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May 14, 2025
 

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JAPAN / Media / BIG IN JAPAN
Mar 30, 2019

When apo-den telephone scams take deadly turns

On Feb. 28, the body of Kuniko Kato, 80, was found in her ransacked apartment in Tokyo's Koto Ward. Her wrists had been bound with clear plastic wrap and her mouth and ankles bound with duct tape. While the specific cause of death has not been made public, she appeared to have suffocated. A police search...
COMMENTARY / World
Mar 26, 2019

Thanks to Mueller, 2020 won't be about 2016

It will instead be about a post-Trump future.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Media / BIG IN JAPAN
Mar 23, 2019

Are democratic principles at risk of being undermined?

Is democracy dying? Certainly authoritarianism is rising. A generation ago, it was the opposite — authoritarianism seemed moribund, democracy on the cusp of new life. Sekai magazine (April) sums up the gloomier mood now gaining ground. "We cannot," it says, "take democracy for granted."
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Mar 23, 2019

It won't be an egg that kills you

A correlation between ill health and eating eggs doesn't actually tell us much.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Books
Mar 16, 2019

'The Unmaking of an American': One thread in a lifetime of cultural exploration

Roger Pulvers' latest memoir, 'The Unmaking of an American,' takes readers on an engaging and occasionally revelatory tour of Japan and Pulvers' own family history.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / Japan
Mar 10, 2019

The 'black ships' from Asia

Japan is being leapfrogged by innovations from all quarters across Asia.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Media / BIG IN JAPAN
Mar 9, 2019

China's detention system offers a few lessons for Japan

Shukan Gendai magazine last month sounded a warning: "Students, if you're arrested in China it's a very serious matter."
JAPAN / Media / BIG IN JAPAN
Feb 23, 2019

Artificial intelligence debate raises more questions than answers

"The human race, version 2" — a thought to inspire hope or fear, maybe a little (or a lot) of both. "We today," says Komazawa University economist Tomohiro Inoue, whose thought it is, "will soon be 'the former human race.'"
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / BLACK EYE
Feb 20, 2019

The onus is still on us to be black history

A few years back, I wrote a piece for Black History Month in which I challenged people of African descent living here in Japan to "be black history." I implored them not to necessarily dwell on the past but to: "Dwell on the now instead. Because everything you do now becomes history and herstory the...
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Feb 19, 2019

'The Affluent Society' revisited

John Kenneth Galbraith expected more prosperity than was delivered.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Feb 16, 2019

Are press activities being undermined in Japan?

The Foreign Ministry ordered freelance journalist Kosuke Tsuneoka to surrender his passport after he tried to leave Japan on Feb. 2 for Yemen, which is in the midst of a civil war. The ostensible reason for the order is that Tsuneoka in January attempted to travel to Yemen through Oman, which refused...
COMMENTARY / Japan
Feb 12, 2019

The state that accepted Japanese-Americans

The relationship between Japan and Colorado has been fantastic, in part because how the state's governor treated Japanese-Americans during World War II.
Japan Times
WORLD
Feb 12, 2019

U.S.-led coalition warplanes hit last Islamic State enclave in eastern Syria

U.S.-led coalition warplanes struck Islamic State's last stronghold in eastern Syria and hundreds of civilians fled the besieged enclave on Monday as U.S.-backed fighters pressed their campaign to seize it.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Jan 29, 2019

One shutdown lesson: Americans must save more

A volatile economy, like a volatile president, makes it all the more important to keep some extra money in the bank.
Japan Times
LIFE / Lifestyle / CHILD'S PLAY
Jan 20, 2019

Onsen: A great way to get the kids to take a bath

To many Japan newbies, the thought of bathing with strangers at a hot spring public bath seems off-putting — especially with kids. Yet for millions of residents, it's an ideal way to warm up and spend time together on a winter afternoon. Here are a few Child's Play recommendations.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Jan 18, 2019

What the fall of Sears and GE teaches us about capitalism

We pay a high price for economic flexibility, but benefit enormously from the rising living standards it produces.
JAPAN / Media / BIG IN JAPAN
Jan 12, 2019

Perceived dearth of freedom in Japan's schools reflects wider woes

What a strange place a school is — a world within a world, a society within a society. Kids grow up in it asking themselves, "Is the real world like this?"
Japan Times
JAPAN / Media / DARK SIDE OF THE RISING SUN
Jan 5, 2019

Is international scrutiny of Japan's criminal justice system fair?

