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Japan Times
JAPAN / Media / BIG IN JAPAN
Aug 1, 2020

Kabukicho host clubs under fire for spreading coronavirus

Some media outlets are weighing the pros and cons of mounting an actual 'blockade' of Tokyo's well-known entertainment district.
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Jul 18, 2020

Pandemic negates Japan’s bid to reduce plastic waste

Plastic is one of the cheapest, most effective materials for preventing the spread of COVID-19.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Jul 4, 2020

Korean drama successfully crash-lands on a Japanese audience

A drama about a romance that bridges the gap between two countries that are still at war comes with its own interpretive pitfalls.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Media / BIG IN JAPAN
Jul 4, 2020

Pandemic pours cold water on Japan's celebrated nightlife

Residents ponder whether or not it's safe to patronize their regular drinking spots.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Media / Japan Pulse
Jun 27, 2020

Pandemic spurs some in Japan to reassess employment options

As the pandemic's toll continues to grow, employees are taking to social media to vent about company management and voice their desires to move on.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Jun 18, 2020

Former top Abe aide and wife arrested in vote-buying scandal

The arrest is a severe blow to the Abe administration, especially because of Katsuyuki Kawai's closeness to the prime minister and chief cabinet secretary.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Jun 10, 2020

Media collaborators threaten press freedom in Japan

Japan has too few good journalists because mainstream media reporters unconsciously begin their stories from the point of view of prized informants.
JAPAN / Media / BIG IN JAPAN
Jun 6, 2020

Olympics and UFOs can't shift COVID-19 from the spotlight

First, some glum news: John Coates, head of the International Olympic Committee’s coordination commission, was quoted in The Australian on May 21 as expressing doubt over prospects for the Tokyo Olympics to be held in summer next year. Coates went on record as saying the decision on whether or not...
CULTURE / Entertainment news
May 27, 2020

'Terrace House' season canceled following death of Hana Kimura

Producers at Fuji TV announced on Wednesday evening that its hit reality show “Terrace House Tokyo 2019-2020” has been canceled following the death of one of its young stars, 22-year-old pro wrestler Hana Kimura.
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
May 9, 2020

Breaking down the government's response to COVID-19

How prepared was Japan for the pandemic, and how well can it medically adapt to the emergency going forward?
Japan Times
LIFE / Travel
May 2, 2020

What is Golden Week and why does it matter?

Due to COVID-19, this year's Golden Week has all but been called off. We take a look at the history behind this cluster of national holidays and why its effective cancelation is a big deal.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Apr 4, 2020

Who suffers the most from the postponement of the 2020 Tokyo Olympics?

Media outlets have long been trying to figure out what cancellation or postponement of the games would mean to Japan economically. They now have a much better idea.
JAPAN / EXPLAINER
Apr 2, 2020

With suicide note and lawsuit, Moritomo scandal back to haunt Abe

With the publication of a suicide note by a former Finance Ministry official and subsequent lawsuit by his widow, the Moritomo Gakuen scandal has returned to haunt Prime Minister Shinzo Abe. But with Abe saying the issue has been settled and Japan finding itself in the midst of the coronavirus crisis,...
JAPAN / Politics
Mar 27, 2020

Abe denies wife attended cherry blossom party in defiance of coronavirus calls to abstain

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said Friday that his wife, Akie, did not attend a cherry blossom viewing party in Tokyo despite calls to refrain from outdoor gathering to help contain the coronavirus outbreak.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Media / BIG IN JAPAN
Mar 21, 2020

Why are Japan’s millennials shunning alcohol?

Some time before the coronavirus outbreak put a damper on this year’s hanami (blossom viewing) parties and other social activities, the media had already noted that the decline in alcohol consumption by younger Japanese has been accelerating. This phenomenon even made the front page of the Nikkei Marketing...
Japan Times
JAPAN / Media / BIG IN JAPAN
Mar 7, 2020

Paradise lost: Japan longs for simpler times in trying days

The Japanese weren't always workaholics. Once upon a time, work had its place and knew its place. It didn't swallow life whole. Other pursuits were given their due. People worked without being consumed by work.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Media / BIG IN JAPAN
Feb 22, 2020

Fake news rears its ugly head amid COVID-19 outbreak

Fake news times fake news is fake news squared — which is to say, it goes viral. It multiplies like a virus, which multiplies like fake news.
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 / EXPLAINER
Feb 3, 2020

The Kawai scandal and the race to succeed Shinzo Abe

Hiroshima-based Liberal Democratic Party Diet member Anri Kawai admitted in January to receiving ¥150 million from LDP headquarters prior to the July 2019 Upper House election. Kawai, a novice in national politics, is also the wife of disgraced former Justice Minister Katsuyuki Kawai, who was forced...
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 / Media / MEDIA MIX
Dec 7, 2019

News outlets take time to connect the dots in Kepco gift scandal

In September, media reported that 20 executives of Kansai Electric Power Co. (Kepco) had, for a decade or so, received almost ¥320 million worth of cash and gifts from Eiji Moriyama, the former deputy mayor of Takahama, Fukui Prefecture, who died in March at the age of 90. The compensation was presumably...
JAPAN / Media / BIG IN JAPAN
Nov 23, 2019

As Japan's infrastructure crumbles, who's footing the bill?

In the run-up to next year's Olympics, construction is everywhere — everywhere except, perhaps, in the places it is most needed. While the government is rushing to put its best foot forward and put a polish on Japan's capital and environs, the situation is becoming increasingly dire in rural areas,...
JAPAN / Politics
Oct 31, 2019

Justice Minister Katsuyuki Kawai resigns over wife's alleged election law breach

The resignation marks the second departure from Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's Cabinet in just a week after trade minister Isshu Sugawara resigned Friday.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Oct 29, 2019

New Japanese trade minister hopes for RCEP agreement by the end of the year

Japan is ready to take a leadership role in finalizing an Asian free trade deal by the end of the year, newly appointed trade minister Hiroshi Kajiyama said Tuesday, days after his predecessor stepped down over a gift scandal.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Media / BIG IN JAPAN
Oct 12, 2019

Consumers look for ways to blunt impact of consumption tax hike

Japan's consumption tax on goods and services has arguably been unpopular from the get-go. Introduced at 3 percent in 1989 as a means of improving public finances, the rate was raised to 5 percent in 1997, 8 percent in 2014 and, from Oct. 1 of this year, to 10 percent.
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Sep 14, 2019

Of cats and rabbits: UNESCO World Heritage candidate caught in a bind over tourism drive

UNESCO designates World Heritage sites in order to preserve cultural or natural assets deemed significant to humanity. The idea is to maintain these assets for future generations, but UNESCO itself doesn't pay for maintenance. It is up to the countries where the sites are located and UNESCO will remove...

Longform

Figure skater Akiko Suzuki was once told her ideal weight should be 47 kilograms, a number she now admits she “naively believed.” This led to her have a relationship with food that resulted in her suffering from anorexia.
The silent battle Japanese athletes fight with weight