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Japan Times
JAPAN
Sep 7, 2017

Day care facilities test robots as high-tech solution to alleviate staffing shortages

In a bid to help fix the nation's child care crunch, a Tokyo-based start-up is testing a new service combining robots and sensors to monitor kids at nurseries.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC
Sep 7, 2017

U.N. weighs U.S. push for North Korea oil embargo, textile export ban

The United States wants the U.N. Security Council to impose an oil embargo on North Korea, ban the country's exports of textiles and the hiring of North Korean laborers abroad, and subject leader Kim Jong Un to an asset freeze and travel ban, according to a draft resolution seen by Reuters on Wednesday....
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC
Sep 5, 2017

China seeks to silence critics at U.N. forums, rights body says

Beijing is waging a campaign of harassment against Chinese activists who seek to testify at the United Nations about repression, while the world body sometimes turns a blind eye or is even complicit, Human Rights Watch said.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Sep 5, 2017

Most Americans are a little too relaxed about nukes

A new survey has revealed that Americans are surprisingly willing to make a first nuclear strike — and kill millions of civilians abroad.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Sep 5, 2017

A somber prelude to riots of color

Koji Kinutani's entire career — from his student work to his metaphysical portraiture, which inaugurated a manga trend in contemporary art; his Styrofoam sculptures; the "Goddess of the Silvery Peak" (the basis for the official 1998 Nagano Winter Olympic Games poster); and his sometimes frightening...
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Tech
Sep 5, 2017

Drive-thru funeral service will let Japanese bid an easy and fast last farewell

In a first for Japan, a funeral home operator in Nagano Prefecture will be offering a drive-thru service allowing the bereaved to give their final farewells without having to get out of their car.
Japan Times
WORLD / Politics / ANALYSIS
Sep 5, 2017

EU eyes tougher action against Poland over democracy concerns after Merkel joins fray

Germany's entry alongside France into a battle between the European Commission and Poland over the rule of law increases the likelihood of unprecedented EU action to punish Warsaw.
Japan Times
WORLD / Crime & Legal
Sep 5, 2017

Arson blamed for Kenya girls school inferno deadly to nine, seen as part of a trend

Kenya's education minister said on Monday that arson was to blame for a weekend blaze that killed nine pupils at a girls' boarding school, part of a rising trend of deliberate school fires.
BASEBALL / Japanese Baseball / HIT AND RUN
Sep 4, 2017

Sarfate has pitched way into MVP discussion

The bow has become one of the most familiar sights in Japanese baseball. Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks closer Dennis Sarfate records the final out of a game, brings his right hand up to meet his gloved left hand in front of his chest, and leans forward. When you see it, Sarfate has either converted a save or...
Japan Times
WORLD / Politics
Sep 4, 2017

Merkel seen surviving challenger's onslaught to win TV debate ahead of elections

Chancellor Angela Merkel appeared to hold her ground in a television debate ahead of German elections, under attack from her Social Democrat (SPD) rival on refugee policy, ties with Turkey and her handling of U.S. President Donald Trump.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Companies / Taking the Lead
Sep 3, 2017

Line CEO Takeshi Idezawa hears voices guiding smartphones evolution

Since its messaging app debuted in June 2011, Line Corp. has shaken up the online communications landscape in Japan and morphed into a player in smartphone communications infrastructure.
Japan Times
BASKETBALL / B. League
Sep 3, 2017

Brave Thunders looking to take final step to silverware

A pair of runner-up finishes isn't a bad accomplishment for most teams.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / How-tos / HOME TRUTHS
Sep 3, 2017

The hot topic of high-rise fire prevention

The fire that killed at least 80 people in London's Grenfell Tower in June, as well as similar apartment building blazes that recently occured in Dubai and Hawaii, has brought the world's attention to the issue of safety in high-rise residences.
COMMUNITY / Issues / LAW OF THE LAND
Sep 3, 2017

How Japan got new contract law it neither wants nor needs

One possible explanation for the inexplicable change in contract law: It is a giant experiment driven by academic hubris and bureaucratic ambition.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / LEARNING CURVE
Sep 3, 2017

Some schools in Japan get air conditioning while others are left to nature's whim

Government data shows air conditioning is becoming standard in most Japanese public schools, but a handful of cities and prefectures are resisting the trend for questionable reasons.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Sep 3, 2017

Tight market and new labor law improving job security for Japan's army of contract workers

Japan's labor market is getting so tight that companies are starting to convert contract and part-time workers into full-time, regular employees to prevent them from leaving — a move that could lift wages and spending but squeeze profits.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Science & Health
Sep 2, 2017

Battling nuclear demons: Mental health issues haunt those who were the first line of defense after 3/11

Ryuta Idogawa traces the onset of his battle with mental illness to a moment not long after his parents had been relocated to Saitama from their hometown of Futaba, Fukushima Prefecture, in the spring of 2011.

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