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Reader Mail
Sep 29, 2017

Defending Abe administration

I was puzzled by Jeff Kingston's column in the Sept. 17 edition. I will focus on a few points to explain why.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / Japan
Sep 1, 2017

BOJ 'normalization' rides on consolidation

As central banks prepare to start unwinding balance sheets later this year, there is growing concern about the financial soundness of the Bank of Japan.
Japan Times
JAPAN / 50 years of ASEAN
Aug 9, 2017

Partnering for change, engaging world

It is my sincere honor, on behalf of the Philippine chair, to greet the friends, partners and supporters of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) on the historic occasion of ASEAN's 50th Anniversary.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Jul 26, 2017

Figuring out who to watch at this year's Fuji Rock Festival

The 2017 edition of Fuji Rock Festival boasts one of the more eclectic lineups the long-running gathering has had in recent years. The headliners tell the tale: Cartoon rockers Gorillaz share the same font size as electronic pop star Bjork and dance music weirdo Aphex Twin. Dig deeper and you'll find...
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Companies
Jun 13, 2017

Parcel giant Yamato's first price hike in 27 years shows fruits, limitations of Abenomics

By last November, Hirotaka Yokota had finally had enough.
LIFE / Travel
May 26, 2017

Looking for 'omotenashi' in Cuba's southeast

Though half a world apart in geography, history, language and just about anything else you could name, Cuba and Japan are not entirely without similarities.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Politics
May 18, 2017

Pacific Command chief visits Yonaguni radar outpost, reasserts freedom of navigation in South China Sea

The head of the U.S. Pacific Command has visited for the first time a key Ground Self-Defense Force listening post just 150 km (90 miles) south of the Senkaku Islands in the East China Sea.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Economy / FOCUS
Apr 16, 2017

Frugal households offer no respite for BOJ, retailers

Naruhito Nogami, a 37-year-old systems engineer in Tokyo, drives to discount stores on weekends to buy cheap groceries in bulk, even though he earns enough to make ends meet and the prospects for Japan's economic recovery are brighter.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / Japan
Apr 14, 2017

BOJ's dilemma between price stability and financial stability

It may be time for the BOJ to provide more reasonable projections about the time by which it can achieve 2 percent inflation.
Japan Times
BASKETBALL / B. League / B. LEAGUE NOTEBOOK
Mar 9, 2017

Rebounding skills a vital part of Joji Takeuchi's game

Joji Takeuchi consistently provides solid numbers for the Alvark Tokyo.
Japan Times
JAPAN / JAPANESE IN INTERNATIONAL ORGANIZATIONS
Dec 19, 2016

Focus on future through U.N. activities

The sixth edition of the Sophia University United Nations Weeks event was held in the university's Yotsuya Campus in Tokyo from Oct. 17 to 28. Inaugurated in 2014, the event has been organized under the concept of "considering our future and the world through U.N. activities."
JAPAN / Media / DARK SIDE OF THE RISING SUN
Dec 3, 2016

Working harder to end death by overwork

"When you're in the office 20 hours a day, you don't understand what life you're living for anymore. (It's so pathetic) you come to laugh." — Twitter post by Matsuri Takahashi, as reported in the Mainichi Shimbun
Japan Times
JAPAN
Dec 1, 2016

'Superhuman' slugger tops year's list of buzzwords

A superhuman effort on the baseball field inspired the top buzzword of the year, it was announced Thursday, in a contest that highlights social, political and entertainment trends.
JAPAN
Nov 19, 2016

Contamination: Documents reveal hundreds of unreported environmental accidents at three U.S. Marine Corps bases on Okinawa

Since 2002, at least 270 environmental accidents on U.S. Marine Corps bases on Okinawa have contaminated land and local waterways but, until now, few of these incidents have been made public. Internal reports highlight serious flaws in training and suggest the lessons of past accidents have not been...
Japan Times
BASKETBALL / B. League / HOOP SCOOP
Nov 12, 2016

B. League needs more marquee players

The B. League is doing a commendable job marketing and promoting itself in its inaugural season.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink
Nov 4, 2016

