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Japan Times
CULTURE / Stage
Feb 6, 2018

Kazufusa Hosho: 'Noh is necessary in times of social unrest'

The challenge facing Kazufusa Hosho is one that many guardians of traditional Japanese art forms know well: ensuring the survival of a centuries-old culture by attracting new and younger audiences.
EDITORIALS
Jun 25, 2017

The LDP's rush to revise the Constitution

Abe is pushing for constitutional revision while he has the political strength, instead of trying to build a consensus with other forces through convincing arguments.
BUSINESS
Mar 23, 2017

Head of Asia trade talks warns against adding elements of Trump-derailed TPP into new pact

The chief negotiator of a 16-nation Asia trade pact expressed hope that talks can be concluded this year if member nations refrain from introducing elements of a separate deal derailed by U.S. President Donald Trump.
BUSINESS
Feb 8, 2017

Australia striving for 'TPP minus 1' after Trump withdraws

Australia will push the case for a Pacific trade deal without the U.S. at a meeting with other potential members in Chile next month, Trade Minister Steven Ciobo said.
Japan Times
WORLD / Society
Dec 19, 2016

Bus torchings cloud Aleppo evacuation effort as Russia threatens to veto U.N. resolution for access

Convoys of evacuees traveled from a rebel-held area of Aleppo and from two Shiite villages besieged by insurgents on Monday after a days-long stand-off.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC
Nov 29, 2016

U.N. Security Council to vote Wednesday on North Korea sanctions, diplomats say

The United Nations Security Council is set to vote Wednesday to impose new sanctions on North Korea for its fifth and largest nuclear test, slashing Pyongyang's export earnings by some $800 million, diplomats said on Monday.
EDITORIALS
Nov 20, 2016

Reopening Diet Constitution panels

Changes to the Constitution should be made only if it's necessary, not just because Shinzo Abe has the needed votes in the Diet to call a referendum.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / LEARNING CURVE
Jun 8, 2016

Is the Eiken doing Japan's English learners more harm than good?

Critics argue that the Eiken proficiency exams focus too heavily on vocabulary, grammar and the written word at the expense of fluency.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Tech
May 17, 2016

Twitter bending 140-character limit to fit way people tweet

Twitter is making a major shift in how it counts characters in tweets, giving users more freedom to compose longer messages.
Japan Times
MORE SPORTS
Jul 29, 2015

NFL star Brady had his phone destroyed; 'Deflategate' suspension stands: commissioner

NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell on Tuesday upheld a four-game suspension of Tom Brady for his role in deflating footballs used in the game that put the New England Patriots in the 2015 Super Bowl, saying for the first time that the star quarterback had his phone destroyed to keep it out of hands of investigators....
Japan Times
MORE SPORTS
Dec 5, 2014

Lewis brings storied career back to track as coach

It's too early to know if Carl Lewis will one day be considered a legendary track coach.
JAPAN / FOCUS
Sep 11, 2014

Yoshida transcripts on Fukushima nuclear crisis released

The government finally discloses the transcripts of its investigative talks with the late manager of the doomed Fukushima No. 1 power plant after media leaks force its hand.
Japan Times
WORLD
Apr 11, 2014

'Jesus' Wife' papyrus fragment not a forgery, scientists say

Scientists who examined a controversial fragment of papyrus written in Egyptian Coptic in which Jesus speaks of his wife concluded in papers published on Thursday that the papyrus and ink are probably ancient and not a modern forgery.
COMMENTARY
Apr 4, 2014

African e-money is the next currency killer

All the talk of bitcoin in recent years has overshadowed the e-finance revolution in Africa, India and eastern Europe, where a service called M-Pesa has replaced banking for millions of people who don't have a bank account.
LIFE / Digital
Dec 24, 2013

Even our Facebook 'grunts' could be monetized

As Mark Twain observed: "A lie can travel halfway around the world while the truth is putting on its shoes." And that was a long time before the Web. Which brings us to a meme that was propagating last week though social media. Its essence was an assertion that Facebook monitored — and stored — not...
Japan Times
LIFE / Lifestyle
Dec 23, 2013

From Mikimoto's pearls to ones of publicity wisdom

Having invented a method for creating cultured pearls in 1893, Meiji Era entrepreneur Kokichi Mikimoto set about selling them to the world. Apparently not one for understatement, he once announced he hoped to "adorn the necks of all women around the world with pearls."
Japan Times
CULTURE / Stage
Nov 13, 2013

Brecht's 'Fatzer' underground in Kyoto

The term "metatheater" refers to devices in a play that break the so-called "fourth wall" — the illusion of theatrical reality — in order to involve the audience as critical participants in the production. Metatheatricality is a hallmark of early 20th-century Modernist drama, and is often associated...
Japan Times
LIFE / Language / BILINGUAL
Aug 4, 2013

The latest gyaru-go: The top 10 words for gals on the go

The other day, I overheard two gyaru (ギャル, gals, i.e., fashion-conscious girls) talking, but I had no idea what they were saying.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Jun 20, 2013

Are we all blinded by our sense of beauty?

Sophie Calle is an enigma. She is an artist, writer, photographer and filmmaker yet doesn't work exclusively in any of these areas. She has become famous for her work in photography but her objects and later films have drawn equal attention — work that carries with it the curiosity of a detective who...
Japan Times
WORLD / Science & Health
May 25, 2013

Secrets deciphered as ancient Maya script meets the modern Internet

Researchers began decoding the glyphic language of the ancient Maya long ago, but the Internet is helping them finish the job and write the history of the enigmatic Mesoamerican civilization.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Tech
Feb 8, 2013

Android 'fragmentation' leaves smartphones vulnerable

In late October, researchers at North Carolina State University alerted Google to a security flaw that could let scam artists send phony text messages to Android phones — a practice called "smishing" that can ensnare consumers in fraud.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Tech
Jan 25, 2013

I still haven't found what I'm looking for ...

Thinking about Google over the last week, I have fallen into the typically procrastinatory habit of every so often typing the words "what is" or "what" or "wha" into the Google search box at the top right of my computer screen. Those prompts are all the omnipotent engine needs to inform me of the current...
CULTURE / Books
Jan 6, 2013

Complex tales of censorship in 20th-century Japan

THE ART OF CENSORSHIP IN POSTWAR JAPAN, by Kirsten Cather. University of Hawaii Press, 2012, 342 pp., $45.00 (hardcover) REDACTED: The Archives of Censorship in Transwar Japan, by Jonathan E. Abel. University of California Press, 2012, 376 pp., $44.95 (hardcover) Censorship in Japan has long been hot-button...
LIFE / Digital / TECH_JAPAN
Aug 15, 2012

Despite flaws, Rakuten is 1-0 against Amazon in Japan's e-book wars

Rakuten, Japan's largest online shopping mall — and a head-to-head rival of Amazon Japan that also hopes to expand its business globally — launched its first e-book reader, the Rakuten Kobo Touch, on July 19, getting the jump on the long anticipated Japanese release of Amazon's Kindle.

Longform

Professional cleaner Hirofumi Sakurai takes a moment to appreciate some photographs in a Gotanda apartment whose occupant died alone.
The last cleanup: Life and death in a lonely Japan