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Japan Times
BUSINESS / New Normal 2.0
Jun 28, 2022

Japan firms that embraced remote work rediscover value of the office

Despite recognizing the advantages of work from home, some are finding the benefits of in-person communication and collaboration hard to ignore.
EDITORIALS
Feb 17, 2018

Work-style reform legislation

A package of work-style reforms, which Prime Minister Shinzo Abe says is at the top of his agenda for this legislative session, will soon be on the way to the Diet for deliberations.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / Japan
Sep 24, 2017

Could even a missile alert stop Japanese from going to the office?

Flexible working styles like telecommuting would benefit Japan on many levels.
LIFE / Style & Design / ON: FASHION
Feb 13, 2015

Valentines specials and ways to treat yourself

Valentine's is all about the man
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Nov 28, 2013

Paul Greengrass brings real-life action to the screen with 'Captain Phillips'

Paul Greengrass once seemed like the least likely candidate to be a director of Hollywood blockbusters: the Cambridge graduate started his career by putting in 10 years as a documentary filmmaker/journalist for the hard-hitting British current affairs program "World In Action." When he moved into feature...
COMMENTARY / COUNTERPOINT
May 29, 2011

Japanese genius shines eclectic in its extravagant simplicities of style

"Live your era, surmount your era!" With these words, written in 1935, the young woodblock artist Yoshio Fujimaki gave out a cry for genius. Certainly his words apply to the genius of Bob Dylan (whose 70th birthday was celebrated on these pages last week), since both he, Fujimaki and others of genius...
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / CLOSE-UP
Feb 1, 2009

Chizu Saeki: Beauty's more than skin deep

Skincare guru Chizu Saeki's expertise is such that her abilities have been compared to those of a fortuneteller. She can, for example, determine people's physical and mental health condition, the key experiences that have influenced them, and even their outlook on life, merely by running her fingers...
JAPAN / OBITUARY
Nov 14, 2021

Jakucho Setouchi: A freewheeling nun who bucked conventional norms for women

Prior to beginning her religious journey in 1973, Jakucho Setouchi established herself first and foremost as a writer — and a controversial one at that.
Japan Times
LIFE / Travel
Nov 27, 2022

Toyama puts itself on Japan’s map of sustainable tourism

From traditional architecture and local folk crafts to impressive temples and a luxury hotel, Toyama's rural Tonami Plain is rich with culture.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Books
Nov 19, 2022

Marie Kondo takes on a new role as life coach

There's a big difference between the way most of us wish we lived and how we actually do. The tidying guru is back with a new book to help fix that.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC
Mar 31, 2022

Philanthropist celebrates life with art, music

Japanese philanthropist Haruhisa Handa, who is a professional in many fields, including calligraphy, art, music, noh dramas and literature, as well as business, held a solo exhibition of his artworks, including paintings, pottery and Japanese calligraphy, in Tokyo from March 18 to 21.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink
Jul 31, 2021

Japanese-style coffee is rooted in the local kissaten, but its reach is global

Brew methods and tools connected with Japan's local coffee shops have held an outsize influence on specialty coffee, permeating third-wave coffee shops and home setups around the world.
CULTURE / Art
Jan 22, 2020

'Asano Takeji: Daily Life With Prints'

Jan. 18-March 1
Japan Times
LIFE / Travel
Aug 23, 2019

Enjoy Ishigaki's island life without sea, sun or sand

The Okinawan island of Ishigaki is a haven for beach lovers, but there's plenty to experience for those with no love for the ocean, including fresh fruit, star gazing and limestone caves.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / TELLING LIVES
Jul 10, 2019

The man behind some of Japan's most stylish denim has one main rule: fabric first

Mehervan Sethi began promoting Japanese denim as a way to give back to the country that has 'done so much for me and my family.'
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Mar 21, 2019

A new lease of life for Macoto Tezka's cult classic 'The Legend of the Stardust Brothers'

Like so many authors of cult movies, Macoto Tezka didn't set out to make a commercial bomb. His debut feature, "The Legend of the Stardust Brothers" ("Hoshikuzu Kyodai no Densetsu"), was widely lambasted upon its release in 1985, but over the years it has steadily acquired a reputation as a delightful...
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / LABOR PAINS
Sep 23, 2018

