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Japan Times
LIFE / Lifestyle
Dec 31, 2016

New year, new you: What to expect personally and professionally in the Year of the Rooster

If you haven't made a New Year's resolution or have been too busy for the customary ōsōji (big cleanup) this holiday season, there is still time, according to feng shui. Under the Chinese philosophical system, the new year is marked by the lunar, rather than Gregorian, or solar, calendar, giving us...
Japan Times
LIFE / Travel
Dec 31, 2016

Buried alive in the shadow of a Kyushu volcano

"Is the temperature alright for you ma'am?" my Japanese attendant asks in a polished U.S. accent as he cheerfully heaps another pile of hot sand on my torso.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / How-tos / HOME TRUTHS
Dec 31, 2016

Getting too cozy to the next-door neighbors

In its Dec. 20 issue, Asahi Shimbun reported on a couple in their 60s living in Saitama City. Two years ago their neighbor installed an Eco Cute system that uses heat pump technology to heat water more efficiently and, thus, reduce electricity costs. But since the system was installed, the older couple's...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Entertainment news
Dec 31, 2016

Actors seek posthumous protections after big-screen resurrections

Tuesday's death of actress Carrie Fisher, who played Princess Leia in "Star Wars," set off waves of remembrance among fans — but also speculation over her character's return in yet-to-be-filmed episodes.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / TOKYO FOOD FILE
Dec 30, 2016

Change — the only constant for Tokyo restaurants in 2016

What a year it has been. Thankfully, the world of gastronomy hasn't followed the same spiral of sadness, frustration and despair as the political and popular music arenas. Even so, it's high time to get the Year of the Monkey off our backs with a rundown of some of the ups, downs, ins and outs at Tokyo's...
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Dec 30, 2016

Five big political risks for the incoming year

A Trump White House, leadership intrigue in China and Australia, Islam unnerving Indonesia, and Kim Jong-un's tantrums threaten stability in Asia.
Japan Times
WORLD / Politics
Dec 30, 2016

Leitch leading in Canada's Conservative Party leadership race

Canada's answer to Donald Trump is a pediatric surgeon and former Cabinet minister who, like the U.S. president-elect, is railing against immigration and political elites.
Japan Times
WORLD
Dec 30, 2016

Ukraine hit by 6,500 hack attacks, sees Russian 'cyberwar'

Hackers have targeted Ukrainian state institutions about 6,500 times in the past two months, including incidents that showed Russian security services were waging a cyberwar against the country, President Petro Poroshenko said on Thursday.
WORLD / Politics
Dec 30, 2016

Russia's 'Grizzly Steppe' cyberattacks started simply, U.S. report says

The attack against U.S. democracy began in the summer of 2015 with a simple trick: Hackers working for Russia's civilian intelligence service sent emails with hidden malware to more than 1,000 people working for the American government and political groups.
SPORTS
Dec 30, 2016

The top sports stories of 2016

The Japan Times newsroom selected these sports stories as the most important of 2016.
Japan Times
WORLD / Crime & Legal
Dec 30, 2016

FBI reveals tech details of Russian spy agencies' hacking of U.S. election

The FBI squarely blamed Russian intelligence services on Thursday for meddling in the 2016 U.S. presidential election, releasing the most definitive report yet on the issue, including samples of malicious computer code said to have been used in a broad hacking campaign.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Companies / ANALYSIS
Dec 30, 2016

Toshiba burning through cash, running out of fixes to plug nuclear hole

Faced with the prospect of a multi-billion-dollar writedown that could wipe out its shareholders' equity, Japan's Toshiba is running out of fixes: it is burning cash, cannot issue shares and has few easy assets left to sell.
EDITORIALS
Dec 29, 2016

Hokuriku Shinkansen extension

The ruling coalition's route choice for extending the Hokuriku Shinkansen Line doesn't appear to be the best option from a cost-benefit perspective.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Dec 29, 2016

Lowest birthrates on record bedevil schools

Record low birthrates in Japan and the United States will raise unprecedented problems for education officials in both countries.
WORLD / Politics
Dec 29, 2016

U.S. set to announce response to Russian election hacking, sources say

The Obama administration plans to announce on Thursday a series of retaliatory measures against Russia for hacking into U.S. political institutions and individuals and leaking information in an effort to help President-elect Donald Trump and other Republican candidates, two U.S. officials said on Wednesday....
Japan Times
WORLD
Dec 29, 2016

Nigerian army says Boko Haram may have used Chibok girls as shields while fleeing in forest

Boko Haram fighters fleeing an attack on their base last week may have used some of the girls kidnapped in 2014 from northeast Nigeria's Chibok as human shields to prevent being fired upon by fighter jets, a military commander said on Wednesday.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Dec 28, 2016

Mount Meru: for those who like to aim high

If Mount Everest is the iconic goddess of mountains, then Meru in the Indian Himalayas is the unattainable, unknowable bad-ass rock star, beckoning to a chosen few from an impossibly remote place high in the sky. Unlike Everest, Meru isn't famed for its legendary climbs and world records. New Zealand...
BUSINESS / Tech
Dec 28, 2016

U.S. posts rules for addressing cyberbugs in medical devices

The U.S. government on Tuesday issued rules for addressing cybervulnerabilities in medical devices, providing manufacturers with guidelines for fixing security bugs in equipment, including pacemakers, insulin pumps and imaging systems.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Stage
Dec 27, 2016

The waiting's over for stars of 'Billy Elliot'

Eleven years after he saw "Billy Elliot" in London's West End and was inspired to stage the musical in Japan with a Japanese cast, Yoshitaka Hori, president of leading production company Horipro Corp., could finally stand smiling at a Tokyo press conference called on Dec. 18 to introduce the four boy...
ASIA PACIFIC / Crime & Legal
Dec 27, 2016

Indian police arrest four men on charges of raping American tourist

Indian police arrested four men, including a bell boy of a five-star hotel in the national capital, on Monday for allegedly raping an American tourist in April, police said, highlighting the dangers faced by women in the country from violent sex attacks.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Society
Dec 27, 2016

Modern Japanese men dogged by stoic salaryman stereotype

During the Showa Era (1926-1989), men were the mainstay of families, working for 40 or so years until retirement to better the lives of their wives and children. They were expected to be tough, stoic and competitive.
JAPAN / Politics
Dec 27, 2016

Chinese groups seen forging ties with Okinawa independence activists

Chinese universities and think tanks are forming ties with Okinawa independence groups in a bid to divide public opinion in Japan, a Japanese government agency said in an annual report.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / Japan / SENTAKU MAGAZINE
Dec 26, 2016

Japan's weak cyberdefense

Japan is ill-prepared for the cybersecurity challenges facing the nation.

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