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Japan Times
CULTURE / Books
Jul 18, 2015

Underneath the 'Orientalist' kimono

Is it "racist" for non-Japanese to wear kimono? That question has been fiercely debated since protesters entered Boston's Museum of Fine Arts in late June to decry an exhibition encouraging visitors to try on a red uchikake kimono in front of a 1876 painting by Claude Monet of his wife wearing a similar...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Jul 17, 2015

Ten years on, Maltine sticks to its guns on free music

Tomohiro Konuta sometimes imagines an alternate world where he's not running a music label.
JAPAN
Jul 17, 2015

Doshisha academics denounce president's support for security bills

More than 70 professors and other faculty members at Kyoto's Doshisha University say they are "ashamed" by comments from their president, Koji Murata, in support of a set of security bills at a Diet committee hearing earlier this week.
JAPAN
Jul 16, 2015

Government considering changing Olympic stadium construction plan in face of huge cost

The government is considering modifying the construction plan for the new National Stadium, exploring ways to curb the unexpectedly high construction costs of ¥252 billion, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga said Thursday.
Japan Times
CULTURE
Jul 16, 2015

Museums are the place to be this summer thanks to new dinosaur discoveries

Whether you live with a 4-year-old expert in dinosaurs, or were once one yourself, this summer offers some exciting opportunities for further discovery about the giant animals that long ago roamed the Earth. And best of all, they're all right here in Japan.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / LAW OF THE LAND
Jul 15, 2015

The LDP's comic appeal for constitutional change falls flat

I hadn't planned on reading the Liberal Democratic Party's propaganda comic on constitutional change for the same reason I don't watch NHK, listen to AKB48 or use my underpants as an ashtray. Yet, as a piece of Japanese legal cultural history, perhaps it merits comment.
Japan Times
BASKETBALL
Jul 15, 2015

Hovasse convinced Tokashiki bound for greatness

Japan women's national basketball team assistant coach Tom Hovasse recalled that Ramu Tokashiki "was just a kid" when she made her WJBL debut right out of high school.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Voices / FOREIGN AGENDA
Jul 15, 2015

A nose by any other name (or nationality) is as sweet

When I first came to Japan many years ago the thing that struck me the most was seeing people wearing what I thought were surgical masks in public places. Before that I had only ever seen people wearing them on American TV programs set in hospitals, or during my one experience as an in-patient when my...
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Jul 14, 2015

Infamous shareholder activist Murakami returns to fray in league with daughter

Yoshiaki Murakami, Japan's most famous activist shareholder before he was convicted of insider trading in 2007, is once again pressing the nation's companies and this time it's a family act.
JAPAN
Jul 13, 2015

Japanese freelance reporter Jumpei Yasuda feared missing in Syria

A freelance reporter and close friend of Kenji Goto, the journalist executed by the Islamic State terrorist group in January, may be missing in the same country where his compatriot was beheaded.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Politics
Jul 13, 2015

Famed director Miyazaki calls Abe's move to revise Constitution 'despicable'

Famed director Hayao Miyazaki made a rare public appearance Monday in Tokyo, but the one-hour news conference may not have satisfied fans of his magical animation: The subject wasn't movies but politics.
LIFE / Language / MORNING ENGLISH
Jul 13, 2015

Let's discuss safety on trains

There were calls for security checks to be instituted on users of bullet trains nationwide after a self-immolation on Tuesday left the perpetrator and one other passenger dead, and two people seriously injured.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / YEN FOR LIVING
Jul 11, 2015

Consumers slow to embrace generic drugs

In May, the health ministry announced that it would set a new target for the use of generic pharmaceuticals. In 2013, 46.9 percent of the prescription drugs dispensed in Japan were generics, and at first the ministry said it wanted to raise this portion to 60 percent by 2017, but the Council on Economic...
JAPAN / Politics
Jul 10, 2015

144 local, prefectural governments release statements condemning security bills

Local opposition is growing to security bills that Prime Minister Shinzo Abe hopes to push through the Lower House next week, with 144 prefectural, municipal and town governments releasing statements condemning the legislation as of Friday.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Jul 10, 2015

Nepali expat champions aid effort for quake-struck homeland

On April 25, Nepalese Bilam Karki was driving in Beppu, Oita Prefecture, when he learned about the catastrophic earthquake that had struck the central part of his home country, with the news spreading fast via social media.
BUSINESS / Companies
Jul 10, 2015

Rainy season dampens Uniqlo's sales forecast

Fast Retailing Co. raised doubt about meeting its own sales targets for Uniqlo casual wear sales in the current quarter as unseasonably cool weather dampened demand for summer items.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Politics
Jul 9, 2015

LDP, DPJ take to Internet to mount security bill-related campaigns of persuasion

As Prime Minister Shinzo Abe prepares to ram through legislation that would drastically alter Japan's security stance, both the LDP and DPJ are taking their arguments to the people — via a variety of online media.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Jul 8, 2015

As Tokyo shrinks, Olympics may be last blast

Half a century ago, the Tokyo Olympics ushered in a golden age for Japan's capital, as industrial prowess made it the largest urban complex in history. Now the games are returning to mark the end of that growth.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Economy
Jul 7, 2015

Abe aide says BOJ could ease more if Greece sends yen surging

The Bank of Japan could boost its monetary stimulus to address any surge in the yen triggered by the Greek crisis, though any fallout from Europe will probably be limited, said an aide to Prime Minister Shinzo Abe.
JAPAN / EXPLAINER
Jul 6, 2015

Signs seen of road widening for futuristic mobility

Japan is about to take a step into the future of personal mobility by easing government regulations so that Segways and similar vehicles can be driven on public thoroughfares.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Jul 6, 2015

Failure of new U.S. weapons systems may be more than science fiction

There is a belief that the U.S. and China will never go to war because they are economically interdependent. But a closer look at history should worry everyone.

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