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Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / NATURE'S PANTRY
Dec 30, 2014

Niigata home brews enhance teatime

Goushi Iijima sits in front of the irori ( a traditional ash fireplace), his back ramrod straight yet somehow deeply relaxed. With measured, fluid movements, he pours cold-infused green tea into delicate clear glass cups set on lacquerware saucers.
Japan Times
LIFE / Language / BILINGUAL
Dec 29, 2014

To shine or to die: the messy world of romanized Japanese

One of the also-rans in the competition for the best buzzword of 2014 was the little word "shine." It stirred some discussion this summer when it appeared as a one-word heading in the blog of Prime Minister Abe's just-established Kagayaku Josei Ō en Kaigi (輝く女性応援会議, Council for Supporting...
JAPAN
Dec 29, 2014

Exploited working students starting to fight 'burakku arubaito' system

The 22-year-old university student was in his fifth day working part time at a Sukiya beef bowl outlet in Tokyo when his boss suddenly told him to run the shop from midnight to 9 a.m. all by himself.
Japan Times
LIFE / Style & Design / ON: FASHION
Dec 12, 2014

Fashion goes festive for the holiday season

Erimaki Sox collars the market
Japan Times
LIFE / Lifestyle
Dec 12, 2014

Shonan complex offers a curated lifestyle

A discreet black sign, concrete floors, industrial-style ceilings, wooden shelves filled with design toys and gourmet treats. This may sound like the minimal interior of an urban lifestyle store in some hip corner of Tokyo, but the reality is more surprising. It is, in fact, a new branch of one of Japan's...
Japan Times
JAPAN / Politics / DECISION 2014
Dec 11, 2014

Welfare cuts? Abe won't say it

Hiroko Shinohara frets about one issue Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has noticeably avoided on the campaign trail ahead of Sunday's election: the need to cut the nation's generous social welfare program that supports millions of people.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink
Dec 9, 2014

Christmas in Tokyo is pretty sweet

Just before the Halloween decorations were taken down and packed up, the signs advertising Christmas cakes went up. Bakeries, department stores and convenience stores all seem to have a corner for small cakes topped with whipped cream and tiny Santa Claus figurines. A traditional Japanese holiday feast...
JAPAN / Media / DARK SIDE OF THE RISING SUN
Dec 6, 2014

Obscenity arrest may be hiding dirty politics

What constitutes obscenity in Japan? The term, both legally and morally, has different meanings in Japanese, just as it does in English. In a strictly legal sense, the Japanese word for obscenity, waisetsu, refers to something that maliciously stimulates sexual desire in an inappropriate and immoral...
Japan Times
JAPAN
Dec 2, 2014

In rural Akita, skeptics doubt 'Abenomics' will cure ills

Mihoko Asaka wants to know how candidates in this month's election will create jobs and halt the drastic population decline that is bleeding her home region of youth and vitality, but she has little hope they will offer real solutions.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink
Nov 27, 2014

Get a taste of Georgian wine at Festivin

In the four years since it started, Festivin has grown from an intimate gathering of natural wine enthusiasts to one of the most eagerly anticipated wine celebrations in Japan.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / DESSERT WATCH
Nov 25, 2014

Little Pie Factory draws big crowds

The newly opened Little Pie Factory in Tokyo's Hiroo neighborhood (5-16-6 Minami-Azabu, Minato Ward) serves up tiny pies in all kinds of flavors from classic apple (¥380) to a savory turkey and mushroom (¥450). The turkey and mushroom variety is only available during the month of November. While the...
Japan Times
JAPAN / CHUBU CONNECTION
Nov 14, 2014

Honminoshi traditional paper-making flows from long dedication, and UNESCO takes notice

UNESCO recently announced that Honminoshi, a traditional Japanese paper-making craft, is being considered for the organization's list of intangible cultural heritage.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / SYMPOSIUM ON EUROZONE
Nov 11, 2014

