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Japan Times
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Nov 11, 2017

Fuji TV's wishful thinking is food for thought

Since 1987, Fuji TV has owned Monday night, specifically the 9 to 10 p.m. time slot, when it broadcasts fluffy romantic drama series starring the season's hottest actress and often a prominent member of a boy band.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Voices / FOREIGN AGENDA
Nov 8, 2017

When 'Charisma Man' in Japan meets 'chikan,' women get hurt

Perhaps my own failing was not to challenge the locker-room code — not with the wagging finger of a spoiler, but as a man who is also learning.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Nov 8, 2017

Klassik Underground attempts to shake up your typical classical music performance

Roppongi isn't the first place that jumps to mind when you're looking to have a night out with Beethoven. A concert hall with plush velvet seats, women in pearls listening to Symphony No. 9 — that's more of a Ginza thing.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Companies / Taking the Lead
Nov 5, 2017

Yoshiharu Hoshino: Inn innovator's winning formula born from bubble's crash

Yoshiharu Hoshino describes his experience taking over the reins of his century-old family business in 1991 as a "hard landing."
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Oct 31, 2017

What makes a National Treasure?

Together, Japan's National Treasures provide a cacophonous ode to the nation and its heritage for its historical, cultural, geographical and stylistic dissonances. Yet, this is the first time in 41 years that 210 such works (or sets) have been displayed en masse.
EDITORIALS
Oct 30, 2017

A turning point in the war on sexual harassment?

The solution to the problem of sexual harassment lies in lifting the sense of immunity that perpetrators feel.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / Japan
Oct 29, 2017

Why do Japanese have trouble learning English?

If the government wants to improve students' proficiency in English, it should increase the time they spend studying the language.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Media / BIG IN JAPAN
Oct 28, 2017

Limit the damage on office battlefields

What a nest of vipers an office is! Tens, hundreds, thousands of people, supposedly united in a common enterprise — yet if looks could kill, how many would make it alive through the day?
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / LEARNING CURVE
Oct 25, 2017

Bicultural families in Japan take the educational road less traveled

Parents of international children share their diverse stories from inside and outside Japan's state school system.
Japan Times
CULTURE / CULTURE SMASH
Oct 22, 2017

Anime tourism invites overseas fans to join festivities

Yuwaku Onsen is a 1,300-year-old hot-springs resort tucked between mountains along the Asano River south of Kanazawa. Ten mid-size traditional inns line its slim main street, leading to a small hillside shrine and a man-made pond.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Oct 17, 2017

Koganecho: An old site in a new light

Koganecho Bazaar 2017's “Double Facade: Multiple Ways to Encounter the Other” show is a bit of a mess.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Companies / Taking the Lead
Oct 16, 2017

Ippudo ramen chain credits its global success to localized tastes

Toshiyuki Kiyomiya likes to compare ramen to a carefully arranged universe in a bowl.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / Japan
Oct 15, 2017

The need for more proactive communications

Businesses and brands must be prepared to default to more diversity rather than homogeneity in their relations with stakeholders and consumers.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / WHY DID YOU LEAVE JAPAN?
Oct 14, 2017

Sound artist Aki Onda explores memory through sound

'I never miss Japan,' says New York resident Aki Onda. 'Now I have a distance — that's why I enjoy going back to Tokyo.'
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / Japan
Oct 8, 2017

Freeing Japanese from English trauma

Recently, I have seen two trends going on regarding English communication skills in Japan. One is the heightened interest in developing English skills among young children. The other is the high expectation for auto-translation, particularly for English-Japanese.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Oct 8, 2017

Japan has much to teach America about guns

Owning a gun in Japan is not viewed as a freedom equalizer. It's seen as a social disruption to the smooth and peaceful rhythm of daily life.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Oct 7, 2017

Hiroshi Sugimoto: The illusion of architecture

The renowned artist made a name for himself by capturing time in a photograph. Now he attempts to do the same with an art complex in Odawara ...
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / WHY DID YOU LEAVE JAPAN?
Oct 7, 2017

Monk Kaishun Nishigaya's voyage from Japan to Seattle, Alaska and Saipan

Nishigaya was offered a resident ministry at Seattle Nichiren Buddhist Church and, undeterred by the 14-day journey by ship to reach the United States, snapped it up.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Books
Oct 7, 2017

'Kotan Chronicles: Selected Poems 1928-1943': Translating poetry about the Ainu and frontier life in Hokkaido

Poetry can be a vital record of the past. Anarchist and poet Genzo Sarashina (1904-1985) was the son of first-generation Japanese settlers in Hokkaido. Later he became an expert on Ainu culture, working tirelessly to conserve the language, fables and songs of Japan's indigenous peoples and publishing...
Japan Times
MORE SPORTS
Oct 1, 2017

Former ekiden star Kashiwabara brings new fans to football

Ryuji Kashiwabara used to be called "God of the Mountain" when he starred in Tokyo-Hakone collegiate ekiden from 2009 to 2012.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC
Oct 1, 2017

Tea and Tiananmen: Inside China's new censorship machine

In a glass tower in a trendy part of China's eastern city of Tianjin, hundreds of young men and women sit in front of computer screens, scouring the internet for videos and messages that run counter to Communist Party doctrine.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Sep 27, 2017

Osaka court rules tattoo artist's work violated medical law, was not art or expression

An Osaka tattoo artist was found guilty Wednesday of violating the Medical Practitioners' Law in a case that drew international attention to Japan's tattoo culture.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / 20 QUESTIONS
Sep 23, 2017

Mayuko Okada's last meal: Pancakes over nattō

Japanese cooking teacher on the joys of Bills' famous creation and fermented soybeans.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Books / ESSENTIAL READING FOR JAPANOPHILES
Sep 23, 2017

'One Piece': Manga still popular, influential after two decades

Eiichiro Oda's long-running contemporary manga "One Piece" is the undisputed king of Japanese pop culture today.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Sep 19, 2017

'Aoyama Satoru: News from Nowhere'

Sept. 20-Oct. 21
Japan Times
CULTURE / Books
Sep 16, 2017

'Bushido and the Art of Living': Lessons from Japan's 'way of the warrior'

What we learn by the end of this urbanely written, empirically tested book is that Bushido is not merely a set of strategies for combat but a system of thinking eminently suited to preparing us for life and all its concealed hazards.
EDITORIALS
Sep 16, 2017

Tussle over music copyright fees

Music content providers and music class operators should make every effort to find middle ground so they can ensure the healthy development of music education while duly protecting the rights of copyright holders.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Companies
Sep 12, 2017

How Honda lost its mojo, and the mission to get it back

The driver punched the air as his red and white McLaren-Honda roared over the finish line. It was in Suzuka, Mie Prefecture, 1988, and Ayrton Senna had just become Formula One world champion for the first time. The McLaren racing team and its engine maker, Honda Motor, were unstoppable that year, their...
Japan Times
JAPAN / Society
Sep 9, 2017

Confronting youth suicide: Seeking ways to stop young people from taking their own lives

A grand piano stands silently in a tatami room at Naoko Nakashima's home in Toride, Ibaraki Prefecture. It has not been played in almost two years.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Sep 7, 2017

Nazis and elite hipsters

German Deputy Finance Minister Jens Spahn's apparent bet on the rise of Trump-style populism is risky.

Longform

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