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LIFE / Digital
Dec 24, 2013

Christmas Day is Black Friday for apps as download record set to be broken

When Walt Disney Co. began considering the best time to release an iPad version of its popular online kids game "Club Penguin" this year, only one date came to mind.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Dec 23, 2013

How the Federal Reserve was created

A century ago this week, Congress passed the Federal Reserve Act, creating a central bank for a nation that was only beginning its economic ascendance. This is the story of how it came to be, from a nearly catastrophic financial panic to secret meetings of plutocrats on the Georgia coast to the pitched...
Japan Times
JAPAN / WEDGE
Dec 22, 2013

'Abenomics' exposing sheltered dairy farmers

The price of raw milk sold to dairy product makers rose by ¥5 per kg in October as imported cattle feed gets costlier amid the weakening yen.
CULTURE / TV & Streaming / CHANNEL SURF
Dec 21, 2013

Bob Woodward and Noam Chomsky discuss current U.S. administration; women's relay race near Fuji; CM of the week: Pizza-La

This week, NHK's "Asian Voices" series (BS-1, Mon., 1 p.m.) will present a special discussion of whether or not the United States' reputation as the world's defender of freedom and justice has been compromised by recent revelations of widespread government surveillance of citizens and the use of drones...
Japan Times
JAPAN / CHUBU CONNECTION
Dec 20, 2013

Haiyan victims still suffering as Christmas nears

More than a month has passed since Typhoon Haiyan demolished a large number of towns and villages in the central Philippines, and the people now have sufficient supplies of food and other basics. But most lost their homes and are now having to live in the open, according to the International Children's...
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / EVERYMAN EATS
Dec 19, 2013

A year of pancakes, donuts, flying fish

Japan has reached peak donut.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Dec 19, 2013

'Matsuri no Uma (The Horses of Fukushima)'

The earthquake, tsunami and reactor meltdowns of March 2011 may have faded from the world's consciousness, but for many Japanese filmmakers, both young and old, it has been a life- and career-defining event. Documentary makers, especially, have gone north by the dozens to film the aftermath and interview...
CULTURE / Music
Dec 17, 2013

New Year's single, Christmas concert get Meyer into festive spirit

Jazz pianist and singer Emi Meyer has a lot of fond memories of the holiday season.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Dec 17, 2013

The best Japanese albums of 2013: Church of Misery, ‘Thy Kingdom Scum’

This year, the Ozzy Osbourne-fronted Black Sabbath released its first studio album since 1978, and while it was a fine album, I think they may have been "out-Sabbathed" by Japan's very own doom-metal band, Church Of Misery, who released its fourth album, "Thy Kingdom Scum," in June.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Books
Dec 14, 2013

Record of Miraculous Events in Japan: The Nihon ryoiki

Compiled in the early Heian Period (794-1192), the "Nihon ryoiki" comprises the country's first major collection of anecdotal literature, or setsuwa. The collection contains 116 spoken stories over three volumes that were passed from person to person, village to village, until they were finally recorded...
EDITORIALS
Dec 13, 2013

Abe's stimulus only a short-term fix

The Abe administration's latest stimulus package has the central government spending more than it is due to receive in revenue from the fiscal 2014 tax hike, showing that the Japanese economy has yet to enter a self-sustaining cycle built on private-sector demand and investment.
Japan Times
JAPAN / CHUBU CONNECTION
Dec 13, 2013

Nagakute turns on rogue pond turtles

The rampant rise of red-eared terrapins is posing an ecological threat in a park in Nagakute, Aichi Prefecture.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink
Dec 12, 2013

Ice-cream businesses fight the winter chill

With temperatures this year that peaked in the mid-30s, made only worse by Tokyo's hair plastering humidity, there were two major topics that were featured prominently on television: how hot it was and what could be done to beat the heat. Cameras showed long lines of people wearing sandals and cooling...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Dec 12, 2013

'The Bling Ring'

