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Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Jan 16, 2018

The cosmic talents of Noriyoshi Ohrai

It must have been nonstop monsters, warships, hunks and epic boobage for much of Noriyoshi Ohrai's life.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Jan 16, 2018

University entrance exam question on Moomins series leaves Japanese students bewildered

A confusing question on the annual university entrance exam featuring hippopotamus-like creatures and Nordic languages left many Japanese high school students scratching their heads.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / 20 QUESTIONS
Jan 13, 2018

Mural painter can't relax in bathhouses

Name: Mizuki Tanaka
Japan Times
CULTURE / Books
Jan 13, 2018

Michael Booth returns with 'The Meaning of Rice'

Michael Booth is back. And once again with his family in tow. The British food writer first came to Japan with his Danish wife and two sons in 2008 in a bid to learn more about Japan and its food culture in a trip that took them from Hokkaido to Okinawa in three months. Booth turned their foodie adventure...
Japan Times
Figure Skating / ICE TIME
Jan 9, 2018

Ted Barton foresees rise in Japan skating, defends International Judging System

At last month's Grand Prix Final in Nagoya, Ice Time sat down with ISU announcer Ted Barton, whose voice is well known to Japanese skating fans, for a discussion on a wide range of skating issues, including the International Judging System.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Jan 2, 2018

Imagine a Palestinian movement led by Gandhi

Renouncing violence would go a long way toward reviving negotiations with Israel.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Voices / VIEWS FROM THE STREET
Dec 31, 2017

Views From Osaka: What are your hopes for yourself, Japan and the world for 2018?

Young people in Kansai's commercial hub talk about their wishes for the coming year.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink
Dec 31, 2017

A decade on, Shonan surfer is still making waves in the world of soba

Fate intervened when the heavens opened, guiding Ippei Hayashimoto on his path to mastery in the art of pure buckwheat noodles.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / Japan
Dec 24, 2017

Clear regulations needed for international schools

If the government allows some Japanese children to attend non-Article 1 schools, it should allow all Japanese children to do this.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / The Big Questions
Dec 24, 2017

Exceptional skills, passion needed to sell luxury goods

A 2017 report released by Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu Ltd. on luxury consumers identified two major interrelated trends for the year. The first shows how the essence of luxury is moving to an experiential focus, with the second seeing changing luxury shopper behavior demanding a more individualized response.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Media / BIG IN JAPAN
Dec 23, 2017

Men still making houses as women try to leave home

Dogen Ogata's name is known worldwide before he knows it himself. He's 8 months old. One day last month, in all innocence, cradled in his mother's arms, he attended a session of the Kumamoto municipal assembly.
COMMENTARY / World
Dec 20, 2017

Sex panic harkens back to the era of coddling women

The outcome of #BelieveAllWomen is no utopia. We've seen such a repressive regime before.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Stage
Dec 19, 2017

An outside perspective may be just what the Japanese stage needs

There aren't many non-Japanese people working in the world of Japanese theater. That's a shame, because often an outside perspective can help spot weaknesses that the majority aren't able to see.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / WHY DID YOU LEAVE JAPAN?
Dec 9, 2017

Artist Saeko Ando forms a bond with Vietnam

Vietnamese lacquer is the medium Aichi-native Ando chose to bring to life artistic ideas.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Dec 8, 2017

Paris to host Japonismes 2018 cultural expo to mark 160 years of diplomatic ties

Paris will host the Japonismes 2018 cultural exposition to commemorate the 160th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between France and Japan next year.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Dec 6, 2017

The EU's crisis starts at home

A deep divide within EU states poses the biggest threat to the European project.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Dec 6, 2017

Accepting Europe's anti-immigration parties

Europe's populist parties are deeply flawed, but their nativist outlook will become increasingly mainstream
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Dec 4, 2017

Homegrown food and technology target global audience

Showcasing the latest and the greatest in supermarket and food and beverage products, packaging, displays and fixtures, the 52nd Supermarket Trade Show 2018 (SMTS) will be held on Feb. 14, 15 and 16.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / The Big Questions
Dec 3, 2017

Global citizen keen to take on new environments

Fikdanel Thaufik cannot pinpoint exactly how many languages he speaks. 'For sure, Indonesian,' Thaufik said laughing. 'And English — that's international.' But as the vice president and representative of Garuda Indonesia's Japan, Korea, and U.S. regions slowly lists off languages, whereas most of us would recall time spent in a classroom or poring over textbooks, Thaufik appears to be flitting through memories of all the places he's lived and the countless people he has met throughout his life.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / Japan
Dec 3, 2017

Yes, this time is different: A new and strong Japan emerges

While the past decades were marked by defeatism and fatalism, today's Japan is marked by ambition, confidence and a newfound idealism.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / How-tos / LIFELINES
Nov 29, 2017

Students benefit from homestays without going overseas

Traveling overseas for a homestay to brush up their English or try life in another culture has become almost de rigueur for Japanese students, with many going as teenagers through their schools or as a private arrangement. However, the costs involved mean such an experience is often beyond the reach...
JAPAN
Nov 27, 2017

Nominees announced for Japan's sixth annual Black Company Awards

Hollywood's bad-film awards are not much more than a joke.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / Gourmet Trails
Nov 25, 2017

Slow food and easy pedaling along Seto Inland Sea's Shimanami Kaido

Japanese-Western fusion cuisine abounds along this six-island cycle path connecting Hiroshima to Ehime.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Media / BIG IN JAPAN
Nov 25, 2017

The popularity of the psychopath is a mind puzzle

Psychopaths, says neuroscientist Nobuko Nakano in her 2016 bestseller "Saikopasu" ("Psychopaths"), tend to share two personality traits. Freedom from fear and anxiety is one. Indifference to other people's feelings is another.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Nov 22, 2017

The Yoshida Brothers get in on Kubo's big adventure

Speaking as a Japanese person, I can't help but feel a short burst of national pride when Hollywood gives my country any kind of attention, like with the animated film "Kubo and the Two Strings."
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Nov 21, 2017

Hindu nationalists lay siege to the Taj Mahal

Hindu extremists have long considered it humiliating that a monument built by a Muslim emperor could be Hindu-majority India's most recognizable site. Now the Taj Mahal is being rejected even by India's own government.
Japan Times
LIFE / Travel
Nov 17, 2017

Communing with the gods in Hiroshima's kagura performances

Music and dance spectacle is part of Japan's rich performing arts heritage.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Nov 14, 2017

The music you didn't realize you grew up with: Chip Tanaka's 8-bit revolution

If you grew up during the 1980s or 1990s, there's a good chance that you spent more time listening to the music of Hirokazu Tanaka than to many of your favorite pop songs. Such was the reach of the work that the Kyoto native created during his nearly 20-year tenure as a sound designer at Nintendo, as...

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