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EDITORIALS
Jan 27, 2014

Alcohol dependency in Japan

A major problem in Japan, where an estimated 6.45 million people have alcohol-related problems, is the lack of social recognition that alcohol dependency is an illness.
WORLD
Jan 25, 2014

'Abe-genda': nuclear export superpower

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe is now in New Delhi to celebrate the 65th anniversary of the founding of the Indian Republic. His presence speaks volumes about closer diplomatic, security and economic ties and, at least from Tokyo's perspective, a common agenda on responding to the rise of China. India remains...
Japan Times
ENVIRONMENT / OUR PLANET EARTH
Jan 25, 2014

Is altruism our hope, and growth a curse?

My day job is at Chuo University in western Tokyo, and January at Japanese universities is chaotic, what with final classes, reports and grading as our second term comes to an end and the academic year winds down toward its conclusion in March. Among the words that come to mind, "happiness" is not usually...
COMMUNITY / Issues / JUST BE CAUSE
Jan 24, 2014

Don't let ANA off the hook for that offensive ad

If ANA had really wanted to 'change the image of Japan,' it should have avoided racializing its product. Instead, it's just business as usual.
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / JAPAN LITE
Jan 24, 2014

From the ditches of Nara to the Otohime, a lav story

Ever wondered what's with the toilet slippers in Japan? Surely I am not the only foreigner to question whether we need to be entirely reshod before entering the restroom in a Japanese house.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Jan 24, 2014

SoftBank to Dentsu, firms start to court gays

With less than a 0.1 percent share of Japan's car market, Alfa Romeo knew it couldn't match the marketing muscle of the local giants like Toyota Motor Corp., which together make nine out of every 10 vehicles sold in the country.
Japan Times
Events / Events Outside Tokyo
Jan 23, 2014

New-year festivities all set to start in Yokohama

From the end of next week, Yokohama's Chinatown begins its spring festival to ring in the Year of the Horse.
Japan Times
JAPAN / DAVOS SPECIAL 2014
Jan 23, 2014

Reshaping Japan's next decade

(Publicity)
Japan Times
CULTURE / Stage
Jan 22, 2014

Workshops for theater — and life

"When I worked in an office, I was always nervous and I tensed up a lot just trying to behave correctly. But since coming to these workshops, I often feel like communicating with others spontaneously, of my own free will."
Japan Times
COMMUNITY
Jan 22, 2014

Teachers tread water in eikaiwa limbo

Every year, thousands of young native English-speakers fly to Asia in search of an adventure, financed by working as English teachers. They come from Australia, New Zealand, the U.S., Britain, Canada and elsewhere.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Voices / VIEWS FROM THE STREET
Jan 22, 2014

Tokyo: Is there any food you won't eat in Japan?

Natto, seaweed, squid, octopus, shiitake: While Japan's culinary treats are a major draw for new residents and visitors alike, everyone has their limits, vox pops in Tokyo reveal.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Jan 22, 2014

Reforms open SE Asia's 'last frontier'

Newly democratizing Myanmar is a suitable destination for Japanese direct investment as it is Southeast Asia's "last frontier," two researchers based in Singapore said at a symposium in Tokyo.
EDITORIALS
Jan 21, 2014

Japan's nuclear waste problem

The government plans to step up its efforts to select a final disposal site for high-level radioactive waste from nuclear power generation despite having searched for more than a decade, without success, to find a willing host community.
COMMENTARY
Jan 21, 2014

A Dutch cure for the Dutch disease

When a country like the Netherlands, which built one of the world's most expansive welfare states in the 1960s and '70s, reverses course to reduce welfare dependency and to restore work incentives, it is worth noting.
Japan Times
LIFE / Digital / ON: TECH
Jan 20, 2014

On: Tech looks at printing, scanning, apps and more

With the ongoing shift to smartphones in Japan, mobile flea-market apps have been getting a fair bit of attention recently. Fril (fril.jp), Mercari (mercari.jp), and Mom's Market (maifuri.jp) all stand out in this space as sellers of second-hand fashion and general goods, but newcomer A2mato aims to...
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues
Jan 20, 2014

My niece, the drug smuggler

Imagine two New York Jewish women groomed among the stylish and well-educated on opposite shores of Long Island. They meet up in Tokyo for the first time. In a strange twist of fate, they are not sipping tea from fine bone china, as they might have back home. Instead they find themselves seated on opposite...
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / LEARNING CURVE
Jan 19, 2014

China, South Korea face familiar woes in English quest

Japan isn't alone in its struggles with teaching English. China and South Korea have experienced similar frustrations, but their responses and results have been quite different.
COMMENTARY / World
Jan 19, 2014

Let Iraq, Afghan regimes look after themselves

What more than a decade ago was believed by Americans to be the omnipotence of the U.S. in the Middle East and Central Asia is today being replaced by a fear that the U.S. is responsible for why everything seems to be going wrong.
JAPAN / Politics
Jan 17, 2014

Ditch reactors, don't focus on Olympics: Hosokawa quote

Japan should have declined the 2020 Olympics because the country has to focus on what to do about nuclear power, ex-Prime Minister Morihiro Hosokawa, who is set to run for Tokyo governor, says in a recently published book.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / TELLING LIVES
Jan 17, 2014

Coach serves up support for Japan's budding tennis stars

Arriving in Japan in 1986, Colombia-born coach and player Rodrigo Hernandez brought with him a wealth of experience and expertise gained from working with and competing against some of the greats of world tennis. Expecting to stay only a year, he's been coaching here ever since.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Jan 17, 2014

A vision for Japan's future

Thanks to Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's 'Abenomics' initiative for national economic recovery, Japan's economy as well as its currency and stock markets started the New Year on a positive note for the first time in a long while.
COMMUNITY / Our Lives
Jan 17, 2014

Fortune, fame or betrayal? It's all in the omikuji

All Japanese shrines have omikuji (fortune-telling sticks) — just like all McDonald's have fries.
EDITORIALS
Jan 16, 2014

Assist Myanmar's reform efforts

Nearly three years after its transition from military to civilian rule, Myanmar faces difficult challenges in its path to democratization and economic reform, including the infrastructure necessary to attract business investment and a military-centered constitution.
Japan Times
LIFE / Digital / JAPAN WEB WATCH
Jan 16, 2014

Japan's mobile apps provide an 'A' for every 'Q'

Question and answer sites have for a decade been one of the most popular user-contributed services on the Web — and Japan is no exception. On the traditional Web, the market has been occupied by a few big players, but the recent popularity of smartphones has attracted new startups to the mobile Web...

Longform

After pandemic-era border regulations eased, Indian migrants began returning to Japan. Their population now stands at more than 50,000 across the country.
How remote work is rewriting the migrant experience in Japan