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JAPAN
Apr 2, 2018

Sports agency's recommendation of downtime for student athletes draws mixed response

The Japan Sports Agency has introduced a policy of granting at least two days of rest per week for sports teams at public and private junior high schools, in hopes of reducing the risk of injury for students by shortening their practice hours.
Japan Times
WORLD / Politics
Apr 2, 2018

EPA chief Scott Pruitt under more pressure after conflict-of-interest condo reports: lawmakers

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency chief Scott Pruitt may not survive long in his job after reports that he paid below market rate to live in a condo owned by a lobbyist who deals with issues overseen by his agency, lawmakers and a former Trump official said in television interviews on Sunday.
Japan Times
WORLD / Politics
Apr 2, 2018

Mexico is no 'piñata,' election front-runner says after Trump's threatening tweets

Mexico's presidential front-runner launched his campaign close to the U.S. border on Sunday, demanding respect for Mexicans hours after U.S. President Donald Trump again threatened to scrap a key trade pact and erect a wall between the countries.
Japan Times
MULTIMEDIA
Apr 1, 2018

April 2, 2018

COMMUNITY / Our Lives / The Big Questions
Apr 1, 2018

Grass-roots involvement enhances 150-year relations

At 66 years of age, Spain's Ambassador to Japan, Gonzalo de Benito, shows no signs of slowing down. He has official and other duties — like this interview with The Japan Times — for starters.
LIFE / Style & Design / ON: DESIGN
Apr 1, 2018

Looking for spring inspiration?

Nendo offers creative advice, Perrocaliente updates the past and Nousaku invokes flower power
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / How-tos / HOME TRUTHS
Apr 1, 2018

New minpaku law will alter Japan's rental and hospitality landscape

A new law will go into effect in June to regulate minpaku, private residences rented out by their owners as short-term lodgings. To most, the new law will address changes that have occurred in recent years due to the rise of Airbnb, the worldwide online service that allows travelers to book rooms in...
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / LAW OF THE LAND
Apr 1, 2018

Japan's Supreme Court orders a child be sent home in a Hague parental abduction case. Maybe.

Defanged habeas corpus grew some teeth in last month's Nagoya international custody ruling, but the problem of toothless enforcement remains.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / ADOPT ME!
Apr 1, 2018

Great haven: Great Pyrenees Coco finds a new home in Tokyo

Cosette, rechristened Coco, has found a new and loving home with Yutaka Hibi and his wife, Mayumi, of Tokyo.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Companies / Taking the Lead
Apr 1, 2018

Zozotown founder Yusaku Maezawa follows eclectic path

Andy Warhol's iconic Campbell's Soup cans, a painting by Takashi Murakami and a word sculpture by Jack Pierson are some of the pieces decorating the head office of Start Today Co., operator of Japan's largest online fashion mall, Zozotown.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Science & Health
Apr 1, 2018

Japanese researchers find way to replicate cherry-blossom magic in fall

To the delight of sakura (cherry blossom) lovers everywhere, botanists at Kyoto University have discovered a way to make cherry trees flower more than once a year and plans are already afoot to introduce pink to the autumnal palette.
COMMUNITY / Voices / OVERHEARD
Mar 31, 2018

Elevator crush

'It's not rush hour on the Yamanote Line.'
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Mar 30, 2018

How Seoul raced to conclude U.S. trade deal ahead of North Korea denuclearization summit

South Korean trade officials braved snowstorms, ate instant noodles to save time and spent weeks hotel-hopping in Washington as they raced to overcome major trade hurdles with their U.S. ally ahead of high-stakes nuclear discussions with North Korea.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Mar 30, 2018

Japan high schoolers least obese but least confident, four-nation poll finds

Japanese high school students have lower physical and mental self-confidence but healthier eating habits than their American, Chinese and South Korean counterparts, according to a study released Friday by the National Institution for Youth Education.
Japan Times
LIFE / Travel
Mar 30, 2018

