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Japan Times
CULTURE / Stage
May 8, 2018

Keishi Nagatsuka navigates cultural differences in bringing play about capital punishment to Japan

For casual fans of film, the name Martin McDonagh only became familiar after the movie he wrote, directed and produced, "Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri," became the talk of this year's awards season.
JAPAN / Media / Japan Pulse
May 5, 2018

Susaki otter Chiitan leads a new generation of mascots with personality

Registration for this year’s Yuru-kyara Grand Prix opens on May 7, with eyes nationwide turning to see which cute and cuddly mascot will snap up the prestigious award in 2018.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Books
May 5, 2018

Why cleaning is good for you, according to Buddhist monk Shoukei Matsumoto

Turn cleaning from the ultimate chore to a restorative feature of your life.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / Japan
May 3, 2018

How Japan can fix its gaping gender gap

The World Economic Forum's 2017 gender gap index ranks Japan 114th out of the 144 countries surveyed — this must change.
Japan Times
SUMO / INSIDE SUMO
May 2, 2018

Ancient banzuke adds human touch to sumo

"I can't do this for 10 years. I want to have a normal job. I want to live in a normal house. I want to eat normal food. I want to live a normal life."
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Apr 30, 2018

China: The shadow power for a shadow age

In an age of illusion, China is among the chief sources of spectacle.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / 20 QUESTIONS
Apr 28, 2018

Hawken King: Staying on his game in Tokyo

Designer-programmer and founder of games studio Dadako talks about unlocked achievements and life in Japan.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Apr 27, 2018

Trump gaslighting us into forgetting America's real issues

Under Donald Trump, everyday life has assumed some of the characteristics of an authoritarian regime, especially Americans' obsession with him.
Japan Times
LIFE / EVENTS AND INFORMATION
Apr 26, 2018

'Washi Wonderment' at InterContinental Osaka

An illuminated gate made from washi Japanese paper featuring stripes of the seven colors of the rainbow welcomes guests in the lobby of InterContinental Osaka, located inside the stylish Grand Front Osaka building just outside Osaka Station.
EDITORIALS
Apr 25, 2018

Move the nation's environmental policy forward

The nation's Basic Environment Plan needs to be quickly fleshed out with concrete policy measures.
Apr 23, 2018

TSUNEISHI Group FY 2017 Consolidated Performance Report: A year of steady growth for the different segments and a market upturn with shipbuilding and shipping businesses showing signs of recovery

TSUNEISHI HOLDINGS CORPORATION (HQ: 1083 Tsuneishi, Numakuma-cho, Fukuyama, Hiroshima, Japan; President: Hirotatsu Kambara) is pleased to announce the FY2017 consolidated results of the TSUNEISHI Group.
BUSINESS / Tech
Apr 20, 2018

Cafes offer students 'virtual' workday experiences

Some cafes are offering college students simulated experiences of everyday life at work in a company, using virtual reality technology.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Stage
Apr 19, 2018

Shizuoka stage festival aims to engage its audiences the old-fashioned way

This hasn't been a great year for social media. Internet addiction has been a hot topic, as have privacy issues, and there has even been a movement to #DeleteFacebook.
Japan Times
SUMO / INSIDE SUMO
Apr 18, 2018

Family legacy weighs heavily on young sumo prospects

Jigjidiin Monkhbat, the father of yokozuna Hakuho, passed away recently. A legendary figure in Mongolian wrestling, the six-time Naadam festival champion was also a silver medalist at the 1968 Olympic Games in Mexico City.
Japan Times
LIFE / Language / MORNING ENGLISH
Apr 16, 2018

Let's discuss women and sumo

A controversy over gender discrimination in sumo flared earlier this month after a referee urged two women to stay out of the ring as they tried to assist an unconscious official.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Media / BIG IN JAPAN
Apr 14, 2018

Japan faces up to the prospect of losing a middle-class war

Modern middle-class life, you could reasonably argue, generates more happiness among more people than any other ever conceived. It has been extravagantly derided — as bourgeois, soulless, spiritless, narrow, boring, mindlessly acquisitive and so on. But back in the late 1970s and early 1980s, when...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Books / RECENTLY PUBLISHED BOOKS ABOUT JAPAN
Apr 14, 2018

'Sweet Bean Paste' offers an original take on the odd couple genre

Durian Sukegawa's novel is an original twist on the 'odd couple' genre, in which two unlikely companions find they have much to offer each other, and retains much of the humor that genre entails.
BASEBALL / Japanese Baseball
Apr 11, 2018

Pitcher Nick Martinez finding Japan to his taste after joining Nippon Ham from Rangers

Hokkaido Nippon Ham Fighters pitcher Nick Martinez is still making a lot of adjustments to his new baseball life in Japan. He's had to acclimate himself to a new style of baseball, a new culture, the travel and learn how to pack for NPB road trips.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Apr 10, 2018

'I can only speak my own truth': Otoboke Beaver rocks tunes not politics

More than 100,000 people are expected to attend this month's Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival in the Southern California desert. While heavyweight North American pop stars such as Beyonce and The Weeknd are grabbing the most attention, the lineup also features dozens of noteworthy names — including...
Japan Times
LIFE / Language / MORNING ENGLISH
Apr 9, 2018

Let's discuss Easter in Japan

Compared to other imported festivals, Easter in Japan has never really taken off. But why?
Japan Times
JAPAN / Media / Japan Pulse
Apr 7, 2018

What's in a tweet? Startup CEO sees endless storytelling potential

96 Problems has created an app that allows you to bring stories with you wherever you go — stories that can be followed in brief glimpses at social media.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film / Wide Angle
Apr 6, 2018

Isao Takahata's gentle spirit enriched the world of Japanese animation

Isao Takahata, who died on Thursday at age 82, was long overshadowed by Studio Ghibli colleague Hayao Miyazaki, even though he was Miyazaki's senior when they both worked together at Toei Animation in the 1960s, as well as a co-founder, together with Miyazaki and producer Toshio Suzuki, of Ghibli in...
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Apr 6, 2018

Social media looks like the new opiate of the masses

Researchers have found some troubling parallels with addictive drugs.
JAPAN / Society
Apr 5, 2018

Women tending to collapsed mayor told to stay out of 'sacred' sumo ring

A referee urged two women to stay out of the ring as they tried to assist an official who was unconscious, reigniting a controversy over gender discrimination in sumo tradition.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Voices
Apr 4, 2018

Readers' views on intercultural insensitivity, Japanese schooling, English gaps and an inspirational Indian

Some readers' responses to recent stories on the Community pages:
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Apr 3, 2018

When art met craft in Meiji Era Japan

The focus of "The 150th Anniversary of the Meiji Period: Making and Designing Meiji Arts and Crafts" at The National Museum of Modern Art, Kyoto, concerns the relationship between nihonga (Japanese-style) painters of Kyoto and craft production during a time when craft and design were part of the government's...
Japan Times
LIFE / Language / BILINGUAL
Apr 2, 2018

A company freshman's sharp learning curve

The first Monday in April — April 2 this year — sees tens of thousands of 生き生きして元気な新入社員 (ikiiki shite genki na shinnyū shain, bright-eyed and bushy-tailed newly hired company employees) — also referred to as フレシュマン (fureshuman, freshmen) — decked out in...

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?