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JAPAN / Regional Voices: Hokkaido
Feb 21, 2020

After Hokkaido backcountry skiing deaths, experts call for enforcing 'Niseko Rules'

Following two cases of backcountry skiers being killed by avalanches in Hokkaido since the beginning of this year, safety experts in the prefecture are working to fully enforce the so-called Niseko Rules to keep skiers safe.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Regional voices: Chubu
Feb 21, 2020

Amid labor crunch, Japan firms seek to win over students' moms and dads

Earlier this month, Copro-Engineered Co., a Nagoya-based firm specializing in the staffing of construction engineers, hosted a party at a Nagoya hotel for students who are expected to join the firm after graduating from university in spring — and their parents.
LIFE / Language / NEWS IN NIHONGO
Feb 18, 2020

Sumo meet to be held as part of 2020 Games cultural program

A Kyodo article slams us with some sumo-related vocabulary and information on how the traditional Japanese sport will figure into Olympic festivities.
COMMENTARY / World
Feb 17, 2020

Impeachment energizes Trump, drains Democrats

The Democrats' impeachment effort has successfully energized Trump's base and fundraising but not their own.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Feb 16, 2020

With Javid's departure, Johnson has seized control

Sajid Javid's replacement, Rishi Sunak, is less likely to stand up to No. 10 and Dominic Cummings. U.K. spending may become more lavish as a result.
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Feb 15, 2020

Unmarried single parents find an unlikely ally in scrap over tax deduction

The ruling Liberal Democratic Party submitted an amendment to the Diet in January to expand the "widow's deduction" to cover single parents who have never been married. This system allows single parents who have lost spouses to death or divorce to deduct a certain amount of money from their taxable income...
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Feb 14, 2020

What Iran's attacks on American bases tell us about China's missile program

The belief that Chinese missiles are numerous, but inaccurate, is likely now outdated.
Japan Times
LIFE / Language / NEWS IN NIHONGO
Feb 11, 2020

Late-night train services planned for Tokyo Games

A Kyodo story reports on changes to train timetables during the Tokyo Olympics with some routes running longer in order to accommodate spectators.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Regional Voices: Hiroshima
Feb 10, 2020

Nuclear energy exhibit to be turned into clinic for doctor-hungry Yamaguchi town

In an unusual move, a nuclear power exhibition facility in a small town in Yamaguchi Prefecture, which has been seeing a steady decline in the number of visitors in recent years, will reopen as a medical clinic when a new doctor starts work there in April.
Japan Times
JAPAN / History / Regional Voices: Kyushu
Feb 10, 2020

Rediscovery of study on Nagasaki atomic bomb blast spotlights pioneering work by Kamekichi Sugimoto

A comparative study report on the development of child survivors of atomic blasts and those unexposed to radiation by the first chair of the Nagasaki Atomic Bomb Survivors Council, Kamekichi Sugimoto, who died in 1979 at 77, has been discovered in the city of Nagasaki. The documents were retrieved from...
Japan Times
JAPAN / Regional voices: Chubu
Feb 10, 2020

Aichi students send Hanshin quake-linked sunflowers to disaster-hit areas

Sunflowers that students in Aichi Prefecture cultivated from seeds originally grown at the home of a 1995 Great Hanshin Earthquake victim were displayed during a memorial ceremony on Jan. 17, marking the 25th anniversary of the disaster.
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Feb 8, 2020

Trial of Sagamihara massacre suspect spurs debate on what society may think about people with disabilities

The trial of Satoshi Uematsu, who is accused of killing 19 people with disabilities at a care facility in Sagamihara, Kanagawa Prefecture, in 2016, began on Jan. 8 and is expected to end in March. Uematsu admits to the murders. His defense team is trying to convince the judges, who include lay judges,...
Japan Times
LIFE / Lifestyle / Kateigaho International Japan Edition
Feb 8, 2020

Folk fun: Making folk toys accessible in everyday life

Japan's abundant forests meant all kinds of wooden toys were made. Some of them, like kokeshi dolls, have come back into vogue, and there are now multiple museums and shops where it's possible to view and engage with these charming toys.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Feb 7, 2020

It's been a sad, bad week for the United States

The world's leading power is now being governed by grievance and emotion.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Feb 7, 2020

As the coronavirus spreads, so does fake news

Twitter and Google ought to emulate Facebook's new 'physical harm' standard to help stop the dangerous spread of misinformation.
Reader Mail
Feb 7, 2020

Use idled liners to deal with outbreak

A professor of public health in Japan has pointed out the need for proactive steps to prepare for an outbreak of the new coronavirus in Japan ("Closing of borders will only 'delay inevitable'" in the Feb. 5 edition. The article notes that "the government faces the urgent task of preparing health care...
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Feb 5, 2020

Is the world growing softer or just becoming wiser?

