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Reader Mail
May 17, 2019

New emperor is thoughtful, democratic

Lady Nadine Bonsor, who met Emperor Naruhito when he was a prince studying at Oxford University, remembers the young man as being "immensely courteous" ("U.K. host recalls prince's 1984 visit" in the May 3 edition).
Reader Mail
May 17, 2019

Reasonable rules for attire needed

The Media Mix column "Keeping up appearances in the workplace" in the April 28 issue was a real eye-opener. It says office workers at Coca-Cola Bottlers Japan Inc. are allowed to wear casual clothes such as jeans and sneakers. The article also says that the company's advertising will incorporate its...
Reader Mail
May 17, 2019

Do more to ease tourist congestion

According to the news, the number of tourists is increasing in Japan to the point that it's actually causing a problem — "over-tourism." I can agree that there are a lot of tourists at sightseeing spots.
Reader Mail
May 17, 2019

Remove barriers for non-Japanese

According to the article "Foreign-born candidates discuss challenges and prejudice on the Tokyo campaign trail" in the April 26 edition, it still seems to be difficult for foreign people in Japan to have their voices heard. Some foreign-born candidates are faced with discrimination while others have...
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Economy / FOCUS
May 15, 2019

China vows 'people's war' as trade fight with U.S. takes nationalist turn

Among China's most surprising responses to the trade war has been its reluctance to use its vast state media empire to rally the home front. That's changed since U.S. President Donald Trump's latest tariff barrage.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Regional Voices: Hiroshima
May 15, 2019

Hiroshima parents decide school dress codes, but many don't realize it

A 45-year-old Hiroshima woman recently sent a text message to the Chugoku Shimbun newsroom that read: "A dress code at the elementary school my son goes to specifies that boys must wear shorts. Some students in higher grades feel embarrassed about exposing their legs. Isn't the shorts-only dress code...
Japan Times
JAPAN / Regional voices: Chubu
May 13, 2019

South Korean students flock to Japan as birthrate sinks and unemployment climbs

More and more highly educated young people from South Korea, which like Japan has a rapidly graying population and needs more foreign labor for its economy, are coming to Japan because it's difficult to find work at home.
Japan Times
LIFE / Language / NEWS IN NIHONGO
May 13, 2019

Hiroshima museum unveils new atomic bomb-related items

The main building of the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum reopened April 25, after it was closed from April 2017 in order to do exhibition renovations and quake-resistance reinforcement work associated with the building's aging.
COMMUNITY / Voices / FOREIGN AGENDA
May 12, 2019

Memoirs from a Japanese internet cafe

While some people pine for traditions from Japan's ancient past, it might actually be the more modern things that we'll truly miss.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Voices / FOREIGN AGENDA
May 12, 2019

The crush is coming: Make peace with the train

One false move on the Tokyo transit system can lead to a nasty lesson in survival of the slickest.
ENVIRONMENT
May 11, 2019

Reading the air: Tokyo still has work to do on air pollution

There are days when Makiko Ishikawa can barely breathe. Indeed, the 62-year-old Tokyoite has been short of breath for decades. In the early 1970s, she began feeling the effects of the miasma of vehicle exhaust along Shin-Ome Road, which ran by her home in the city of Musashimurayama in western Tokyo....
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / Japan
May 10, 2019

Share Japan's knowledge and skills on disaster preparedness

Disaster preparedness is a pressing and common need worldwide, as is the challenge of incorporating the mindset of disaster preparedness into daily life.
ASIA PACIFIC
May 10, 2019

Three Thais accused of insulting monarchy have disappeared, rights groups say

Three Thai activists facing charges of insulting the monarchy have disappeared after reportedly being arrested in Vietnam, rights groups said on Friday, months after two exiled critics of the military and monarchy turned up dead.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
May 10, 2019

Foreigners stage 'positive invasion' of Sicily in €1 home sale

Bargain hunters from Argentina to China swooped on a €1 auction and snapped up 16 abandoned Sicilian homes in a foreign buying frenzy that was heralded on Thursday as a positive invasion of a dying hilltop town.
Japan Times
WORLD / Crime & Legal
May 8, 2019

Michael Cohen says he helped racy Falwell photos go away before evangelical family backed Trump

Months before evangelical leader Jerry Falwell Jr.'s game-changing presidential endorsement of Donald Trump in 2016, Falwell asked Trump fixer Michael Cohen for a personal favor, Cohen said in a recorded conversation reviewed by Reuters.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
May 4, 2019

