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CULTURE / TV & Streaming / CHANNEL SURF
Oct 23, 2015

Prefecture battle; the witches of Japan; CM of the week: SoftBank

The government's plan for regional revitalization gets a boost from the world of television with the three-hour variety special "47 Todofuken Taiko! Kakuzeke Nippon!" ("47-prefecture Rivalry! Ranking Japan!"; Fuji TV, Sun., 7 p.m.).
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / OSAKA RESTAURANTS
Oct 23, 2015

Kaishoku Shimizu: Slow kaiseki dining, watched over by Van Gogh

Across from Osaka's Van Gogh museum is Kaishoku Shimizu, a Japanese multicourse restaurant with a facade that looks small enough to squeeze onto a canvas. Between the counter and the two tables it can accommodate 15 diners, which may be a decent amount for restaurants of this kind but good luck trying...
JAPAN
Oct 22, 2015

Asahi Kasei subsidiary worker linked to leaning Yokohama condo handled 41 projects over 10 years, firm reveals

An Asahi Kasei Construction Materials Corp. employee at the center of a tilting condo controversy oversaw 41 projects in nine prefectures over 10 years.
BUSINESS
Oct 22, 2015

Western Digital to buy SanDisk for $19 billion

Western Digital Corp. agreed to buy SanDisk Corp. for about $19 billion (¥2.26 trillion), gaining access to a supply of semiconductors that are at the heart of a fast-growing type of computer storage.
JAPAN / Media / Japan Pulse
Oct 22, 2015

Ginza Cozy Corner takes dessert into hyperdrive with 'Star Wars' cakes

One Japanese confectionary vendor is about to find the Force deep within a sweet tie-up.
COMMUNITY / Voices / HOTLINE TO NAGATACHO
Oct 21, 2015

Tokyo can feel less than welcoming to food allergy sufferers

Japan needs to improve labeling and education surrounding food allergies, and increase allergen-safe options.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / ADOPT ME!
Oct 21, 2015

Jumpin' Jiminy: YoYo the cat finds a new home in Tokyo

The handsome Blanco, first featured here in May 2014, has found a home in the capital with a Canadian resident.
JAPAN
Oct 20, 2015

Tilting condo may be tip of iceberg for shoddy housing construction nationwide

The scandal surrounding structural flaws and falsified data for a tilting residential building in Yokohama has cast a spotlight on loopholes in the real estate industry's entrenched system, according to experts who speculate the trouble may turn out to be just the tip of an iceberg.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Oct 20, 2015

Abe eroding Japan's soft power

Japan's considerable soft power is being undermined by political insensitivity, provocative policies and a reluctance or inability to explain and justify.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Oct 20, 2015

Monet's experiments meet his masterpieces

To anyone familiar with art exhibitions in Japan, it is clear that Impressionism is one of the most well-known and most-loved of all the "isms" and movements of Western art. The name of the movement is believed to have come from a 1872 painting by Claude Monet titled "Impression, Sunrise." When it was...
BUSINESS / Companies
Oct 20, 2015

Japanese business software maker embarks on rare U.S. foray

Having become the biggest Japanese vendor of business software for payroll and human resources by taking on Oracle Corp. and SAP AG in its home market, Works Applications Co. is now adopting an even more ambitious plan: breaking into the U.S.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Companies
Oct 20, 2015

U.S. regulator may expand Takata air bag probe

U.S. regulators said Monday they could expand their investigation into Takata Corp. air bag inflators beyond the current 11 automakers, amid questions about whether vehicle design played a role in the devices posing a deadly risk to the public.
Japan Times
JAPAN / CHUBU CONNECTION
Oct 19, 2015

Barbecue sets made by Mie prison inmates proving a hit

Barbecue sets made by inmates at Mie Prison in Tsu, Mie Prefecture, are gaining popularity for their durability and ease of use.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Oct 18, 2015

Radio personality Peter Barakan brings the world to Tokyo for Live Magic!

'I'm going off track again. Wait a minute." Midway through a lengthy digression about an "amazing" New Orleans band named Boukou Groove, Peter Barakan pauses, ever so briefly, to check the conversational signposts.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Oct 18, 2015

Kero Kero Bonito blend English and Japanese rap into bouncy pop tracks

Sarah Midori Perry remembers checking MixB, an online bulletin board for Japanese expats in London, almost every day ... and feeling underwhelmed.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Oct 18, 2015

Taquwami takes familar sounds into his own distinct territory

Taquwami
 "Moyas”
 (Self-released)
Japan Times
LIFE / Lifestyle
Oct 17, 2015

What's in a name? Japan debates whether to allow spouses to adopt separate surnames

Upper House lawmaker Mizuho Fukushima and her partner, Yuichi Kaido, have been together for about 40 years. They don't celebrate any kind of anniversary, however, because they've never been officially married.
JAPAN / Media / BIG IN JAPAN
Oct 17, 2015

Councilors get loud on library revamps

As testimony to their characteristically low profile, Japan's public libraries seldom make the news, although two recent exceptions come to mind.
COMMENTARY / COUNTERPOINT
Oct 17, 2015

Japan's public diplomacy of churlish cluelessness

Enough is enough. How dare UNESCO inscribe primary sources and a wartime video about the Nanking mayhem into global memory? I fully support the Japanese government's threats to withdraw funding from UNESCO to protest its recent decision to include a dossier submitted by China, "Documents of Nanjing Massacre,"...
Japan Times
JAPAN / Science & Health
Oct 16, 2015

Architect pair tap 3-D printing, ice to share top NASA prize for Mars habitat design

In the coming decades, as humans leave Earth to expand the bounds of space travel, astronauts are sure to find themselves for the first time in habitats other than the International Space Station.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Stage
Oct 15, 2015

Theater legend Harold Prince brings 'Prince of Broadway' to Japan for a world premiere

With a smile beaming from his face, Broadway legend Harold Prince enters the room I'm waiting in and cheerfully declares, "I'm not jet-lagged at all — they're just working me to death."
WORLD / Society
Oct 15, 2015

Falling pregnant by touching boys? Africans confront sex taboos with education

When Sokhna Aminatou Sarr started menstruating, as a young girl in Senegal who had not yet reached her teenage years, her mother warned that she would become pregnant if she went near any boys.

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