Search - article

 
 
JAPAN / Politics / FOCUS
Oct 29, 2019

With hazy plan for SDF dispatch to Mideast, is Japan pursuing contradictory goals?

It was an unusual meeting starting at around 7:30 a.m. at the ruling Liberal Democratic Party's headquarters in Tokyo on Oct. 23, hastily organized so government officials could get lawmakers up to speed.
LIFE / Language / NEWS IN NIHONGO
Oct 28, 2019

Tourists in Kyoto informed of manners via push notifications

A new app strives to inform overseas visitors to Kyoto of a number of social norms such as don't take pictures of the geisha when they're working.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Regional voices: Chubu
Oct 25, 2019

Aging main complex of Nagoya fish market to close amid drop in popularity of seafood

The main building complex of Yanagibashi Central Market, a fish market a short walk from Nagoya Station, will close at the end of this month due to deterioration, ending its run of more than 50 years.
Reader Mail
Oct 25, 2019

The weaponization of denial

Yoichi Funabashi's opinion pieces are usually well-informed, thoughtful and sane. It's a disappointment to find him now writing as a patriot. His article "Tokyo, Seoul and the weaponization of history" in the Oct. 11 edition boldly broaches urgent issues but fails to come to terms with the main one....
Reader Mail
Oct 25, 2019

Is linguistic ignorance truly bliss?

Damian Flanagan's thought-provoking "Linguistic ignorance can be bliss" in the Oct. 21 edition is utterly counterintuitive to those, including me, who strongly believe in the importance of mastering a foreign language as a prerequisite to understanding a country's culture.
Japan Times
PODCAST / deep dive
Oct 23, 2019

Episode 27: The enthronement of Emperor Naruhito — pomp, splendor and a ¥16 billion bill

Emperor Naruhito became Japan's 126th emperor at an enthronement ceremony on Oct. 22, 2019. Japan Times politics reporter Sakura Murakami joins Oscar Boyd to discuss.
Japan Times
LIFE / Language / NEWS IN NIHONGO
Oct 21, 2019

City of Iki first in Japan to declare a climate emergency

The city of Iki, Nagasaki Prefecture, issued a climate emergency declaration on Sept. 26 and expressed its resolve to tackle problems posed by climate change.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Oct 21, 2019

Aussie newspapers protest state media restrictions in rare show of unity

Australia's biggest newspapers ran front pages on Monday made to appear heavily redacted as a protest against legislation that restricts press freedoms, a rare show of unity by the usually partisan media industry.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Regional Voices: Okinawa
Oct 20, 2019

Okinawan pig farmers beef about U.S.-Japan trade deal while restaurants fire up grills

With Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and U.S. President Donald Trump having reached a final agreement on Sept. 26 to conclude a trade pact to lower tariffs on American beef and pork, Okinawa Prefecture's livestock industry has been increasingly concerned about competition intensifying when the cheap U.S. imports...
JAPAN / Regional Voices: Kyushu
Oct 20, 2019

Fukuoka forks out to modify prefectural assembly building ahead of April nationwide smoking ban

With rules banning indoor smoking set to take effect in April under the revised Health Promotion Law, the Fukuoka Prefectural Assembly decided to set up smoking areas in its building from Oct. 1.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Companies / Regional voices: Chubu
Oct 20, 2019

With surprise backing from workers, Toyota group firm dares to go completely smoke-free

Toyoda Gosei Co., part of the Toyota Motor Corp. group, has decided to ban smoking in all its facilities nationwide from January.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Regional Voices: Hokkaido
Oct 20, 2019

Muroran community spot fosters international diversity in Hokkaido

A community space in Muroran, Hokkaido, is connecting residents with others on the island who hail from countries as diverse as Thailand, Canada, South Korea and the United States.
PODCAST / deep dive
Oct 17, 2019

Episode 26: Perspectives from Typhoon Hagibis — a storm chaser, an evacuee, a reporter

Typhoon Hagibis hit Japan on Oct. 12, causing widespread damage to Tokyo and its surrounding prefectures. This week, storm chaser James Reynolds, evacueeu00a0Andrew McKirdyu00a0and reporteru00a0Chisato Tanakau00a0share their experiences of the typhoon.
JAPAN / First Person
Oct 17, 2019