Abe's work-style reforms give Japan's employers the green light to demand unpaid and unsafe overtime

New law caps overtime at unhealthy levels and sets up a system that will legitimize the principle of working for nothing.
There are a lot of reasons for why the Pacific saury is becoming scarcer, including overfishing in international waters and changing ocean conditions.
LIFE / Food & Drink / Longform
Oct 23, 2023

A saury state: How the price of 'autumn's fish' skyrocketed

A fish so cheap and abundant that even the cats would ignore it, the Pacific saury is becoming a sought-after dish as stocks dwindle.
Yoshiko Koide sits in a classroom at Nagoya College where she teaches a Japanese-language observation seminar.
LIFE / Language / Longform
Nov 27, 2023

How a dictionary came to spark outrage among the web’s otaku

A project to create a reference book categorizing subcultures didn't seem to cause offense until it was packaged and sold as a dictionary.
A native of Seoul who grew up in Shanghai, Hana Yoon moved to New York to attend the prestigious Culinary Institute of America when she was 20 years old.
LIFE / Food & Drink
Feb 4, 2024

In Japan’s age-old capital, a young head chef stirs the pot

Upon her arrival in Kyoto, Yoon spent four months delving into the distinctive varieties of “kyōyasai,” vegetables grown in Kyoto and its suburbs.
Kaori Yamada grew up surrounded by bonsai her whole life and was expected to carry on her family's 170-year-old legacy when she became an adult.
LIFE / Lifestyle
Mar 23, 2024

The bonsai master working to branch out an age-old craft

Kaori Yamada grew up surrounded by bonsai her whole life and was expected to carry on her family's 170-year-old legacy or otherwise end it.
Here are a handful of places around Tokyo where you can treat the dad in your life to the pampering they deserve.
LIFE / Lifestyle
Jun 12, 2024

Retro barbers, executive facials: Pamper dad with a Tokyo spa day

Despite forward-thinking on male grooming, Japan markets these pampering services largely toward women — but here are a few places dad might enjoy this Father's Day.
Tour guide and history buff Rory Dent left his job at a U.K.-based tour operator to move to Japan and start his own business.
LIFE / Travel / Longform
Jun 30, 2024

Guiding Japan through the challenges of overtourism

With the number of overseas tourists breaking records, guides and tour operators are seeing their businesses flourish.
Nakazakicho may be just a few minutes outside the major commercial district of Umeda, but it certainly doesn't feel that way.
LIFE / Travel
Jul 27, 2024

The dancer keeping Osaka’s Nakazakicho indie

Nakazakicho’s transformation is more than the success story of a small neighborhood turning the tide against inner-city decay.
Commuters take a subway home at Sungsu station in Seoul on July 15.
BUSINESS / Companies
Aug 6, 2024

Declaring ‘crisis,’ South Korean firms tell managers to work more

In South Korea, the five-day workweek is only a generation old, introduced by labor laws in 2004.
Stays at Aman Kyoto start at around $2,500 (about ¥375,000) and increasing to $4,000 (about ¥600,000) per night, but for the right traveler, it's not money entirely wasted.
LIFE / Travel
Oct 19, 2024

Kyoto’s most expensive hotel offers inner peace — for a price

Aman Kyoto is one of the most luxurious options for stays in Japan’s ancient capital — but is it worth the hefty price tag?
The luxury Seven Stars in Kyushu train trades the hyper-efficiency of typical rail travel in Japan for a slower, more decadent version.
LIFE / Travel
Mar 1, 2025

Aboard Japan’s most luxurious train, the journey is the destination

For those with yen to burn, the Seven Stars in Kyushu is one of the most luxurious ways to experience some of southern Japan’s best hidden gems.
Dangami House is a 180-year-old former samurai residence of the Kato clan, who ruled over Ozu, Ehime Prefecture, until the Meiji Restoration.
JAPAN / Society / Longform
May 5, 2025

A house, a legacy and the quiet work of restoration in rural Japan

How one artist is using history, culture and community spirit to revive a fading samurai legacy — and possibly reshape rural Japan’s future.

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