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Japan Times
CULTURE / Entertainment news
Apr 24, 2016

Famed African musician Papa Wemba dies during Cote d'Ivoire festival

Congolese rumba music legend Papa Wemba died after collapsing on stage in the Cote d'Ivoire in the early hours of Sunday morning, according to the private morgue where his body was taken.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music / STRANGE BOUTIQUE
Apr 24, 2016

Kyushu's music scene takes care of its own

When the Great East Japan Earthquake hit on March 11, 2011, I was at home in my apartment in Tokyo. The ground lurched, the walls shuddered and my CDs began flinging themselves from the shelves.
Japan Times
CULTURE
Apr 24, 2016

'Cool Japan' needs to listen to its target market

As far as awards ceremonies go, the Sugoi Japan Awards were a fairly flashy affair. Held on March 22, the prizes recognized recent titles in anime, manga and fiction that an online poll of Japanese fans wanted to do well overseas.
COMMENTARY / World
Apr 24, 2016

China's path to a $5 trillion growth opportunity

China can settle for temporary fixes that will ultimately make its problem worse. Or it can seize the opportunity and press ahead with reforms that will boost productivity and create economic prosperity for years to come.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Companies
Apr 24, 2016

Fed up with bland cars, automakers tap anime for 'J-factor' inspiration

Some of Japan's top automakers, with a reputation for quality performance wrapped in often bland design, are turning to the country's pop culture to give them the "J-factor" and help set them apart in a world of growing look-alikes.
Japan Times
WORLD / Politics
Apr 24, 2016

History of Nordic EU referendums holds lessons for British vote

With Britain's noisy campaign over a possible Brexit polarizing voters, tight referendums over EU membership two decades ago in Norway and Sweden offer lessons how campaigns that stay positive and focus on ordinary people can swing voters at the last minute.
Japan Times
LIFE / Lifestyle
Apr 23, 2016

Making hay while the sun shines: Should Japan adopt daylight saving time in summer?

How many times have you been jolted awake in summer at 4:30 a.m. by rays of sunlight streaming through your flimsy curtains? Conversely, how many sunsets have you missed because you've been stuck in an office until it's officially time to go home?
Japan Times
LIFE / Travel / BACKSTREET STORIES
Apr 23, 2016

You don't know what you've got (till it's gone) in Tokyo's nagaya

After hearing rumors that one of my favorite hideaways in Tokyo, the Sanuki Club, is slated for demolition, I stand outside the hotel's front gates with apprehension. Aside from offering some of the cheapest lodgings available in Minato Ward, the property's beer and barbecue terrace — tucked under...
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Apr 23, 2016

On the money: Hitting TV where it hurts

Earlier this month, the Association of Television Viewers Who Demand Compliance With the Broadcast Law announced that it may launch a "national campaign" targeting TBS, which it accuses of biased news reporting. Should the broadcaster fail to address the accusation, the association will ask sponsors...
Japan Times
BASKETBALL / HOOP SCOOP
Apr 23, 2016

Ex-Tokyo Apache standout Swift rebuilding life after off-court troubles

Third in a three-part series.
JAPAN
Apr 23, 2016

Australian police to investigate submarine tender leak: report

The Australian Federal Police (AFP) have been asked to investigate how classified information on the country's 50 billion Australian dollar submarine tender emerged — the second such probe into leaks in the program, the Australian Broadcasting Corp. said Friday.
EDITORIALS
Apr 22, 2016

Mitsubishi Motors' cheating scandal

Mitsubishi Motors' claims that it has rectified the crooked corporate culture that led to its previous scandals is now in doubt.
JAPAN
Apr 22, 2016

Japan becomes fourth nation to test-fly homegrown stealth jet

The Defense Ministry says the unarmed prototype, called X2, took off from Nagoya airport in Aichi Prefecture early on Friday.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / OSAKA RESTAURANTS
Apr 22, 2016

Ukon: Traditional kaiseki cuisine served in a bento box

The answer: bento box. The question: What Japanese food — or type of meal — would I miss most if I left Japan? And now for some qualifications, before an explanation in the form of a restaurant review.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink
Apr 22, 2016

Buddhist cafe gives Tokyo caffeinated enlightenment

The hum of conversation and the clinking of spoons and coffee cups fills the wood-panelled cafe in a fashionable Tokyo neighborhood as more than a dozen customers sip drinks and nibble desserts.
Japan Times
JAPAN / EMBASSY AVENUE
Apr 22, 2016

Paying homage to a champion of equality

Indian nationals in Japan celebrated the 125th anniversary of Bhimrao Ramji Ambedkar’s birth on April 14 at the country’s embassy in Tokyo.
Japan Times
WORLD / Society
Apr 22, 2016

Mexican president proposes relaxing marijuana laws

Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto on Thursday proposed legalizing marijuana-based medicines, raising the amount users can carry and freeing inmates on minor weed charges, in a major shift amid regional efforts to reboot drug policy.
BUSINESS
Apr 21, 2016

Business leaders call for fiscal action, structural reform at 'B-7 summit'

Despite the continuing uncertainty over the global economy, the Group of Seven developed countries should not depend too much on monetary steps and move to adopt timely fiscal stimulus and structural reforms, business leaders from the G-7 said Thursday.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Apr 21, 2016

Dentsu plans roadside ads that change according to driver's vehicle

In an experiment, advertising giant Dentsu Inc. plans to bring so-called targeted advertising, an increasingly popular sales method in cyberspace, into the physical world.
JAPAN
Apr 21, 2016

Japan's government defends against multiple accusations of stifling press freedom

The government is on the back foot in the wake of mounting global criticism to the effect that the administration of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe is threatening press freedom in Japan.
JAPAN
Apr 21, 2016

Hiroshima mayor seeks no apology by Obama for A-bombing

Hiroshima's mayor indicated Thursday he is not seeking an apology for the atomic bombing of the city if U.S. President Barack Obama decides to visit sometime around the Group of Seven summit in Mie Prefecture next month.
Japan Times
BASKETBALL / BJ-LEAGUE NOTEBOOK
Apr 21, 2016

Rookie sensation Nash raising profile with Firebonds

Fukushima Firebonds forward Le'Bryan Nash has been the league's premier scorer this season.
WORLD / Science & Health
Apr 21, 2016

Monkey mariners made monumental migration 21 million years ago

Monkeys resembling today's capuchins accomplished the astonishing feat of crossing at least 100 miles (160 km) of open ocean 21 million years ago to get from South America to North America eons before the two continents joined together.
Japan Times
WORLD
Apr 21, 2016

Afghan drone war: data show unmanned flights dominate air campaign

Drones fired more weapons than conventional warplanes for the first time in Afghanistan last year and the ratio is rising, previously unreported U.S. Air Force data show, underlining how reliant the military has become on unmanned aircraft.

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