Europe, Japan face similar problems

Europe and Japan may want to learn from each other when it comes to dealing with mounting government debt, opportunities for the Japanese food industry, whether Japan and Britain should strengthen their ties in trade and consumption tax increases.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Companies
Nov 4, 2014

Lawson stores add tens of millions of Amazon products

Lawson Inc. customers will be able to order items from Amazon Japan for later collection, under an enhanced tie-up announced Tuesday.
BUSINESS / Economy
Nov 3, 2014

BOJ battles entrenched 'deflation mindset' among Japanese consumers

Bank of Japan Gov. Haruhiko Kuroda doesn't need to convince people that deflation brings problems, but getting them to believe that higher prices will make conditions better is a harder sell.
Japan Times
LIFE / Lifestyle
Nov 1, 2014

Hello Kitty: still fabulous at 40

Who is only five apples high and has no mouth — yet is one of the country's biggest cultural ambassadors?
Japan Times
LIFE / Travel / HOTELS & RESTAURANTS
Oct 30, 2014

Christmas cake to ring in the holidays

It is getting chilly, cities are turning on colorful holiday lights and now is the time to start getting ready for the holiday season.
Japan Times
LIFE / Travel / BACKSTREET STORIES
Oct 25, 2014

Dead reckoning in the haunts of Honancho

Halloween in Tokyo rarely gets scarier than the price of imported pumpkins, but I've heard that Honancho — a terminal station on the Marunouchi subway line — hosts an uber-spooky obakeyashiki (ghost house). Navigating the station's dank, barely-lit stairwell at Exit 2, I'm already apprehensive.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Oct 4, 2014

Hong Kong's luxury retailers lose sales as protests mar 'Golden Week' holiday

Pro-democracy protests in Hong Kong have disrupted business and hit share prices of luxury goods companies, ruining what is normally one of the busiest shopping weeks of the year.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Oct 1, 2014

Divided Chinese eye Hong Kong protests with admiration, anger

For some mainland Chinese in Hong Kong, the sight of thousands of people on the streets protesting for greater democracy is an alien one that has prompted comparisons with the relative lack of political freedom back home.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink
Sep 9, 2014

Granola boom caters to the health and time conscious

Granola has come a long way in Japan, from a relatively unknown breakfast cereal five years ago to — along with pancakes and popcorn — a full-on fad food.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Companies
Sep 8, 2014

Rakuten falls most in four months on talks to acquire Ebates

Rakuten share prices fell further Monday than they had in four months after the owner of Japan's largest online mall said it is in talks to buy U.S. website operator Ebates Shopping.com Inc.
COMMENTARY / World
Sep 2, 2014

Crossing paths with James Foley in Syria's war

A former independent reporter in Syria recalls the last times he saw freelance journalist James Foley — whom the Islamic State beheaded last month — and a helpful middle-aged tailor fighting for the Free Syrian Army.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC
Aug 6, 2014

Canadian couple held in China caught in political battle, son says

The son of a Canadian couple detained in China over spying allegations said Tuesday his parents did not attempt to obtain military secrets and have been caught instead by the increasingly tense relations between Ottawa and Beijing.
CULTURE / Music
Jul 29, 2014

Jungle: 'When you write a song certain people want to hear ... that's when you start making crap music'

As Jungle, Josh Lloyd-Watson and Tom McFarland — who go by 'J' and 'T' — produce classic soul and funk with an unmistakably modern feel to it. The duo has also been racking up fans and YouTube hits alike with a series of strikingly idiosyncratic, dance-oriented music videos. Jungle recently launched...
Japan Times
LIFE / Travel / BACKSTREET STORIES
Jul 26, 2014

Much about nothing in Akabane Iwabuchi

The nexus between Tokyo's rainy season and the heat of summer brings beastly humidity. I choose to explore Akabane Iwabuchi, an area in Tokyo's Kita Ward, for the possibility of cool breezes coming off the nearby Arakawa River. But that idea is toast the second I exit the subway; sunlight pulses off...

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