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Japan Times
CULTURE / Books / ESSENTIAL READING FOR JAPANOPHILES
Apr 21, 2018

'As I Crossed a Bridge of Dreams' brings to life the lucid prose of the Sarashina Nikki

The 'Sarashina Nikki' is a classic of Japanese literature. The life of the narrator, one spent largely turned away from the world, is revealed in translation through prose that transcends cultural and historical distance.
LIFE / Lifestyle
Apr 7, 2018

Life for rent: Exploring the mysterious world of human rental services in Japan

Hideki Nakahara, 66, is a retired Japan Airlines employee with years of experience in human resources.
Japan Times
LIFE / Lifestyle
Dec 23, 2017

'Yokohama Mary': Looking back at the life of one of the city's most mysterious figures

An enigmatic woman wearing a frilly white dress stands silently outside Matsuzakaya department store in Yokohama's Isezakicho district during a local festival. Her face is caked in white makeup and her eyes are lined in black.
JAPAN / Media / DARK SIDE OF THE RISING SUN
Dec 2, 2017

Life as a gangster in Japan just isn't as fun as it used to be

A number of theories have been put forward on the reasons behind the 2015 split of the country's largest crime syndicate, the Yamaguchi-gumi.
Japan Times
CULTURE / TV & Streaming
Nov 23, 2017

B.J. Fox navigates life in Japan as a stay-at-home dad in the sitcom 'Home Sweet Tokyo'

There are many ways to learn about a country's culture, but B.J. Fox thinks comedy is one of the best. After being relocated to Singapore from his home country of England for work, he found that sharing a few laughs with others who were in similar situations helped him connect with his new surroundings....
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / Japan
Aug 21, 2017

Japan's quality bubble explains its flat-lined GDP

Recognizing Japan's quality bubble is the first step to appreciating and assessing its significant value.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Aug 3, 2017

'The May Sun': Cycle of life flowers in photo exhibition

The natural beauty of flowers has inspired artists for centuries, but for American nature photographer Terri Weifenbach, flowers have given rise to reflection on the cycle of life.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Jul 19, 2017

'Side Job.' presents an authentic portrayal of life in Fukushima after disaster

The Great East Japan Earthquake of 2011 and its aftermath have been the focus of many films, both fiction and nonfiction. However, most of them have been by filmmakers who've come from outside Fukushima Prefecture, where the disaster hit hardest.
Japan Times
JAPAN / CHUBU CONNECTION
Jun 19, 2017

At Aichi pharmacy chain, seniors get to work at their own pace

Starting this fall, Sugi Pharmacy Co., headquartered in Obu, Aichi Prefecture, will offer seniors a new type of job contract in order to help its older employees keep fitter for longer as well as address the company's manpower shortage.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / TELLING LIVES
May 31, 2017

Puppeteer pulls the strings from the sticks of Toyama, with a point to prove

From Toyama to schools far and wide, Jack Lee Randall lives his lesson — that art can thrive wherever people are.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics / FOCUS
May 22, 2017

Three years after coup, junta deeply embedded in Thai life

On Friday evenings in Thailand, sandwiched between the evening news and a popular soap opera, is a prime-time program that has been running for three years, or ever since the military took power in a May 22, 2014, coup.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Apr 19, 2017

Japan's 15-year-olds struggle with life satisfaction, OECD survey finds

In the Program for International Student Assessment (PISA), Japan ranked No. 42 among 47 participating countries or regions in “students' satisfaction with life.”
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Apr 16, 2017

Ken Domon and the artistry of real life

By 1957, photographer Ken Domon had reached the peak of his creative powers. A picture taken that year in Hiroshima, which he was visiting for the first time to chronicle the lingering effect of the bomb, shows him supremely confident: ram-rod straight on a stool, tripod in one hand, he casts a sideway...
Japan Times
JAPAN
Mar 15, 2017

Millennial movers revive Japanese mountain towns amid depopulation

High-speed broadband. An award-winning brewpub built with recycled materials as part of a "zero waste" mission. An artist-in-residence program. Organic pizza from a wood-fired oven.
WORLD / Science & Health
Feb 16, 2017

