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Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Jul 3, 2018

Gordon Matta-Clark: Out of the rubble

It's New York in the 1970s. The optimism of '60s America has faded into cynicism and despair. The city is so broke that it's almost bankrupt. People are fleeing to the suburbs and industry New York is shutting down, leaving abandoned warehouses, homes and tenements scattered throughout. Meanwhile, artists...
BUSINESS
Jun 29, 2018

Businesses cash in as Japan follows World Cup kick by kick

Although the overall impact is difficult to measure, some predict that it has already increased consumption on a scale of billions of yen.
Japan Times
LIFE / Language / BILINGUAL
Jun 25, 2018

At 180,000 entries, Jim Breen's freeware Japanese dictionary is still growing

Even if they haven't visited Jim Breen's site directly, every Japanese learner will have come across his dictionary material in some form.
Japan Times
LIFE / Travel
Jun 22, 2018

Hitchhiking Japan: 5,000 kilometers in the company of strangers

"I have no idea if people can read this," I think to myself as I look at my first cardboard sign and the spidery writing scrawled across it.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Jun 20, 2018

'The Cat in Their Arms': Forget the idol-pop plot points and stick with the pets

You probably know the type: lonely, maybe even a little antisocial and more comfortable talking to cats than people.
JAPAN / EXPLAINER
Jun 18, 2018

Japan's criminal justice reforms aim to enhance transparency of interrogations — are they working?

The National Police Agency said in early June that interrogations of crime suspects were fully recorded in 81.9 percent of all the 3,197 cases tried by lay judges in fiscal 2017, up from 72.8 percent the year before.
Japan Times
SOCCER / J. League
May 24, 2018

Vissel sign ex-Barcelona star Andres Iniesta to massive deal

J. League club Vissel Kobe on Thursday announced the audacious signing of World Cup-winning former Barcelona midfielder Andres Iniesta in a deal reported to be worth over ¥3 billion a year.
JAPAN / Media / BIG IN JAPAN
May 19, 2018

Disgraced scientist Haruko Obokata back in public eye with photo spread in weekly magazine

'Hello, Bunshun-san. Yesterday I wrote in my diary that, 'Well, it's come to this, that I am working with you.'"
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / LAW OF THE LAND
May 13, 2018

When 'Japanese only' rules were OK, and other odd Supreme Court cases

Did that headline grab you? I hope so, because how else are we supposed to get you to read an article about Japanese Supreme Court cases?
Japan Times
LIFE / Travel / BACKSTREET STORIES
May 11, 2018

Slow-paced Izu Oshima is anything but sleepy

A mere Jetfoil away from Tokyo, travelers to Izu Oshima island can expect volcanic hikes, fresh local cuisine and an abundance of hospitality.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
May 2, 2018

Is the feudal era over for Japan's talent agencies?

Japanese show business definitely has a feudal side. Talent agencies control their tarento (talent) much in the way the daimyō (feudal lords) controlled the samurai in their clans, supporting their livelihoods in return for absolute fealty. And just as samurai were expected to stay with one clan their...
Japan Times
LIFE / Travel
Apr 20, 2018

Fly-fishing in the remote reaches of Hokkaido

Akan National Park is renowned for some of the best fly-fishing in all Japan, and anglers can expect plentiful, seasonal catch.
Japan Times
BASEBALL / MLB / MAN ABOUT SPORTS
Apr 10, 2018

Baseball hardly recognizable in new era of analytics-driven strategy

"You can't tell the players without a scorecard!" is the exhilarating cry of the program vendor one usually hears when first entering a big league ballpark.
Japan Times
Figure Skating / ICE TIME
Apr 10, 2018

Yuzuru Hanyu leads list for season's top efforts by Japan skaters

With the epic Olympic season now concluded, Ice Time has come up with a top 10 list of the best performances by Japanese skaters.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Media / BIG IN JAPAN
Apr 7, 2018

Magazines indulge Japan's healthy obsession with staying spry

There has been a recent surge of articles in Japan's weekly magazines about diet, health and avoiding illnesses.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Books / RECENTLY PUBLISHED BOOKS ABOUT JAPAN
Apr 7, 2018

‘Destiny: The Secret Operations of the Yodogo Exiles’: the true story of a group of Japanese radicals

