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Japan Times
WORLD
Oct 15, 2013

NSA said collecting millions of email address books, 'buddy lists' daily

The U.S. National Security Agency is harvesting hundreds of millions of contact lists from personal email and instant messaging accounts around the world, many of them belonging to Americans, according to senior intelligence officials and top secret documents provided by former NSA contractor Edward Snowden.
Japan Times
LIFE
Aug 26, 2012

Material girls: Japan's preteen model boom

AKB48 has reshaped the landscape of youth culture in modern Japan. The pop-idol group's rapid rise to stardom across a wide array of formats has provided the country's children with a fairly straightforward path to commercial success: fame is ultimately achieved by attracting a broad fan base via popular...
Japan Times
MULTIMEDIA
Oct 28, 2011

The most popular exhibition in the world

Once upon a time, more than 1,000 years ago, there was a small island nation ruled over by an emperor and empress. Fascinated by what lay across the sea, the emperor sent out envoys to bring back treasures from afar — glittering glassware, lutes capable of talking with the gods, stunning ceramics and...
Japan Times
LIFE / Style & Design / STYLE WISE
May 13, 2010

From Ginza glitz to street 'n' surf styles

MISHA JANETTE and PAUL McINNES Pearls of fashion If Holly Golightly had been in Ginza instead of New York on a given morning, she might have been beside herself with jewelry lust in front of Japanese brand Tasaki's new flagship instead of that other T-named place.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Feb 7, 2008

The individuals come together

As is befitting of an exhibition of a corporate art collection at Tokyo's premier corporate gallery space, the Mori Art Museum has decked itself out in office chic: cool, understated spaces that feature the height of contemporary art to tickle the tired mind. Like the most privileged of office workers...
COMMUNITY
Feb 1, 2001

Sophistication with a poignant twist

There is nothing quite like Cosmic Wonder. Since its inception in 1994, the Osaka-based fashion label has gone from being a cult name that only a few aficionados could identify to a sell-out collection at Ray Beams, the most directional of the Beams clothing stores in Tokyo. The company's clothes even...
Japan Times
LIFE
Oct 31, 2010

Another side of menswear

The combined weight of economic woes and the eventual uptake of technology as a means of interacting with customers and selling products have led to seismic shifts in the fashion world.
CULTURE / Books / THE ASIAN BOOKSHELF
Nov 27, 2005

The Indianapolis Museum of Art takes some tradition back to Japan

JAPANESE MASTERWORKS: Paintings From the Indianapolis Museum of Art; edited by Heisaku Harada and John Tadao Teramoto; foreword by Anthony Hirschel; introduction by Christine M.E. Guth; and essays by Tae Nishida, Shiji Hashimoto, Takeshi Nagai and Yumiko Kuniga. Seattle: University of Washington Press,...
JAPAN
Nov 13, 2004

Lawyers go after reformist debt collector

An American businessman who tried to improve the way debts are collected in Japan from the oft yakuza-linked intimidation route was arrested last week amid growing pressure by lawyer groups to crack down on unauthorized parties encroaching on their turf.
CULTURE / Art
Aug 31, 2000

Art and history intersect in U.S. ambassador's residence

Most of us only dream of being able to pick out our favorite pieces of art from museums to display in our homes.
COMMUNITY
Apr 20, 2000

Fall/winter 2000: cool, calm and collected

The first Tokyo collections of the 21st century were a surprisingly understated event -- no real controversies, no massive surprises. Perhaps that in itself is surprising since you would expect more from a no-holds-barred trend setter like Japan's capital city.
Japan’s custody system may soon change with the introduction of joint custody, though issues like a lack of protection against domestic violence and abuse must also be tackled.
COMMENTARY / Japan
May 10, 2024

Joint custody alone won’t fix Japan’s flawed system

Japan could be on the verge of adopting joint custody. While to some this is a step in the right direction, it may not be enough to protect families.
With brightly colored hair and equally colorful attire, the 48-year-old Maaya Orii certainly stands out in a crowd.
LIFE / Style & Design
Jun 1, 2024

Paging Dr. Maaya, the neurosurgeon doubling as a fashion designer

Maaya Orii works as a neurosurgeon in Tokyo on weekdays and as a doctor in Kushiro, Hokkaido, on weekends. In her spare time, she’ll shift gears and focus on fashion.
U.S. Federal Trade Commission Chair Lina Khan
BUSINESS / Tech
Sep 20, 2024

U.S. accuses social media giants of 'vast surveillance'

Tech companies "harvest an enormous amount of Americans' personal data," says FTC chief Lina Khan.
Visitors look at a painting of late Chinese Communist Party leader Mao Zedong at an exhibition held by Mao memorabilia collectors in Beijing on Sept. 21.
ASIA PACIFIC
Sep 29, 2024

China's 'red collectors' cherish bygone Maoist era

Recent decades have seen a resurgence of nostalgia for the Mao era — despite its horrors — due in part to its utopian official outlook and fervent patriotic spirit.
Dul Saroth (left) and Soeum Samrach, deminers with the Cambodian Mine Action and Victim Assistance Authority, practice using the Advanced Landmine Imaging System in Cambodia’s Siem Reap province in August.
JAPAN / Longform
Oct 7, 2024

