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Japan Times
JAPAN / EXPLAINER
Nov 25, 2013

National Stadium plan hit as too grandiose

The new National Stadium planned for the Tokyo 2020 Olympics has come under the spotlight due to its huge size and massive costs, and for a design critics say doesn't fit in with its surroundings.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY
Nov 24, 2013

Language-learning app mixes study and manga

For those who came to Japan for the anime but are stuck instead studying flash cards for the Japanese Language Proficiency Test (JLPT), an Osaka-based company has made it possible to kill two birds with one app.
Japan Times
JAPAN / WEDGE
Nov 24, 2013

Firm's tech takes out chemical arms

A Japanese firm claims it has technology that can help Syria dispose of its chemical weapons in line with a Sept. 27 United Nations Security Council resolution ordering the nation to do so.
Japan Times
JAPAN / CHUBU CONNECTION
Nov 22, 2013

NGO helps towns ignored on Leyte

International Children's Action Network, a nonprofit organization based in Nagoya, is providing aid to Leyte Island after Typhoon Haiyan devastated the central Philippines on Nov. 8.
BASKETBALL
Nov 22, 2013

Lyons embraces leadership position for Takamatsu

The Japan Times features periodic interviews with players in the bj-league. Dexter Lyons of the Takamatsu Five Arrows is the subject of this week's profile.
WORLD / Science & Health
Nov 21, 2013

Oldest genome of a modern human points to mixed ancestry for Indians

The genetic analysis of a 24,000-year-old arm bone of an ancient Siberian boy suggests that Native Americans have a more complicated ancestry than scientists had previously realized, with some of their distant kin looking more Eurasian than East Asian.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Stage
Nov 20, 2013

Yoji Sakate celebrates in style

To celebrate its 30th anniversary this year, the Tokyo-based Rinkogun theater company determined to present four original plays by its founder, the renowned playwright and director Yoji Sakate.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Stage
Nov 20, 2013

Director Ogawa sublimely cracks Mamet's code

First impressions can, of course, be deceiving, but mine of 65-year-old David Mamet's play "The Cryptogram," whose world premiere was at the Ambassadors Theatre in London in 1994, was simply how unhelpful and knotty a work it was.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Nov 20, 2013

'Kawase Hasui'

Japanese painter Hasui Kawase (1883-1957) was a prominent artist of the shin-hanga (new prints) style. After studying ukiyo-e (woodblock prints) and nihonga (Japanese-style painting) under Kiyokata Kaburagi, he quickly became particularly well known for his skill at landscapes and scenic settings. This...
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Nov 20, 2013

Tokyo Motor Show still green, tries to spark pizazz

Japanese and foreign car manufacturers offered a glimpse of the future as they unveiled their latest eco-friendly and unique next-generation concept cars as the 43rd Tokyo Motor Show was opened to the media Wednesday.
BUSINESS / Companies
Nov 20, 2013

Camry tweaks eyed to keep its lead in U.S. sales

Toyota Motor Corp.'s Camry, headed for a 12th straight year as the best-selling U.S. car, will get "significant attention," including freshened features, to hold the title a 13th year, the brand's U.S. sales chief said.
CULTURE / Music
Nov 19, 2013

Arashi "Love"

At the time of writing this review, Arashi's "Love" has been bought more than any other Japanese album this year. Barring a sudden full-length LP from AKB48 or a cash-in compilation from Mr. Children, the group's 12th CD should end 2013 in the same position. There have been a lot of nice developments...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Nov 19, 2013

Japan's juke scene gears up to go foot to foot with Chicago

I am at Battle Train Tokyo, the first official footwork dance tournament in Japan. It's being held at Kata, a gallery in the capital's Ebisu district. Sixteen dancers have signed up in the hope of becoming Japan's footwork champion, which comes with a ¥50,000 cash prize and a small championship belt...
LIFE / Digital / JAPAN WEB WATCH
Nov 19, 2013

Homegrown social networks struggle with how to get rid of redundant staff

Social-network services that once led the domestic Web-industry are now facing a downturn and they are finding that IT companies are not immune to labor toubles.
Japan Times
LIFE / Style & Design
Nov 18, 2013

It's a dog's life, but architects can find ways to improve it

What would our cities look like if they had been built with a different scale in mind? What if we considered building structures for creatures other than humans? "Architecture for Dogs" explores that idea with an exhibition of 13 architectural works made for specific canine breeds. After debuting at...
Japan Times
LIFE
Nov 16, 2013

The day JFK died: Fifty years on, the assassination still haunts Americans

The murder of President John F. Kennedy in Dallas, Texas, on Nov. 22, 1963, forever changed America. I was 16 years old when it happened, and still haven't fully come to terms with it. The indelible sense of loss and still-unanswered questions — How it could have been allowed to happen? Who was behind...
Japan Times
LIFE / Travel
Nov 16, 2013

Fun for all on Tokyo's Oku-Tama wild side

Before I'd even set eyes on the river I heard a deep rumble from its bubbling gash of white and cobalt water rending apart the Tama Mountains.
BASKETBALL
Nov 16, 2013

Defensive-minded Iwate hands Akita first defeat of season

The high-scoring Akita Northern Happinets met their match on Saturday night.
Japan Times
JAPAN / CHUBU CONNECTION
Nov 15, 2013

Lamborghini sets up shop at NITech

Nagoya Institute of Technology in Aichi Prefecture has teamed up with Lamborghini SpA on finding a way to mass produce carbon fiber-reinforced plastic so the light yet durable material can be applied to products other than cars and planes.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Nov 14, 2013

'Filth'

In "Filth", we meet Bruce "Robbo" Robertson, a bipolar plainclothes detective in Edinburgh who's racist, sexist, homophobic, addicted to cocaine, addled on various prescription drugs, consorting with whores, scheming against all his colleagues at work, making obscene phone calls, loveless, friendless,...
Japan Times
Events / Events Outside Tokyo
Nov 14, 2013

Tsuchiura city curries favor with visitors at its annual gourmet festival

When the world's largest Zeppelin made a stop in Tsuchiura, Ibaraki Prefecture, during its world tour in 1929, locals prepared and served curry for the crew using the region's famous potatoes as an ingredient. Since then, the city has been known as a curry capital of Japan, and this weekend it holds...
Japan Times
WORLD / Science & Health
Nov 14, 2013

Oldest complete fossil discovered

What may be the oldest complete fossil on Earth paints a smelly but colorful picture of our microbial ancestors from nearly 3.5 billion years ago.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Nov 13, 2013

'Yosooi'

Covering the aesthetics of clothing, dress style and appearance, this show features black-and-white photographic prints from the gallery's collection of around 10,000 works. The exhibition focuses on the significance of the stylistic appearance of garments and the facial expressions of its wearers.
JAPAN
Nov 13, 2013

Magazine seeks to counter bias toward poor

Many Japanese may regard people on welfare as not merely unfortunate have-nots, viewing them instead as contemptible slackers who don't seek work because they prefer to stay "comfortably poor."
Japan Times
JAPAN / WEDGE
Nov 11, 2013

Deer a pest said best served as local delicacy

To reduce the damage done to the environment by birds and other animals, major security company Alsok began a monitoring service this summer in which people helping hunters are notified by email when something lands in their traps.

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