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Japan Times
BUSINESS
Jul 14, 2017

Mayor Soichiro Takashima envisions Fukuoka as a living lab for internet of things

Assessing damage caused by natural disasters with just a glance at a monitor screen. Controlling water levels and knowing the best time to fertilize crops without actually visiting your farm. Checking the whereabouts of your son or daughter who is returning from school by using location-based services....
Japan Times
WORLD
Jul 14, 2017

A year after attempt to oust Erdogan, crackdown shakes pillar of Turkish state

Late one night in early February, Ibrahim Kaboglu learned that he had been targeted in the sweeping crackdown that followed Turkey's failed coup a year ago.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film / Wide Angle
Jul 13, 2017

Meet the kawaii witches of the East

Despite being a fantastic go-to costume on Halloween, witches in the West have never had it easy. There were the Salem witch trials of the 1690s, and similar trials elsewhere in North America and Europe through the 17th century, which served as warnings to independent women that they could be persecuted...
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Jul 10, 2017

China's electric cars are actually pretty dirty

Electric-vehicle technology is only as clean as its sources of power.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Jul 6, 2017

Rainbow Reel film festival celebrates the struggles and the victories of the LGBTQ community

You officially become an adult at the age of 20 in Japan, but you don't really start feeling it until your mid-20s. That's when the pressures of work and marriage start kicking in, making it as good a time as any to re-evaluate.
EDITORIALS
Jul 5, 2017

Stick together to counter North Korea

North Korea must be stripped of the illusion that the U.S. can be decoupled from Japan and South Korea, its two Northeast Asian allies.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / Japan
Jul 5, 2017

Can Abe show global vision?

Japan's way forward is to be the prophet of a new global order, not the hegemony of Washington or Beijing.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Jul 5, 2017

Job-changing reaches a seven-year high as Japan Inc. scrambles to cope with labor shortages

Japan's labor shortage has pushed the number of people changing jobs and employers during their career to its highest level since the global financial crisis, as companies scramble for workers with experience amid a rapidly-aging economy.
Japan Times
JAPAN / EXPLAINER
Jul 3, 2017

Government mulls 'Kids Week' holiday to prompt overworked Japan to take paid leave

The government is considering plans to create a holiday called "Kids Week," in an ongoing effort to change the country's workaholic culture and allow more time for families.
Japan Times
LIFE / Style & Design / ON: DESIGN
Jul 2, 2017

'Most wanted' in Japanese design

The Interior Lifestyle Tokyo trade fair, an annual event held in June at Tokyo Big Sight, always showcases an impressive number of Japanese participants. This year, On Design picks its favorites from the fair's 'Wanted' special exhibition of designers looking for collaborators or overseas distributors.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Books / The critics who shaped modern Japan
Jul 1, 2017

Yukichi Fukuzawa: A cultural critic truly ahead of his time

Ask just about anyone with a keen interest in Japan to name their favorites from the nation's rich literary history and they are likely to rattle off a few famous names. But ask the same person for their favorite Japanese critics, and stony silence is likely to ensue.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / WHY DID YOU LEAVE JAPAN?
Jul 1, 2017

Blogger Namiko Chen satisfies an appetite for Japanese fare

Every day for the past six years, Namiko Chen has been sending recipes from her cookbook of Japanese dishes out into the world from her home in San Francisco via her website and through a mix of social media channels.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Books / ESSENTIAL READING FOR JAPANOPHILES
Jul 1, 2017

'A Diplomat in Japan': Eyewitness accounts of the birth of a modern nation

The "Great Man" theory of history has largely been discredited. Propounded by Thomas Carlyle in the 1840s, it suggests that history is moved and swayed by the personalities of "great men" such as Alexander the Great and Napoleon. While there are clearly examples throughout history of men and women who...
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / Japan
Jun 28, 2017

Global warming and nuclear power

Rather than the evils of global warming, the debate should focus on how to supply the world's energy needs without polluting the atmosphere.
JAPAN / History / KANSAI PERSPECTIVE
Jun 25, 2017

Taking a look back at Kobe's opening to the West nearly 150 years ago

On Jan. 1, 1868, foreign merchants, who had spent the preceding days on ships offshore waiting for the official opening of the Port of Kobe, finally received permission to land on the beach of what had been a sleepy village well known locally for its thriving sake and fishing industries.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film / CULTURE SMASH
Jun 25, 2017

Director Sunao Katabuchi shares his corner of this world

Last summer saw the release of what would become the highest grossing Japanese animation film to date, Makoto Shinkai's "Your Name.," which was also the country's top box-office draw of 2016. The surprise hit's main characters are a pair of body-swapping teenagers. A survey conducted by the Fields Research...
Japan Times
JAPAN / Media / BIG IN JAPAN
Jun 24, 2017

What will we eat when all the food runs out?

Last week, the Yukan Fuji (June 20) reported that 20 outlets in the Kappa Sushi conveyor belt sushi chain in east and west Japan are promoting an all-you-can-eat special, with patrons from middle-school age to 64 years charged ¥1,706 (boys and men) or ¥1,490 (girls and women). Seniors over 65 can partake...
Japan Times
MORE SPORTS
Jun 23, 2017

Patriots QB Brady wraps up tour of Asia with trip to Tokyo

In the span of six days, Tom Brady threw passes on the Great Wall of China, rubbed shoulders with a Korean pop star in Shanghai, and spent a morning in the company of sumo wrestlers in Tokyo.
Japan Times
WORLD / Crime & Legal
Jun 23, 2017

U.S. appeals court overturns conviction of 'Making a Murderer' inmate

A federal appeals court on Thursday affirmed a decision to overturn the murder conviction of Brendan Dassey, a Wisconsin man serving a life sentence whose case was chronicled in the popular Netflix television documentary "Making a Murderer."
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Jun 19, 2017

Remembering Helmut Kohl's unfinished business

The late German Chancellor Helmut Kohl was the man who put German history to bed, and helped lay the groundwork for the current confrontation between Russia and the West.
Japan Times
LIFE / Language / BILINGUAL
Jun 19, 2017

The Japanese prefer a raw deal in language

The word 'nama' is a favorite among the Japanese, referring to everything from phone calls to foods to legs.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / BLACK EYE
Jun 18, 2017

Japan? The land of opportunity? Really?

The most common question you'll likely be asked upon making a new Japanese acquaintance is "Why did you come to Japan?" In 13 years here I've been asked this question by our hosts hundreds of times.
Japan Times
WORLD / Politics
Jun 17, 2017

Helmut Kohl, father of German reunification, dies at age 87

Former Chancellor Helmut Kohl, the architect of Germany's 1990 reunification and mentor to Angela Merkel, has died at age 87, his Christian Democratic Union party (CDU) said on Friday.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Tech
Jun 16, 2017

Quantum computing, the machines of tomorrow

It is a sunny Tuesday morning in late March at IBM's Thomas J. Watson Research Center. The corridor from the reception area follows the long, curving glass curtain-wall that looks out over the visitors' parking lot to leafless trees covering a distant hill in Yorktown Heights, New York, an hour north...
MORE SPORTS
Jun 14, 2017

Sato revels in glow of historic Indy 500 triumph

Takuma Sato joked that he has had a little too much milk since the great feat he accomplished on May 28 — when he became the first Japanese and Asian driver to win the prestigious Indianapolis 500.

Longform

Bear attacks have dominated Japanese news headlines in recent months, with 13 people so far having been killed by the animals.
Japan’s bears have been on their killing spree for more than 100 years