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Japan Times
JAPAN
Dec 25, 2018

Government approves measures it says will make life easier for foreign workers under new blue-collar visas

The measures include the establishment of about 100 consultation centers nationwide and the allocation of u00a5600 million for a Japanese-language education program for non-Japanese.
BASEBALL / Japanese Baseball / Sac Bunts
Dec 24, 2018

Giants experience downside of NPB free agency as Tetsuya Utsumi departs

The images late last week of lefty pitcher Tetsuya Utsumi posing for photos wearing a white Seibu Lions uniform over his dress shirt — he wore a blue tie for effect — might've been a bit jarring for Yomiuri Giants fans.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Dec 24, 2018

You really are turning into your parents

At least you have some sense of what's coming, and maybe it's not too late to swerve.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Dec 24, 2018

Christian revivals around the world are prompted more by politicians than churches

Christmas is invariably the time for a grouch that neither Christ nor mas(s) feature much in a festival meant to rededicate Christian believers to the worship of the son of God. Materialism, especially for children, swamps, on this view, any reflection on the meaning of a Christian — or religious —...
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / The Big Questions
Dec 24, 2018

Unwrapping Toys R Us' business strategy in Japan

As someone working to affect change within corporate culture, President and Representative Director Dieter Haberl of Toys R Us Japan, is perhaps facing one of his biggest challenges yet.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC
Dec 24, 2018

Digging deep: Singapore to unveil plans for an underground future next year

From its towering "supertree" vertical gardens to a Formula 1 night race, Singapore is known for many attractions; underground space is not one of them.
Figure Skating
Dec 23, 2018

Kaori Sakamoto bests Rika Kihira and Satoko Miyahara to win national title

Kaori Sakamoto put on a stunning performance Sunday night, using an incredible combination of power and grace, to win the title at the Japan championships.
JAPAN / History / Defining the Heisei Era
Dec 22, 2018

Defining the Heisei Era: When communication in Japan went mobile

The launch of a pager known as the Pocket Bell marked the birth of texting and mobile communications in Japan.
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Dec 22, 2018

Rationale for extending Japan's copyright protections unclear

Several weeks ago, I was surprised to read that a revision to the copyright law would go into effect on Dec. 30, extending the current protection period from 50 years after an author's death to 70 years. When the extension was first discussed as part of the original 12-member Trans-Pacific Partnership...
JAPAN / Media / Japan Pulse
Dec 22, 2018

Celebrities use social media to counter criticism online in 2018

Celebrities are just like the rest of us: They eat, sleep and would probably be better off if they reduced the time they spend on their social media.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Books / ESSENTIAL READING FOR JAPANOPHILES
Dec 22, 2018

Delve into a teenager's consciousness with Osamu Dazai's 'Schoolgirl'

Concise enough to be read in one sitting, 'Schoolgirl' combines Osamu Dazai's familiar themes of melancholy, alienation and despair with levity and humor.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Books / RECENTLY PUBLISHED BOOKS ABOUT JAPAN
Dec 22, 2018

Toriko Takarabe's 'Heaven and Hell': A child's perspective of war's aftermath

Toriko Takarabe's 'Heaven and Hell,' a 2005 novel recently translated into English for the first time, provides the key to Takarabe's poetry and childhood, both of which were defined by Japan's brief colonial adventure in Manchuria.
Japan Times
WORLD / Crime & Legal
Dec 22, 2018

FBI agent guilty of shooting Denver bar patron while doing back flip on dance floor

An ex-FBI agent who accidentally shot a Denver bar patron in June after performing a dance-floor back flip pleaded guilty on Friday to misdemeanor assault under a plea deal that spares him from serving jail time, prosecutors said.
Japan Times
WORLD / Politics
Dec 21, 2018

A new Russian first lady? Putin hints he may marry again

Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Thursday he would probably have to get married again, but did not say to whom.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Entertainment news
Dec 21, 2018

New York justice lets movie maker Harvey Weinstein's criminal charges stand

A New York state judge on Thursday denied Harvey Weinstein's motion to dismiss criminal charges that he sexually assaulted two women, rejecting the movie producer's argument that the case was tainted by police and prosecutorial misconduct.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Dec 20, 2018

NPO Fukuribi's wigs offer Japan's chemo patients new weapon in their fight against cancer

When TV celebrity Miki Yakata was told she would need chemotherapy after undergoing a mastectomy in April, she realized she would have to buy a wig.
Japan Times
WORLD / Society
Dec 20, 2018

Caravans: The new face of U.S.-bound migration, with no end in sight

A 5-year-old boy rests by the roadside with his mother as thousands of fellow migrants trudge past. A woman grips her two young daughters as they flee a cloud of tear gas. A child slithers under a fence to reach U.S. soil. A man sobs in a U.S. border patrol vehicle as his dreams of a new life are dashed....
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Dec 19, 2018

As two rule breakers gave the Japanese film world hope in 2018, elsewhere eyes turned to China

The Japanese movie business is something like a restaurant where new cooks and waiters arrive as old ones retire or die, but the menu remains much the same, decade after decade.
Japan Times
CULTURE / TV & Streaming
Dec 19, 2018

TV in 2018: Progressive voices and the enduring charm of ‘Terrace House’

In the English-speaking world, Japanese TV in 2018 was celebrated for how boring it could get. But it was anything but domestically, where viewers questioned norms and helped nudge forward programs with progressive politics.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Dec 19, 2018

French pair invent plastic-to-fuel recycling system fit for African bush

A French actor and a self-taught inventor have designed a low-tech machine that converts plastic waste into diesel and gasoline, which they say could help fight pollution and provide fuel for remote communities in developing countries.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Dec 18, 2018

Beijing's South China Sea grab

In the last five years, China has turned its contrived historical claims to the South China Sea into reality and gained strategic depth.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Tech
Dec 18, 2018

Lovot, Japan's new touchy-feely family robot, aims to spread a little love

Tokyo is one of the biggest cities in the world, but it also might be the loneliest. So much so that its people may need to be taught how to love by a robot.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Dec 17, 2018

Japanese education for Egyptian kids?

Will adopting Japanese-style education help boost Egypt's future economic growth?
Japan Times
LIFE / Language / WELL SAID
Dec 17, 2018

Finding the best way to chill out with the verb 'ochitsuku'

There are many ways to use the verb u843d(u304a)u3061u7740(u3064)u304f, which means to calm down, relax and be comfortable.

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