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Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Oct 24, 2017

What electric vehicles portend for the future

The widespread use of electric vehicles would be good for the environment, but could be bad news for millions of workers in the automotive industry.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Oct 24, 2017

The Tokyo International Film Festival can be a time of true cinematic discovery (if you know where to look)

Film festivals have multiplied like bamboo shoots in Japan over the past two decades, from Okinawa in the south to Sapporo in the north. But the country's biggest is still the Tokyo International Film Festival, whose 30th edition takes place from Oct. 25 to Nov. 3 at venues centering on Roppongi Hills....
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Economy / FOCUS
Oct 23, 2017

After landslide victory, Abe may ramp up spending to spur economic policies and social security

Emboldened by the victory of his ruling coalition in Sunday's general election, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe is likely to boost government spending to speed up his Abenomics deflation-fighting economic policy mix.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / Japan
Oct 22, 2017

We can't keep waiting for gender equality

Isn't it time for Japanese corporations to wake up and smell the coffee, instead of the tea made by their female employees?
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / WHY DID YOU LEAVE JAPAN?
Oct 21, 2017

Cultural disorientation is dancer Yumi Umiumare's artistic drive

At a certain level, the act of resettling overseas unsettles the idea of home itself. It ruptures the narrative of belonging that we construct through attachments to people and places. For the immigrant, home is no longer an immutable fact, but a space between memory and desire — always elsewhere....
COMMENTARY / Japan
Oct 18, 2017

Elections, abductees, nuclear weapons and North Korea

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's unusual election call was designed to head off Diet questioning that could have put him in serious trouble.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Oct 18, 2017

Survey finds fewer Japanese now see United States in favorable light

Support for the United State in Japan has dropped to the lowest level in nine years as only a quarter of Japanese say they have confidence in U.S. President Trump's policies.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Oct 17, 2017

Psych-rock act Kikagaku Moyo makes a virtue of DIY and keeping it 'sloppy'

If you were to glance at Kikagaku Moyo's tour itinerary for 2017, it would be easy to forget that the group was Japanese at all. The psych-rock quintet recently completed the second leg of a European tour that encompassed nearly 50 dates, having racked up 26 shows around North America earlier in the...
EDITORIALS
Oct 17, 2017

Economic promises versus the record

Before casting their ballots, voters should review the nearly five years of Abenomics and what changes it brought to the economy and their lives.
JAPAN / Politics / Decision 2017
Oct 16, 2017

Japanese Communist Party says dialogue, not pressure will work on North Korea

The leader of the Japanese Communist Party says Japan should shift from pressure to dialogue in its effort to curb North Korea's nuclear development program.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Media / BIG IN JAPAN
Oct 14, 2017

Success is elusive on the wrong side of the wealth gap

When the political thinker Alexis de Tocqueville (1805-59) visited the infant United States in 1831, he was struck above all by the "equality of condition" that prevailed there.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / Japan
Oct 13, 2017

Political realignment leaves voters on shaky ground

Japanese will vote in the Oct. 22 general election amid uncertainty and confusion resulting from the recent realignment of the political landscape.
Reader Mail
Oct 13, 2017

Smartphones and the end of conversation

It was a sticky hot summer's night in Tokyo. The last time I was here was 10 years ago. I was now lost in Shibamata in search of an apartment we had rented. All the train riders exiting the small station were looking at their cellphones, except for one staggering businessman in a dark blue suit. Let...
Reader Mail
Oct 13, 2017

Demographics sour, not sweet

All due respect to Jesper Koll in his opinion piece in the Oct. 2 edition ("Japan's demographic sweet spot"), but I found that his logic and evidence fail in substantiating his claim that Japan's demographics are in a "sweet spot."
BUSINESS / Companies / ANALYSIS
Oct 13, 2017

Kobe Steel cheating scandal driven by competition to improve metals, especially for automakers

Behind the scandal engulfing Kobe Steel Ltd. over the falsification of data for some of the materials it supplied is a harsh reality for Japanese steel companies: the need to provide higher and higher quality metals to compete.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Oct 12, 2017

Tokyo still top 'global power city' in Asia, and takes third spot in the rankings worldwide

Tokyo remains the top city in Asia for attracting global talent and in third place worldwide, standing a strong chance of overtaking New York soon to clinch the No. 2 spot, according to the latest Global Power City Index ranking released Thursday.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Companies
Oct 12, 2017

As domestic market contracts, Uniqlo and 7-Eleven looks to make profits overseas

Stagnant spending and soft wage growth in Japan are forcing two of Asia's biggest retailers — Fast Retailing Co. and Seven & i Holdings Co. — to court overseas consumers to drive long-term growth.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / JUST BE CAUSE
Oct 11, 2017

'Attach the evidence and wait for your day in court,' says Turkish plaintiff after Osaka victory

Ibrahim Yener discusses the lessons learned from his successful discrimination case against a used car dealership.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / How-tos / LIFELINES
Oct 11, 2017

For those living with cancer, a place to talk in Tokyo that's neither home nor hospital

Maggie's Tokyo opened its doors in October last year, offering a space for cancer patients and their family members and friends to talk.
Figure Skating / ICE TIME
Oct 10, 2017

Rino Kasakake earns bronze in debut at Poland JGP

Rino Kasakake kept Japan's streak of earning at least one medal at every Junior Grand Prix this season alive by claiming the bronze at the JGP in Gdansk, Poland, on Friday. It was an impressive start for the debutante on the JGP circuit.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Politics
Oct 8, 2017

At debate, Abe pins election hopes on tough stance against North Korea

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe justifies his decision to call a snap election as a chance to seek a mandate from the public about his North Korea policy.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / Japan
Oct 8, 2017

Freeing Japanese from English trauma

Recently, I have seen two trends going on regarding English communication skills in Japan. One is the heightened interest in developing English skills among young children. The other is the high expectation for auto-translation, particularly for English-Japanese.
Reader Mail
Oct 6, 2017

Stamp out maternity harassment

It's bad that there has to be an organization about maternity harassment. Matahara, as it is known in Japan, is the abuse — both mental and physical — of pregnant and post-pregnant women in the workforce.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Oct 5, 2017

Food, folks and film: Yamagata festival dives deep into documentaries

Once an obscure corner of a film world dominated by the fantasies of Hollywood, documentaries are now drawing more attention from both paying audiences and wider society. And the Yamagata International Documentary Film Festival, whose 15th edition unspools from Oct. 5 to 12 in Yamagata, has long been...

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