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Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / JAPAN LITE
Dec 30, 2018

Celebrating New Year's the island way

On the small island where I live in the middle of Japan's Seto Inland Sea, new year celebrations are stalwart traditional. Preparations start a week before when the holiday spirit wafts in on sea breezes tinted with chilling temperatures. The island holds a community rice-pounding event to make kagami...
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Voices / VIEWS FROM THE STREET
Dec 30, 2018

Views from Tokyo: How was your 2018, and are you looking forward to 2019?

Maria Bueno
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / Japan
Dec 28, 2018

Invest in education and save the economy

Giving birth to dynamic companies in Japan will require nothing but education that values and nurtures extraordinary individuality.
JAPAN
Dec 26, 2018

Japan formally announces IWC withdrawal to resume commercial whaling

After the pullout, Japan plans to hunt whales in nearby waters and within its exclusive economic zone beginning in July.
Japan Times
ESG CONSORTIUM
Dec 24, 2018

Urgency, inclusiveness apparent at COP24

'Urgency' and 'inclusiveness' were two keywords at the 24th Conference of the Parties (COP) to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change held in Katowice, Poland, from Dec. 2 to 15.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC
Dec 24, 2018

Digging deep: Singapore to unveil plans for an underground future next year

From its towering "supertree" vertical gardens to a Formula 1 night race, Singapore is known for many attractions; underground space is not one of them.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Dec 24, 2018

U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin's bid to calm markets risks making bad situation worse

Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin looked to quash big-bank worries over plunging stock markets and reports that President Donald Trump might move on his Federal Reserve chief by assuring the financial community Sunday that market liquidity is in good shape.
JAPAN / KANSAI PERSPECTIVE
Dec 23, 2018

Most Kyoto firms have no plans to add foreign workers, survey finds

The government may be planning to bring in nearly 345,000 foreign workers by 2023, but in Kyoto, a recent survey shows most firms outside the hospitality sector have no plans to discuss adding overseas laborers to their workforce.
JAPAN / Politics / KANSAI PERSPECTIVE
Dec 23, 2018

With six months to go until G20 summit in Osaka, Japan sets out its agenda

With six months to go until the Group of 20 summit in Osaka, the basic agenda has been set for discussion on issues of global importance.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC
Dec 21, 2018

Indonesian Muslims protest against China's treatment of Uighurs

Hundreds of Muslims held a rally outside the Chinese Embassy in the Indonesian capital, Jakarta, on Friday to protest against the treatment of members of the mostly Muslim ethnic Uighur minority in China's far western Xinjiang region.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / Japan
Dec 20, 2018

Seven questions about Ghosn and Nissan

The arrest of Carlos Ghosn last month evinces layers of complexities and raises numerous questions and issues about corporate Japan in the global context that will surely be debated for years to come.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / BLACK EYE
Dec 19, 2018

For me, 2018 was the year Japan began to listen

One day next year, and the year after that, someone will ask me in the course of a conversation why I decided to stay in Japan. I know this because it ranks among the top questions I'm asked — by Japanese and non-Japanese alike — since I arrived here back in 2004. And on the day I'm asked, my answer...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Dec 18, 2018

Music in 2018: Saying goodbye to Heisei with 'U.S.A.'

The final full year of the Heisei Era was one of the most discombobulating for Japanese music this decade. Nostalgia for the soon-to-end era clashed with efforts to figure out where J-pop goes moving forward. Tunes covered in cobwebs suddenly became the soundtrack for viral dances on trendy video apps....
COMMENTARY / Japan
Dec 17, 2018

Japanese education for Egyptian kids?

Will adopting Japanese-style education help boost Egypt's future economic growth?
COMMENTARY / World
Dec 17, 2018

Prospects for U.S.-China ties

In 2019, China's leaders will likely attempt to re-stabilize bilateral ties and ease tensions in its non-U.S. relationships, and form a deeper judgment about the future of U.S. politics and foreign policy.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Tech / FOCUS
Dec 17, 2018

Japanese electronics firms look to re-engineer their design mojo

Akihiro Adachi, a 31-year-old audiovisual equipment designer at Panasonic Corp., longed for some personal space during his lengthy train rides from Osaka to Tokyo. So when his company set out to encourage innovation, he joined with some colleagues and came up with Wear Space, a headset that limits noise...
Japan Times
WORLD
Dec 17, 2018

At least 12 Nigerian soldiers reported killed, dozens missing in fighting with Islamists

At least 12 Nigerian soldiers were killed and dozens of others are missing after fighting with Islamists in the northeastern state of Borno, three military sources said on Sunday, one of the largest known losses of life by the army in the last month.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY
Dec 16, 2018

Cultural differences can present a challenge when giving or receiving care

Coping with a sudden illness or unexpected injury is difficult enough in your own country, but it can be even harder when you're unfamiliar with the customs or language of the country you live in.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink
Dec 15, 2018

Pop! Pizza brings a slice of Americana to Kyoto

Inspired by his upbringing in western Pennsylvania, Pop! Pizza owner-chef Daniel McNellie aims to share the overall cultural experience of American pizzerias: awesome pizza, beer, movies and music.
Japan Times
BASKETBALL
Dec 14, 2018

Andreas Zagklis takes reins at FIBA

Nearly two months after longtime secretary general Patrick Baumann's death on Oct. 13 in Buenos Aires, FIBA has appointed his successor.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Society
Dec 14, 2018

Japan's 5 million dementia patients hold ¥143 trillion — and both numbers are on the rise

Yumiko Okubo, 71, had forgotten how to heat up food.
Reader Mail
Dec 14, 2018

Small-scale water purifiers are the way to go

Regarding the editorial "Privatizing the water supply" in the Dec. 9 edition, I would recommend against the privatization of water supplies in Japan. Certainly there is some water infrastructure that is very outdated and likely to suffer considerable damage during an earthquake. This is all the more...
Japan Times
WORLD / Science & Health
Dec 14, 2018

Struggling Sierra Leone's sick go untreated amid paralyzing strike by doctors

Seven-year-old Carlos Kamara needs urgent surgery on a collapsed lung after he swallowed a toy whistle. Instead, all he can do is lie in pain in a half-empty hospital ward waiting to be seen.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC / Science & Health
Dec 13, 2018

Despite gene-editing flap, Chinese scientists still aiming for supremacy in experimental Crispr tech

Chinese scientists are pressing ahead with their attempts to perfect human gene-editing technology, even after one of their compatriots drew a global backlash for editing the genes of twin girls.
Japan Times
LIFE / Style & Design
Dec 12, 2018

Shared spaces, locally produced goods and everyday objects

Making physical connections with people, whether via large-scale events and spaces or design concepts, and a continued celebration of traditional crafts, appeared to be a key direction for design in Japan this year.

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