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Japan Times
LIFE / Digital
Apr 17, 2016

Breaker helps pave a new path to stardom via YouTube

In the days of Japan's bubble economy, the second-level basement of the Fiction Building in Tokyo's Harajuku neighborhood housed a decadent Italian restaurant complete with a grand stairway down to the main dining area, providing every customer the chance to make an entrance. However, the opulent eating...
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / COUNTERPOINT
Apr 16, 2016

Obama has unfinished business in Hiroshima

Barack Obama will attend the G-7 Ise-Shima summit of leading industrial nations in Mie Prefecture next month, sparking speculation that the U.S. President might venture to Hiroshima to pay respects at the Peace Memorial Park.
Japan Times
CULTURE / CULTURE SMASH
Apr 16, 2016

Anime biz sings the praises of shows

The first time I attended AnimeJapan, the industry's annual spring showcase in Odaiba, Tokyo, it was called the Tokyo International Anime Fair. Members of the public couldn't enter during the first two days, amateur cosplay (costume play) was prohibited, and while there were some presentations, most...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Books
Apr 16, 2016

'Six Four' is a haunted, complex novel by Japan's heavyweight crime writer

Prior to writing crime novels, Hideo Yokoyama worked at the Jomo Shimbun newspaper in Gunma Prefecture for 12 years, first as a police reporter and then as a desk editor. The police beat, and the relationship between the police and press is central to the complex machinations in "Six Four," Yokoyama's...
COMMENTARY / Japan
Apr 14, 2016

Is 'Abeggedon' approaching?

As the yen heads to 100 against the dollar, economists are fretting over Japan's $10 trillion debt monster.
MORE SPORTS
Apr 14, 2016

Kaneto, Ikee offer stark contrasts in pursuit of Rio glory

Comeback queen Rie Kaneto is gearing up for an assault on the 200-meter breaststroke world record at this summer's Rio Olympics, but admits she could just as easily have been watching the race on TV instead.
BUSINESS
Apr 14, 2016

Japan Inc. faces biggest Abe-era profits drop on strong yen

For the past three years, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe could usually count on surging corporate earnings to back up the case that his policies were turning around Japan, but that is no more.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Apr 14, 2016

Global education experts urge Japan to look beyond rote learning

The teaching methods of Kazuya Takahashi, 35, using Lego blocks and speaking entirely in English, may not be the norm in the Japanese education system.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Apr 13, 2016

‘Spotlight’: a beacon for investigative journalism

In 1976 the film "All the President's Men" portrayed the true story of Washington Post reporters Carl Bernstein and Bob Woodward (Dustin Hoffman and Robert Redford) uncovering the Watergate Scandal. It wasn't the first time in cinema that journalists took center stage, but it was one of few films that...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Apr 13, 2016

Okita keeps every hair in place

Millions of Japanese have come from the countryside to find their fortunes in Tokyo, with most arriving in the postwar boom when jobs were everywhere and the future looked bright. But many, like the punk rocker hero of Shuichi Okita's offbeat, warm-hearted family comedy "The Mohican Comes Home" ("Mohikan...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Apr 13, 2016

'Youth': Sorrentino gets extra sentimental

"I don't want to read any more of it, write any more of it, I don't even want to talk about it anymore," said the novelist Philip Roth in 2012, as he announced his retirement from literature. "I'm tired of all that work. I'm in a different stage of my life."
Japan Times
MORE SPORTS
Apr 11, 2016

Japan confirms swimming team for Rio Olympics

The Japan Swimming Federation officially announced its national team for this summer's Rio de Janeiro Olympics on Monday.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Markets
Apr 11, 2016

Abenomics rebuked as major foreign investors join $46 billion Japan pullout

For global equity investors and Shinzo Abe, it's splitsville.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Media / BIG IN JAPAN
Apr 9, 2016

Japan is as happy as it feels — miserable

Who are the unhappiest people, asks Spa — the married, the single or the divorced?
COMMENTARY / World
Apr 9, 2016

For orcas, menopause is just the beginning

Killer whales and humans are among the only animals known to experience menopause, and scientists are learning how this phenomenon benefits orcas.
Reader Mail
Apr 9, 2016

Hidebound school boards cripple Japan

Japan is a nation built on virtue. Perhaps one of most important is efficiency; the senselessness of wasting resources. Yet I have come to witness colossal wastage in Japan. I talk of the boards of education in certain regions that corrupt the teaching of English, driving dedicated teachers away.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Apr 8, 2016

Disgraced Japanese badminton duo apologize for illegal gambling

Japan's top badminton players apologize after being caught up in a gambling scandal that threatens their chances of going to the Olympics.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / KYOTO RESTAURANTS
Apr 8, 2016

Godan Miyazawa: Traditional multicourse cuisine unsettled by a wild bear

Regrets? I have a ton. Here's one: I didn't get to eat bear meat at Godan Miyazawa. Perhaps one of the drawbacks of the omakase (chef's selection) here is that there's no actual menu to provide information about what's being served. Trusting your chef is a small price to pay for an elaborate multicourse...
Japan Times
MORE SPORTS
Apr 7, 2016

Sailor Shiraishi prepares for prestigious global odyssey

Sailor Kojiro Shiraishi is in high spirits as he is set to realize his 30-year dream.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Apr 7, 2016

A tricky Edward Snowden moment for China

The Panama Papers have cast an unwelcome spotlight on the financial affairs of China's elite.

Longform

After pandemic-era border regulations eased, Indian migrants began returning to Japan. Their population now stands at more than 50,000 across the country.
How remote work is rewriting the migrant experience in Japan