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Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Sep 13, 2022

Jean-Luc Godard, daring director who shaped the French New Wave, dies at 91

Eventually becoming of the world's most revered directors, Godard helped kickstart a new way of filmmaking, complete with handheld camera work, jump cuts and existential dialogue.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Sep 9, 2022

The revolutionary monarchy of Queen Elizabeth II

The British queen defied the informal styles of other European royals and transformed the Windsors into a staunchly bourgeois, yet mesmerizing dynasty.
Japan Times
WORLD / Politics
Jun 25, 2022

The man most responsible for ending Roe worries that it could hurt his party

As former President Donald Trump prepares for a likely 2024 presidential campaign, he has privately told friends and advisers the ruling will be 'bad for Republicans.”
Japan Times
LIFE / Lifestyle
Apr 25, 2022

This man married a fictional character. He’d like you to hear him out.

Akihiko Kondo and thousands of others are in devoted fictional relationships, served by a vast industry aimed at satisfying the desires of a fervent fan culture.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / 20 QUESTIONS
Apr 10, 2022

Sean Lotman and Ariko Inaoka: 'Everything has meaning: trees, stones, water, stars. God is in there.’

A photographer couple in Kyoto discusses why they prefer analog film and how they're helping their son discover his creativity.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Books
Mar 27, 2021

The genius and geniality of Santoka Taneda, a wandering Zen poet

u2018The Life and Zen Haiku Poetry of Santoka Taneda,' a biography of one of Japan's most beloved poets, is a loving tribute compiled by Taneda's close friend, Sumita Oyama.
In some cases, it's up to individual foreign residents to understand the unique tax implications of their home countries and Japan in order to avoid a penny-pinching retirement.
COMMUNITY / How-tos / Age Wise
Nov 5, 2023

Retiring in Japan? Be prepared to foot your own bills.

“In an ideal world, everyone should have retirement planning on their radar as soon as possible when working life begins.”
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / 20 QUESTIONS
Dec 29, 2023

20 Questions: The best answers of 2023

Our interviewees this year gave a lot of advice for living a good life and paying attention to the things that matter most.
Roberta Wilson-Garrett, who has Parkinson's disease, poses with her GyroGlove, made by GyroGear, which uses a gyroscope to help stabilize tremors before this week's Consumer Electronics Show on Jan. 8 in Las Vegas.
WORLD / Science & Health
Jan 12, 2024

High tech glove stymies Parkinson's disease tremors

GyroGear has built the world's most advanced hand stabilizer, with strategic partners that include Taiwanese technology group Foxconn, according to founder Dr. Faii Ong.
Zazen Boys (from left: So Yoshikane, Shutoku Mukai, Miya and Atsushi Matsushita) released “Rando,” its first original album in 12 years, last month. The 13-song collection features the sonic hallmarks of the band while also reflecting a new focus on the everyday, informed by frontman Mukai’s bike rides through Tokyo’s residential areas and sleepy side streets.
CULTURE / Music
Feb 23, 2024

Character studies of city folk reinvigorate Zazen Boys

Frontman Shutoku Mukai brings a newfound focus on ordinary life and youth to his rock project's first original album in 12 years.
Aoi Suzuki’s son runs past a home in Taketomi on Iriomote Island (not to be confused with Taketomi Island, which lies to the east of Iriomote). The Suzukis run the Takemori Inn, one of the few hotels on Iriomote.
PODCAST / deep dive
Feb 29, 2024

[Rebroadcast] Traveling Okinawa with a broken heart

This week on Deep Dive we get contributing writer and photographer Lance Henderstein to read us his article on traveling Okinawa during the rainy season.
People hold portraits of Israeli hostages held in Gaza since the Oct. 7 attacks by Hamas militants, near the site of the Supernova music festival in southern Israel, in February.
WORLD / Science & Health
Mar 7, 2024

Gaza hostages at risk of lasting psychological trauma, experts say

Some hostages were released under a weeklong truce in November but around 130 others remain in the hands of Hamas in the Gaza Strip.
WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange is greeted by supporters after arriving at the airport in Canberra on June 26 as a free man.
COMMENTARY / World
Jul 12, 2024

Assange may be free, but are we?

The world needs heroes like Julian Assange. He did what needed to be done and he paid a high price.
Lamposts and other signs throughout Hirogawa, Wakayama Prefecture, display warnings, evacuation routes and measurements of height above sea level. The town has been hit by eight tsunami in its recorded history.
ENVIRONMENT / Earth science / OUR PLANET
Jul 21, 2024

Why Japanese researchers are looking to submarine cables for faster tsunami warnings

While Japan boasts one of the world's most sophisticated earthquake and tsunami detection systems, gaps still remain.
A medical technician selects eggs for an in vitro fertilization (IVF) procedure Paris in 2019.
WORLD / Society
Jul 25, 2024

IVF mistakes are opening a new front in the fight over reproductive rights

The $40 billion U.S. industry is expected to triple in size over the next decade as more people delay having babies until later in life.
Sociologist Gracia Liu-Farrer argues that even though immigration doesn't figure into Japan's autobiography, it is more of a self-perception than a reality.
COMMUNITY / Issues / Longform
Aug 9, 2024

In search of the ‘Japanese dream’

You've likely heard of the American dream. In Japan, where no such concept exists, immigrants forge their own ideals.
Scientists have proposed a way to heat up Mars using heat-trapping iron or aluminum particles as an initial step toward making the planet habitable for people.
WORLD / Science & Health
Aug 10, 2024

