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Reader Mail
Mar 29, 2019

Offer homestays for Rugby World Cup

So here we go again, another Rugby World Cup and another hotel "rip off" season. This happens all the time to sports fans. I am coming to Japan for RWC 2019 and hotels in the host cities are charging four and five times their normal rates for the couple of nights surrounding the matches (that's if you...
Japan Times
BASKETBALL
Mar 28, 2019

Rose-Hulman's Ryuji Aoki sets great example by excelling in classroom, on court

There are stereotypes in all walks of life, and student-athletes are often labeled as individuals who don't or can't focus on academics, too.
Japan Times
BASKETBALL / B. League / B. LEAGUE NOTEBOOK
Mar 28, 2019

Veteran coach Bob Nash confident in Jun Nakanishi as Fukuoka's new GM

Jun Nakanishi launched his pro basketball career during a period of major changes — nonstop expansion for a decade — here. And so he has witnessed the ups and downs of Japan pro basketball since the inception of the now-disbanded bj-league in 2005.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Companies
Mar 27, 2019

Renault wants merger with Nissan and Fiat Chrysler: report

Renault SA is aiming to restart merger talks with Nissan Motor Co. within 12 months as the first step toward the creation of a bigger auto conglomerate that will involve a bid by both companies for Fiat Chrysler Automobiles NV, the Financial Times reported Wednesday.
SOCCER / Heisei Icons,HEISEI ICONS
Mar 27, 2019

Kazuyoshi Miura: Flashy 'King Kazu' steered soccer's rise

It could be said that no team sport in Japan has outpaced soccer's growth through the Heisei Era, and 52-year-old Kazuyoshi Miura is the only player who can claim to have been a part of that growth throughout.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / How-tos
Mar 27, 2019

How to work with a micromanaging Japanese boss

Putting together the slide deck for the presentation had become a never-ending ordeal for Dave. Every time he turned a draft in to his Japanese boss, it would come back with yet another set of things to correct.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Mar 27, 2019

Kengo Kora and the perfect period drama sword fight

'Game of Thrones" star Sean Bean is well-known for dying in almost everything he stars in. If you had to find a Japanese equivalent, though, it would certainly be Kengo Kora.
BASEBALL / Japanese Baseball / NPB Preview
Mar 27, 2019

Daichi Suzuki driven by passion to succeed with Marines

Daichi Suzuki hasn't missed a game for the Chiba Lotte Marines in over three seasons. In 2015, he missed one. Both years before that, he was on the field for every contest.
SUMO / INSIDE SUMO
Mar 27, 2019

Dominant Hakuho continues to redefine greatness

Sumo columnist James Hardy once bemoaned the difficulty of doing daily tournament reports, saying, "There are only so many ways to write A pushed out B."
Figure Skating / ICE TIME
Mar 26, 2019

Japan's results at worlds not a cause for concern

The world championships turned out to be a disappointment for Japan. With a realistic chance at four medals in singles, the host nation had to settle for just one in Yuzuru Hanyu's silver.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / TELLING LIVES
Mar 24, 2019

Robert Ryker carved a niche for Tokyo Sinfonia by rescoring more than 500 classics

Conductor Zubin Mehta once told Robert Ryker that Mehta's two orchestras, the Montreal Symphony and the Los Angeles Philharmonic, had the world's two finest tuba players. Ryker, then 22 years old, was one of them. It was a rare compliment for any musician, most of whom never gain professional recognition....
Japan Times
CULTURE / Books
Mar 23, 2019

An impeccable new biography of Richard Sorge, one of Russia's master spies

Soviet spy Richard Sorge's story remains largely unknown to the Western world, but that's about to change with the publication of a remarkable new biography, 'An Impeccable Spy: Richard Sorge, Stalin's Master Agent,' by Owen Matthews.
Japan Times
SUMO
Mar 22, 2019

Sumo 101: Consistent losers

Ted Williams famously said, "Baseball is the only field of endeavor where a man can succeed three times out of 10 and be considered a good performer."
Japan Times
JAPAN / WAW! and W20 Special
Mar 22, 2019

Social norms 'hinder' women's career growth

Michiko Achilles says she and her husband have endured a difficult period of juggling work and raising their two daughters by handling it as if they were "playing games."
Reader Mail
Mar 22, 2019