Based on interviews with the hijackers and their wives over several trips to North Korea, journalist, author and editor Koji Takazawa's 'Destiny' tells the story of the group of student radicals who hijacked a plane and redirected it to North Korea in 1970.
BASEBALL / Japanese Baseball
Apr 1, 2018

Tigers ace Messenger turned uncertainty into sure thing

The Hanshin Tigers' newest reliever stepped out of a plane and into the unknown in 2010. Waiting for him was a different style of the game he'd played all his life, not to mention the impending adjustments to a new country, new culture and new teammates.
Japan Times
LIFE / Travel
Mar 30, 2018

Thawing out on the stove train through Tsugaru

In his 1944 semi-autobiographical "Return to Tsugaru," Japanese author Osamu Dazai (1909-48) revisits his native Tsugaru, a peninsula in northernmost Aomori Prefecture and, apart from praising its people, has mostly unflattering things to say about the place. Forty years later, British writer Alan Booth...
Japan Times
JAPAN / History
Mar 27, 2018

Tsushima Island was key conduit of Japan's Edo Period trade with Korea

Japan's historic relationship with the Korean Peninsula has often been complicated by mutual misunderstanding and distrust, if not outright hostility. But on Tsushima, a Japanese island off the coast of the peninsula, efforts are being made to celebrate long-ago diplomatic missions with Korea that took...
Japan Times
JAPAN / Politics
Mar 26, 2018

Wife of Japan's prime minister finds herself in scandal spotlight

First lady Akie Abe, once known mainly for embracing progressive causes that put her at odds with her conservative spouse, is now in the hot seat as doubts revive about the murky land sale to nationalist school operator Moritomo Gakuen to which she had ties.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Companies / Taking the Lead
Mar 22, 2018

Lawson chief bets on health, tech as future of convenience

Back in 2014, Sadanobu Takemasu was asked by his boss to go to Lawson, the convenience store chain known for its white milk can logo on a blue signboard.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Mar 22, 2018

Ask voters if they want more driverless cars

The ugly optics of the Uber self-driving car accident in Tempe highlight bigger ethical problems with the technology.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Mar 21, 2018

'Smokin' on the Moon': A stoner buddy flick takes a serious turn

Marijuana was a subject for comedy back when I was taking my first clumsy steps into stoner culture: The comedy routines of Cheech and Chong, the music of Commander Cody, the midnight screenings of the unintentionally hilarious 1936 film "Reefer Madness."
Japan Times
JAPAN / Regional voices: Chubu
Mar 12, 2018

Aichi farm machinery firm taps foreign talent in the region to drive overseas sales

Kohshin Engineering Co., which produces and sells agricultural equipment for poultry farming, has successfully expanded its overseas sales by hiring foreign employees.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Mar 8, 2018

'Legend of the Demon Cat' presents the multicolored beauty of Chen Kaige's China

The current decade has seen China's film market rise to heights exceeded only by Hollywood; in 2017, box-office earnings grew nearly 13.45 percent year-on-year to a splendiferous 55.9 billion yuan ($8.6 billion). This bonanza has spurred massive investment and fueled out-sized ambitions.
SOCCER / J. League / J. LEAGUE NOTEBOOK
Mar 7, 2018

Surprise names fly out blocks with two wins

A good start can be a precious commodity in the J. League, and the three teams with perfect records after two games of the new season will be satisfied with their work so far.
Japan Times
LIFE / Language / BILINGUAL
Mar 5, 2018

Putting Japan's Olympic success into words

Team Japan amassed 13 medals in Pyeongchang, its best ever Winter Games medal haul.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Feb 28, 2018

Yorgos Lanthimos' latest is absurd, abrasive and, on second watch, rather funny

Greek director Yorgos Lanthimos has been responsible for some of the most provocative and peculiar films of the past decade. His Oscar-nominated movie "Dogtooth" (2009) depicted a married couple who had kept their grown-up children confined at home for their entire lives. "The Lobster" (2015) — his...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Feb 20, 2018

'New Planet Photo City: William Klein and Photographers Living in the 22nd Century'

Feb. 23-June 10

Longform

A man offers prayers at Hebikubo Shrine in Tokyo's Shinagawa Ward. The shrine is one of several across the country dedicated to the snake.
Shed your skin and reinvent yourself in the Year of the Snake