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Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Mar 29, 2017

'Captain Fantastic': Fantastic viewing for all the family

Matt Ross is probably best known for his role in the HBO comedy series "Silicon Valley," where he plays the arrogant CEO Gavin Belson of Google-like IT giant Hooli. Belson is a man wired deep into the matrix, for whom nothing matters more than massive functionality in lossless cloud-based compression,...
LIFE / Language / MORNING ENGLISH
Mar 27, 2017

Let's discuss Henn na Hotel coming to Kanto

Major travel agency H.I.S. Co. celebrates the opening of its second robot-staffed Henn na Hotel.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC
Mar 27, 2017

Popular Thai city launches 'Happy Zone' in bid to clean up notorious image

With mascots dressed as smiling fish and a police rock band, Thai authorities launched a "Happy Zone" at the weekend to improve the image of a city notorious for sex tourism.
COMMENTARY / World
Mar 26, 2017

The China-South Korea trade war must end

As long as North Korea poses such an acute threat, China's opposition to the THAAD missile defense system is pointless — and highly destructive.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Media / BIG IN JAPAN
Mar 25, 2017

Radiation brings fear, and kids let it all out

Children too young, one might think, to even know the word 'radiation' have picked it up and flung it with gleeful malice at disoriented new classmates who have enough to cope with already.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Mar 21, 2017

Germany's past: from shame to fascination?

Having a healthy relationship with the past is good as long as its lessons are not forgotten.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Stage
Mar 21, 2017

Modern dramatist's 'dark and gorgeous' kabuki tests famed brothers

Life and death are major themes for artists, and for dramatists no less.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / BLACK EYE
Mar 19, 2017

Black Women in Japan group gears up for its first big bash

Back in the summer of 2015, I did a series of articles where I profiled black women married to Japanese men, discussing the highs and lows of building and maintaining such relationships, as well as the rewards and challenges of raising biracial children here in Japan.
Japan Times
CULTURE
Mar 19, 2017

Brazilian YouTubers Prit and Lohgann are channeling their daily bread in Japan

Japan is a real wonderland when it comes to neat little toys, gadgets and fun candies — navigating the variety of Kit Kats alone could be its own article. If you're new to the country, it may be hard to tell which treats are worth your yen, and that's where YouTube helps.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Mar 18, 2017

Asking the tough questions on Fukushima

In January, regional newspaper Fukushima Minpo interviewed Yosuke Takagi, state minister of economy, trade and industry. While talking about reconstruction plans for areas near the crippled Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant, Takagi mentioned resurrecting Dash-mura (Dash Village), a farm created from...
BUSINESS
Mar 16, 2017

North Korean hacking group likely behind recent attacks on banks

A North Korean hacking group known as Lazarus was likely behind a recent campaign targeting organizations in 31 countries, following high-profile attacks on Bangladesh Bank, Sony and South Korea, cybersecurity firm Symantec Corp. said on Wednesday.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Mar 15, 2017

'Strange' hotel, run by robots, opens near Tokyo; more to come

Major travel agency H.I.S. Co. on Wednesday celebrated the opening of its second robot-staffed Henn na Hotel. The new location is near the Tokyo Disney Resort in Urayasu, Chiba Prefecture.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Mar 15, 2017

'Sing': Pigs can't fly but they sure can sing

'Sing" is brought to us by Illumination Entertainment — the animation studio that brought the "Despicable Me" series and last year's sleeper hit "The Secret Life of Pets." In many ways it's "La-La Land" with animals. In a color-filled, LA-like town inhabited by non-Homo sapiens in human clothing, a...
Japan Times
LIFE / Travel
Mar 11, 2017

Unlocking Tokyo's history one step at a time with guided walking tours

Tokyo has never had a reputation for being walkable.
ASIA PACIFIC
Mar 4, 2017

China launches new ship for South China Sea cruises

A new Chinese cruise ship has embarked on its maiden voyage to the disputed Paracel Islands in the South China Sea, the official Xinhua News Agency said on Friday, the latest effort by Beijing to bolster its claims in the strategic waterway.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Entertainment news
Mar 3, 2017

Disney to feature first gay scene in 'Beauty and the Beast'

Disney will feature its first gay scene when a character is seen struggling with his sexuality in the live-action remake of 'Beauty and the Beast', according to the film's director.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Tech
Mar 3, 2017

Bitcoin 'creator' races to patent technology with gambling tycoon

The man who last year made global headlines by claiming to be Satoshi Nakamoto, the creator of bitcoin, is working with a fugitive online gambling entrepreneur to file scores of patents relating to the digital currency and its underlying technology, blockchain.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Mar 1, 2017

'Snow Woman': chillingly modern

The Japanese folklore story of the "Snow Woman" has been told in many places, in many ways, and in many versions, but best-known is that of Lafcadio Hearn, the Greek-Irish writer who published it in his 1904 collection, "Kwaidan: Stories and Studies of Strange Things."
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC
Feb 28, 2017

Malaysia to charge women in Kim Jong Nam killing

Two women — an Indonesian and a Vietnamese — will be charged on Wednesday with murder over the killing in Malaysia of the estranged half-brother of North Korea's leader, Malaysia's attorney general said.
COMMUNITY / Voices / COMMUNITY CHEST
Feb 23, 2017

In case you missed them: a year of responses to Community stories, part 1

The first in a series of selections of unpublished letters about Community stories from the year just passed.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Feb 22, 2017

'La La Land': Sometimes we need a trip to la-la land

La-la land: the mental state of someone who is not aware of what is really happening, and a nickname for the American entertainment industry centered on Los Angeles. These two meanings bleed into each other in director Damien Chazelle's multi-Oscar-nominated musical, "La La Land," which is about a state...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Stage
Feb 22, 2017

CITA 'usher' points to need for a Japan theater shakeup

You won't be alone if you've never heard of the Tokyo-based International Centre for Theatre Arts, because few have seen any plays it has staged and anyway its focus is firmly on building a reputation outside Japan.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / BLACK EYE
Feb 19, 2017

For African-American ‘idol’ Amina du Jean, difference is a double-edged sword

Amina du Jean been in Japan for only 2u00bd years, but in that time has become a bona fide idol, joined a J-idol group and even branched off into a bit of gravure (bikini) modeling.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Feb 14, 2017

'Parody and Intertextuality: Visual Culture in Japan Around the 1970s'

Feb. 18-April 16
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Feb 13, 2017

'Boy-band governor' surges in S. Korean presidential poll as Ban Ki-moon drops out of race

A provincial governor nicknamed after a leading boy-band is surging in South Korean presidential polls following former United Nations chief Ban Ki-moon's announcement that he would not run in an election that could come within months.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Feb 10, 2017

Benedict Cumberbatch and Tilda Swinton bring their unique talents to the characters of 'Doctor Strange'

Chris Evans, Chris Pratt, Chris Hemsworth — all of them look like naturals when it comes to playing superheroes. Benedict Cumberbatch? Not as much. Though audiences love him as the new Sherlock Holmes, that iconic role has never been described as a superhero.

Longform

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