It is becoming slowly recognized that violence backfires and that soft methods, rather than harsh and confrontational measures and battle plans, now stand the best chance of stabilizing societies.
Japan Times
LIFE / Language / NEWS IN NIHONGO
Feb 4, 2020

Paralympics: Tokyo to see a record number of competing nations

A Kyodo article looks at the number of nations taking part in the Tokyo Paralympics this summer.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Feb 2, 2020

Japanese justice: Innocent until proven guilty or innocent until detained?

It's been a month since ex-Nissan chief Carlos Ghosn's dramatic escape pushed the Japanese justice system back into the global spotlight. Critics have long called Japan's extended detentions and other legal practices "hostage justice" and an affront to international standards.
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Feb 1, 2020

Shinjiro Koizumi's paternity leave raises a few eyebrows

Shortly before Shinjiro Koizumi’s wife, Christel Takigawa, gave birth to a baby boy last month, the environment minister told reporters during a regular news conference he would be taking time off for paternity leave. It was a revelation that surprised some because after the pair had revealed she was...
Japan Times
JAPAN / Media / BIG IN JAPAN
Feb 1, 2020

Dispatches from the front line of Japan's retail sector

Since October, business media have focused on two topics at the near-exclusion of numerous others: the economic repercussions of the consumption tax hike and how that increase has influenced, or accelerated, a shift from cash to electronic payments.
Japan Times
LIFE / Lifestyle / Kateigaho International Japan Edition
Feb 1, 2020

Folk fun: Reverence for life-giving soil and agriculture

Reverence for the soil that nourishes life has always been deeply rooted in Japan, where agriculture was central to daily life, and many folk toys and bells were made of clay.
Reader Mail
Jan 31, 2020

Teens have plenty of time to find themselves

I love reading the "Why did you leave Japan" column in The Japan Times On Sunday. What impressed me the most recently is the interview with Haruaki Saito, who is as old as me, in the Jan. 12 edition.
Reader Mail
Jan 31, 2020

Can't we please get some new ideas?

The Japan-U.S. alliance is widely accepted, according to the opinion piece "The state of the Japan-U.S. alliance at 60" in the Jan. 21 edition.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Regional voices: Chubu
Jan 31, 2020

Japanese turn to crowdfunding to pay for public-interest lawsuits

When a Nagoya-based citizens group calling for the decommissioning of an over 40-year-old nuclear power plant kicked off a crowdfunding campaign in October to cover costs for ongoing litigation, it successfully raised about ¥3.7 million, 1.5 times the target amount, in about two months.
LIFE / Language / NEWS IN NIHONGO
Jan 28, 2020

A robot-staffed cafe in Shibuya creates a buzz

A Kyodo article on a new robot cafe introduces us to Pepper and its friends.
Japan Times
WORLD / Politics
Jan 27, 2020

Ex-U.S. national security chief John Bolton says Trump tied Ukraine funds to Biden probe: report

U.S. President Donald Trump told a then-top aide in August he wanted to freeze security aid to Ukraine until officials there helped with investigations into Democrats, including former Vice President Joe Biden, the New York Times reported on Sunday.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / Japan
Jan 26, 2020

What lies behind Shiori Ito's lonely #MeToo struggle

In Japan, feminist voices have been raised for #MeToo, but they are often barely heard.
JAPAN
Jan 26, 2020

Ambitious Zero Emission Tokyo plan wins praise, but begs for action

Just days before the new year, Gov. Yuriko Koike revealed the Zero Emission Tokyo Strategy, the capital's long-awaited plan to eliminate carbon emissions, transition to renewable energy and take the lead in the fight against global warming.

Longform

Bear attacks have dominated Japanese news headlines in recent months, with 13 people so far having been killed by the animals.
Japan’s bears have been on their killing spree for more than 100 years