Sofia Coppola's "The Bling Ring" is a slight tale of spoiled Southern California high schoolers — four girls, one guy — who have the idea of searching the Net to find out when celebrities such as Lindsay Lohan or Megan Fox are out attending parties or shooting films, and then breaking into their...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Dec 11, 2013

'Ichihashi Orie Exhibition 2001-2013'

Ichihashi Orie is a young photographer who has recently gained significant recognition for her print media and advertising campaigns for major companies such as McDonald's, Kirin and Uniqlo.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Companies
Dec 11, 2013

Japanese makers play catch-up in smartphone market

In 2013, Japan's smartphone industry faced the shocking news that NEC Corp. and Panasonic Corp. were withdrawing from making those handsets for consumers.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Dec 9, 2013

Can JAL deliver the iced goods for Japan Post?

Japan Post has begun delivering refrigerated parcels overseas through an exclusive deal with Japan Airlines, but the future of the tie-up remains murky due to JAL's limited cargo services and intensifying competition with rival delivery firms.
Japan Times
ENVIRONMENT / WILD WATCH
Dec 7, 2013

Tales from on the trail of Okinawa's rail

Thirty-one years ago I set off on a quest to look for a species so rare that it seemed as mythical as a Phoenix. Not only was it almost unknown, but also the Okinawa Rail had only recently been discovered. It was, as reporters like to say, a species new to science. Nothing was known about its numbers,...
Japan Times
JAPAN / CHUBU CONNECTION
Dec 6, 2013

Fires thrive along with exports of scrap

Firefighters and the Japan Coast Guard have been plagued with a growing number of blazes breaking out among piles of mixed scrap in harbors and on board ships, with the most recent one occurring in Mikawa port in Toyohashi, Aichi Prefecture.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Dec 4, 2013

'Feature Exhibition On-Matsuri and the Sacred Art of Kasuga'

On-Matsuri, also known as the Grand Festival of Kasuga Wakamiya, is a popular year-end event held in Nara Prefecture at which performers and festival participants pay their respects to the Kasuga Wakamiya Shrine deity.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Companies
Dec 4, 2013

Nintendo seen missing target as Sony, Microsoft dwarf Wii U

Nintendo Co.'s prospects for meeting its profit and sales forecasts for the year are diminishing after Sony Corp. and Microsoft Corp. each sold more game consoles in 24 hours than the Wii U maker did in nine months.
CULTURE / Music
Dec 3, 2013

Documentary film 'Save the Club Noon' tackles anti-dancing law

Dancers displeased with the anti-dance law and the shutdown of a popular club in Osaka are taking their arguments to the screens this month in a documentary titled "Save The Club Noon."
Japan Times
CULTURE / Books
Nov 30, 2013

The Aesthetics of Strangeness: Eccentricity and Madness in Early Modern Japan

Misfits. Oddballs. Bohemians. In Tokugawa Japan? Yes indeed, a veritable plethora of them. The Tokugawa shogunate (1603-1867) was hardly the first repressive regime, or the last, to throw nonconformity out the front door only to find it creeping in through the back door, through the window, through cracks...
Japan Times
JAPAN / CHUBU CONNECTION
Nov 29, 2013

Future teachers get prepped for foreign pupils

A lot of teachers have a tough time teaching children of foreign nationalities due to the language barrier and cultural differences.
Japan Times
Events / Events Outside Tokyo
Nov 28, 2013

A festival that'll literally send you running

Learn from the experts how to properly exercise by joining two former Olympic athletes at the Jogging Matsuri 2013 on Nov. 30 in Yokohama's Minato Mirai Sports Park.
Japan Times
Events / Events In Tokyo
Nov 28, 2013

Ethiopia's traditional rhythms are about to dance across the nation

The Ethiopian National Cultural Troupe is in Japan from Nov. 30 to hold performances, workshops, and dance nights at eight different venues across the country. Offering a variety of dance performances from different ethnic groups of the east African country, this is a great opportunity for anyone wanting...

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