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Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC
Jan 12, 2020

China's navy commissions biggest and 'most powerful' surface warship

China's navy commissioned its biggest and most advanced surface warship yet, the Nanchang guided-missile destroyer, on Sunday morning in the port city of Qingdao, state media reported.
Japan Times
LIFE / Travel / BACKSTREET STORIES
Jan 11, 2020

Kokubunji: Signs of the times on Tokyo's western front

Named for its temple, history and legend flow through Kokubunji.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Regional voices: Chubu
Jan 10, 2020

Made in central Japan: Chubu bets on Tokyo Olympics to boost sales of local produce

With the Tokyo Olympics and Paralympics taking place this year, prefectures in the Chubu region are eager to make the sporting event an opportunity to promote their local produce.
Japan Times
Jan 9, 2020

500th ship of TSUNEISHI SHIPBUILDING’s long-selling TESS series completed - An eco-ship that has continued to evolve for 30 years

On November 15, 2019, TSUNEISHI SHIPBUILDING Co., Ltd. (HQ: 1083 Tsuneishi, Numakuma-cho, Fukuyama, Hiroshima, Japan; President: Kenji Kawano) constructed and delivered the 500th ship of its long-selling environmentally-friendly bulk carrier of TESS series at its shipbuilding site, TSUNEISHI HEAVY INDUSTRIES...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Jan 9, 2020

'Complicity': Heartfelt film serves up food for the soul

Indie director Kei Chikaura's first feature — and winner of the Audience Award at Tokyo Filmex — avoids cliches in its realistic portrayal of Japan-China understanding.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / Japan
Jan 6, 2020

Identifying Trump's weak points

The U.S. president's flaws can be exploited in future negotiations.
Japan Times
LIFE / Travel / HOTELS & RESTAURANTS
Jan 2, 2020

Strawberry desserts bursting with flair

Japan's love affair with strawberries remains unabated at ANA InterContinental Tokyo, with the Strawberry Sensation 2020 extravaganza, using approximately 7,000 kilograms of strawberries, scheduled to run from Jan. 15 until May 31.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / Japan
Dec 30, 2019

Beacons in the stormy seas of 2020

Japan should focus on major currents and not be misled by less important events or episodes in the coming year.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / NATURE'S PANTRY
Dec 28, 2019

Why is vegan shōjin ryōri cuisine so deeply compelling?

Japan's vegan temple food, shu014djin ryu014dri, is rooted in hundreds of years of tradition. What keeps the practice alive and relevant today?
Japan Times
JAPAN / Regional Voices: Kyushu
Dec 27, 2019

Critics assail secrecy over unexploded chemical weapons left by Imperial Japanese Army

At the end of World War II, the Imperial Japanese Army left a number of unexploded shells filled with poison gas used as munitions. In the 2000s, when such artillery shells were discovered and retrieved from the seabed off the coastal town of Kanda, Fukuoka Prefecture, the central government issued an...
Japan Times
JAPAN / Regional voices: Chubu
Dec 27, 2019

VR builds bridge between staff and young detainees with developmental disorders in Japan

One day in mid-November, instructors at the Miyagawa medical reformatory, which treats delinquent teenage boys with developmental disorders, in Ise, Mie Prefecture, experienced how people with the disabilities perceive the world by wearing virtual reality goggles and watching a video.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Regional Voices: Okinawa
Dec 27, 2019

Okinawa residents live in fear of stray munitions from U.S. practice range

The proximity of Okinawa Prefecture's Igei Ward in the town of Kin to a U.S. Marine Corps live shooting range puts residents at constant risk of stray bullets and other munitions landing on private property, ripping through roofs or even injuring civilians.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Regional Voices: Fukushima
Dec 27, 2019

Tokyo Olympic torchbearers from Fukushima hope event showcases recovery

Applicants across Japan have begun receiving notification that they were selected to run in the Japan leg of the Tokyo 2020 Olympic torch relay that will kick off on March 26 at the J-Village soccer facility in Fukushima Prefecture, where efforts to recover from the 2011 Great East Japan Earthquake and...
Japan Times
CULTURE / 2019 in Review
Dec 27, 2019

