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Japan Times
JAPAN / CHUBU CONNECTION
Aug 22, 2016

In Aichi, ashes of the dead shift to conveyer belt system as Japan grays

The first columbarium in the Chubu region to use an automated cinerary box conveyor system opened last month in Nagoya as the popularity of tombs that do not require much maintenance grows.
Japan Times
JAPAN / EXPLAINER
Aug 22, 2016

Cup Noodles slurping strong, 45 years on

Hungry? Just grab a cup of instant noodles and pour hot water into it. After waiting three minutes, the ramen is ready to eat.
CULTURE / Music
Aug 21, 2016

Sukiyaki Meets the World music festival thinks global and acts local

In his classic polemic against modern Japan, "Dogs and Demons," Alex Kerr described how a system of government loans and subsidies in the 1980s spurred a nationwide outbreak of grandiose construction projects. Today, the Japanese countryside is littered with oversized, underused cultural centers, many...
CULTURE / Music
Aug 21, 2016

Sahra Halgan sings recognition for Somaliland

We in the West are used to thinking of music mainly as entertainment. On occasion, it can fulfill a religious function, or be deployed to argue one political point or another. But for Sahra Halgan, the purpose of her music is to bring recognition to Somaliland, a self-declared state unrecognized by the...
COMMUNITY / Issues / LABOR PAINS
Aug 21, 2016

The flip side of coveted public-sector jobs in Japan: fewer rights

Laws restrict government workers' constitutional rights to organize, bargain and take collective action.
MORE SPORTS
Aug 20, 2016

Inside Japan's racehorse breeding empire

Harry Sweeney has his hand up a horse's backside. The mare looks put out by this intrusion. Her eyes dart about nervously and she shifts her weight before accepting five thick human digits probing her insides. After feeling the uterus and the swelling of the ovaries, Sweeney's arm, slick with mucus and...
JAPAN / Science & Health
Aug 19, 2016

Drones to be tested for use by ambulance crews

Drone tests will begin on Kyushu this fall to see whether unmanned aircraft can be used to deliver emergency medical assistance faster than normal means.
EDITORIALS
Aug 19, 2016

Abe's 'work style' reforms

Shinzo Abe's newest pet policy could run into a lot of resistance from management and whether anything actually gets done will depend on just how serious he is.
Japan Times
WORLD
Aug 19, 2016

Syrian planes bomb Kurdish-held area for first time

Syrian government warplanes bombed Kurdish-held areas of the northeastern city of Hassakeh on Thursday for the first time in the country's five-year-old civil war, killing at least 13 people, the Syrian Kurdish YPG militia and a monitoring group said.
COMMENTARY / World
Aug 18, 2016

China's lost dream: winning hearts and minds

China seems to have forgotten the counsel of its ancient philosophers on how to govern effectively.
Japan Times
WORLD / Society
Aug 18, 2016

Greece plans new migrant facilities to ease strains on crowded isle centers

Greece plans to reduce overcrowding at migrant camps on its islands, a government official said on Wednesday, to ease growing tensions and improve conditions that campaigners have called "disgraceful.
ASIA PACIFIC
Aug 16, 2016

China tries out new hardware in Xinjiang counterterrorism exercise

China has tested 21 new pieces of security equipment, including drones, during a counterterrorism exercise in the western region of Xinjiang, state media said Tuesday, as it strengthens its presence in the violence-prone area.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Aug 16, 2016

Is Donald Trump a Democratic Party plant?

Who in the end really gains from Donald Trump's paranoid, fact-free campaign style. A lot of people are saying it's Hillary Clinton.
JAPAN / Politics
Aug 15, 2016

Emperor expresses 'deep remorse' for war on 71st anniversary of surrender; Abe does not

Emperor Akihito on Monday expressed "deep remorse" over World War II during the annual commemoration service at Nippon Budokan Hall in Tokyo marking Japan's surrender while Prime Minister Shinzo Abe used more ambiguous wording.
Japan Times
LIFE / Language / BILINGUAL
Aug 15, 2016

In Japan, August is for remembering

For this island nation, the month of August has never really been about vacations and relaxation — at least not since 1945.
Japan Times
LIFE / Travel
Aug 13, 2016

The lure of Japan's mysterious ruins

Abandoned sites offer explorers a numinous mix of history, mortality and a sense of the passage of time
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink
Aug 12, 2016

California roll creator Hidekazu Tojo's continuing quest to broaden palates overseas

A namigai (geoduck pronounced gooey-duck) is not a pretty creature. Native to North America's west coast, it looks like a beige slug that has outgrown a clam shell. Hidekazu Tojo is about to convince an audience to eat it.
Reader Mail
Aug 12, 2016

Lesson from Sagamihara: Coexisting and growing together

On July 26, an unbelievable tragedy occurred at a care home in Sagamihara, Kanagawa Prefecture. Nineteen were killed and dozens injured in a knife attack. I pray from the bottom of my heart for the repose of the 19 innocent souls and quick recovery of those injured.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Tech
Aug 11, 2016

Noh players seek new audiences with live subtitles on tablets

Tightly traditional noh drama is loosening up, with theater groups trying out tablet computers to help baffled audiences understand what's going on.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Aug 10, 2016

Japan's Crown Prince ready for throne, but no fairy tale for his unhappy Crown Princess

When Crown Prince Naruhito proposed to a reluctant Masako Owada, he promised to protect her with all his might, a vow that may get tougher to keep if, as expected, his father Emperor Akihito abdicates, and the woman who has struggled to adjust to royal life becomes the empress.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Aug 10, 2016

A third of Japan unaware of Mountain Day as holiday makes its debut

Nearly a third of people have never heard of Mountain Day, according to a new survey, as the newest official public holiday is set to be celebrated for the first time on Thursday.
Japan Times
BASKETBALL / B. League
Aug 9, 2016

Alvark Tokyo transform operations for B. League's inaugural season

The team has changed its name from the Toyota Alvark to the Alvark Tokyo as Japan's men's pro basketball enters a new era with the launch of the B. League this fall.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Aug 9, 2016

Is Abe a true nationalist?

Prime Minister Abe should focus on reviving the economy, not revising the Constitution.
Japan Times
JAPAN / CHUBU CONNECTION
Aug 8, 2016

Ex-Nagoya official hopes to help others overcome stage fright

People who have stage fright often find their hands shaking, face turning red and minds going blank when they have to make a public speech.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC / ANALYSIS
Aug 8, 2016

Despite sanctions, North Korean prices hold steady as Kim leaves markets alone

Food and fuel prices in North Korea have remained largely stable under leader Kim Jong Un, despite tightening international sanctions to punish the North for its nuclear and ballistic missile tests, rare data from inside the isolated country shows.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Aug 7, 2016

Injecting a little music into Japanese politics

"Let's not put politics into music."
EDITORIALS
Aug 7, 2016

The terrible suffering in Aleppo

The most difficult part of a peace process is getting the main combatants to acknowledge that a stalemate exists on the ground and that continued fighting has no immediate purpose. Rarely does one party enter negotiations when it believes it can achieve some advantage through continued fighting. Often,...
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC
Aug 6, 2016

Singapore calls for vigilance after alleged rocket attack plot foiled

Singapore called for heightened vigilance Saturday, a day after Indonesian police arrested a group of men they believed were plotting a rocket attack on the wealthy city-state with the help of a Syrian-based Islamic State militant.

Longform

Koichi Tagawa’s diary entry from Aug. 9, 1945, describes the day of the atomic bombing of Nagasaki.
The horrors of Nagasaki, in first person