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Japan Times
JAPAN / CHUBU CONNECTION
Feb 27, 2017

Nagoya ad startup uses bonus boost to discourage overtime

An online advertising startup has adopted a unique method to achieve zero overtime in its workplace by paying a higher bonus to employees who have reduced their work hours after quitting time, a move likely to draw attention as more Japanese try to achieve a better work-life balance.
Japan Times
WORLD / Society
Feb 26, 2017

'It must be love': wife-beating a source of pride for some in Mauritania

Salimata was always told she should be proud to come from a family of wife beaters.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC / ANALYSIS
Feb 26, 2017

Did North Korea kill Kim Jong Nam with VX nerve agent to send a signal to its enemies?

Last week's stunning revelation that the deadly VX nerve agent was used to kill the estranged half brother of North Korea's leader at a crowded air terminal in Malaysia has thrown a spotlight on Pyongyang's chemical weapons arsenal — and raised questions of whether the operation was a purposeful but...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Feb 25, 2017

Polish film director Andrzej Wajda represented the voice and conscience of a nation

"I stood here just after the end of the war," Polish film director Andrzej Wajda said. "I was only 19 years old. The entire area was flattened, just rubble. The Stare Miasto (Old Town) was one big gaping pit that I stared into."
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Feb 25, 2017

Premium Friday is not about taking a holiday

The anonymous writer of Asahi Shimbun's finance-related Keizai Kishodai column pointed out in the Feb. 18 edition that Japanese people only think of time off on a day-by-day basis, whereas Europeans tend to conceptualize it in week-long blocks, as 'vacations.'
Japan Times
LIFE / Style & Design
Feb 25, 2017

Naoto Fukasawa: Between craft and design

Naoto Fukasawa is probably best known internationally for his designs for Muji, in particular for the wall-mounted CD player he created in 1999, which was featured in Gary Hustwit's popular 2009 documentary "Objectified." Now he remains a creative adviser for Muji, while still designing interiors, lighting...
COMMENTARY / World
Feb 25, 2017

Depressed by politics? Stop staring at phones

If we expect better from officeholders and candidates and activists, we have to demand better from ourselves.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Feb 23, 2017

Ryan Gosling and Emma Stone hope to dance their way to Oscars glory in 'La La Land'

It's Hollywood's weekend. The 89th Academy Awards will be held Feb. 26 and nominated for a record 14 Oscars is a musical ode to the award's hometown titled "La La Land."
JAPAN
Feb 23, 2017

Variety of discounts, perks in works for 'Premium Friday' launch

Starting Friday, many workers in Japan, notorious for its culture of overwork, will have a chance to start the weekend early, albeit once a month, for a trip to an onsen (hot springs), a shopping spree or simply dining out with family and friends.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Feb 22, 2017

'La La Land': Sometimes we need a trip to la-la land

La-la land: the mental state of someone who is not aware of what is really happening, and a nickname for the American entertainment industry centered on Los Angeles. These two meanings bleed into each other in director Damien Chazelle's multi-Oscar-nominated musical, "La La Land," which is about a state...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Stage
Feb 22, 2017

Bausch's legacy blossoms as emotions unfold on stage

When the curtain opens on a stage blanketed in silk flowers, a beginner might think "Nelken" ("Carnations") by Pina Bausch was about to offer some sweetly whimsical vision of poetry in three dimensions. That, however, would be to ignore dark underlying themes of power and love, and a certain sagacious...
CULTURE / Stage
Feb 22, 2017

Ballet icon Nina Ananiashvili looks set to bow out in splendid style

"Up to now, I've had about 120 partners in total," Nina Ananiashvili declared with a laugh. "Of course, I mean on the stage."
Japan Times
JAPAN / Society
Feb 21, 2017

Genuine asylum seekers in Japan lumped together with migrant laborers

The clanking of Tokyo trains going by still echoes in the head of a 27-year-old Congolese man as he recalls the dreadful few weeks he spent in Japan in January 2016 traveling from station to station, homeless, in search of a place where he could survive the cruel cold nights.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / Japan / SENTAKU MAGAZINE
Feb 21, 2017

How Trump's plans might deal a blow to Japanese firms

If Trump tries to realign the global structure of manufacturing industries that have become heavily concentrated in Asia, Japanese firms will be hit hard.
COMMENTARY / World
Feb 20, 2017

An idea whose time has come?

An idea that might be the solution to runaway populism has suddenly gone mainstream.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Feb 19, 2017

Japan's buckling health care system at a crossroads

U.S. President Donald Trump's plan to repeal “Obamacare” has left many people here wondering: How does Japan compare?
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Feb 19, 2017

A presidential news conference like none before

Not only did Donald Trump rant and rave at his first presidential news conference, he denied he was ranting and raving — which is even more bizarre than actually ranting and raving.
Japan Times
ENVIRONMENT
Feb 18, 2017

Wasteland: Tokyo grows on its own trash

Waste management authorities are working constantly to ensure that garbage in the metropolis is put to better use.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Feb 18, 2017

Japan's 'Undercover Boss' reinforces stereotypes at work

The government proposal to limit overtime for salaried workers is supposed to reduce the incidence of karōshi (death from overwork), which often takes the form of suicide, and yet the authorities seems squeamish about making demands on employers.
SOCCER
Feb 16, 2017

FIFA chief Infantino supports co-hosting for 2026 World Cup

FIFA president Gianni Infantino said on Thursday he intends to encourage co-hosting for the 2026 World Cup that could divide the tournament up between as many as four countries.
CULTURE / Stage
Feb 16, 2017

Comedian Jimmy Carr talks about sensitivity, universal jokes and the best sound he can hear at a stand-up show

"OK, let's kick off with a question for you, in time-honored tradition," Jimmy Carr says to me at the outset of our interview. "Do many comedians make it over to Japan?"
EDITORIALS
Feb 16, 2017

A growing silence in Russia

The Putin government's need to silence an opposition leader through trumped-up charges shows its insecurity.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC
Feb 16, 2017

China warns U.S. against more patrols in disputed South China Sea

Beijing warned Washington on Wednesday not to challenge its sovereignty in the South China Sea amid reports that the U.S. Navy was gearing up to sail more warships near China's man-made islands in the contested waters.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Feb 15, 2017

'One Week Friends': Groundhog day in the 'friend zone'

Someday soon someone is going to come up with an algorithm for commercial seishun eiga (youth films). Plug in the variables — teenaged love in its more innocuous variations being first and foremost — and pop out a script for another hit.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Feb 14, 2017

'Parody and Intertextuality: Visual Culture in Japan Around the 1970s'

Feb. 18-April 16
Japan Times
BASKETBALL
Feb 13, 2017

Kajikawa works to inspire females hoping for executive roles in sports

Just over a decade ago, Mie Kajikawa became the first Japanese female to become an intern for an NBA club.

Longform

Construction equipment sits idle in a park near Shiba Toshogu shrine in Tokyo's Minato Ward. While Japan has a history of treating its trees with reverence, green coverage is said to be lacking in most of the major cities.
Do Japan's trees no longer occupy the sacred space they used to?