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Japan Times
JAPAN
Jul 19, 2017

Japanese firms needs to boost worker happiness to survive, well-being expert says

Feeling blue at work? According to Keio University professor Takashi Maeno, there are science-backed reasons explaining why workers may feel so distressed.
JAPAN / Politics
Jul 18, 2017

Renho discloses family registry as critics call move setback for minorities

Leader of largest opposition party takes unusual step in bid to prove she has resolved her dual nationality status
Japan Times
JAPAN / CHUBU CONNECTION
Jul 18, 2017

Nagoya assembly creates day care room for nursing mom among ranks

The Nagoya Municipal Assembly has created a private day care room for one of its members with a 1-year-old son, the first such facility among governments in the Tokai region and a rarity in other parts of Japan as well.
Japan Times
LIFE / Lifestyle / CHILD'S PLAY
Jul 16, 2017

Traveling through time with the kids in tow

Life in Japan has changed dramatically over the past 100 years. In the span of a few generations, millions of Japanese left the countryside and moved into urban and suburban sprawl. For city kids like mine, the connection to rural farm life is tenuous at best, but we feel that it's still important to...
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / COUNTERPOINT
Jul 15, 2017

A decade after Niigata's nuclear close call

On July 16, 2007, a 6.8 magnitude earthquake rattled the world's largest nuclear power complex at Kashiwazaki-Kariwa — a site that the government and Tepco had insisted was seismically safe.
Japan Times
JAPAN / History / THE LIVING PAST
Jul 15, 2017

Harsh lessons learned from Zen meditation

The monk Dogen lived in dreadful times. A revolution culminating in 1185 had brought to power warriors who for centuries had served perhaps the most unwar-like aristocracy in world history, the effete but highly cultured ladies and gentlemen of the Heian Period (794-1185). Their day was done. They were...
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Jul 12, 2017

Nation's regional banks facing choice of mergers or extinction

Hiroshi Iwama and Mitsunori Watanabe used to joke about merging their banks in central Japan. When the Bank of Japan introduced negative interest rates last year, things got serious.
COMMENTARY / World
Jul 10, 2017

May's 'red lines' pose a threat to British interests

It's in the interest of both the EU and U.K. that terms acceptable to both parties should be agreed smoothly and quickly.
LIFE / Language / MORNING ENGLISH
Jul 10, 2017

Let's discuss the new Starbucks coffee shop in Kyoto

Starbucks opened a new coffee shop with tatami rooms.
Japan Times
JAPAN / EXPLAINER
Jul 10, 2017

Smart speakers powered by voice agents seen ushering in era of AI

Major tech firms have been keen to sell speakers equipped with voice-based artificial intelligence agents recently.
Japan Times
JAPAN / GENERATIONAL CHANGE
Jul 9, 2017

Saitama woman turns maligned waste disposal firm into recycling powerhouse

As a child, Noriko Ishizaka was ashamed of her father's company — a waste disposal firm with towering smoke stacks overlooking a small town in Saitama Prefecture.
Japan Times
LIFE / Lifestyle
Jul 9, 2017

The sheer poetry of the world's first English-language 'karuta' game

Classical Japanese poetry on playing cards — in English? It seems like an odd mix. But when you add tales of love and betrayal and brilliant translation, you get a heart-thumping card game like no other.
Japan Times
LIFE / Lifestyle
Jul 8, 2017

Living doll: Licca-chan's legacy lives on

As Takaratomy's popular toy celebrates its 50th birthday, we examine how it has evolved over the past five decades to reflect the times.
JAPAN / Media / BIG IN JAPAN
Jul 8, 2017

Abe’s hotel spa and gym visits inflame media speculation

Are Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's weekly "workouts" masking something more ominous?
Japan Times
LIFE / Travel
Jul 7, 2017

Cultural construction boom aims to offset Hong Kong's business-like image

The theater stage is bathed in a luscious lavender hue, a color that in Chinese tradition signifies nobility and mystery — and portends things to come. A young couple, pure of heart, fall in love only to see their romance thwarted by the machinations of a corrupt bureaucrat. They declare their devotion...
Japan Times
JAPAN
Jul 7, 2017

Boxing legend Gushiken inspires younger Okinawa generation

Yoko Gushiken, a boxing legend who hails from Okinawa, hopes young people from prefecture will be brave enough to take on any challenge and succeed in any field.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Jul 5, 2017

From sex toys to works of art: 'Love doll' maker seeks to shed seedy image

Japan's oldest "love doll" manufacturer wants to strip the sex toys of their seedy image and encourage people to see them as works of art instead.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / Japan
Jul 3, 2017

The rebirth of the Trans-Pacific Partnership

Japan, New Zealand and other countries are working to revive the Trans-Pacific Partnership without the United States.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / How-tos / HOME TRUTHS
Jul 2, 2017

New law to guarantee the guarantor pays

Until the postwar growth period, the majority of Japanese rented rather than owned the places where they lived, but renters in Japan have never had much in the way of rights. Still, it is difficult to evict someone from a home they rent, even when they've been delinquent with payments. The Leased Land...
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC
Jul 1, 2017

80 years on, mystery of U.S. aviatrix Amelia Earhart's disappearance over the Pacific remains unresolved

On June 28, 1933, Nellie Simmons Meier sat at her desk and cast an expert eye over the imprint before her, searching for telltale signs much as she had done since she first started such readings as a young girl.
Japan Times
SPORTS
Jun 29, 2017

Plan to reform Japanese college sports greeted with mixture of hope, skepticism

Discussions over the introduction of a "Japanese version of the NCAA" to oversee this country's collegiate sports have prompted positive and negative reactions since they began last year.
COMMENTARY / Japan / SENTAKU MAGAZINE
Jun 29, 2017

Imperial succession issue neglected

The Imperial family's future is endangered by the male-only paternal lineage succession rules, yet the Abe administration is taking no action.
Japan Times
BASKETBALL / B. League / B. LEAGUE NOTEBOOK
Jun 29, 2017

Coaching changes spawn diverse mix in leadership ranks

With the movement of coaches this offseason in the first and second divisions, a new-look leadership melting pot is forming for the 2017-18 season.

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