Typhoon Hagibis: A night in an evacuation shelter shows just how fragile Tokyo life can be

If you look at a map of Kitasenju in Tokyo's Adachi Ward, you will see that it's almost entirely surrounded by water.
SUMO / INSIDE SUMO
Oct 16, 2019

Slicker production needed for amateur sumo

Typhoon Hagibis raged across Japan last weekend leaving in its wake a trail of devastation both deep and wide-ranging.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / Japan
Oct 15, 2019

Trump's move in Syria should alarm U.S. allies

The ramifications of the mistake Trump made are so grave that no leader of an ally or friend of American can ignore it.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Regional Voices: Chugoku
Oct 11, 2019

Do city assembly members need two tablets each? Concerns grow in Hiroshima over tax waste

This fiscal year, the Higashihiroshima Municipal Assembly handed out second tablets to all of its 30 members, at a cost of about ¥6 million.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Regional voices: Chubu
Oct 11, 2019

Gifu women turn plastic waste found on beaches into accessories

Four women in Tajimi, Gifu Prefecture, are creating accessories made from plastic fragments collected at beaches in Aichi Prefecture, selling them amid growing global concerns over the microplastic waste in the ocean.
COMMENTARY / World
Oct 7, 2019

Beset by Hong Kong protests, Beijing showcases missiles

The more aggressive China gets, the harder Beijing may find it to get the things it wants.
LIFE / Language / NEWS IN NIHONGO
Oct 7, 2019

LGBTQ welcoming space opens in Tokyo as Rugby World Cup starts

A Japanese news report focuses on the opening of Pride House Tokyo in Harajuku.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / The Big Questions
Oct 6, 2019

Enduring lessons on the importance of community

Throughout his career spanning close to 22 years in the technology business — the last year and a half at Adobe — James McCready has adhered firmly to lessons he learned at home, as well as during a six-year stint playing professional baseball.
JAPAN / Regional voices: Chubu
Oct 4, 2019

Sixty years after deadly Ise Bay typhoon, experts say Chubu disaster prevention needs an update

The Ise Bay typhoon, a killer storm that swept through the Chubu region on Sept. 26, 1959, claiming more than 5,000 lives, became an opportunity for the nation to make great progress in disaster prevention efforts, including the construction of seawalls and river levees, as well as the enactment of the...
Japan Times
JAPAN / Regional Voices: Fukushima
Oct 4, 2019

Fukushima Prefecture to conduct survey to better understand foreign residents' needs

Amid a growing number of foreign residents, Fukushima Prefecture is set to initiate a survey in October that will look into their needs and concerns.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Politics / ANALYSIS
Oct 3, 2019

The quiet push to fix fractured Japan-South Korea relations

Almost a year has passed since the South Korean Supreme Court handed down a ruling ordering Japanese firms to pay damages to wartime forced laborers.
JAPAN
Oct 2, 2019

North Korea fires ballistic missile built to be launched from submarine into Japan's EEZ

North Korea tested a suspected sub-launched ballistic missile in a technological advancement, if successful, could make it significantly more difficult to destroy its nuclear arsenal.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC
Oct 2, 2019

Amid gleaming skyscrapers, Hong Kong's poor set aside hardships and join protests

Just before midnight in Hong Kong's Mong Kok district, a slight man in his 70s peels away from a crowd of protesters jeering at police. Behind him, a young woman calls out, "Be safe!"
Japan Times
LIFE / Language / NEWS IN NIHONGO
Sep 30, 2019

Pope Francis to visit Japan in November

For the first time in 38 years a pope is visiting Japan. Read about his plans in Japanese.
JAPAN / Politics / ANALYSIS
Sep 30, 2019

Tenuous ties: Few signs of substance behind warming Sino-Japanese relations as communist China marks 70th anniversary

As Washington and Beijing increasingly clash over global primacy, Japan's own ties with communist-ruled China have experienced an upswing — at least on the surface — ahead of Tuesday's 70th anniversary of the People's Republic.

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