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Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / KONBINI WATCH
Jan 19, 2019

This winter's convenience store steam buns are anything but boring

Nothing can make a cold winter day feel a little better than a piping-hot steam bun from the convenience store, and two recent offerings from Lawson and FamilyMart have delivered on both novelty and taste.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Media / Japan Pulse
Jan 19, 2019

Organizing guru Marie Kondo sparks plenty of joy on social media

A new year in Japan means it’s time for ōsōji, the annual cleaning of one’s home. And, right on schedule, Netflix has released “Tidying Up with Marie Kondo” to give us all some inspiration — or make us feel guilty for putting it off.
Japan Times
SUMO
Jan 19, 2019

Sumo 101: Championship portraits

One of the most striking features of Ryogoku Kokugikan is the ring of giant portraits hanging from the rafters.
Japan Times
Jan 16, 2019

FROSK, Inc.: Support for Korean Mobile App Developers! SmartBeat, the Smartphone App Crash Detection and Analytics Tool, Is Free for 30 Days!

TOKYO – Japan based FROSK, Inc. is offering a special campaign just for Korean app developers, its smartphone app crash detection and analytics tool, SmartBeat, free for 30 days!
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / Japan
Jan 15, 2019

How will AI change international politics?

The AI revolution will have an immense impact on global power politics, but Japan may get left behind.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Jan 15, 2019

'Boars Galore': The Year of the Boar finally gets its day

Despite being among the least popular, revered or symbolically loaded of zodiac animals, the boar still holds an aesthetic presence.
Japan Times
Figure Skating / ICE TIME
Jan 15, 2019

Takahiko Kozuka aiming to enrich skating

When a skater's career comes to an end, they are often faced with a difficult choice about how to proceed with their life.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Jan 14, 2019

Does forgiveness have a place in the #MeToo movement?

Second or even third chances are essential in life, but questions of forgiveness aren't easy.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Regional voices: Chubu
Jan 14, 2019

Torn between airplanes and Japanese arts, former Air Self-Defense Force officer debuts as geisha in Gifu

A 32-year-old woman who used to serve in the Air Self-Defense Force debuted last month as a geiko — another term used to refer to geisha — in Gifu, a city known for having a unique tradition of entertaining guests on riverboats with geisha performances and ukai cormorant fishing.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Jan 13, 2019

How inequality hampers economic growth

With job and income polarization having increased across all developed economies, the unrest in France should serve as a wake-up call to others.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink
Jan 12, 2019

A rare glimpse into the world of Japan's cozy snack bars

Cigarette smoke wafts across rows of whisky and shōchū bottles with dedicated name tags draped around the necks as an elderly man, microphone in hand, belts out a Showa Era enka tune playing on the karaoke machine.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Jan 12, 2019

Japan's vernacular press coverage tiptoes around tattoo controversy

Before the Olympic Games come to Tokyo in the summer of 2020, Japan will get a chance to prove its mettle as an international sporting events host with the Rugby World Cup this fall. The games will be spread out among 12 stadiums nationwide, which means the whole country will be the focus rather than...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Jan 10, 2019

Perfume goes back to dance basics ahead of Coachella debut

Perfume keeps finding new opportunities more than 15 years into its career. This spring, the electro-pop trio embarks on its latest international tour, with stops in Asia and North America, but the real development comes at the very end of that jaunt when the group plays the Coachella Valley Music and...
Japan Times
JAPAN / Politics / Regional Voices: Okinawa
Jan 10, 2019

Mayor blasts Okinawa Gov. Denny Tamaki as Ginowan city abstains from vote on Henoko land reclamation

Amid long-standing political wrangling over construction of a new U.S. base in Okinawa, the mayor of the city of Ginowan in the prefecture has said the municipality will not participate in a prefectural referendum set to be held over reclamation of land in order to build the new military facility, and...
Japan Times
MORE SPORTS
Jan 9, 2019

'Shoe wars' target Japan's endurance runners

As the Tokyo-Hakone Round-Trip College Ekiden Race has grown into one of Japan's biggest sporting competitions, the event has increasingly become somewhat of a showcase event for running shoe manufacturers.
Japan Times
SOCCER / J. League / J. LEAGUE NOTEBOOK
Jan 9, 2019

J. League bids farewell to era-defining group of legends

There are few praises which have not already been sung for Yokohama F. Marinos defender Yuji Nakazawa and Nagoya Grampus goalkeeper Seigo Narazaki, both of whom announced their retirement on Tuesday.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Jan 8, 2019

With new 777 on the way, time runs out on government's 747 for VIPs

The government's official aircraft for VIPs will be decommissioned at the end of March after carrying prime ministers and Imperial family members for a quarter of a century.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Regional voices: Chubu
Jan 7, 2019

Traffic safety-conscious group of bald men in Mie Prefecture breaks up due to aging

In 1985, about 30 bald men in their 30s who were running businesses in Matsusaka, Mie Prefecture, created a group called Hagetemo Katsura wo Kaburan Kai, which roughly translates to a group of men who won't wear wigs even if they go bald.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink
Jan 6, 2019

Should we all be having nightcaps?

Where does the term 'nightcap' come from, and what exactly does it mean?
Japan Times
LIFE / Lifestyle
Jan 5, 2019

Examining Japan's traditional paper trail

As temperatures drop across the country, washi makers nationwide enter their peak production season.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink
Jan 5, 2019

Buoys, fisheries and aquaculture join the internet of things

Combining technology and data, the 'internet of things' matches supply and demand, increasing the chances of unwanted fish being returned to the sea alive and making seafood more sustainable.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Books
Jan 5, 2019

Singaporean publisher mines Asia's wealth of short stories

Two stories by Japan-based writers appear in the "The Best Asian Short Stories 2018" anthology published by Kitaab in Singapore.
Japan Times
LIFE / Travel / BACKSTREET STORIES
Jan 4, 2019

Exploring Jiyugaoka's venerable shopping arcade

Winter winds whistle as I exit Jiyugaoka Station in Tokyo's Meguro Ward, surrounded by a flock of boisterous high school students in black uniforms. Their joyous chatter as we walk into brilliant sunshine at the station's main exit reminds me that the station and area was named in 1930 for a nearby high...
Japan Times
JAPAN / Regional voices: Chubu
Jan 3, 2019

Japanese kamikiri performer's elaborate pieces draw interest from readers of Nagoya newspaper

Hayashiya Niraku is a 51-year-old practitioner of kamikiri, a Japanese performance art that involves cutting silhouette images out of a plain piece of paper based on requests from the audience. Adding to the challenge, artists create their pieces without drawing an outline beforehand.

Longform

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