Search - features

 
 
Japan Times
JAPAN / Politics / Regional Voices: Hokkaido
Aug 30, 2019

In Hokkaido, Japan's youngest governor seen as 'safe driver,' but critics want him to go off script

When 38-year-old Naomichi Suzuki was elected governor of Hokkaido in April, he simultaneously achieved another feat: becoming the youngest serving prefectural leader in the nation.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Regional Voices: Kyushu
Aug 30, 2019

Remains of North Korean spy vessel crew rest alongside war victims in Kagoshima

In the corner of a cemetery near the central part of the city of Kagoshima stands an independent ossuary. The charnel house, administered by the Kagoshima Municipal Government, is home to unidentified people who lost their lives in the bombings of the city during World War II. But few people know that...
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Companies / Regional voices: Chubu
Aug 30, 2019

When it comes to foreign hires, restaurant chains in Japan's Chubu region are taking a long view

Amid a continuing labor shortage in the food service industry, major restaurant chains in the Chubu region are hiring an increasing number of foreign workers who have just graduated from universities in Japan.
Japan Times
South Africa report 2019
Aug 30, 2019

Suzuki: A way of life in South Africa

The importance of South Africa’s automotive sector cannot be overstated.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Aug 28, 2019

JR East and Tokyo Metro to debut special IC cards aimed at tourists

From Sunday, visitors to Japan will be able to go cashless while traveling across the country, with major rail operators set to release new rechargeable prepaid transportation IC cards for tourists.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Aug 28, 2019

'Mugen Foundation': When adolescence becomes too much

The seishun eiga (youth film) is not exclusive to Japan — plenty of films from elsewhere deal with the joys and agonies of adolescence — but this popular genre has acquired certain only-in-Japan quirks.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Aug 27, 2019

'Awakening Photographs: Michiko Kon + Tokihiro Sato'

Sept. 1-Dec. 27
BASKETBALL
Aug 27, 2019

Expectations rise for Japan at 32-team FIBA World Cup

Making its fifth-ever appearance at the FIBA World Cup, Japan will dispatch arguably its best-ever squad on the global stage.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Economy / TICAD 7 Special
Aug 27, 2019

Strengthening bilateral ties at business fair

A record number of over 150 Japanese organizations from the private and public sectors are set to showcase their latest technology to visiting African leaders and officials at an exhibition in Yokohama on the sidelines of The Seventh Tokyo International Conference on African Development (TICAD 7).
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Aug 26, 2019

Trump's true foreign policy: chaos

It took 70 years to build the interagency process that brought structure and discipline to U.S. leadership. It took less than three years for one man to shred it.
Japan Times
BASEBALL / Japanese Baseball / Sac Bunts
Aug 26, 2019

U.S. fan uses trading cards as one way to stay on top of Japanese baseball

If you went out in search of a dedicated Japanese baseball card enthusiast, you might not think to look in Maryland.
LIFE / Language / MORNING ENGLISH
Aug 26, 2019

Let's discuss smartphone payment security

Seven & I Holdings Co. says it will scrap a smartphone payment service just one month after launching it to allow security issues to be addressed in the wake of a hacking.
TENNIS
Aug 25, 2019

Kei Nishikori still looking for way around 'Big Three' roadblock

It's been five years since Kei Nishikori upset Novak Djokovic in the semifinals of the U.S. Open to secure his first, and so far only, appearance in a Grand Slam final.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / DESSERT WATCH
Aug 24, 2019

A people-pleasing panda pudding platter

If variety's the key to pleasing your sweet tooth, then Chateraise's new panda-themed dessert tray is the one for you.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Regional Voices: Okinawa
Aug 23, 2019

Chinese became largest foreign community in Okinawa in 2018, excluding U.S. military personnel

Chinese people became the largest group of foreign nationals living in Okinawa Prefecture in 2018, surpassing American residents — excluding personnel on U.S. military bases and their dependents — for the first time since a new calculation method was employed in 2012.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Companies / Regional voices: Chubu
Aug 23, 2019

Toyota group firms test out labor-saving prototype products at Gifu shopping mall

Major component-makers of the Toyota group have launched an experiment of letting consumers and shop staff try their products under development at a shopping mall in the city of Gifu.
LIFE / Travel / HOTELS & RESTAURANTS
Aug 22, 2019

Exquisite cuisine celebrates timeless art

The renowned Imperial Hotel, Tokyo brings new meaning to the term, "the art of fine dining," at French restaurant La Brasserie until Sept. 4 through a tie-up with the "Timeless Mucha: Mucha to Manga — The Magic of Line" exhibition on show at The Bunkamura Museum of Art.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Aug 21, 2019

'Dance With Me': Short on laughs, but big on energy

The Japanese film industry has made many musical films, but almost no Hollywood-style musicals. One reason why is Eizo Sugawa's "You Can Succeed, Too" (1964), a singing, dancing salaryman musical inspired by the Broadway hit "How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying." Billed by the Toho studio...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Aug 20, 2019

Minimalism: Not as straightforward as it seems

It's 100 years since the Bauhaus art and design school first opened in Weimar, Germany, and the new Muji flagship store in Ginza is as good a venue as any to hold an anniversary exhibition celebrating the values of simple, affordable modernist design.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Aug 20, 2019

'Flapping Colors'

Aug. 23-Sept. 29
Japan Times
Figure Skating / ICE TIME
Aug 20, 2019

Nana Araki looks for leap in crucial season

Now is the time for accomplished junior Nana Araki to shine.
BUSINESS / Tech
Aug 17, 2019

British mall tested facial recognition of shoppers

A British mall that scanned shoppers using facial-recognition cameras said on Friday it is no longer using technology that advocacy groups called a threat to privacy.
Japan Times
CULTURE / TV & Streaming / 'Terrace House Tokyo 2019-2020' Recaps
Aug 16, 2019

Ep. 12 'Always Chillin"

For this week's episode of "Terrace House," we are back to familiar territory. No more explosive fights and unexpected nude scenes. Instead, we have what the die-hard fans expect: slow-burning love and close ups of tasty food.
Japan Times
LIFE / Travel
Aug 16, 2019

Gujo-Hachiman: Travel along the rivers of time

Perhaps it is the gurgling brooks that feed the town's roadside culverts, the colorful, vaguely Pyrenean window boxes, or the friendly, natural disposition of the locals — Gujo-Hachiman seems a place where people's spirits are pitched a notch or two higher than elsewhere.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Aug 15, 2019

Choose your acts wisely at this year's Summer Sonic

The 2019 edition of the Summer Sonic music festival, held concurrently in Tokyo and Osaka from Aug. 16 to 18, marks the 20th anniversary of the gathering. Though that's not the only special twist gracing an event offering the experiences of a big musical outing in the comfort of a metropolis.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Stage
Aug 13, 2019

The Theatre Olympics goes back to its roots for ninth iteration

Since the late 1970s, people from all over the world have traveled to the village of Toga in rural Toyama Prefecture to attend Tadashi Suzuki's renowned acting classes or to see the Suzuki Company of Toga (SCOT) and other invited artists perform at the site's specially crafted indoor and outdoor theater...

Longform

Visitors walk past Sou Fujimoto's Grand Ring, which has been recognized as the largest wooden structure in the world.
Can a World Expo still matter? Japan is about to find out.