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Japan Times
LIFE / Travel
Jun 21, 2019

Pottery island: A three-day tour through Kyushu's ceramics villages

Kyushu is a dream destination for pottery lovers, with famous pottery villages including Arita, Onta and Koishiwara, and museums dedicated to the history of the artform.
Reader Mail
Jun 21, 2019

Time to stop playing the fool

Regarding the June 19 article “Don’t blame Trump for Iran’s aggression”: I am a cranky old man and a slow reader, and the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (the Iran nuclear agreement) was always a tough go for me. When it was being negotiated, I had the distinct impression that the P5+1 was...
Reader Mail
Jun 21, 2019

Researchers face a bleak future in Japan

Regarding the June 19 article “Flat level of research funding triggers alarm among Japan’s top scientists”: The various reasons behind the decline in Japan’s research performance, and in its university ranking have been discussed in several Japan Times articles. I want to stress a reason that...
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Jun 21, 2019

How Japan turned against 'bazooka'-wielding central bank chief Haruhiko Kuroda

In late January 2016, the lights were on well past midnight on the seventh floor of the Bank of Japan's headquarters. Inside, a handful of bureaucrats were working on a shock plan.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / Japan
Jun 20, 2019

Look at the SOFA pool of labor

An overlooked pool of potential workers is the dependent population of U.S. military personnel assigned to Japan.
Japan Times
PODCAST / deep dive
Jun 19, 2019

Episode 17: Hikikomori — Japan's missing million

Over 1 million people are thought to be hikikomori in Japan. Andrew McKirdy, who interviewed several recovering hikikomori, joins Oscar Boyd to discuss the issue.
Japan Times
WORLD
Jun 19, 2019

Mike Pompeo snubs his experts and blocks inclusion of Saudis on U.S. child soldiers list, say sources

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has blocked the inclusion of Saudi Arabia on a U.S. list of countries that recruit child soldiers, dismissing his experts' findings that a Saudi-led coalition has been using under-age fighters in Yemen's civil war, according to four people familiar with the matter.
JAPAN / Regional voices: Chubu
Jun 17, 2019

A year after stabbing, Japan's shinkansen wrestle with balance between safety and convenience

A year after a knife attack on a bullet train left one passenger dead and two wounded, authorities and railways are trying to take steps — especially visible ones — to prevent similar crimes.
BASEBALL / Japanese Baseball / Sac Bunts
Jun 16, 2019

Hitting for cycle no common occurrence for NPB players

Let's talk about the cycle for a minute.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Regional Voices: Fukushima
Jun 16, 2019

At Fukushima's ground zero, a town slowly comes back to life

Shigeru Niitsuma moved back into Okuma's Ogawara district on June 1 — the first day residents were allowed to move into disaster-relief housing since the triple core meltdown at the Fukushima No. 1 power plant forced them to leave town in 2011.
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Jun 15, 2019

Combating an unfounded fear of Japan's recluses

Although the term "hikikomori," which describes people who shun social contact and seek extreme degrees of isolation, has been in common use for several decades, it has taken on a more sinister cast recently as the media has come to view it as a social problem. In the wake of two incidents that have...
JAPAN / Media / Japan Pulse
Jun 15, 2019

Examining the morbid fascination with violence on social media in Japan

Twenty-one-year-old Yuka Takaoka stabbed a man in an apartment in Tokyo’s Shinjuku district in late May, leaving him in a critical condition.
ASIA PACIFIC
Jun 15, 2019

Wall Street learns hard lesson on why not to say 'pig' in China

Wall Street is getting a costly language lesson.
Reader Mail
Jun 14, 2019

Refusing overtime should be a choice

The Media Mix column headlined “Missing an opportunity to tackle workplace woes” in the May 19 issue brought me back to my dismal career as a worker.
Reader Mail
Jun 14, 2019

