Search - places

 
 
Japan Times
JAPAN / History
Oct 22, 2016

Welcome home, Okinawa

Under the slogan "Let the whole world move to the Uchina beat," Okinawa will host the prefecture's largest international event, the sixth Worldwide Uchinanchu Festival from Thursday, Oct. 27, to Sunday, Oct. 30. (Uchina means Okinawa in the island's language, while Uchinanchu means an Okinawan person)....
COMMENTARY / World
Oct 21, 2016

U.N. human rights panel is no place for abusers

A political Who's Who of authoritarian regimes are seeking seats on the U.N. Human Rights Council.
Japan Times
JAPAN / WORLD FORUM ON SPORT AND CULTURE
Oct 19, 2016

Growth through stronger presentation, promotion

The World Forum on Sport and Culture will be held in Kyoto and Tokyo from Wednesday to Saturday to discuss and exchange information about the international contributions of sport, culture and the economy.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Science & Health
Oct 13, 2016

Health ministry unveils draft proposal to crack down on secondhand smoke ahead of 2020 Olympics

The government tables new rules to cut down on secondhand smoke amid a global trend toward cleaner air.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Books
Oct 8, 2016

Krys Lee: becoming North Korean and entering 'elsewhere'

Born in South Korea, raised in America, educated in England and equally comfortable speaking Korean or English, novelist Krys Lee has trouble pinpointing her "home." She is now based in Seoul, where her world is "intimate yet alienated," but when she returns to her old lives in the U.K. and U.S. —...
Japan Times
JAPAN
Sep 30, 2016

'Pokemon Go' players deter suicides in Fukui

Another unintentional side effect of "Pokemon Go" fever has emerged — and it's not in the form of traffic violations or accidents.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / How-tos / LIFELINES
Sep 28, 2016

Medecins Sans Frontieres Japan calls for end to deadly attacks on hospitals

MSF Japan has launched a campaign, 'Don't Attack Hospitals,' as well a petition asking for the people of Japan to support MSF in their advocacy efforts.
COMMENTARY / Japan / SENTAKU MAGAZINE
Sep 26, 2016

The deeper meaning of the Emperor's video message

The main theme of Emperor Akihito's August message to the nation was not about abdication but succession of the postwar regime — which is synonymous with the continued existence of the Imperial family.
Japan Times
LIFE / Travel
Sep 24, 2016

Shizuoka: Where writers go to hide from the world

Ask a Japanese person which part of Japan they most associate with writer Lafcadio Hearn and they are likely to instantly respond: Matsue, a seaside town in Shimane Prefecture.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Sep 20, 2016

Out of the ordinary comes a new art festival

I've never been comfortable with the idea that Japan has three "most beautiful" places. It's a tradition, or a received wisdom, if you like, to rank the triad of the land bridge Ama-no Hashidate, the rocky islands of Matsushima and the sacred torii in the water at Miyajima as the indisputable height...
Japan Times
JAPAN / Society
Aug 17, 2016

Sex trade a shaky safety net for Japan's working-poor women

For the past six years, 47-year-old single mother Kasumi Endo has lived a double life.
JAPAN
Aug 8, 2016

Text of Emperor Akihito's unprecedented video message

This is the official translation of Emperor Akihito's video message broadcast Monday.
Japan Times
LIFE / Travel / BACKSTREET STORIES
Jul 30, 2016

Inky points of interest in Tabata

Under glowering clouds, I decide to explore the area around Tabata Station in Tokyo. Though recently renovated, the station is one of Tokyo's oldest depots, dating from 1896. The station offers nifty spots for watching shinkansen trains bullet by, but I take the north exit to find the Tabata Bunshi Mura...
JAPAN / Politics
Jul 28, 2016

Tokyo race front-runners seen as short on plans for day care, Olympics

As Tokyo residents gear up to vote in Sunday's gubernatorial election, candidates are making last-ditch bids for ballots.
Japan Times
LIFE / Language / BILINGUAL
Jul 25, 2016

Better to holiday at home than endure a resort during the Japanese summer

In the late-capitalist scheme of things, the Japanese resort probably makes sense. But speaking as a reformed resort junkie, I believe we can do better.
LIFE / Language
Jul 25, 2016

Looking at vocabulary in the runup to 'Pokemon Go'

'Pokemon Go' fans in Japan are vexed by the wait for the popular game.
JAPAN / Media / BIG IN JAPAN
Jul 16, 2016

Terrorism and sexual assault cast shadow over Japanese travelers

Surely if a prize were to be awarded for the week's most controversial article, it would go to Shukan Shincho's piece titled "If you're traveling abroad, here is a phrase from the Quran you should memorize."
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Tech
Jul 13, 2016

With no release date, Japan's 'Pokemon Go' fans are fed up waiting

Nintendo's "Pokemon Go" smartphone game may have scored instant addicts upon release in Australia, New Zealand, the U.S. and Germany, but fans in Japan are vexed that they have been left out with no release date announced.
Japan Times
WORLD
Jul 11, 2016

Three nations urge U.S.-bound travelers to be cautions, amid protests

Three countries have warned their citizens to stay on guard when visiting U.S. cities rocked by sometimes violent protests that erupted after a string of police shootings of black Americans.
Japan Times
LIFE / Lifestyle / CHILD'S PLAY
Jul 9, 2016

Test the white waters this summer

As much as I love Japan's major cities, I quite enjoy leaving them as well. Places like Tokyo, Osaka and Kyoto have played crucial roles in my family's life, but it has been equally important for the four of us to get out of town and back in touch with the natural world. Now that summer is in full swing,...
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink
Jul 1, 2016

For summer dining, escape to the sunny Shonan coast

The Shonan coast in Kanagawa Prefecture, about an hour south of Tokyo by train, has something for just about everyone. Some head to Chigasaki to ride the waves or to Enoshima to luxuriate in its spa. Others explore the hills and temples of Kamakura or just get away from it all in sleepy Hayama. Few make...
CULTURE / Music / STRANGE BOUTIQUE
Jun 26, 2016

Wrapping up a musical trip across Japan

When I first embarked on my attempt to visit every prefecture in Japan and learn about the local indie music scene in each one, the idea that I would be able to draw any meaningful generalizations from the adventure seemed ludicrous. The music scene of Tokyo alone is an incomprehensible mess, so how...
COMMUNITY / Issues / LAW OF THE LAND
Jun 22, 2016

Japan's koseki system: dull, uncaring but terribly efficient

Family registry system can seem schizophrenic but its authority keeps citizens out of the courts.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Jun 21, 2016

City mayors forging alliance over Airbnb and Uber

Uber Technologies Inc. and Airbnb Inc. have set their sights on global expansion. They are about to face a global response.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Jun 14, 2016

The working women windfall

The world has a $12 trillion incentive to accelerate progress toward achieving gender parity.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / JUST BE CAUSE
Jun 5, 2016

Japan's police still unfettered by the law, or the truth

Repeat-offending Ibaraki police called to account for backsliding on the issue of hotel snooping.
JAPAN / Politics
May 22, 2016

Security tightens in Tokyo and Mie ahead of summit

The superintendent-general of the Metropolitan Police Department has called for public cooperation in keeping the capital safe during the Group of Seven summit in Mie Prefecture later this week.

Longform

Mamoru Iwai, stationmaster of Keisei Ueno Station, says that, other than earthquake-proofing, the former Hakubutsukan-Dobutsuen (Museum-Zoo) Station has remained untouched.
Inside Tokyo's 'phantom' stations — and the stories they tell