The Nov. 19 arrest of ousted Nissan Motor Co. Chairman Carlos Ghosn, his 23-day detention, his subsequent arrests and lengthy stay in detention has resulted in international scrutiny of Japan's criminal justice system. Is that fair?
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Dec 24, 2018

You really are turning into your parents

At least you have some sense of what's coming, and maybe it's not too late to swerve.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Media / BIG IN JAPAN
Dec 1, 2018

Magazines explore the inevitability of death and taxes

From this week, beneath the glitter of tinsel and glimmer of outdoor seasonal illumination, the bonenkai (year-end party) season begins in earnest.
Japan Times
JAPAN / View from Osaka
Nov 17, 2018

Kansai business community sees future foreign worker influx with both hope and concern

The news last week that Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's government is preparing to admit up to 345,000 foreign workers by 2023 has been met with a combination of hope they will help prop up agricultural, manufacturing and service sectors that are struggling to find workers, and concern that Abe has rushed...
Japan Times
BASKETBALL / B. League
Nov 11, 2018

Alvark stick to game plan to beat Brave Thunders

Successful coaches aren't always obsessed with changing their game plan.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC / Society / FOCUS
Oct 19, 2018

After slew of complaints from sexually harassed women, India looks to tighten abuse laws

India is considering tightening sexual harassment laws, government officials said Thursday, after an avalanche of allegations of abuse lodged by women in recent weeks thrust the issue to the forefront of politics.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Oct 16, 2018

Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen dies of cancer at 65: family

Microsoft Corp. co-founder Paul Allen, the man who persuaded school-friend Bill Gates to drop out of Harvard to start what became the world's biggest software company, died on Monday at the age of 65, his family said.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / JUST BE CAUSE
Sep 19, 2018

Warning to Naomi Osaka: Playing for Japan can seriously shorten your career

Naomi Osaka's decision to represent the country she left at the age of 3 may be good for her bottom line but not necessarily her longevity.
Japan Times
LIFE / Digital / ON: TECH
Sep 16, 2018

Dealing with disaster in Japan

It's been a tough month for Japan. First the biggest typhoon in 25 years blew through the western region, then a major earthquake in Hokkaido swiftly followed. Both wreaked havoc and recovery is still in process. On Tech takes a look at apps offering disaster prevention information and other services for those looking to stay alert and prepared.
Reader Mail
Sep 14, 2018

Docs need more than sleep pods

Regarding the Big in Japan column in the Sept. 9 edition, "Losing sleep over modern-day issues," as a busy emergency doctor in Australia that finds satisfactory sleep elusive, I'd welcome scheduled naps in a workplace sleep pod like those at capsule hotels in Japan. This bubble of dark quiet isolation...
SUMO
Sep 8, 2018

Expect the unexpected in wide-open Autumn Basho

The Autumn Grand Sumo Tournament gets underway on Sunday at Ryogoku Kokugikan in Tokyo.
Japan Times
SUMO / INSIDE SUMO
Aug 29, 2018

Unsung yobidashi keep sumo running smoothly

Who spends the most time in a sumo ring?
COMMENTARY / World
Aug 11, 2018

There's nothing wrong with being wrong

Humans are built to make mistakes. Admitting them is crucial to a functioning democracy.
Transport ministry issues warning to Haneda Airport operator
The operator of Tokyo's Haneda Airport has been warned by the government over its inappropriate transactions.
Xi defiance pays off as Trump meets most China trade demands
Then-Chinese Vice President Xi Jinping visits a school in South Gate, California, in February 2012. Experts say Xi won big in his standoff with U.S. President Donald Trump.
Nissan shares surge as carmaker set to cut 20,000 jobs in huge overhaul
U.S. President Donald Trump’s tariffs on cars and car parts imported to the U.S. have been painful to most global brands, but crippling in Nissan’s case.
Japan might be playing long game in U.S. tariff talks
Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba at the White House earlier this year. Ishiba said Monday that farmers won't be sacrificed for automakers in Japan's tariff negotiations with the U.S.
More details emerge about stabbing near Tokyo University metro station
Yoshitaka Toda, the suspect in Wednesday's knife attack at Todaimae Station on the Tokyo Metro Nanboku Line, leaves a police station in the Japanese capital the same day for a pre-detention medical examination.
Sculpted waves, sleek updos: Showa hairstyles are back in fashion
The larger-than-life hairstyles of Japan's Showa Era are unmistakable — and they're making a comeback.
Consumption tax set to dominate Upper House election debate
Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba enters his office in Tokyo on Tuesday.
Japan should produce its own AI defense solutions, Sakana AI CEO says
Sakana AI CEO David Ha speaks at a news conference in Tokyo on Tuesday.
Nissan gets ‘wake-up call’ with $4.5 billion annual net loss
Nissan CEO Ivan Espinosa in Tokyo as the company releases its results
Japan set for bigger role in Philippines after SDF’s debut in key drills
Philippine Army Brig. Gen. Michael Logico, who was involved in managing the latest iteration of the Balikatan U.S.-Philippine drills, told The Japan Times that he expects military ties with Japan to surge even further once Tokyo ratifies a key visiting-forces agreement with Manila.

Podcast

One of the many entrances to the Kabukicho neighborhood in Tokyo’s Shinjuku Ward.
Kabukicho: Tokyo’s ‘stadium of desire’

Longform

Japan's growing ranks of centenarians are redefining what it means to live in a super-aging society.
What comes after 100?
By Tomoko Otake

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