What it means to be hāfu 
in Japan

The article “Portrait book explores identity from eyes of mixed-race Japanese” in the April 9 edition, about Japanese Belgian photographer Tetsuro Miyazaki’s ongoing project Hāfu2Hāfu, gave me a chance to think again about diversity in Japan and myself, because I am hāfu (half) — in my case,...
Japan Times
JAPAN / Regional Voices: Hiroshima
Jun 12, 2019

Farmers in Hiroshima Prefecture struggle to recover after 2018 flooding wrecked rice paddies

As the rice-planting season wraps up, Higashihiroshima, known as a rice-producing city, is still reeling from last summer's devastating floods.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Jun 11, 2019

Press freedom: 'No one is above the law' is a slogan, not a policy

Blowing the whistle on state crimes is not a threat to national security; only to the reputation of ministers and generals.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Companies / Regional voices: Chubu
Jun 11, 2019

Nagoya-based firm develops tech to let autonomous cars know if driver is holding the wheel

Sumitomo Riko Co., a Nagoya-based auto parts maker, has developed a system that can determine whether a driver is holding the steering wheel, a piece of technology that could prove to be indispensable for semi-automated cars.
LIFE / Language / NEWS IN NIHONGO
Jun 10, 2019

Teenage pitcher Carter Stewart excited to start career in Japan

American pitcher Carter Stewart (19), who decided to join SoftBank's pro baseball team despite being a high draft pick during the U.S. Major League draft last June, attended a press conference in Newport Beach, California, on the 30th.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Regional Voices: Tohoku
Jun 10, 2019

Tohoku residents try to keep memory of 3/11 quake and tsunami alive through VR and wreckage

Conveying the fear of when a massive earthquake and tsunami strike is no easy feat.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Media / BIG IN JAPAN
Jun 8, 2019

Japan's convenience stores work hard to stay relevant

Ride the Seibu Shinjuku Line to Iriso Station in the city of Sayama, Saitama Prefecture, and you can enjoy shopping at Japan's oldest franchise convenience store, a Family Mart that opened in September 1973. The following May, the nation's first 7-Eleven outlet was opened in Toyosu, Koto Ward — not...
Japan Times
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Jun 8, 2019

Documentary juxtaposes both sides of contentious debate on 'comfort women'

On May 30, three people held a news conference in Tokyo to speak out against a documentary titled "Shusenjo: The Main Battleground of the Comfort Women Issue," which focuses on the rhetorical battle over the women who sexually serviced Japanese soldiers before and during World War II. The participants...
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / THE HIGH GROUNDS
Jun 8, 2019

Great coffee makes for a better shopping experience

Though many shops still have a 'no food or drink' rule, there are a growing number in Tokyo that offer high-quality coffee alongside curated retail products, so you can keep your shopping energy up.
Japan Times
LIFE / Travel / A Weekend In
Jun 7, 2019

A weekend in Kumamoto: In the land of the smoking volcano

Since 2016, Kumamoto has been associated more with the earthquake and aftershocks that damaged much of the city and prefecture than as a travel destination. Though reconstruction is complete in most areas, there is still evidence of damage, most notably to Kumamoto Castle, a prefectural icon whose walls...
JAPAN / Politics
Jun 6, 2019

Abe equals Hirobumi Ito as Japan's third-longest-serving prime minister

Political observers largely attribute the longevity of Abe's leadership to a relatively strong economy and a fragmented opposition.
SOCCER / From the Spot
Jun 5, 2019

Takefusa Kubo's pathway to Europe coming into focus

I last wrote about FC Tokyo midfielder Takefusa Kubo in this column a little over three months ago, reflecting on his impressive performance against reigning champion Kawasaki Frontale on the J. League's opening day.

Longform

Mount Fuji is considered one of Japan's most iconic symbols and is a major draw for tourists. It's still a mountain, though, and potential hikers need to properly prepare for any climb.
What it takes to save lives on Mount Fuji