The Japanese tech that could one day make Southeast Asia landmine-free

The Advanced Landmine Imaging System being tested in Cambodia promises to speed up landmine clearance work and save lives.
Donald Trump in West Palm Beach, Florida, on July 27. A sophisticated breach of American telecommunications systems has extended to the presidential campaigns, raising questions about the group behind the attack and the extent of its efforts at collecting intelligence.
WORLD / Politics
Oct 27, 2024

What to know about the Chinese hackers who targeted the 2024 campaigns

The far-reaching operation has been linked to the Chinese government and attributed to a group experts call Salt Typhoon.
"Butter," Asako Yuzuki’s thrilling novel inspired by a real-life femme fatale, was named the Waterstones Book of the Year in 2024.
CULTURE / Books / 2024 in Review
Dec 15, 2024

Women are writing a new chapter in Japanese literature in the 2020s

From the deadly serious and deeply weird to the fluffiest of diversions, a bounty of Japanese fiction in translation has delighted readers and critics this decade so far.
Kaz Shiomi is looking forward to the Osaka Expo this year, which will be held from April 13 to Oct. 13.
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / 20 QUESTIONS
Jan 10, 2025

Kaz Shiomi: ‘I want to show people … how to color outside the lines’

Producing toys under her kiko+ & gg* brand, the business owner hopes to encourage children to find their own unique paths in life.
Tokoro Ruins Museum Director Yuuki Nakamura says that 'most Japanese people don’t know' the history of the Okhotsk culture, but he and others are betting that travelers might be intrigued enough to visit and find out more.
LIFE / Travel
Feb 22, 2025

Bear skulls and pit dwellings: Hokkaido aims to sell ancient history

The Okhostk culture thrived in northern Hokkaido from the fifth to ninth centuries and may have provided the Ainu with some of their best-known rituals.
In Tomoka Shibasaki's short story collection "A Hundred Years and a Day," time flows architecturally, through the life of structures such as a ramen shop or a cinema.
CULTURE / Books
Feb 22, 2025

'A Hundred Years and a Day': Short stories unfold through the lives of structures and spaces

In Tomoka Shibasaki’s curious collection, time flows architecturally, plots meander by design and humans are unnamed, ephemeral and often disappear.
In all, global investors plowed around $315 million into eFishery’s preferred shares over five funding rounds.
BUSINESS / Companies
Feb 24, 2025

SoftBank among eFishery investors facing near wipeout

Investors in the startup, which deploys feeders to fish and shrimp farmers in Indonesia, are likely to get back less than 10 cents for every dollar they invested.
An ongoing shortage of rice has resulted in rising prices for Japan's main food staple.
LIFE / Food & Drink / Longform
Apr 7, 2025

Why Japan is running out of rice — and farmers to grow it

Outdated government policy, changing diets and even an earthquake scare have had an impact on the national food staple.
Burnt power banks containing lithium-ion batteries are shown at the Consumer Affairs Agency
JAPAN
Apr 17, 2025

Japan urges proper disposal of lithium-ion batteries

The Environment Ministry issued a notice to local governments on Tuesday requesting the thorough separation and collection of such batteries.
A humanoid robot walks as an employee conducts tests, on the production line at the AgiBot factory in Shanghai on March 20.
BUSINESS / Tech
May 13, 2025

China's AI-powered humanoid robots aim to transform manufacturing

Beijing is aiming for a new industrial revolution where many factory tasks would be performed by humanoid robots.
The beach on Aka Island, Okinawa Prefecture, where U.S. forces first landed in the 1945 Battle of Okinawa
JAPAN / Regional Voices: Kyushu
May 26, 2025

How a remote island escaped mass suicide in Battle of Okinawa

Residents had been told that, if captured, women would be assaulted and men mutilated by U.S. soldiers.
Since moving to Tokyo from New York City in 2014, Hiraku Morilla has been promoting Keith Haring’s legacy in his professional life and advocating for the LGBTQ+ community.
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / 20 QUESTIONS
Jun 6, 2025

Hiraku Morilla: ‘Pride means respect for those who walked so we could run’

The New York-raised director of the Nakamura Keith Haring Collection reflects on his queer, multiracial identity and LGBTQ+ rights in Japan.
Detail of Takashi Murakami, “Rakuchu-Rakugai-zu Byobu: Iwasa Matabei RIP” (2023-25)
CULTURE / Art
Jun 5, 2025

New Naoshima museum bets on Asia, not the West

The Naoshima New Museum of Art is Tadao Ando’s 10th contribution to the popular art islands.
Italy's competition watchdog said on Monday that it has fined Chinese fast fashion brand Shein €1 million ($1.15 million) for false and confusing claims about the e-commerce giant's efforts to be environmentally friendly.
BUSINESS / Companies
Aug 5, 2025

Italian regulator hits Shein with €1 million greenwashing fine

The watchdog took issue with the environmental sustainability and social responsibility messages on Shein's website, which it described as "vague" and "misleading."

Longform

Figure skater Akiko Suzuki was once told her ideal weight should be 47 kilograms, a number she now admits she “naively believed.” This led to her have a relationship with food that resulted in her suffering from anorexia.
The silent battle Japanese athletes fight with weight