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Japan Times
Rugby / ADDING THE EXTRAS
Aug 30, 2018

Intense season awaits Top League

The 2018-19 Top League season kicks off Friday with plenty of changes to the format both on and off the field as the Japan Rugby Football Union looks to do all it can to ensure the Brave Blossoms are at their peak when Japan hosts the 2019 Rugby World Cup.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Companies
Aug 28, 2018

Toyota to invest $500 million in Uber for development of self-driving cars

Toyota Motor Corp. will invest $500 million in Uber to jointly work on developing self-driving cars, the companies said Monday, in a bid by both firms to catch up with rivals in the hotly competitive autonomous driving business.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Regional voices: Chubu
Aug 27, 2018

University student cycles from Aichi to Miyagi to spread messages of hope from disaster victims

Kenshi Yamamoto, a 20-year-old university student from Toyohashi, Aichi Prefecture, made a 1,746 kilometer round-trip bicycle journey earlier this month to Kesennuma, Miyagi Prefecture, to challenge post-disaster media coverage that he believes focuses excessively on depressing news.
Japan Times
PARALYMPICS
Aug 24, 2018

Para Arena a barrier-free home base for athletes

With the start of the 2020 Tokyo Paralympics just two years away, para athletes have begun to ramp up preparations and intensify their training. But many face major disadvantages due to a lack of training facilities with features such as air conditioning or barrier-free entrances.
Japan Times
WORLD / Crime & Legal
Aug 23, 2018

White House denies Trump wrongdoing after Michael Cohen plea deal

The White House pushed back forcefully on Wednesday against suggestions that a plea deal struck by President Donald Trump's former lawyer Michael Cohen implicated Trump in a crime.
SOCCER
Aug 22, 2018

Ichiritsu Funabashi becomes Japan's first public school to sign uniform deal for soccer team

Ichiritsu Funabashi High School announced a partnership with job listing site MyNavi on Tuesday, becoming the first public school in the country to sign a uniform sponsor for its soccer club.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Aug 22, 2018

'Ponoc Short Films Theatre, Vol. 1: Modest Heroes': An anime studio's modest break with norms

"Modest Heroes" studio Ponoc was founded by producer Yoshiaki Nishimura, formerly of Ghibli, just as that legendary anime studio decided to cool its jets back in 2014. Ponoc's debut feature, last year's "Mary and the Witch's Flower," established it as a kind of Ghibli 2, a place where Ghibli alums could...
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Aug 21, 2018

Mobile phone operators take ¥1 trillion blow after Suga says bills could be cut 40%

Wireless carriers tumbled in Tokyo after the government's spokesman said they have room to cut phone bills by about 40 percent, sparking concern that lawmakers will renew a push for greater competition in a sector dominated by three big players.
Japan Times
Aug 21, 2018

Construction and Delivery of "Ferry KUDAKA III", Connecting Kudaka Island and the Main Island of Okinawa

On August 8, 2018, TSUNEISHI FACILITIES & CRAFT CO., LTD. (HQ: 1471-8 Urasaki-cho, Onomichi, Hiroshima; President: Jun Kambara) completed "Ferry KUDAKA III", an 89-GT type passenger ship cum car ferry, and delivered it to its ship owner, Kudaka Kaiun General Partnership Company.
Japan Times
JAPAN / History / Regional voices: Chubu
Aug 20, 2018

Aichi man recalls abuse his family faced when branded spies before World War II

It was when Hisao Mesaki, now 85, returned to Japan from Saipan in early 1941 with his parents and siblings that an offhand remark to his new classmates aroused suspicion he was from a family of spies.
Japan Times
LIFE / Digital / ON: TECH
Aug 19, 2018

Listen to the sound of new technology

From sutra-chanting speakers to holographic digital assistants, today's tech talks to all generations.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Regional Voices: Fukushima
Aug 19, 2018

Fukushima's recovering farmers scramble to deal with scorching weather

Amid scorching temperatures that have gripped the entire nation, farmers in Fukushima Prefecture are beginning to see the high temperatures and scarce rain take a toll on their carefully tended produce.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / KONBINI WATCH
Aug 18, 2018

'Koguma no Cake-ya San' hits the mainstream with cute Lawson treats

The story of a young bear operating a sweets store has earned its own real-world merchandise, pop-up cafe and limited-edition desserts.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Media / Japan Pulse
Aug 18, 2018

Debate over Fukushima statue takes on a life of its own online

Few topics have proven to be more sensitive online than the present state of Fukushima Prefecture. Years after the earthquake, tsunami and nuclear disaster wreaked havoc in the region, the topic of radiation continues to spark intense debate from all corners. A statue that was unveiled in the prefecture...
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / Japan
Aug 17, 2018

What's needed for regional revitalization

It will be essential for the next LDP president to aggressively promote decentralization, in particular in transferring tax revenue sources to municipalities.
Japan Times
LIFE / Travel
Aug 17, 2018

Motobu: History and nature do the talking

The Motobu Peninsula is, at least to the casual guest, an earthly Utopia. How many of us, spellbound by nature, have dreamed of withdrawing to a rural idyll like this?
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Aug 14, 2018

How a global patent market could spur growth

A rules-based global trade system for intellectual property could help reinvigorate it by driving more specialization and cross-border cooperation among the world's inventors.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Regional voices: Chubu
Aug 13, 2018

Tweet requests public understanding for ambulance crews' need to hydrate

Amid a sharp rise in ambulance dispatches caused by this summer's deadly heat waves, a Twitter post by the Nagoya Municipal Fire Department is attracting attention for asking the public to show patience with the ambulance crews' convenience store breaks.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / KANPAI CULTURE
Aug 11, 2018

New brews from old Tokyo

Tokyo-area craft sake breweries gather to celebrate local specialties at the Greater Tokyo Sake Festival.
Japan Times
LIFE / Travel
Aug 10, 2018

Taking the path once trodden by Ian Fleming and James Bond

In 1962, Ian Fleming, the author of James Bond, visited Japan. His journey here, and the characters he met, would go on to inspire 007's adventures in 'You Only Live Twice.' But in 2018, how possible is it to retrace the author's footsteps across Japan?
Japan Times
CULTURE / Entertainment news / Regional Voices: Okinawa
Aug 10, 2018

'Namie Amuro generation': Okinawa moms pursue dream of fame

Five Okinawa women in their 40s, who practiced singing and dancing as teens at the same school as pop diva Namie Amuro, have recently relaunched their music careers after a lengthy break with a goal of achieving fame.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Tech
Aug 10, 2018

Samsung's new $1,000 power-user phone reflects slowdown in hardware innovation

Samsung's new smartphone illustrates the limits of innovation at a time when hardware advances have slowed.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Aug 9, 2018

Towa Tei goes deep on death and puns

Towa Tei has mortality on his mind.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Aug 8, 2018

'The Exorcist Nurse': Horror hits the hospital for some summer chills

Summer was once the peak season for horror in Japan, part of the local custom of beating the heat with chills from scary stories.

Longform

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