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Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink
May 13, 2016

Why is Tokyo starting to taste like Portland?

Walking into PDX Taproom, a bar in Tokyo's Shibuya Ward, is like wandering into a condensed, alternate version of Portland, Oregon. Everything from the folk-pop hits playing in the background to the craft beers on tap hail from the Pacific Northwest metropolis.
Japan Times
JAPAN
May 13, 2016

Slim majority see no need for Obama to apologize for atomic bombs: Japan Times poll

Earlier this week The Japan Times polled its readers about U.S. President Barack Obama's upcoming visit to Hiroshima. A total of 1042 people from 90 countries responded to the question: "Do you think President Obama should apologize for the atomic bombs dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki in August 1945?"...
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
May 13, 2016

New Myanmar government proposes keeping some junta curbs on protests

Myanmar democracy champion Aung San Suu Kyi is facing criticism from rights groups and student activists who say her ruling party is planning to retain restrictions on free speech once wielded against it by the country's former junta.
JAPAN
May 11, 2016

Tokyo's governor becomes embroiled in fresh public funding scandal

Yoichi Masuzoe once again finds himself mired in ignominy, this time over a possible violation of political funding laws.
COMMENTARY / World
May 10, 2016

Trumpism suffers a loss in London

Trumpism, or the politics of hate and fear, suffered a major defeat last week with the election of a Muslim as mayor of London.
LIFE / Language / COMMUNICATION CUES
May 9, 2016

Tokyo cat cafe ordered to suspend business

A Tokyo government has a cat cafe in Sumida Ward a 30-day business suspension due to improper management of the animals and poor hygiene.
COMMENTARY / World
May 9, 2016

Putin strikes a defiant note with concert in Syria

Vladimir Putin is signaling to the world that his forces have not really withdrawn from Syria and that any peace will be made on Russian terms.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC
May 9, 2016

'I am not your minder,' and other mistakes made in North Korea

At least 130 foreign journalists traveled to Pyongyang to cover the first full congress of North Korea's ruling party in 36 years.
Japan Times
JAPAN / CHUBU CONNECTION
May 9, 2016

Aichi town residents setting up mini libraries to get locals reading, chatting

Higashiura Town Central Library in Aichi Prefecture is working with local residents to build mini libraries in the town so that residents have more opportunities to read books. Through it, the effort aims to nurture a stronger community.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
May 8, 2016

Trump won the GOP's stand-up competition

Donald Trump's remarkable run, however it ends, could be a harbinger of things to come, and future races may well be won by the person with the best stand-up routine.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
May 7, 2016

Japan's resident Koreans endure a climate of hate

Later this month, the Diet's Upper House will pass a bill submitted by the ruling coalition addressing the problem of hate speech, specifically directed at non-Japanese. As sociologist Takehiro Akedo explains in his article for the Web magazine Synodos, the Liberal Democratic Party isn't enthusiastic...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Books
May 7, 2016

The vagina, in all its 'obscene' glory

You've probably heard of Japanese artist known as Rokudenashiko ("good for nothing girl"), who was arrested in 2014 for sending the 3-D data of her genitals to patrons of her successful crowdfunding campaign to create a vagina-shaped kayak.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Society
May 6, 2016

Expert sees Japan's high level of digital rights offset by public disinclined to curb Big Brother

Japan's restrictions on freedom of expression are growing but its sleepy public might not wake up before it's too late, a U.N. special rapporteur warns.
LIFE / Language / COMMUNICATION CUES
May 2, 2016

Natsume Soseki museum in London to close

A museum in London dedicated to Japanese novelist Natsume Soseki plans to close next year due to a decline in visitors.
JAPAN / CHUBU CONNECTION
May 2, 2016

Over 80% of non-Japanese residents aware of 'Big One' threat, but not all prepared: survey

A recent survey by the Nagoya Municipal Government revealed that more than 80 percent of foreign residents in the city are aware of the risks of a Nankai mega-thrust earthquake and the devastation it would bring to the area.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Apr 30, 2016

Idols put Band-Aids on fragile male egos

Two cities in Tottori Prefecture have set up a facility called the Tottori Deai Support Center, which is a kind of matchmaking service for young residents. In December it published a pamphlet to help people looking for mates better understand what the opposite sex wanted.
CULTURE / Books
Apr 30, 2016

Black Illumination: the abyss of Keiji Nishitani

I've always felt there are basically two kinds of philosophers: those who begin in wonder and those who begin in despair. Though the philosopher Keiji Nishitani (1900-90) was arguably the latter kind, he struggled throughout his life to see the world with wonder.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / THE FOREIGN ELEMENT
Apr 27, 2016

Agent Orange and Okinawa: the story so far

Five years after The Japan Times first revealed the U.S. military's use of toxic defoliants on the island, new evidence continues to come to light.
COMMENTARY / Japan / SENTAKU MAGAZINE
Apr 26, 2016

Beijing puts the squeeze on foreign companies in China

Japanese firms based in China are feeling the pinch as Beijing tightens its grip on capital transactions.
LIFE / Language / COMMUNICATION CUES
Apr 25, 2016

Bear-shaped communication tool invented

KDDI Corp. has developed a communication tool in the shape of a teddy bear for use by young children and grandparents living apart from each other.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC
Apr 25, 2016

Thai hard disk makers see silver lining in cloud storage, for now

After more than two years of riding high on growing demand for cloud data storage, Thailand's hard disk drive exporters are bracing for a fall from grace.
Japan Times
JAPAN / CHUBU CONNECTION
Apr 25, 2016

Fujita — and his works — come to life at Nagoya museum

At Nagoya City Art Museum, Seizo Tsukamoto has changed his appearance to look like the late Japanese-French painter Tsuguharu Fujita (1886-1968) — a mushroom hairstyle, short mustache and round-rimmed glasses — to promote the museum's Fujita exhibition, which kicks off on Friday.
JAPAN / Media / BIG IN JAPAN
Apr 23, 2016

The sudden exit of Japan's convenience store pioneer

Among last week's dispatches from earthquake-hit Kyushu was an article in Yukan Fuji (April 19) about the "battle for food provisions" in the city of Kumamoto.
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
COMMENTARY / Japan / SENTAKU MAGAZINE
Apr 22, 2016

Japan's dementia time bomb

The number of people in Japan suffering from dementia will continue to grow, and the government must come up with a new system to cope with the coming crisis.
COMMENTARY / World
Apr 21, 2016

A Trump presidency would make China great again

China's ambitions to forge a Beijing Consensus will be easier under an isolationist Trump administration.

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