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Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Aug 26, 2016

Brown Rice Family brings reggae, ska-infused sounds to Windblow festival

Brown rice is a culinary staple that does a body good. It was a belief in this "vital food," especially among Rastafarians, that gave the eight-piece Brown Rice Family its name. In fact, when asked how his group tries to psyche up a crowd, percussionist Yuichi Iida simply says, "It's Brown Rice: high-fiber...
JAPAN / Politics
Aug 25, 2016

North Korea's nuclear arsenal progressing, likely to be within striking range: experts

Pyongyang is on track to develop a regional strike capability by 2020, given how fast its missile program is advancing, a U.S. research institute warns.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / EVENTS AND INFORMATION
Aug 25, 2016

Fuchu hotel offers diners a rare opportunity to try authentic and traditional Zambian food

A Zambian Food Fair is currently underway at the Filly restaurant at the Hotel Continental, in Fuchu, Tokyo, until Sept. 15.
JAPAN / Politics
Aug 25, 2016

U.S.-friendly Maehara able to find common ground with LDP

Former Foreign Minister Seiji Maehara, who is expected to run for president of the opposition Democratic Party, brings a wealth of experience and an America-friendly reputation to the race.
Japan Times
CULTURE
Aug 25, 2016

Koenji's Awa Odori festival celebrates 60 years

For the past few weeks, visitors and residents in Koenji have been haunted by a song — a plaintive, pentatonic melody that seems to circle endlessly, never quite resolving. You can hear it playing over speakers on the station platform just before the train doors close. It's there again as you walk...
Japan Times
WORLD
Aug 25, 2016

Gunmen storm American University in Kabul, kill guard, wound at least 21

Afghan security forces killed two gunmen who attacked the American University in Kabul, police said early on Thursday, ending an assault on the compound that killed at least one person and sent hundreds of students fleeing in panic.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film / Wide Angle
Aug 24, 2016

Revisit the Showa Era at Jinbocho Theater

Jinbocho is one of the last remaining districts in Tokyo that retains a neighborhood feel. Dedicated to books, it has a large cluster of second-hand bookshops and is dotted with ancient coffee shops, including Saboru and Milonga. It's also known for showing wildly difficult movies at venues such as Iwanami...
EDITORIALS
Aug 24, 2016

Rising tide of North Korean defections

A recent spate of defections suggests that some North Korean elites are losing faith in the country's future under Kim Jong Un.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC / ANALYSIS
Aug 24, 2016

Singapore plans to cut off government computers' internet links to prevent cyberattacks

Singapore is working on how to cut off web access for public servants as a defense against potential cyberattacks — a move closely watched by critics who say it marks a retreat for a technologically advanced city-state that has trademarked the term "smart nation."
Japan Times
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Aug 24, 2016

Actor Yuta Takahata arrested for alleged sexual assault of hotel staffer

Actor Yuta Takahata, 22, was arrested on early Tuesday after he allegedly sexually assaulted a hotel worker in Maebashi, Gunma Prefecture.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC
Aug 24, 2016

India probes huge data leak at French submarine builder DCNS; Australian design unaffected

India is investigating damage caused to French Scorpene submarines that are being built in the country, the Defense Ministry said Wednesday, after the leak of documents relating to the vessel's combat capabilities.
Japan Times
WORLD / Politics
Aug 24, 2016

Trump finds new target, hopes to rally Republicans by attacking Clinton Foundation

Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump, who has struggled to drive a consistent message and consolidate the support of his own party, is honing his attack on Democratic rival Hillary Clinton and the foundation bearing her last name, making it a rallying cry for fellow Republicans to get behind...
Japan Times
WORLD
Aug 23, 2016

Nigerian Air Force says top Boko Haram militants killed, leader seriously wounded

The Nigerian Air Force said it had killed a number of senior Boko Haram fighters and possibly their overall leader, as U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry arrived for talks on tackling the militants.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC / Crime & Legal
Aug 23, 2016

Spate of killings in Philippines rises to 1,900; not all drug-related, top cop says

The Philippines' national police chief said Tuesday that about 1,900 people had been killed during a crackdown on illegal drugs, which began seven weeks ago when President Rodrigo Duterte took power, but about 40 were not drug-related.
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

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...
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Aug 21, 2016

Corporations abuse law to slap down workers

A law that started as a good idea has become a menace to free speech, the ability to protect one's reputation and the right to redress in a court of law.
Japan Times
WORLD
Aug 21, 2016

Justice elusive for slain aid workers worldwide

In a massacre that shocked the world's humanitarian community, 17 aid workers were killed a decade ago outside their office in northeast Sri Lanka — executed at point-blank range with automatic weapons in one of the worst attacks on humanitarians.
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 Times
LIFE / Style & Design
Aug 20, 2016

Japan's architects are building a better future

Home-security AI cats; talking walls equipped with motion sensors; communal-living apartment blocks that promote harmonious relations; and outdoor living-room spaces powered by solar energy siphoned off hybrid cars — these previews of our future, currently on display at "House Vision 2," sound like...
EDITORIALS
Aug 20, 2016

Stop international tax dodges

Efforts to crack down on tax havens is starting to pick up steam, and none too soon.
WORLD
Aug 20, 2016

U.S. Army fudged accounts by trillions of dollars, auditor finds

The United States Army's finances are so jumbled it had to make trillions of dollars of improper accounting adjustments to create an illusion that its books are balanced.
WORLD / Crime & Legal
Aug 20, 2016

U.S. sailor gets year in prison for taking photos of nuclear submarine's restricted areas

A U.S. Navy sailor was sentenced on Friday to one year in prison for illegally taking photos inside restricted areas of a nuclear submarine and then trying to impede an investigation into the matter, prosecutors said on Friday.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Aug 19, 2016

Dentsu to push simplified Japanese to ease communication with tourists

As part of its project to encourage the creation of tourism services, advertising giant Dentsu Inc. will urge the public to use simple Japanese when communicating with tourists.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink
Aug 19, 2016

Chef Massimo Bottura's Kyoto menu is both colorful and daring

When Italian chef Massimo Bottura arrived in Japan in late July to present a series of meals at the elegant Ritz-Carlton Kyoto, it represented quite a coup for the hotel in only its second year of existence. Just six weeks earlier, Bottura's restaurant, Osteria Francescana in Modena, had been voted into...
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / TOKYO FOOD FILE
Aug 19, 2016

Handels Vagen's frozen treats will have you singing Handel's 'Messiah'

Premium ice cream is never out of season. But the timing could hardly have been better for the arrival of Handels Vagen at the start of this summer. Located in the basement of the new Tokyu Plaza in Ginza, it boasts a modest footprint that seems appropriate to the artisan production scale of very superior...
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Tech
Aug 18, 2016

Singapore seeks to turn labor crunch into a robot revolution

Sherine Toh says her best days at work are when none of the 600 or so staffers at Singapore's Tung Lok Restaurants quits, though such days are rare.

Longform

Mount Fuji is considered one of Japan's most iconic symbols and is a major draw for tourists. It's still a mountain, though, and potential hikers need to properly prepare for any climb.
What it takes to save lives on Mount Fuji