Chellaney wrong on Pakistan

I am writing with regards to the highly biased article by Brahma Chellaney in the March 6 edition. It is highly disappointing to see that once again the columns of The Japan Times have been used to make lopsided and misleading assertions against Pakistan. We firmly believe in the freedom of speech. However,...
Japan Times
BASKETBALL / B. League / B. LEAGUE NOTEBOOK
Mar 20, 2019

Chiba's Michael Parker continues to improve potent offensive game in latter stages of stellar career

Michael Parker's on-court excellence is a key reason the Chiba Jets Funabashi own the B. League's best record (40-7).
BASEBALL
Mar 18, 2019

Khris Davis' bat salvages tie for Athletics

Khris Davis' reputation for hitting home runs preceded him on the Oakland Athletics' trip to Japan, even among some of the Hokkaido Nippon Ham Fighters' own sluggers.
Japan Times
WORLD / FOCUS
Mar 18, 2019

FAA workers sounded alarm about Boeing performing its own safety checks as early as 2012

Employees of the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration warned as early as seven years ago that Boeing Co. had too much sway over safety approvals of new aircraft, prompting an investigation by Department of Transportation auditors who confirmed the agency hadn't done enough to "hold Boeing accountable."...
Japan Times
WORLD / FOCUS
Mar 16, 2019

Boeing 737 crashes raise tough questions about automation

Tom Enders just couldn't resist the swipe at the competition. It was June 2011, and the chief executive officer of Airbus SE was on a stage at the Paris air show after the plane-maker won in a matter of days an unprecedented 600 orders for its upgraded A320neo airliner, while Boeing Co. stood on the...
Japan Times
JAPAN / History / THE LIVING PAST
Mar 16, 2019

Culture bred in the midst of famine and war

'We may even be tempted to conclude that no man in the history of Japan had a greater influence on the formation of Japanese taste,' wrote Japanologist Donald Keene. But still, he continues, 'Yoshimasa may have been the worst shogun ever to rule Japan.'
Reader Mail
Mar 15, 2019

Summit analysis or something worse?

In the aftermath of the Hanoi summit between North Korea's supreme leader, Kim Jong Un, and U.S. President Donald Trump, The Japan Times ran a number of follow-up pieces. The least helpful was "Frailty over North Korea exposed" on the front page of the March 3 edition. It was labeled "Analysis." Analysis...
Japan Times
CULTURE / CULTURE NOTES
Mar 14, 2019

Marie Kondo and Momo: The new faces of Japanese culture

Japanese soft power has seen two faces in 2019. One is that of tidying guru Marie Kondo. The other is the horrifying visage of Momo, an unsettling sculpture turned viral hoax.
Japan Times
BASKETBALL / B. League / B. LEAGUE NOTEBOOK
Mar 14, 2019

Rookie guard Yuta Okada is shining bright for SeaHorses

As the regular season winds down, SeaHorses Mikawa rookie guard Yuta Okada continues to demonstrate impressive skills and an exciting all-around game.
Japan Times
BASKETBALL / B. League
Mar 10, 2019

Josh Duncan leads Jets to win over B-Corsairs

With 44 games in the books, there aren't any big surprises remaining regarding the Chiba Jets Funabashi's roster and playing style.
Japan Times
ESG CONSORTIUM
Mar 10, 2019

Encouraging a shift toward greener outlook, practices

Amid increased global sustainability concerns and the implementation of the U.N. Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), it is vital for companies to work on environmental, social and governance (ESG) issues to attract investment and contribute to the realization of a sustainable world through value creation,...
SUMO
Mar 10, 2019

Sumo 101: Juryo

The lion's share of media attention in sumo goes to the top (makuuchi) division.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Mar 9, 2019

The fight against HIV isn't over yet

The virus has been eradicated from a second patient. In the 20 years since the first cure, the science of prevention and management has transformed.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / Japan
Mar 5, 2019

The global battle over big data

Big data can bring great benefits to society, but privacy and human rights must be adequately respected.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Mar 5, 2019

The man bringing classical music to millions through La Folle Journee returns to Tokyo

Instead of explaining the essence of classical music in words, French music producer Rene Martin chooses a piece from an enormous number of musical samples stored in his smartphone.

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