 2001

Trends in life learning for senior citizens

CHIANG MAI, Thailand -- So much talk about globalization issues nowadays overshadows a couple of other equally important current developments: the longer life span of individuals and their wish to lead a meaningful period of time as silver-haired "senior citizens."
Japan Times
LIFE / Language / BILINGUAL
Sep 14, 2021

Japanese for when you’re lost in life — or just lost on the road

While we can't say 2021 has been defined by loss, it's pretty evident that a feeling of being lost has popped up in a lot of situations.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Media / BIG IN JAPAN
Oct 6, 2019

When everything in life boils down to a bad smell

An 8-year-old schoolgirl having trouble making friends thought it might be because she smelled bad. She sweated heavily. There's not much you can do about it, except wash, and wash, and wash, but the smell remains — in your own mind if not in the nostrils of your classmates — and it grows on you...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Books
May 26, 2018

Twenty-five years on, Alan Booth's voice is brought back to life

'This Great Stage of Fools' offers a collection of Alan Booth's uncollected journalism and writings between 1979 and his untimely death in 1993. Booth is be considered one of the greatest writers on Japan of his generation.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / LABOR PAINS
Feb 25, 2018

Lessons on life, love and compassionate leave from a silly old bunny

Having just suffered a string of painful losses, this month I will explore compassionate leave (kibiki kyu016bka), the days you take off in Japan after the death of a close family member.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Media / DARK SIDE OF THE RISING SUN
Mar 4, 2017

How much time does it take to save a life?

How much time does it take to save a life? Five hours? Five minutes? Five seconds?
Japan Times
CULTURE / Books
Aug 3, 2013

The messy, chaotic real life of artists

A couple of years ago, the New Yorker writer Janet Malcolm, who knows enough about journalism to hardly ever give interviews herself, spoke to Katie Roiphe for the Paris Review. Except that she didn't actually speak to her — or at least, not while Roiphe's tape recorder was rolling.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Science & Health / NATURAL SELECTIONS
May 8, 2011

'Transcendent Man' denies life ends with death

When Ray Kurzweil was a child he tried to invent a homework machine: He didn't accept that he had to waste time doing his dumb school assignments. Half a century on, nothing much has changed, though the authority Kurzweil challenges has got loftier: Now, says the American futurist and inventor, he doesn't...
LIFE / Language / BILINGUAL
Sep 6, 2002

Small-life, low-name -- let's not talk about me

There are some aspects of Japanese politeness that baffle even the Japanese. Like the habit of saying: "Kyoshuku desu (I'm terrified and shrinking)" in response to someone doing you a favor. And "Osoreirimasu (Fear has entered me)" instead of a plain "Arigato (Thank you)." Are other people really so...
ENVIRONMENT / WILD WATCH
Aug 2, 2001

Salt tolerance and life's dispersal derby

Salt is an interesting mineral. We all need it. It is crucial to the operation of the cells that make up our bodies.
LIFE / Travel / NATURE TRAVEL
Jun 5, 2001

Risking your life at Victoria Falls

While Zambia's side of Victoria Falls is sedate, a little backward, but calming, the Zimbabwe banks of the Zambezi River draw adrenaline addicts from across the world.
BUSINESS / YEN FOR LIVING
Jun 9, 2017

With stagnant minimum wage, a 'decent life' is out of reach

One of the bedrock principles of market economics is that as demand for labor goes up, so do wages. Lately, there has been evidence that this idea may no longer be true.
COMMUNITY / Voices / FOREIGN AGENDA
Sep 21, 2014

The town that's battling the demographic tide

On Oki Islands off Shimane Prefecture, a bold wave of reform seems to be having a positive effect.
JAPAN / Media / DARK SIDE OF THE RISING SUN
Dec 2, 2012

Japan's 'life-less' anti-stalking laws are costing lives to be lost

"To build a Buddha image but not to put in the soul (仏作って魂入れず/ Hotoke tsukutte tamashii irezu)" is a well-known saying stemming from a folk belief that statues of Buddhist deities are meant to have a spiritual presence. In other words, it's a metaphor for making something that's structurally...
Japan Times
JAPAN / Science & Health / NATURAL SELECTIONS
Mar 8, 2009

Looking forward to a 200-year-old human

If you believe everything you read about the health-giving properties of the traditional Japanese diet — and if you were to eat traditionally every day — you might expect to live to at least 150, in rude health.
Transport ministry issues warning to Haneda Airport operator
The operator of Tokyo's Haneda Airport has been warned by the government over its inappropriate transactions.
Xi defiance pays off as Trump meets most China trade demands
Then-Chinese Vice President Xi Jinping visits a school in South Gate, California, in February 2012. Experts say Xi won big in his standoff with U.S. President Donald Trump.
Nissan shares surge as carmaker set to cut 20,000 jobs in huge overhaul
U.S. President Donald Trump’s tariffs on cars and car parts imported to the U.S. have been painful to most global brands, but crippling in Nissan’s case.
Japan might be playing long game in U.S. tariff talks
Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba at the White House earlier this year. Ishiba said Monday that farmers won't be sacrificed for automakers in Japan's tariff negotiations with the U.S.
Japan set for bigger role in Philippines after SDF’s debut in key drills
Philippine Army Brig. Gen. Michael Logico, who was involved in managing the latest iteration of the Balikatan U.S.-Philippine drills, told The Japan Times that he expects military ties with Japan to surge even further once Tokyo ratifies a key visiting-forces agreement with Manila.
In China’s ‘Michelin Guide,’ Tokyo leads overseas listings with 30 entries
China's Black Pearl Restaurant Guide held its award ceremony overseas for the first time, picking the dining capital of Singapore to promote its brand to an international audience.
Who could become Japan's next prime minister?
Clockwise from top left: Former economic security minister Sanae Takaichi, former economic security minister Takayuki Kobayashi, Finance Minister Katsunobu Kato and Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshimasa Hayashi
With a new Shibuya studio, Apple Music bets big on Japan
Apple Music personalities (from left) Ebro Darden, Kentaro Ochiai, Zane Lowe and Mino came together for a special recording in late April to discuss music and celebrate the newly opened Apple Music studio in Tokyo.
Escalation fears rise in Japan following Chinese moves near Senkakus
A Japan Coast Guard vessel sails in front of the Uotsuri islet, one of the Japanese-controlled Senkaku Islands. Concerns are growing in Tokyo after a Chinese government helicopter violated Japan's airspace around the uninhabited islets.

Podcast

One of the many entrances to the Kabukicho neighborhood in Tokyo’s Shinjuku Ward.
Kabukicho: Tokyo’s ‘stadium of desire’

Longform

Japan's growing ranks of centenarians are redefining what it means to live in a super-aging society.
What comes after 100?
By Tomoko Otake

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Fujitsu crafts sustainable innovation for itself, society

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