Tokyo's first Russian-style maid cafe

Twelve men sit in silence at a new cafe in Tokyo's Shinjuku district as three women dressed in Russian attire start serving a sour-looking plate of borscht.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / TELLING LIVES
Nov 2, 2016

A portrait of the tattooist as a nice young man

'Otattoo' artist Hori Benny overcame prejudice, poverty and punishing training to blaze an inky trail through Osaka.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Books
Oct 29, 2016

Are Japanese really 'docile'?: challenging an enduring myth

A common perception abroad is that Japanese society is docile. This is partly thanks to Western writers who tried to create a single profile of the Japanese in the early to mid-20th century, such as Ruth Benedict in her 1946 book "The Chrysanthemum and the Sword." Today, this dangerous myth of consensus...
Japan Times
BASEBALL / BASEBALL BULLET-IN
Oct 22, 2016

Veteran pitcher Standridge's life, family enriched by adopted Japanese daughter

Joy Standridge posted on social media Oct. 6 that her husband, Jason Standridge, "pitched his last game last night — maybe forever." The Chiba Lotte right-hander started the Marines' final game of the 2016 season at home, and he won, beating the Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles, 7-1.
JAPAN
Oct 18, 2016

International forum on sports, the arts and business kicks off in Kyoto, Tokyo

An international conference on sports, arts and business kicks off in Japan on Wednesday as part of the government's efforts to create momentum leading up to the 2020 Tokyo Olympics and beyond.
CULTURE / Music
Sep 29, 2016

Yasutaka Nakata crafts a music festival in his own digi-pop image

Yasutaka Nakata's schedule tonight is packed. He's being photographed by a Japanese magazine in a basement studio after 10 p.m. on a Friday, and it's taking a little longer than expected. After this he'll have a (very) late dinner before heading to Tokyo's east end to do an early-morning DJ set at club...
Japan Times
LIFE / Digital
Sep 17, 2016

Emoji: The evolution of emoticons

The ideograms that were once eyed with skepticism have transformed into a universally accepted part of daily communication.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Aug 14, 2016

Summer Sonic founder Naoki Shimizu explains the search for the perfect music festival lineup

Creativeman President Naoki Shimizu says he had the perfect idea for this year's Sonicmania. The event, an all-night party that comes ahead of Creativeman's Summer Sonic music festival, would feature EDM heavyweight Skrillex and long-running synthpop outfit New Order as the headliners, bringing out young...
COMMENTARY / Japan
Jul 22, 2016

Avoiding another Pacific War

An appreciation for the last century's violent history in the Pacific — and the policies that drove it — may help the U.S. and China avoid a similar fate.
Japan Times
BASKETBALL / HOOP SCOOP
Jul 9, 2016

Nonstop growth, inept management were constant problems throughout the bj-league's 11 seasons

Second in a two-part series
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Companies
Jun 23, 2016

Arora's SoftBank walkout returns focus to succession woes at Japanese firms

The surprise departure of Nikesh Arora, heir apparent at SoftBank Group Corp., highlights a problem many Japanese companies face: passing the reins to a successor.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink
May 13, 2016

Why is Tokyo starting to taste like Portland?

Walking into PDX Taproom, a bar in Tokyo's Shibuya Ward, is like wandering into a condensed, alternate version of Portland, Oregon. Everything from the folk-pop hits playing in the background to the craft beers on tap hail from the Pacific Northwest metropolis.
Japan Times
Figure Skating / ICE TIME
May 10, 2016

Mao mystery finally solved eight years later

In January 2008 Mao Asada suddenly split from coach Rafael Arutunian after 16 months of working together. It was a move made without warning or explanation, and left a great many in the skating community scratching their heads over the reason behind the decision.
Japan Times
BASKETBALL / HOOP SCOOP
Apr 23, 2016

Ex-Tokyo Apache standout Swift rebuilding life after off-court troubles

Third in a three-part series.

Longform

Once smoky, male-dominated spaces, today's net cafes, like Kaikatsu Club, are working to make their operations more attractive to women customers.
The second life of Japan's net cafes