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Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Feb 25, 2019

How a film influenced Nixon's decision to invade Cambodia

Popular culture plays an underestimated role in shaping policymakers' world views and choices.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Feb 25, 2019

With Ghosn still under lock and key in Tokyo, foreign execs are getting spooked about taking jobs in Japan

The stunning arrest, indictments and long incarceration of former Nissan Motor Co. Chief Executive Officer Carlos Ghosn have given pause to foreign executives considering taking on senior jobs at Japanese companies.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Regional voices: Chubu
Feb 25, 2019

Nagoya student tracks classical and jazz gigs for music fans across Japan

A student at Nagoya University's Graduate School of Information Science has developed an online platform for music fans that keeps them update on classical and jazz concerts by musician and venue.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / How-tos
Feb 25, 2019

In the Japanese workplace, take training into your own hands

When I graduated from college and went to work for a consulting firm in Chicago, for the first week I was asked to sit next to someone who had worked there for a couple of years in the same role, who methodically took me through everything I needed to know in order to do my job.
Japan Times
SATOYAMA CONSORTIUM
Feb 25, 2019

Travel website to expand on rural tourism

Beautiful nature, healthy local food and rare cultural experiences unique to Japan that will surely live on in lasting memories long after travelers have returned home.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Feb 24, 2019

Emperor reflects on Japan's past, future and his 'endlessly long' quest to pin down role after 30 years on throne

Emperor Akihito said he has dedicated the past 30 years of his reign to an “endlessly long” quest to fathom out his role as the symbol of the state.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / 20 QUESTIONS
Feb 23, 2019

Corey Mah: Fashioning a new life in Tokyo

From retro video games to avant-garde Comme des Garcons' fashion, moving to Japan became a calling for Corey Mah.
EDITORIALS
Feb 23, 2019

Empower outside directors

Merely making it mandatory under the law for companies to have outside directors isn't enough. They have to be allowed to improve their company's governance.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Feb 22, 2019

Huawei will provide 'global and comprehensive' plan to address British security fears in first half: exec

Huawei will present a plan to address British security concerns about its equipment by the end of the first half of this year, a senior company executive said Thursday, following criticism the Chinese firm has not moved fast enough to fix the issues.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC / Society
Feb 22, 2019

South Korean women ditch makeup and 'escape the corset' in rebellion against ideals of beauty

South Korean university student Yim Ji-su used to sacrifice up to two hours of sleep each morning for her laborious makeup routine, from applying foundation and concealer to perming her shoulder-length hair.
Japan Times
Rugby
Feb 21, 2019

Organizing committee chief Akira Shimazu hopes World Cup will be catalyst for growth

With half a year to go until the first-ever Rugby World Cup in Asia, organizing committee chief Akira Shimazu insisted that the hosts are focused on making the tournament in Japan a "ground-breaking" event.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film / Wide Angle
Feb 21, 2019

Fans: Don't worry about a live-action 'Your Name.' remake; 'Alita' shows it can be done

It was the groan heard 'round the internet. Back in September 2017, J.J. Abrams' Bad Robot Productions announced it had picked up the live-action rights to 2016 anime megahit "Your Name." Reaction from anime fans online was not exactly positive.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Feb 21, 2019

Telling the musical story of Japan's ambient era

At the time, the Japanese music scene of the 1970s felt pretty flat to Daisuke Hinata. "But (then) Yellow Magic Orchestra (YMO) and Plastics came out, and we thought the market would open up for more new sounds," the Los Angeles-based musician tells The Japan Times. Along with three Japanese classmates...
Japan Times
JAPAN / Regional voices: Chubu
Feb 18, 2019

World's masterpieces cast in Shigaraki ceramic at museum in Shikoku

The Otsuka Museum of Art in Naruto, Tokushima Prefecture, drew a lot of attention last year when popular singer-songwriter Kenshi Yonezu held his first live TV performance there on Dec. 31 for NHK's year-end "Kohaku Uta Gassen" ("Red and White Song Battle") music contest.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Feb 18, 2019

Corporate governance is improving, but not by enough

Poorly run companies are under international and domestic pressure to adopt global standards of capitalism.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Companies
Feb 18, 2019

In era of AI and apps that track, could Recruit be Japan's top contender for global internet domination?

