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Japan Times
JAPAN
Apr 9, 2020

Japanese ICUs understaffed and overlooked as coronavirus influx looms

The health ministry estimates that Tokyo could see up to 700 patients in need of intensive care every day once the epidemic reaches its peak.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Apr 9, 2020

Impossible dilemma? World watches Italy as firms plead to return to work

Many Italian companies and academics are pressing the government to reopen factories to prevent an economic catastrophe, as the world watches how the first Western country to impose a lockdown can extricate itself from the unprecedented measures.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Voices / FOREIGN AGENDA
Apr 9, 2020

'The swab goes really deep into your head': What it's like to take the test for coronavirus in Japan

Have you wondered what it's like to get tested for COVID-19 in Japan? With little Japanese, Joe Oliver learned the hard way after being sent by his doctor to head straight to the hospital.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Tech
Apr 9, 2020

Smartphone industry headed for virtual reality check as Japan gets 5G

With speedy data transmission and low latency, the advent of 5G networks means users of mobile communications devices will have access to more elaborate augmented and virtual reality apps.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Apr 9, 2020

Hammer or scalpel? Conquering COVID-19

The COVID-19 pandemic that emerged out of China has challenged all countries and regions where it has spread, including Japan. The question for most as the sense of crisis builds is what is the correct approach to take to mitigate an outbreak that could force the collapse of health care systems, result...
COMMENTARY / World
Apr 9, 2020

With sailors stranded, shippers face a hard choice

Before the pandemic, 100,000 seafarers traveled in and out of the world’s ports every month. Some had spent weeks or months aboard the cargo ships, tankers and other merchant vessels that are essential to moving products and commodities across the globe. In a ritual little noticed outside the industry,...
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Apr 9, 2020

Japan sets aside ¥243.5 billion to help firms shift production out of China

Most of the money is for companies shifting output back to Japan, but funds have also been reserved for those moving elsewhere in Asia.
Japan Times
BASKETBALL / NBA
Apr 9, 2020

Kevin Garnett yearns to see NBA return to Seattle, has big plans for future

Kevin Garnett always found Seattle to be a difficult place for opponents. He played in 27 games there during his NBA career, leaving the court as a winner only eight times.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Economy
Apr 9, 2020

Huge Australian household debt threatens to worsen recession

Thuy Pham has run two jobs for much of her working life, and a little over two years ago all that effort paid off when she realized a dream of buying her own home. As the coronavirus shutdowns have deepened, that’s started to unravel: First she was stood down from one job, then the other, and now she’s...
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Apr 9, 2020

A car boom in Wuhan brings hope for post-lockdown recovery

If a stream of visitors to auto dealerships in the virus-hit city is any indication, the recovery of the car business in China and perhaps the world could be rapid.
Reader Mail
Apr 9, 2020

A poem about COVID-19

Wash your hands! Don’t go out!
Reader Mail
Apr 9, 2020

A plea to the government: Don’t lock down

As a former business journalist for The Economist and a clinical psychologist treating health anxiety, I have watched in admiration as Japan’s economy has stayed open during the coronavirus panic. Now pressure is mounting to lock down the country. I beg Japan’s government not to succumb; a plea on...
Reader Mail
Apr 9, 2020

Consider teachers during the pandemic

I work in Japan as a teacher. Despite the news talking about teleworking in recent months, and about how some people are still going to work because of their inability to telework, I’d like to see an article about how schools are still forcing teachers to go in to work, even though we are prepared...
Reader Mail
Apr 9, 2020

Stricter social distancing required

During the early phase of the coronavirus pandemic, Japan seemed to be able to control the spread. However, the number has been steeply rising.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Apr 9, 2020

Yumiko Morioka: A good time to find refuge in a reissue of her ambient sounds

Yumiko Morioka's first and only album, 1987's 'Resonance,' gets the reissue treatment, allowing fans to hear the musician's ambient sounds once again.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC
Apr 9, 2020

South Pacific cyclone and coronavirus create 'perfect storm' of worry

As deadly Cyclone Harold churns through the South Pacific, small island nations in its path are struggling to balance responses to the disaster with maintaining efforts to stop the spread of the coronavirus outbreak, officials warned Wednesday.
CULTURE / Film
Apr 9, 2020

Japan’s film and TV industries soldier on despite coronavirus

The death of comedian Ken Shimura on March 29 due to pneumonia caused by COVID-19 sent a shock wave throughout the country. A star on Japanese TV for decades, he was the first major celebrity here to pass away after contracting the virus.
Japan Times
WORLD / Science & Health
Apr 9, 2020

Fewer coronavirus deaths seen in countries that mandate tuberculosis vaccine

Countries with mandatory policies to vaccinate against tuberculosis register fewer coronavirus deaths than countries that don’t have those policies, a new study has found.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / Japan
Apr 8, 2020

Setting ‘simple’ standards is critical diplomacy

China is trying to put its stamp on “standard setting,” a little understood and even less appreciated dimension of international engagement.
COMMENTARY / World
Apr 8, 2020

Biden’s call to ease Iran sanctions fits a bad pattern

When it comes to the Middle East, the former vice president has a history of endorsing woolly and reckless ideas.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Apr 8, 2020

How do you lift a coronavirus lockdown? Ask Austria

Ending strict confinement measures should be done extremely carefully.
JAPAN / Politics / ANALYSIS
Apr 8, 2020

Behind the scenes, an LDP power struggle over record-size economic package

As the Cabinet approved a record-breaking emergency stimulus package Tuesday, the deep-seated rivalries it has amplified within the ruling Liberal Democratic Party were hidden from view.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC
Apr 8, 2020

China snake village scales down as coronavirus prompts wildlife trade ban

Since China began frantic efforts to curb a coronavirus epidemic in late January, residents in the tiny snake breeding village of Zisiqiao have had to come to terms with a ban on wildlife trading, its lifeline for decades.
BUSINESS / Companies
Apr 8, 2020

Coronavirus forces Japanese firms to weigh hybrid online-offline shareholders meetings

Corporate law requires firms to set a physical venue for the meeting, but the government has confirmed online options are legal — with a caveat.
Reader Mail
Apr 8, 2020

There is much that we the people can do

Regarding the March 20 letter to the editor "School closures are a cruel blow to children," school closures will not turn out to be so bad if we can offer online lessons. Using technology in an efficient way is always a wonderful thing. With companies releasing 5G services at such a time, it would be...

Longform

Members of the nonprofit group Japan Youth Memorial Association search for the remains of dead soldiers in a cave in Okinawa Prefecture in February.
The long search for Japan’s lost soldiers