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Japan Times
LIFE / Travel
Aug 9, 2014

Sun-dazed on a distant archipelago

It didn't take long for a seasoned group of truck drivers to stake their claim to the best seats in the house or, in this case, ferry. They positioned themselves on tiny plastic seats at the rear of the open deck as the ferry left Tomari Port in Naha City, Okinawa, bound for the island of Kumejima. More...
Japan Times
JAPAN / CHUBU CONNECTION
Aug 8, 2014

Center in Tokai helps foreigners

A new group has been established in the Tokai region to help foreign residents get educational, medical and welfare services in Japan.
WORLD
Aug 7, 2014

Thousands from Iraqi religious minority trapped in mountains by Islamists

Thousands of men and women from Iraq's Yezidi religious group are stranded in northern mountains, according to United Nations groups, as they sought to escape execution and rape by Islamist militants.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Aug 6, 2014

Danchi No Yume (Dreams of the Projects)

There is such a thing as a Japanese dream, and in many ways it's a lot like the American dream. Japanese hip-hop artist Anarchy's dream has to do with escape, money and, ultimately, getting to a place where he can perform in a music video with bikini-clad babes.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / LAW OF THE LAND
Aug 6, 2014

Think you've got rights as a foreigner in Japan? Well, it's complicated

If you imagine paying taxes in Japan entitles you to welfare, you may want to take a seat.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Books
Aug 2, 2014

A deeper look at Hayao Miyazaki's nature

'The Art of Princess Mononoke' — a deeper look at Hayao Miyazaki's nature
JAPAN / CHUBU CONNECTION
Aug 1, 2014

HIS angling to work with Toyota on test driving new tour concept

Travel agency HIS is collaborating with Toyota Motor Corp. to include a visit to one of its assembly plants in Toyota, Aichi Prefecture, in package tours for tourists visiting Japan.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / How-tos / HOME TRUTHS
Aug 1, 2014

Ticking the right tax boxes

In most places in the world, property taxes, which are levied on buildings and land, are administered and collected by local governments for the benefit of local governments. This is also true in Japan, but it's useful to keep in mind that property tax rules and regulations are determined by the central government.
CULTURE / Art
Jul 31, 2014

'Love' and the lost are among the top draws at the Yokohama Triennale

Strongly influenced by the Ray Bradbury novel "Fahrenheit 451," this year's Yokohama Triennale is divided into 11 different chapters (sections), each with its own theme.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Jul 30, 2014

R-18 to G: Are pink films losing their potency?

Yuji Tajiri and Shinji Imaoka were two of the “Seven Lucky Gods of Pink” — a group of young pinku eiga (erotic film) directors who were hailed as the genre’s hope after they rose to prominence in the 1990s and early 2000s.
Events / Events In Tokyo
Jul 29, 2014

Roppongi Hills cooks up ideas for kids

Cooking with others is a win-win situation. It not only can help foster family togetherness but it also teaches children that preparing food is not simply a chore, it's a useful activity that can be fun.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC
Jul 28, 2014

China keeps fishing fleet connected in disputed waters

On China's southern Hainan island, a fishing boat captain shows a Reuters reporter around his aging vessel. He has one high-tech piece of kit, however: a satellite navigation system that gives him a direct link to the Chinese coast guard should he run into bad weather or a Philippine or Vietnamese patrol...
COMMENTARY / Japan
Jul 27, 2014

What economic policies will fit the 'growth strategy'?

The Abe government has decided on its new economic growth strategy — the 'third arrow' of 'Abenomics' — but what of today's production systems, which are quite different from the models depicted in economics textbooks?
Japan Times
CULTURE / Books
Jul 26, 2014

Last Words from Montmartre

Qiu Miaojin tells us that her novel features "a plot that has long since disappeared." That these reflections on narrative are part of "Last Words," the novel they serve to elucidate, and that they are apt, places Qiu's novel squarely at the avant-garde end of the literary spectrum. As such, it will...
JAPAN / CHUBU CONNECTION
Jul 25, 2014

Aichi police switch to carrot over stick to prevent traffic accidents

Aichi Prefecture is taking a unique approach to reducing the number of traffic accidents after having the worst rate in the country 11 years running.
Places
Jul 24, 2014

The must-see firework displays of Japan in summer 2019

Sumida River Fireworks Festival
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Jul 23, 2014

Love beyond the realms of erotic cinema

The varieties of love are many: From the chaste and platonic, to the sexually uninhibited and emotionally obsessed. In a long career as a pinku eiga (pink film) director Yuji Tajiri has concentrated on the latter end of the scale, but in his latest film, "Koppamijin (Broken Pieces)," he makes a successful,...
COMMENTARY / World
Jul 20, 2014

Big budget F-35 fighter 'can't turn, can't climb, can't run'

The U.S. military recently grounded all of its new F-35 Joint Strike Fighters after one caught fire on a runway. There is reason to worry that basic design flaws vex what is on track to become the military's most numerous warplane.
CULTURE / Books
Jul 19, 2014

Japanese Schoolgirl Confidential

"Japanese Schoolgirl Confidential" was first published in 2010, offering readers a rare insight into a growing global fascination with the image of the Japanese schoolgirl. This revised edition features eight new sections that focus on developments on the subject, including an analysis of the fall and...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Jul 18, 2014

Contemporary art is not lost in space

While space art is a relatively small field — in which works that have actually been created in space is an even smaller subset — it can only become more commonplace as costs fall and the private sector promises to open up space travel to non-specialists, albeit very wealthy ones.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Companies
Jul 18, 2014

Line said to pursue U.S. IPO with confidential filing to SEC

Line Corp., operator of Japan's most popular mobile messaging service, filed confidentially for an initial offering in the United States, people with knowledge of the matter said, taking a step closer to a dual-listing in New York and Tokyo.
Japan Times
JAPAN / CHUBU CONNECTION
Jul 18, 2014

Magazine draws attention to small firms' products overseas

Young owners of small and midsize businesses from Chubu and other regions are publishing their own English magazine, Indexrights, to market their products abroad.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Jul 17, 2014

To perceive is to see Felix Vallotton's genius at work

The art of the Swiss painter Felix Vallotton is both deceptive and loaded with revelation. On the surface it has the knowing sophistication and social references of other fin-de-siècle art — Vallotton was active from the 1880s until his death in 1925 — but it also cuts much deeper, pushing us toward...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Jul 16, 2014

Enemy

Very few directors have picked up the gauntlet thrown down by David Lynch's films such as "Lost Highway" and "Mulholland Drive." These are films steeped in mysteries so deep that Lynch himself is positively daring audiences to wrap their heads around them; they are the cinematic equivalent of an M.C....
BUSINESS
Jul 16, 2014

Driverless cars will require industry shift, Nissan scientist says

Automakers intending to develop driverless cars need to work as much on software design as mechanical engineering, according to the researcher leading Nissan Motor Co.'s automated-vehicle program.

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