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Japan Times
BUSINESS
Jan 20, 2016

BuzzFeed brings its brand of online news to Japan

Online news source BuzzFeed has brought its blend of the novel, quirky and trivial to Japan, launching a Japanese-language service that targets a nation addicted to smartphones.
JAPAN
Jan 20, 2016

Japan's Foreign Ministry councils caution when traveling to Bali after fresh terrorism fears

The Foreign Ministry on Wednesday issued a warning calling on Japanese to exercise caution when traveling to the resort island of Bali, Indonesia, following recent media reports of an alleged terrorist threat made against the popular holiday destination
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC
Jan 20, 2016

North Korea nuclear test did not increase its technical capability, U.S. military says

North Korea's Jan. 6 nuclear test did not expand its technical capability, but the U.S. government is keeping a close eye on Pyongyang's efforts to develop a thermonuclear warhead capable of reaching the United States, the head of the U.S. Missile Defense Agency said Tuesday.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / DAVOS SPECIAL 2016
Jan 20, 2016

2020 Olympics host to hold world forum on sport, culture

With a little over four years to go before the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, discussions in Japan are gearing up about what positive legacies will come from the international sports extravaganza, sports minister Hiroshi Hase said in an exclusive interview with The Japan Times in January.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / DAVOS SPECIAL 2016
Jan 20, 2016

City supports and encourages high-tech innovation

Saitama City, a major bedroom community of Tokyo, is proud of many things, including the fact that it is home to 1 percent of the country's population, a percentage that is likely to rise as the population is still increasing.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / DAVOS SPECIAL 2016
Jan 20, 2016

World Heritage sites in Japan

Japan had the first World Heritage sites in 1993 when UNESCO registered Buddhist monuments in the Horyuji Temple area, Himeji Castle, Yakushima Island and the Shirakami-Sanchi beech tree forest.
ASIA PACIFIC / Society
Jan 19, 2016

Radicals seen easily spreading jihadi word in Indonesia's poorly run prisons

Afif was an inmate in a high-security Indonesian jail when he transformed from aspiring radical Islamist to soldier for Islamic State, ready to sacrifice his life for a group based thousands of miles away in the Middle East.
COMMENTARY / World
Jan 18, 2016

Why economic growth lags

A new book offers a sobering reminder of technology's limits.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / ADOPT ME!
Jan 17, 2016

Please cuddle: a cat named Rikka

This 8-year-old looker is stressed and yearning for a warm home of his own, especially one with people, but preferably not with too many cats.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Jan 17, 2016

Inspiration that comes in dreams and rice balls

Ichiko Aoba takes her seat at an old-fashioned coffee house in Tokyo's Shibuya district, and places a sketchpad and a plump pouch of rolling tobacco on the table. During the hour-long conversation that follows, the tobacco goes untouched, but the sketchpad gets a thorough workout. As she talks, the 25-year-old...
COMMENTARY / World
Jan 17, 2016

India yet again feels the wrath of terrorism

India's government has failed to develop a cohesive counterterrorism strategy and is hamstringing its military to a dangerous degree.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink
Jan 15, 2016

The joy of eating Japan's traditional clay-pot cuisine

It's the autumn of 2013, and dusk falls over the historic Nagatani-en pottery works in the hills above the city of Iga, Mie Prefecture. As the employees finish their shifts and head home, the squat buildings fall quiet and dark — all except the 200-year-old residence at the heart of this artisan complex,...
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / KANPAI CULTURE
Jan 15, 2016

Sake workshops in Tokyo spotlight Japan's lesser known regional breweries

On a recent chilly evening, I found myself in the heart of Tokyo's touristy Asakusa district for the first time in many years. I came to visit Kurand Sake Market, a popular standing bar that specializes in the offerings of local brewers, where Chris Hughes, a U.K. sake expert who is helping Kurand reach...
Japan Times
WORLD / Politics
Jan 15, 2016

Cruz rips up truce with Trump in Republican presidential debate

The long and awkward truce between anti-establishment favorites Donald Trump and Ted Cruz blew apart at the Republican debate Thursday as the two men battling for first place in the Iowa caucuses tore into each other over Cruz's eligibility to be president.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Stage
Jan 14, 2016

Takehiro Hira steps into a 19th-century affair in the award-winning 'Kaku Onna'

Tokyo was bathed in warm sunshine in the run-up to 2016, and when Takehiro Hira meets me at a rehearsal studio his smile is beaming just as brightly — while in his arms he's carrying a box of mikan (mandarin oranges) to share with the rest of the team as they prepare for this month's rerun of Ai Nagai's...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Stage
Jan 14, 2016

Shinoharu Tatekawa makes sure that 'rakugo' isn't lost in translation

Comic Shinoharu Tatekawa hopes to win over some new fans this month when he performs a rakugo set in English.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Jan 14, 2016

Tao takes an innovative approach to drum shows

The slogan goes, "What happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas." Drum troupe Tao, however, thinks a successful show in Sin City could be the springboard to bigger things around the world.
Japan Times
WORLD / Science & Health
Jan 14, 2016

Bid to mine 600 million tons of coal on U.S. federal lands tests Obama's green agenda

President Barack Obama's State of the Union pledge to better manage fossil fuel development will face a test within days, when federal officials rule on whether to open public lands containing more than 600 million tons of coal to more mining.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Jan 14, 2016

Masuzoe favors leisure use for Tsukiji site, says public participation crucial in Olympics preparations

After Olympic host Rio de Janeiro wraps up events this year, attention will turn to Tokyo, and Gov. Yoichi Masuzoe seems ready for it.
Japan Times
WORLD / Politics
Jan 14, 2016

Ted Cruz reportedly did not disclose 2012 Senate campaign loan

Republican presidential candidate Ted Cruz failed to disclose to the Federal Election Commission a loan from Goldman Sachs for as much as $500,000 that was used to help finance his successful 2012 U.S. Senate campaign, The New York Times reported on Wednesday.
Japan Times
WORLD
Jan 14, 2016

Islamic State fight to keep 40-year-old U.S. Air Force A-10 Warthog out of mothballs

The U.S. Air Force is shelving plans to retire the aging A-10 Warthog aircraft, a heavily armored tank killer, because of its role in the fight against Islamic State, online publication Defense One reported on Wednesday, citing unnamed Pentagon officials.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Entertainment news
Jan 13, 2016

SMAP may split as boy band bolts from management feud

It looks like it may be splitsville for the princes of Japanese showbiz.
COMMENTARY / World
Jan 13, 2016

Refugees, sexual harassment and Angela Merkel

No good deed goes unpunished, and Angela Merkel's Germany is paying a price for its generosity to Middle Eastern refugees — but it's not an unbearable price.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / THE FOREIGN ELEMENT
Jan 13, 2016

As Okinawa confronts dioxin, Vietnam offers lessons

Health monitoring and safety measures are urged as U.S. military denials fly in the face of mounting evidence of contamination on the island.
ASIA PACIFIC
Jan 13, 2016

Warnings emerge of Islamic State in Philippines, latest nation in region to face threat

There are growing signs of support for the Islamic State group in the southern Philippines, despite assertions by Manila that militants in the region are little more than criminal gangs.

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