Talking trash: The sport of collecting as much waste as possible

Thanks to Netflix, many are familiar with Japanese clutter-buster Marie Kondo and her soothing remedies for the melancholy brought on by conspicuous consumption. Kondo is already a superstar in Japan, where closet sizes barely keep up with snowballing affluence, but she wasn't the first in her field,...
ASIA PACIFIC
May 4, 2019

Background on the royal instruments for Thai king's coronation

During Thailand's main coronation event for King Maha Vajiralongkorn on Saturday, the monarch was presented with five royal regalia marking the legitimacy of his reign.
Japan Times
WORLD / Politics
May 4, 2019

Foreign government leases at Trump World Tower stir more emoluments concerns with U.S. lawyers

The U.S. State Department allowed seven foreign governments to rent luxury condominiums in New York's Trump World Tower in 2017 without approval from Congress, according to documents and people familiar with the leases, in what some experts say could be a potential violation of the U.S. Constitution's...
Japan Times
JAPAN
May 3, 2019

Tokyo's Pet Loss Cafe offers a place to grieve and heal

Ritsuko Shimazaki, 58, occasionally takes a 70-minute train ride to visit one coffee shop in particular near the upscale district of Omotesando in Tokyo's Shibuya Ward.
COMMENTARY / World
May 3, 2019

Managing North Korea

Conducting negotiations is like riding a bicycle: You need to keep moving forward or you will fall over.
Reader Mail
May 2, 2019

English flaws at secondary level

The increased passing rates of junior high and high school third-year students' in their respective Eiken Grade 3 and Pre-2 level tests, as reported in "Secondary schools miss English target" in the April 17 edition, is a positive step forward. That these rates fell below the lowly governmental targets...
Reader Mail
May 2, 2019

Just some good old capitalism

Regarding the article "Scammers asking for cash after handing out Japanese flags" in the April 30 newspaper: Why is this a scam? In fact, it's not a scam.
JAPAN
Apr 30, 2019

A different era for Japan: The ascensions of two emperors

Much like chapters in a book, the enthronement of an emperor marks the beginning of a new era in Japan. From Meiji to Taisho to Showa, each imperial era began and ended with the death of an emperor followed by a yearlong period in which the country mourned, holidays and festivities were canceled and...
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Apr 29, 2019

China's navy flaunts its power, but to what end?

The PLAN's 70th anniversary celebration raises important questions about China's increasingly capable military.
Japan Times
LIFE / Language / NEWS IN NIHONGO
Apr 29, 2019

Naomi Osaka among Time's 100 most influential people

Naomi Osaka was named by Time magazine as one of the world's most influential people. Learn how that news came across in Japanese.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Apr 29, 2019

U.S.-Japan trade agreement negotiations: Why now?

Why Is Abe giving Trump a signature economic victory?
Japan Times
JAPAN / Regional Voices: Fukushima
Apr 28, 2019

Fukushima Prefecture enjoys sharp jump in foreign lodgers

Foreign hotel stays in Fukushima Prefecture more than doubled to 17,700 in January, marking the highest year-on-year growth among all prefectures, according to Japan Tourism Agency statistics released in March.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Regional voices: Chubu
Apr 28, 2019

Aichi-based companies converge on Nagoya Station ahead of Japan's 2027 maglev launch

With the maglev line scheduled to launch in 2027, linking Tokyo and Nagoya, more companies in Aichi Prefecture are moving their headquarters closer to Nagoya Station to take advantage of the convenient location.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Media / Japan Pulse
Apr 27, 2019

Japan's internet took on a life of its own during the Heisei Era

The story of a recent online phenomenon offers a great snapshot of internet culture in Japan during the Heisei Era (1989-2019). Twitter user @Ninjamaaaaaan posted a blurry photo of a pooch in motion, with its tail swooping in front of its face. It looked vaguely like the canine in the image was throwing...
Reader Mail
Apr 26, 2019

U.K. keeps getting it wrong on India

Regarding the story "1919 massacre in Amritsar remembered" in the April 14 edition, the U.K. government has just missed the last bus to India and a golden opportunity to heal the wounds of the past.

Longform

Tetsuzo Shiraishi, speaking at The Center of the Tokyo Raids and War Damage, uses a thermos to explain how he experienced the U.S. firebombing of March 1945, when he was just 7 years old.
From ashes to high-rises: A survivor’s account of Tokyo’s postwar past