Scientists propose warming up Mars by using heat-trapping 'glitter'

The scientists who developed the proposal see it as a potentially doable initial step toward making the planet habitable.
Keiichi Tanaami died on Aug. 9 after a 60-year career as a Pop Art pioneer. He was 88.
CULTURE / Art
Aug 24, 2024

Remembering Keiichi Tanaami's surreal grotesqueries

The Pop Art pioneer passed away at age 88 on Aug. 9. His posthumous retrospective, “Adventures in Memory,” turns nightmare into fantasy.
Britain's Lucy Shuker competes at a tournament in Eastbourne, England, in 2022.
PARALYMPICS
Aug 25, 2024

Paralympian Lucy Shuker indebted to wheelchair tennis for giving her some 'joy'

Just 21 years old when she suffered the life-changing injury, Shuker, now 44, has become one of the finest doubles players in the world.
Giant figures depicting Russian authors Anton Chekhov, Alexander Pushkin, Daniil Kharms and Fyodor Dostoyevsky are paraded through a carnival in central Moscow in September 2015.
COMMENTARY / World
Aug 27, 2024

When art is all that remains

Looking at the Kremlin today, one wonders, “Do they really now know how this story ends?” Art will always have the last word.
Timeleft uses an algorithm to match its users with five or six strangers in an effort to prompt “human connection” over dinner at a restaurant. It determines the attendees with the help of a simple personality quiz available when you sign up for the service.
COMMUNITY / Issues / The Foreign Element
Dec 2, 2024

Seven strangers and an algorithm: Can this new dinner app help you make friends?

An app called Timeleft hopes to combat big-city alienation through a simple meal with a diverse group of people.
A staff member wearing a "Squid Game" costume stands at an activation zone for the Netflix series at Dongdaemun Design Plaza in Seoul.
CULTURE / Entertainment news
Dec 9, 2024

'Squid Game' premieres in Seoul after martial law declaration

"Squid Game" showrunner Hwang Dong-hyuk called the political chaos "extremely unfortunate and infuriating" at a press event for the Netflix series.
Japan's success isn't rooted in mystical Eastern wisdom; it's driven by practical public policies, social standards and education, not secret life hacks.
COMMENTARY
Dec 10, 2024

Two words for current ‘ancient Japanese wisdom’: think again

Japan's success isn't rooted in mystical Eastern wisdom; it's driven by practical public policies, social standards, and education, not secret life hacks.
Writer Baye McNeil and his wife, Miki, host a Kwanzaa gathering in Yokohama together. The end of the year at the McNeil’s home is a mix of several different holiday traditions, including those of Kwanzaa.
COMMUNITY / Voices / Black Eye
Dec 23, 2024

A holiday season built on creativity and care

Fusing African heritage with Japanese spirituality, our columnist crafted a holiday season that celebrates cultural understanding.
According to the National Police Agency, a total of 3,326 romance scam were reported in the first 11 months of this year, more than double that in the same period of last year.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Dec 30, 2024

'For our future together': The rising threat of romance scams in Japan

The prevalence of such scams, which prey on the lonely, has led authorities to step up measures to crack down on scammers who are often not even in the country.
Gabriela Dabrowski (right) and Erin Routliffe celebrate after winning the doubles final at the WTA Finals in Riyadh on Nov. 9, 2024.
TENNIS
Jan 2, 2025

Gabriela Dabrowski reveals run to Olympic bronze came amid cancer treatment

Dabrowski said her "surreal" second half of the 2024 season included two surgeries and radiotherapy.
Roki Sasaki pitches in a game against the Czech Republic during the World Baseball Classic in Tokyo on March 11, 2023, the 12th anniversary of the Great East Japan Earthquake.
BASEBALL
Feb 4, 2025

Roki Sasaki's road to glory was paved by ache of a tragedy

Long before he became a pitching phenom and signed a deal with the Los Angeles Dodgers, Roki Sasaki's life was marked by tragedy.
The Marquis de Sade’s original rolled manuscript called Le Rouleau de la Bastille of “Les 120 jours de Sodome ou l’ecole du libertinage” (“The 120 Days of Sodom, or the School of Libertinage”) is displayed before being auctioned in Paris in November 2017. 
COMMENTARY / World
Feb 10, 2025

The Marquis de Sade’s guide to cancel culture

The Marquis de Sade’s legacy proves that even the most reviled figures can outlast cancellation.
A hapless rakugo comic storyteller, Tamon Saito (Tomizo Nobe, left), strikes up an unlikely relationship with a young comedian (Nagiko Tsuji) who wants to rip off his routine in “Laugh, Everyone!”
CULTURE / Film
Feb 13, 2025

'Laugh, Everyone!’: A wonky but endearing double act

Taichi Suzuki’s comedian buddy movie walks a fine line between funny and bleak.
MUFG Bank, a unit of the nation’s biggest banking group, is among firms that recently scrapped a clerical job category that consisted almost exclusively of women, a sign that the financial sector is finally getting more serious about reducing gender inequalities.
BUSINESS / Companies
Apr 23, 2025

Top Japanese firms scrap employment system that held women back

Abandoning the clerical job category may increase opportunities for women to advance to more senior positions.

Longform

A small shrine perched atop rocks braves the waves hitting the shoreline during a storm in Shimoda, Shizuoka Prefecture. The area is under threat of a possible 31-meter-high tsunami if an earthquake strikes the nearby Nankai Trough.
If the 'Big One' hits, this city could face a 31-meter-high tsunami