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Reader Mail
May 12, 2017

Teens thrive with engaged parents

The article "Why are Japanese teens so glum?" in the May 2 edition saddened me, because it tells us that "young people in Japan have the lowest mental well-being of 20 major countries."
Reader Mail
May 12, 2017

Ted Rall's appalling attack on a widow

I found the column about Sheryl Sandberg by Ted Rall incredibly insensitive and offensive ("Sheryl Sandberg: world's most annoying person" in the May 3 edition). I can understand one would disagree with her point of views and be critical of her book, but the way he ridicules her deceased husband and...
Japan Times
JAPAN / OKINAWA BEAT
May 11, 2017

Okinawa grapples with mounting garbage, water supply dilemma amid record tourist numbers

As Okinawa continues to mark record high numbers of tourists in recent years, the prefecture is struggling to dispose of snowballing garbage and supplying sufficient amounts of water.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
May 9, 2017

Renick Bell discovers the art inside the algorithms

In 2017, algorithms are everywhere.
LIFE / Language / NEWS IN NIHONGO
May 8, 2017

Hiroshima A-bomb museum east building reopens

The east building of the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum reopened April 26 following renovations.
Japan Times
JAPAN / CHUBU CONNECTION
May 8, 2017

Shabani the gorilla credited with keeping Nagoya zoo visitor numbers up despite bird flu outbreak

The total number of visitors to Higashiyama Zoo and Botanical Gardens in Nagoya reached 2,408,400 in fiscal 2016, the second-highest level in the last 20 years.
Japan Times
LIFE / Lifestyle
May 6, 2017

Calling card: the evolution of business cards in Japan

On the afternoon of Jan. 26, 1948, a man claiming to be a public health official walked into a branch of Teikoku Ginko (Imperial Bank) in Tokyo's Shiinamachi district and told all 16 people present that dysentery had broken out in the neighborhood.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Media / BIG IN JAPAN
May 6, 2017

Corporate zombies need 'rich brains'

Japan has lost something. That's a stark but uncontroversial statement. Few whose memory goes back a generation or more will disagree. Controversy arises when the talk turns to what was lost; when, how and why it was lost; whether the nation is the better or worse for having lost it; and, if the former,...
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
May 6, 2017

Japanese tradition denies surrogacy

Most major media covered the March 22 Tokyo news conference where Sachiko Kishimoto of the nonprofit organization Oocyte Donation Network (OD-Net) explained how a woman in her 40s had recently given birth to a daughter who had been conceived using the woman's husband's sperm and an egg from a third party....
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / LEARNING CURVE
May 3, 2017

As Japan's JET Programme hits its 30s, the jury's still out

Ambitious program has helped Japan meet the world, but does it have a role to play today?
LIFE / Language / NEWS IN NIHONGO
May 1, 2017

Osaka launches formal bid to host 2025 World Expo

In a formal bid for Osaka to host the 2025 World Exposition (Expo), Osaka Gov. Ichiro Matsui and others, including head of the bidding committee and Keidanren Chairman Sadayuki Sakakibara, met with (Vincente G.) Loscertales, secretary general of the Expo's governing body Bureau International des Expositions (BIE), in Paris on the afternoon of April 24 to submit their application.
Japan Times
JAPAN / CHUBU CONNECTION
May 1, 2017

Mie 'mikan' growers use rare varieties to fend off foreign imports

Rare mikan (mandarin oranges or tangerines) that were on the brink of extinction are once again showing up in markets in the Higashi Kishu region in Mie Prefecture, a major citrus growing area.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / How-tos / HOME TRUTHS
Apr 30, 2017

Safety Net Law to offer new lease on life for abandoned buildings

On April 19, the Lower House of the Diet unanimously passed a revision to the Safety Net Law. The revision creates a new system that will register vacant properties with local governments and, ideally, these properties will be renovated and then rented out to low-income individuals and families who are...
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / How-tos / LIFELINES
Apr 26, 2017

Help for those seeking left-behind parents in Japan

Two adult daughters contacted Lifelines hoping to get help with issues related to their fathers.
JAPAN / Politics
Apr 25, 2017

Tokyo evasive on report of secret deal with NSA over mass surveillance program

The government's top spokesman on Tuesday declined to comment on — but did not deny — a report alleging that Tokyo has secretly and closely cooperated with the U.S. National Security Agency in intelligence-gathering, having been provided with an extremely powerful mass-surveillance tool that can...
LIFE / Language / NEWS IN NIHONGO
Apr 24, 2017

Temperature rises to over 30 C in Takasaki

Wide areas of eastern Japan saw clear skies with strong sunshine on April 18. The weather in some inland areas of the Kanto- Koshin region resembled that of June and July, with temperatures in Takasaki, Gunma Prefecture, rising to 30.6 degrees Celsius, marking this year's first 'midsummer day' in the nation, excluding Okinawa and Amami.
Japan Times
JAPAN / CHUBU CONNECTION
Apr 24, 2017

Nagoya group looks to spread jump rope 'culture' to the world

In Aichi Prefecture, the nation's top producing region of jump ropes, efforts are being made to promote the sport at home and abroad.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / LABOR PAINS
Apr 23, 2017

The cost of convenience in Japan: when foreign students work instead of study

It's midnight at the convenience store I often patronize near my home in Tokyo's central Shinjuku district. The store's open all day and night, 365 days a year.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / Japan / SENTAKU MAGAZINE
Apr 23, 2017

The poverty of politics and tobacco policy

The government is caught in a trap of its own making — how does it stay in the business of selling tobacco while promoting public health?
COMMENTARY / World
Apr 22, 2017

Workers have made modern Germany great

The German economy is going great guns thanks to high exports and strong unions.
JAPAN / Politics
Apr 21, 2017

Abdication panel hands in final report, confirming proposal for one-off law to let Emperor step down

The government abdication panel's final report recommends that Emperor Akihito be allowed to retire through a special temporary law, backing the Diet's consensus opinion.
EDITORIALS
Apr 21, 2017

May's bold election gambit

Prime Minister Theresa May is seeking to strengthen her hand domestically as she enters into difficult Brexit negotiations.
JAPAN
Apr 19, 2017

Asahi and government at odds over removed link to report on 1923 massacre of Koreans in Japan

The Asahi Shimbun and the Cabinet Office tell a different story about the removal of a link from a government website to a report detailing the massacre.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / Japan / SENTAKU MAGAZINE
Apr 19, 2017

The grand fiction called missile defense

Japan's vulnerability to an attack by multiple North Korean missiles is leading the government to consider developing a preemptive strike capability.
Japan Times
WORLD / Politics / ANALYSIS
Apr 19, 2017

Britain's May betting an early election will buy her more time to hash out Brexit

Nine months after becoming prime minister, Theresa May is learning how to gamble.
Japan Times
LIFE / Language / NEWS IN NIHONGO
Apr 17, 2017

Mao Asada announces retirement from figure skating

Mao Asada, the women's figure skating silver medalist at the 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympics and three-time world champion, has announced on her blog that she is retiring.
Japan Times
JAPAN / CHUBU CONNECTION
Apr 17, 2017

Shizuoka firm promises good luck in every cup of its green tea

A tea wholesale store based in the city of Makinohara, Shizuoka Prefecture, has developed a technology to ensure a tea stem floats vertically — an omen of good fortune widely believed by Japanese.
JAPAN
Apr 16, 2017

Home delivery firms strain under e-commerce load

Amanda used to work part-time for major delivery firm Yamato Transport Co., helping out during Japan's busy traditional gift-sending seasons in summer and winter.

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