Fossils show quick rebound of life after ancient mass extinction

Fossils including sharks, sea reptiles and squid-like creatures dug up in Idaho reveal a marine ecosystem thriving relatively soon after Earth's worst mass extinction, contradicting the long-held notion life was slow to recover from the calamity.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Companies
Dec 21, 2016

Japan experiencing budding startup wave as fundraising environment improves

A wave of startups is emerging in famously risk-averse Japan as cash-rich corporations increasingly delegate the task of keeping pace with technologies such as artificial intelligence and robotics to smaller, nimbler businesses.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / LEARNING CURVE
Sep 7, 2016

Surviving Japan on an international student's budget

Current and former international students in the capital share some of their experiences and offer advice that might help incoming students save some yen.
WORLD / Science & Health
May 12, 2016

Lava bubbles show primordial Earth had thin air that still supported life

Tiny bubbles that formed inside volcanic rock 2.7 billion years ago are providing big insights into the conditions on primordial Earth.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / JUST BE CAUSE
May 1, 2016

Enjoy your life in Japan, for the moments

After more than 30 years of studying Japan, I've learned to appreciate one thing people here do well: living in the moment.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / JAPAN LITE
Mar 27, 2016

Seto Inland Sea island finds salvation through art, but on its residents' own terms

Until recently facing a shrinking, aging population, Ogijima is growing thanks to its thriving community-based art scene.
COMMENTARY / World
Mar 4, 2016

Think life is hard now? Look back 100 years

Americans tend to forget the vast improvements that they've made in the past century.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / JAPAN LITE
Feb 29, 2016

Alarm over the death of a doctor ripples across the Seto Inland Sea

The death of the island's only doctor has come as a major shock to the islanders of Shiraishi and beyond.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Stage
Jan 26, 2016

Takarazuka's musical gives the Bard new life

Marking four centuries since the death of William Shakespeare in 1616, the 101-year-old all-female Takarazuka Revue company is currently staging a new musical titled "Shakespeare: The Sky Filled With Eternal Words" at its Takarazuka Grand Theater in Takarazuka, Hyogo Prefecture, ahead of a Tokyo season...
Japan Times
JAPAN / Science & Health / NATURAL SELECTIONS
Dec 19, 2015

Cherishing Okinawa's diverse marine life

Diving in Okinawa this summer, I came face to face with my favorite undersea creature: the octopus.
Japan Times
OLYMPICS / OLYMPIC NOTEBOOK
Dec 19, 2015

Shearman details life behind sporting lens

Mark Shearman has achieved extraordinary success as a sports photographer, specializing in track and field. He has a remarkable portfolio — containing images of Olympic legends such as Edwin Moses and Carl Lewis, Usain Bolt and Sebastian Coe — that few can ever hope of compiling. But, he admits without...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Books
Dec 12, 2015

Geling Yan draws from life in a tale 
of women in war

At the opening of Chinese-American author Geling Yan's best-selling novel "Little Aunt Crane," a 16-year-old girl by the name of Tatsuru, or "Crane," escapes a mass suicide that Japanese elders in a Manchurian village order to preserve their honor. The young girl's problems, however, have only just begun....
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Nov 28, 2015

U.S. eyes extending life of nuclear plants to 80 years

The U.S. is set to become the first nation to decide whether it is safe to operate nuclear power plants for 80 years, twice as long as initially allowed.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Oct 23, 2015

Japan's so-called visa overstayers tell of life in legal limbo

Eight children petition the Tokyo Regional Immigration Bureau for clemency to allow their families to stay in the country so they can continue their lives.

Longform

A small shrine perched atop rocks braves the waves hitting the shoreline during a storm in Shimoda, Shizuoka Prefecture. The area is under threat of a possible 31-meter-high tsunami if an earthquake strikes the nearby Nankai Trough.
If the 'Big One' hits, this city could face a 31-meter-high tsunami