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JAPAN
Jan 4, 2016

Ministry steps up labor crackdown on 'overworked, underpaid' university students

The welfare ministry is ramping up its fight against black 'baito,' or exploitative part-time jobs, amid claims more firms are underpaying and overworking university students to cut costs.
COMMUNITY / How-tos / LIFELINES
Jan 3, 2016

Readers hoping for a reunion in the new year

Does anyone have any information that might help these readers reconnect?
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Jan 3, 2016

New Denki Groove documentary uncovers two decades of strange techno

Way back in the 1990s, when the "Cool Japan" campaign was but a faint, distant blip on the nation's radar, a synth-pop group called Denki Groove was doing its best to represent Japanese "cool."
COMMENTARY / World
Jan 3, 2016

A dangerous year for China

China probably won't crash in 2016, but the odds of big financial troubles are higher than they've been in well over a decade.
BUSINESS / Economy
Jan 3, 2016

Nearly 90% of companies expect economy to grow in 2016: poll

Nearly 90 percent of 101 major Japanese companies expect economic expansion in 2016, with many projecting private consumption and capital spending to recover from their 2015 doldrums, a Kyodo News poll found Saturday.
Japan Times
ENVIRONMENT / OLD NIC'S NOTEBOOK
Jan 2, 2016

Teens find spicy 'udders' keep boars at bay

A couple of weeks ago, I came home in the evening and found a wild boar on the porch. It had been bled and gutted, but otherwise it was still whole and hairy. I was very busy as I had to head off to Tokyo the next morning, but that present from some kindly local hunter in the Nagano Prefecture hills...
EDITORIALS
Jan 2, 2016

Education deserves more attention

The government's conservative agenda is exposed by the rise in defense spending while funding for education remains static.
JAPAN / Politics
Dec 31, 2015

Even if Abe camp prevails in next summer's poll, bid to revise Constitution no given

After taking Japan's helm for the second time in December 2012, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has had three good years, leading his Liberal Democratic Party to victory in two consecutive national elections, getting highly unpopular laws enacted without dooming his Cabinet, and winning three more years as...
Japan Times
JAPAN
Dec 30, 2015

Teacher champions critical thinking, a global perspective for students

After the terrorist attacks in Paris in November, Kazuya Takahashi, an English teacher at Kogakuin University Junior and Senior High School in western Tokyo, urged his students to discuss the Islamic State threat.
LIFE / Language / BILINGUAL
Dec 28, 2015

Remembering men we loved (and one we 'lost') in 2015

2015 was the year the Nihon danji (Japanese male) came through for us.
COMMENTARY / Japan / SENTAKU MAGAZINE
Dec 28, 2015

Cancer drugs: fact and fiction

Collusion between pharmaceutical companies and medical institutions to grab large chunks of medical spending is driving drug prices to stratospheric heights.
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Dec 26, 2015

Civilian casualties of WWII left out in the cold

'Unbroken," Angelina Jolie's 2014 film about the late American Olympic athlete Louie Zamperini, will finally receive a theatrical release in Japan next year after inciting the ire of local groups who claim its depiction of Japanese prisoner of war camps is sensationally harsh and thus an expression of...
Japan Times
JAPAN / Media / BIG IN JAPAN
Dec 26, 2015

Can democracy survive the rise of the right?

"What," demanded a protesting student at the height of the summer of protests just past, "is to become of democracy?"
Japan Times
LIFE / Digital / ON: GAMES
Dec 26, 2015

Nintendo's Mother never disappoints; a dream collaboration; and the keyboard to up your game

'Mother 3' is back
COMMENTARY / World
Dec 25, 2015

And the winner of the Nude Emperor Award is . . .

Xi Jinping, Donald Trump and Jack Ma star in our awards for the most inept, self-interested and narcissistic people of 2015.
BUSINESS / Companies
Dec 24, 2015

Mitsubishi Regional Jet rollout delayed by another year

Mitsubishi Aircraft Corp. will push back delivery of the first Japanese-made passenger jet by a year, the fourth time it has delayed bringing the Mitsubishi Regional Jet to market.
COMMUNITY / Voices / FOREIGN AGENDA
Dec 23, 2015

On a Christmas visit, expat thoughts turn to 'going home'

Reconnecting with home can be a cause for reflection: Where have I been, and where am I going? Is there another life to return to?
Japan Times
CULTURE / Stage
Dec 22, 2015

Plenty of food for thought in a good year for great plays

The year now ending began gloomily with the Charlie Hebdo murders in Paris reminding us of hopeless breakdowns in mutual understanding and tolerance worldwide; now it's set to close hot on the heels of an agreement by nearly 200 countries at the COP21 talks in Paris on the need to counter threatened...
COMMENTARY / Japan
Dec 22, 2015

Oxford lessons for Todai

An international outlook, a dedication to research and a spirit of enterprise are among the qualities that universities need to become world-leading institutions.
EDITORIALS
Dec 22, 2015

Akatsuki's Venus mission

Launched in 2010, the Akutsuki space probe is now set to shed light on Venus' mysteries.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / THE UNRELIABLE FOOD CRITIC
Dec 22, 2015

In the gutter of Osaka, but not looking at the Michelin stars

Cycling through one of the poorer quarters of Osaka, I start feeling peckish. So I park my bike in one of the rundown shopping arcades that crisscross this working-class city and duck, almost at random, into a cheap eatery. The ancient proprietress waves me to the counter and, without even asking, serves...
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Dec 21, 2015

Former Line CEO's new venture aims to track the pulse of world fashion with smartphone videos

Having already spent time in the limelight as the CEO of Line Corp., Akira Morikawa has now started a new venture that targets would-be fashionistas and connoisseurs of popular culture.
LIFE / Language / MORNING ENGLISH
Dec 21, 2015

Let's discuss the Akatsuki space probe

Japan's space agency says its Akatsuki probe has successfully entered into orbit around Venus.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Markets / ANALYSIS
Dec 21, 2015

BOJ's ¥300 billion plan to buy nonexistent ETFs puzzles market

Bank of Japan Gov. Haruhiko Kuroda has a new plan. He's going to buy ¥300 billion ($2.5 billion) of something that doesn't exist.
COMMENTARY / World / SENTAKU MAGAZINE
Dec 20, 2015

China's consumption blues

China's economy appears headed on a gradual downward trajectory amid sluggish consumption, stagnant income levels and a graying population.

Longform

Sumadori Bar on Shibuya Ward's main Center Gai street targets young customers who prefer low-alcohol drinks or abstain altogether.
Rethinking that second drink: Japan’s Gen Z gets ‘sober curious’