Thawing out on the stove train through Tsugaru

In his 1944 semi-autobiographical "Return to Tsugaru," Japanese author Osamu Dazai (1909-48) revisits his native Tsugaru, a peninsula in northernmost Aomori Prefecture and, apart from praising its people, has mostly unflattering things to say about the place. Forty years later, British writer Alan Booth...
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC
Mar 30, 2018

As wild weather worsens, Philippine migration takes on a female face

When the rains failed in 2015 and drought gripped southern Mindanao in the Philippines, Corazon Vegafria knew what she had to do: move to the city of Koronadal, about an hour away by bus, and find work as a domestic helper to support her family.
Reader Mail
Mar 30, 2018

Long airport lines cast poor first impression

The very well-written reportage about congestion and related problems at Narita International Airport in the March 27 edition ("Long lines plague Narita") rang a very loud bell, with this tourism industry veteran and recent return arrival.
Reader Mail
Mar 30, 2018

Returning Taiwan's quake generosity

The article "Tohoku fundraising drives launched for Taiwan" in the Feb. 12 edition compelled me to pray for a rapid recovery from the shocking earthquake.
Reader Mail
Mar 30, 2018

Why does bad taste abound in Japan?

Having just about recovered from the shock of seeing the awfulness of the mascots selected for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics ("Mascots chosen for Tokyo 2020" in the March 1 edition), I was again reduced to tears by the image of a beautiful new shinkansen train desecrated with pink "Hello Kitty" decorations...
Reader Mail
Mar 30, 2018

Lawson makes a lot of money from cigarettes

The headline for the March 23 story on Lawson stores introducing Sadanobu Takamasu — "Lawson chief bets on health, tech as future of convenience" — was inaccurate. Lawson's business, with its inexcusable reliance on tobacco products to secure a bountiful bottom line, is a pure bet against health....
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Mar 30, 2018

Trump escalates attack on Amazon, focusing on tax and shipping but offering no evidence

U.S. President Donald Trump accused Amazon.com Inc. on Thursday of not paying enough tax, taking advantage of the U.S. postal system and putting small retailers out of business, but did not present any evidence to back up his criticisms or suggest any specific actions he planned to take.
BUSINESS
Mar 29, 2018

Toyota-Suzuki alliance deepens as both agree to sell each other's vehicles in India

Toyota Motor Corp. and Suzuki Motor Corp. agreed to sell each other's hybrid cars and other vehicles in India, deepening an alliance between the automakers.
Japan Times
LIFE / Style & Design
Mar 29, 2018

Designart Tokyo announces plans for bigger and better celebration of creativity

The founders of a Tokyo design and art event that debuted last year gathered in the Shibuya district on Thursday to showcase their plans and ideas for this year’s festival.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Mar 29, 2018

Airbus urges EU to let Britain stay in Galileo space project despite Brexit as U.K. firms face shutout

The chief executive of aerospace firm Airbus said Britain should not be frozen out of the European Union's Galileo space program after Brexit, calling on both sides to find a long-term solution in the interest of security.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / Japan
Mar 28, 2018

Where there's smoke, there's death

With passive smoking claiming 15,000 lives a year, there is no room for the government to compromise on measures to protect the public.
JAPAN
Mar 28, 2018

Kyoto University and Todai tie for first in magazine's ranking of Japanese schools

Kyoto University ties the University of Tokyo — moving up two spots from last year — for first place in the ranking of Japanese universities by Times Higher Education magazine.
Japan Times
WORLD / Crime & Legal
Mar 28, 2018

Two cops won't be charged in fatal 2016 Baton Rouge shooting of black man they had pinned down

Louisiana's attorney general ruled out criminal charges Tuesday against two white Baton Rouge police officers in the fatal shooting of a black man during a struggle outside a convenience store nearly two years after his death caused widespread protests.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC
Mar 27, 2018

Speculation on Kim visit to China rife as train departs

A train believed to be carrying a senior North Korean delegation left the Chinese capital on Tuesday following a dramatic whirlwind visit that some reports said included the country's leader, Kim Jong Un.

Longform

Members of the nonprofit group Japan Youth Memorial Association search for the remains of dead soldiers in a cave in Okinawa Prefecture in February.
The long search for Japan’s lost soldiers