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Japan Times
WORLD
Jul 10, 2014

Britain unveils emergency laws to keep email, phone data for security

Britain said on Thursday it would rush through emergency legislation to force telecoms firms to retain customer data for a year, calling the move vital for national security following a decision by Europe's top court.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Jul 9, 2014

Ministry panel backpedals on promise to revamp justice system

Despite growing criticism of the country's notoriously opaque criminal justice system, a government panel tasked with revamping it has opted not to back the mandatory recording of interrogations.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Jul 9, 2014

Business climate is ever-changing

The business environment surrounding U.S. companies has changed and they are looking for ways to not only survive, but thrive against severe competition.
Japan Times
Events / Events In Tokyo
Jul 9, 2014

Visit Japan's prehistoric past

It's hard to imagine, but millions of years ago elephants roamed Japan. Although they died out long before civilization, Tokyo's National Museum of Nature and Science can help us imagine these majestic creatures and other prehistoric mammals through a display of Japan-specific fossils. The "Ancient Mammals...
JAPAN
Jul 8, 2014

TV news should have English subtitles, panel says

Japanese TV broadcasters should introduce English subtitles in news programs by 2020 in light of an expected increase in the number of foreign visitors ahead of the Tokyo Olympics, according to an expert panel at the communications ministry.
Japan Times
LIFE / Travel
Jul 5, 2014

Off the beaten path on Japan's paper trail

At a little roadside store in rural Nagano, a foreign tourist is miming a rice bowl with her cupped left hand. Firm in the belief that Japanese washi (paper — wa meaning Japanese and shi meaning paper) was made from rice, she waves her flattened right hand across the "bowl," miming her desire for "sheets"...
Japan Times
JAPAN / CHUBU CONNECTION
Jul 4, 2014

Aichi researchers track doe in bid to reduce crop damage

The Aichi Prefectural Government is using GPS to track wild deer and research new ways to keep them from damaging crops in mountainous areas.
Japan Times
WORLD / Society / FOCUS
Jul 1, 2014

Beijing quietly tightening grip on Hong Kong

Since Britain handed back colonial Hong Kong in 1997, retired primary school teacher and Falun Gong devotee Lau Wai-hing has fully exercised the freedoms China promised this city of 7.2 million.
JAPAN / JAPAN TIMES FORUM ON FEMALE SCIENCE MAJORS
Jun 30, 2014

Majoring in science may expand opportunities for women

Moderator: Let's discuss the challenge of hiring more female science majors and solutions to that issue. Let me first ask you what kind of skills are you seeking in women? I wonder if the marketing skills of female science majors, instead of just their capabilities in research and development, could...
COMMENTARY / World
Jun 29, 2014

Is a New York Times picture worth 1,000 polls?

New research suggests that positive images in The New York Times portend better poll numbers to come. If true, there's hope for President Barack Obama in light of the photo spread for a big story last week.
Events / Events In Tokyo
Jun 26, 2014

Everyone's having a laugh in Kinokuniya

Rakugo, a traditional form of comic storytelling in Japan, deals with anecdotes about human nature. Described as a "performance of imagination," it is usually done on an empty stage with the artist kneeling on a large cushion and acting out the roles of all characters in the tales, expressing their actions...
LIFE / Language / WELL SAID
Jun 22, 2014

Naruhodo

Today, we will introduce some usages of u306au308bu307bu3069 and u305fu3057u304bu306b, which are used as u3042u3044u3065u3061.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Jun 19, 2014

Luna Sea rockers Sugizo and Inoran talk life at 25

"I don't think of this as a reunion. We didn't break up; we just paused our activities and came back to life," says Sugizo, guitarist and violinist of rock group Luna Sea. Sitting next to bandmate Inoran, he speaks calmly and softly, his eyes looking back at me through tinted sunglasses. "Words like...
Japan Times
JAPAN / CHUBU CONNECTION
Jun 13, 2014

Okazaki's grapes, Ieyasu legacy reel in tourists

The city of Okazaki in Aichi Prefecture this year is doubling efforts to attract visitors from its neighbors in East Asia, especially China and Taiwan.
JAPAN
Jun 11, 2014

Abe picks for NRA 'undermine' nuclear watchdog's independence

The Lower House has approved the appointment of a Nuclear Regulation Authority commissioner who has received more than u00a510 million in research funding from nuclear-related entities.
EDITORIALS
Jun 9, 2014

Creeping Orwellian angst

Legislative attempts to criminalize the act of 'conspiracy' to commit some crimes as well as other government moves are enough to cause anxiety that Japan may be inching toward an Orwellian society.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Companies
Jun 6, 2014

Top General Motors executives spared in internal report on safety failure

General Motors Co. on Thursday issued a report detailing how for 11 years it turned a blind eye to an ignition-switch problem that has been linked to at least 13 deaths but it largely pinned the blame on incompetent lower-level employees, leaving top brass untouched.
COMMENTARY / World
Jun 3, 2014

What really happened at Tiananmen?

In recent years the Tiananmen Square 'massacre' story has taken something of a beating as people in the square that night, including a Spanish TV unit, have emerged to tell us that there was no massacre in the square.
Japan Times
JAPAN / EXPLAINER
Jun 2, 2014

Middle road sought for health food labels

In an attempt to cash in on consumers' growing interest in healthy eating, new varieties of fresh fruit and vegetables — each touting enhanced health-boosting properties — are making their way to supermarkets nationwide.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / THE FOREIGN ELEMENT
Jun 2, 2014

Japan urged to make its cosmetics 'cruelty-free'

While Japanese consumers clamor for items that will make their skin smoother or their hair shinier, relatively few people are aware of the horror behind the products in their cosmetics cases.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Jun 2, 2014

Conclude an East Asia FTA

Despite diplomatic problems among the three, business delegations from Japan, China and South Korea recently agreed that a free trade agreement should be concluded soon.
Japan Times
LIFE / Style & Design / ON: DESIGN
Jun 2, 2014

Clever designs in kitchenware and desktop decor

Keeping flower books
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / LEARNING CURVE
Jun 1, 2014

56 schools across Japan aim to nurture 'Super Global' leaders

The Super Global High Schools project, a key part of the Japanese government's plan to reverse two decades of economic decline and growing insularity among the young, tasks 56 schools with creating a new generation of global leaders.
Events / KANSAI: WHO & WHAT
May 30, 2014

Noh performance on torch-lit stage in Kyoto

Nighttime Takigi Noh will be performed on a torch-lit outdoor stage at Heian Jingu Shrine in Kyoto this Sunday and Monday.
LIFE / Travel / TRAVEL INSIDER
May 27, 2014

Luxury flying; Haneda to San Francisco; AirAsia boosts security

Luxury flying
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
May 27, 2014

Gaijin band scene welcomes music fans of all kinds

A large multicultural crowd gathered at Club Edge in Tokyo's Roppongi district in March, socializing and laughing boisterously before watching three bands. They remained pretty boisterous throughout the performances.
COMMENTARY / World
May 26, 2014

New digital technology wave replacing labor

People scrambling to keep up with digital technologies need to know that the world we are entering is one in which the most powerful global flows will be ideas and digital capital — not goods, services and traditional capital.

Longform

Dangami House is a 180-year-old former samurai residence of the Kato clan, who ruled over Ozu, Ehime Prefecture, until the Meiji Restoration.
A house, a legacy and the quiet work of restoration in rural Japan