It was one of the most infamous companies in Japan, rocking the nation with a corporate scandal that ousted a prime minister and then nearly collapsing under a mountain of debt.
Feb 18, 2019

"AI Mural/Mural in Roppongi" will be exhibited in Media Ambition Tokyo 2019

ima Inc. (Headquarters: Taito-ku, Tokyo, Founder CEO: Miura Ami) has developed an AI mural painter "AI Mural/Mural in Roppongi" to exhibit in Ambition Tokyo 2019, together with the design labo inc.(Headquarters: Chuo-ku, Tokyo, Founder CEO: Satoshi Itasaka).
Japan Times
SOCCER / From the Spot
Feb 17, 2019

Time ripe for Japan's Super Cup to hit road

The annual Fuji Xerox Super Cup, held the weekend before the J. League opens for business, has over the last 25 years become a celebration of the league's vibrant and friendly matchday culture.
Japan Times
MULTIMEDIA
Feb 17, 2019

February 18, 2019

Japan Times
CULTURE / Books
Feb 16, 2019

'Japan Story': History enlivened at every turn with flashes of wit

Christopher Harding's comprehensive 'Japan Story' is an ultra-progressive account of modern Japanese history, ushering the often-ignored maverick women, socialist thinkers and doubters of the state version of modernity to the front.
Japan Times
SUMO / INSIDE SUMO
Feb 13, 2019

Wrestlers put aside differences to promote U.S. sumo

Kelly Gneiting is a religious fundamentalist.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / Japan
Feb 13, 2019

Japan's women need more than office jobs

If the country wants to slow its population decline, it must abolish its two-track labor system.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Feb 13, 2019

'Born Bone Born': A family reunited by a skeletal bath

Having attended a few funerals here and seen dozens more on the screen, I thought I knew a bit about the ceremonies and rituals surrounding death in Japan. But "Born Bone Born" by comedian and director Toshiyuki Teruya (aka Gori) proved me wrong — at least about his native Okinawa.
COMMENTARY / World
Feb 12, 2019

See Iran's revolution as Iranians do

It was not about 'Muslim rage.' It was a rebellion against a Westernized, undemocratic technocracy.
Japan Times
LIFE / Style & Design
Feb 12, 2019

Plastic fantastic: Examining the obsession over Japan's soft vinyl toys

It's a cold afternoon in mid-January and, inside a factory operated by Maruyama Toys in a quiet residential area in Tokyo's Katsushika Ward, Cory Privitera is making sofubi (soft vinyl toys).
Japan Times
WORLD / Politics
Feb 10, 2019

Armed with new power, Democrats push for stricter U.S. gun laws

Democratic lawmakers are pushing stricter gun laws in statehouses across the country, emboldened by sweeping electoral victories in 2018 and confident that public opinion is on their side a year after the school shooting in Parkland, Florida.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Society / GENERATIONAL CHANGE
Feb 10, 2019

Japanese makeup guru on crusade to revamp men's grooming habits

As a university student, Hiroki Takahashi could barely step outside his home without a surgical mask on. Even when he did venture out, he was terrified of the fluorescent lighting ubiquitous in convenience stores and trains that ruthlessly illuminated what he was desperately trying to hide — a mass...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Feb 10, 2019

The art of video games: We're not just playing around anymore

As comment on the gaming industry, and by extrapolation, the human condition, 'In a Gamescape' at the NTT Intercommunication Center at times pretty merciless. But visitors should still play it out.

Longform

Ichiro Suzuki, one of the most iconic players in NPB and MLB history, was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame with 99.7% of the vote.
With Hall of Fame induction, Ichiro makes himself heard loud and clear