In video games, 2019 was the year of Death Stranding

The year saw an array of original titles hit the shelves, alongside a selection of reboots of existing francihses
Japan Times
WORLD / Society
Dec 24, 2019

No Christmas Mass at Notre Dame for the first time since Napoleon

For the first time in more than 200 years, worshippers will not be able to celebrate Christmas Mass at Notre Dame cathedral, still being restored after a devastating fire.
Japan Times
LIFE / Lifestyle / 2019 in Review
Dec 22, 2019

Japanese trends you couldn't have missed in 2019

Amid the hard news of the past year, there were some trends that lit up Japan's media offered the nation a sense of, if not a little hope, at least some relief.
Japan Times
CULTURE
Dec 21, 2019

Jomon revival: Interest in Japan's indigenous hunter-gathers grows

From his hilltop studio in the suburbs of Tokyo, Taku Oshima is reviving an ancient form of body art tradition he believes was practiced by the indigenous hunter-gatherers that inhabited Japan thousands of years ago.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / DESSERT WATCH
Dec 21, 2019

Milksha: 'Fresh Milk' bubble tea gets some fresh new flavors

There's a plethora of subpar bubble tea shops out there. Fortunately, Milksha is not one of them.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Tech
Dec 18, 2019

Toyota to use advanced self-driving tech in commercial vehicles first

Toyota Motor Corp. plans to first deploy advanced self-driving features in commercial vehicles before adding them to cars meant for personal use, a senior official at the Japanese automaker said Tuesday.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC
Dec 17, 2019

China's first domestically built aircraft carrier enters service 'at doorstep of South China Sea'

China announced the delivery and commissioning Tuesday of its second aircraft carrier — the first built domestically — while also revealing its name, the Shandong, state-run media reported.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art / 2019 in Review
Dec 17, 2019

Creative expression stifled by 'safety concerns' in Japan

As the taboo-busting comic Joan Rivers used to say after pressing her audience's buttons, 'Can we talk?' On the evidence of this year's Aichi Triennale, if it's about World War II atrocities, the answer seems to be 'no.'
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Companies
Dec 17, 2019

Honda to release Japan's first domestic 'level three' autonomous car

Honda Motor Co. will be the first automaker in Japan to release a domestically produced car with "level three" autonomy, according to sources.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Dec 16, 2019

Shareholder activism rises in Japan as firms go hostile and investors speak out

Record shareholder activism is combining with rare hostile takeover bids in Japan, in a trend that's seen as good news for investors in the country's ¥675 trillion stock market.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Regional voices: Chubu
Dec 13, 2019

Aichi city hires non-Japanese assistants to support foreign children at elementary schools

During a recent math class at an elementary school in Aichi Prefecture, Kamila Tamy Tida Miyamoto, 31, a Brazilian school assistant, pointed to the textbooks of Aika and Ayumi, second-grade Brazilian students who enrolled this year, as she explained concepts to them in Portuguese.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Regional Voices: Hokkaido
Dec 13, 2019

U.S. digital publisher boosts reach of Japanese 'light novels' in English-speaking world

"Isekai Rebuilding Project," a fantasy novel by a Hokkaido-based writer who publishes under the pseudonym Yukika Minamino, has become available to English-reading audiences through a website run by an American digital publisher of Japanese novels aimed at teenagers and young adults.
Japan Times
Rugby
Dec 13, 2019

Rising wheelchair rugby star Katsuya Hashimoto looks to show the world what he's made of

At 17 years old, Katsuya Hashimoto is the youngest wheelchair rugby player on the Japanese national team. With less than 300 days until the opening ceremony of the Paralympic Games, he often pictures himself on the court at the 2020 venue, ready for his first competition as a Paralympian.

Longform

Construction takes place on the Takanawa Gateway Convention Center in Tokyo, slated to open in 2025.
A boom for business tourism in Japan?