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Japan Times
COMMENTARY / Japan
May 26, 2019

Japan's labor shortage and low-wage puzzle

Why does wage growth remain sluggish despite Japan's growing labor shortage?
Japan Times
ENVIRONMENT
May 25, 2019

In search of Japan's extinct wolves: Sightings of a mysterious canine in Chichibu have been captivating animal enthusiasts

It was around 3 p.m. on a chilly day in December. The sky was overcast and the scent of rain hung in the air when Rina Kambayashi happened upon a creature she had never seen before. Opening the front door to her family's gracefully weathered 150-year-old traditional wooden house, Kambayashi stepped out...
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / WHY DID YOU LEAVE JAPAN?
May 25, 2019

Avant-garde artist Yoshiko Chuma traverses disciplines, nations and causes

Avant-garde artist Yoshiko Chuma challenges the conventions of dance, traversing disciplines, nations and causes.
JAPAN / Media / Japan Pulse
May 25, 2019

Susaki mascot Chiitan runs afoul of Twitter's social media rules

Chiitan the otter was riding high this spring. After becoming one of the most popular characters in the country thanks to its chaotic online behavior, Chiitan started appearing everywhere in the media.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Books / Children's Literature in Japan
May 25, 2019

Poop, realism and Ghibli: Enter the world of children's literature

To introduce our readers to this special subsection of Japanese literature, for the next 12 months, we'll be featuring one children's writer or illustrator on these pages each month.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
May 25, 2019

The atomic beauty of the new kilogram

Last week the kilogram got a new definition — one that rests on a quantity of light. The old kilogram was defined by a platinum cylinder kept in a vault in Paris, and at first glance, that system might seem more intuitive, but it was crude and prone to error. The new definition harnesses the elegance...
JAPAN
May 25, 2019

Mayor in Yamaguchi Prefecture asks Tokyo to scrap Aegis Ashore deployment

Norihiko Hanada, mayor of Abu, Yamaguchi Prefecture, has petitioned the central government to scrap its plan to deploy the Aegis Ashore land-based missile defense system within the prefecture.
Japan Times
WORLD / Politics
May 25, 2019

The downfall of Theresa May, the prime minister broken by Brexit

At 10:11 a.m., a devastated Theresa May walked back in through the black door of No. 10 Downing St., tears in her eyes. Once inside she found her husband, Philip, and the couple went through to the prime minister's private study together for a few moments alone.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
May 24, 2019

After Modi's win, record number of women set to enter Indian Parliament

A record number of women are set to enter India's Parliament after a marathon election that returned Prime Minister Narendra Modi to power, initial results showed Friday.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC
May 24, 2019

Hobbling Huawei: Inside the U.S. war on China's tech giant

In early 2018, in a complex of low-rise buildings in the Australian capital, a team of government hackers was engaging in a destructive digital war game.
Japan Times
SUMO
May 23, 2019

Sumo 101: Yobidashi (ring announcers)

The busiest men in sumo are the yobidashi (ring announcers).
Japan Times
CULTURE / Stage
May 23, 2019

Dancer Kaiji Moriyama celebrates ninja in his latest work

A creative yet shy child fascinated with origami and crafts, Kaiji Moriyama discovered dance late, at the age of 21 while a university student. He has certainly made up for the lost time, though. Just seven years since first studying the art form, he performed to rave reviews at the 2001 Edinburgh Festival...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
May 22, 2019

Short Shorts 2019: Short on time, but never short on creativity

Short Shorts Film Festival & Asia, whose 21st edition takes place from May 29 to June 16 at venues around Tokyo, is one of the largest festivals of its type in Asia. And, starting this year, four winners of its competitions will be eligible for an Academy Award in the short film category, up from just...
Japan Times
WORLD / Crime & Legal
May 22, 2019

Hundreds gather at U.S. Supreme Court to protest state abortion bans as step backward

Hundreds of abortion-rights campaigners, including Democrats seeking their party's 2020 presidential nomination, rallied in front of the U.S. Supreme Court on Tuesday to protest new restrictions on abortion passed by Republican-dominated legislatures in eight states.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
May 21, 2019

Australian Labor Party snatched defeat from the jaws of victory

The ALP needs to introspect on how it managed to put itself on the wrong side of people's everyday aspirations.
Japan Times
BASEBALL / Japanese Baseball / Sac Bunts
May 20, 2019

Stanka's family reunited with '64 MVP trophy

Joe Stanka's Pacific League MVP trophy was missing for over 30 years.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Entertainment news
May 20, 2019

Alain Delon, set for Cannes honor, says that at least as an actor, he is 'irreproachable'

France's Alain Delon, set on Sunday to receive an honorary prize at Cannes that has sparked scrutiny of his views on women and same-sex couples, said in a newspaper interview that as an actor at least, he was beyond reproach.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / The Big Questions
May 19, 2019

Ardent drive to promote Poland-Japan exchanges

As a scholar of Japanese law, Polish Ambassador Jacek Izydorczyk brings a distinct cultural understanding to the diplomatic world, where he works day in and day out to deepen ties between Poland and Japan.
Japan Times
LIFE / Lifestyle
May 18, 2019

Shifting landscapes: The state of traditional Japanese gardens

My neighbor's garden is a wonder to behold. Where you might expect to find trim box hedges, bamboo fences, subtle rock arrangements, junipers, conifers and pine, there are garden gnomes, an ornamental concrete wheelbarrow, pots of begonia, hanging baskets of pansies and an iron rose trellis. At the end...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Books
May 18, 2019

'Cutting Back': The collected wisdom of an aesthetic pruner

Breezy, frequently humorous and self-scolding, Leslie Buck's 'Cutting Back: My Apprenticeship in the Gardens of Kyoto' is a poignant look at the storied Japanese world of professional gardening.
CULTURE / Books / RECENTLY PUBLISHED BOOKS ABOUT JAPAN
May 18, 2019

'The Diving Pool': Three psychologically subversive novellas

In these unsettling novellas — 'The Diving Pool,' 'Pregnancy Diary' and 'Dormitory' — Yoko Ogawa subverts expectations of traditional female milestones.
Japan Times
JAPAN / History / THE LIVING PAST
May 18, 2019

Go-Daigo's mysterious and most loyal warrior

'No famous character in all Japanese history is quite as obscure as Kusunoki Masashige,' writes historian Ivan Morris on 14th-century Emperor Go-Daigo's most loyal samurai.
JAPAN
May 18, 2019

Two retired Japanese government planes to be sold for ¥1.3 billion

Two government planes that went out of service in March will be sold to an industrial waste disposal firm in June for about ¥1.3 billion.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Economy
May 18, 2019

Toyota rebukes Trump for sending message that carmaker 'not welcomed' in U.S.

Toyota Motor Corp. rebuked U.S. President Donald Trump's declaration that imported cars threaten national security, signaling contentious talks are ahead for the White House and America's key trading partners.
Japan Times
WORLD / Politics
May 17, 2019

Boris Johnson slim, trimmed and ready to fight for power

For a man who has made his name as a comical shambles, cracking jokes on talk-shows and scruffing up his famous blond mop, Boris Johnson is taking a deadly serious approach to his work.
SOCCER / J. League
May 17, 2019

Frontale salvage home draw against Grampus

Two of the league's strongest attacking clubs, a packed Todoroki Stadium and one of Japan's most popular all-girl rock acts bringing down the house.

Longform

Tetsuzo Shiraishi, speaking at The Center of the Tokyo Raids and War Damage, uses a thermos to explain how he experienced the U.S. firebombing of March 1945, when he was just 7 years old.
From ashes to high-rises: A survivor’s account of Tokyo’s postwar past