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Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Feb 19, 2018

America's never-ending struggle: Gun rights versus gun control

There are at least two sides to every issue, and gun ownership in America is no exception.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Media / BIG IN JAPAN
Feb 17, 2018

The face of immigration is rapidly changing in Japan

Over the past half decade, major changes have taken place in the demographics of foreign residents in Japan. Weekly Playboy's Dec. 18 issue devoted a four-page article to "Research into Vietnamese." Why Vietnamese? And why now?
Japan Times
WORLD / Crime & Legal
Feb 16, 2018

Telltale internet message may have foreshadowed Florida school massacre

The 19-year-old man accused of shooting 17 people to death at a Florida high school legally purchased the assault rifle used in the killings and may have foreshadowed the attack in a social media comment investigated by the FBI last year, authorities said Thursday.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Feb 13, 2018

North Korean charm sure beats the alternative

Engaging with Pyongyang may encourage the regime down the path of liberalization.
Japan Times
LIFE / Style & Design / ON: DESIGN
Feb 11, 2018

Bright ideas that light up the web

From sculptural memo pads and kanji-inspired interiors to artisan collaborations and cat furniture — the internet loves Japanese design.
Japan Times
WORLD / Politics
Feb 9, 2018

White House aide ousted over abuse claims never had security OK, putting chief John Kelly in hot seat

White House Chief of Staff John Kelly knew that President Donald Trump's staff secretary had issues in his past possibly impeding a permanent security clearance before news reports this week on domestic violence allegations against the aide, people familiar with the matter said.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Stage
Feb 8, 2018

TPAM's magic happens in front of and behind the curtain

Back in 1995, some of the movers and shakers of the domestic theater scene got together at various venues around the capital for an event called the Tokyo Performing Arts Market. The aim was simple: connect up-and-coming Japanese artists to the producers and theater buffs who might be able to support...
COMMUNITY / How-tos / LIFELINES
Feb 7, 2018

Bringing the great outdoors to Japan's underserved children

Almost 39,000 children are under government supervision in Japan, and 85 percent are institutionalized in various homes around the nation, according to Human Rights Watch. Last August, the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare made good on its 2016 revisions to the Child Welfare Act by announcing a new...
Japan Times
LIFE / Travel / BACKSTREET STORIES
Feb 2, 2018

On the hunt for Gaien Nishi-dori's taste-makers

In Tokyo, people set up funky cafes with all kinds of sideshows — curry, cats, goats, hedgehogs and maids come to mind — so when I catch a whiff of a good cup of joe escaping from a huge glass and concrete box near Gaienmae Station on Gaien Nishi-dori avenue, I wonder what the gig is.
JAPAN / Society
Jan 31, 2018

'Country of cowards': Comedy duo's political satire stands out in gun-shy Japan

In what was perhaps a make-or-break moment for their careers, comedy duo Woman Rush Hour did something on prime-time television in December that most of their fellow comedians try their best to eschew: They talked about politics.
Japan Times
CULTURE / TV & Streaming
Jan 31, 2018

1970s Japanese TV series 'Monkey' had a magic that has never been matched

The news that 'Monkey' has been remade by Australia's ABC in a co-production with TV New Zealand and Netflix is likely to cause those in the know to fan two fingers in front of their mouth, Monkey-style, to summon a flying cloud.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Jan 30, 2018

Van Gogh's long-distance love affair

"Van Gogh & Japan" concerns a love affair of creative misperceptions between temporally and geographically distant admirers. Van Gogh (1853-1890) never went to Japan, though he idealized it briefly as a utopia in which artists worked communally in converse with nature.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Companies
Jan 28, 2018

Ingvar Kamprad, Ikea's Swedish billionaire founder, dies at 91

Ingvar Kamprad, whose boyhood business of selling pencils and seeds from his bicycle in Sweden eventually grew into the Ikea furniture chain, has died. He was 91.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / 20 QUESTIONS
Jan 27, 2018

Sosuke Kitamura: A man of painted words

Name: Sosuke Kitamura
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Jan 24, 2018

Filmmaker Kwak Jae-Yong finds wild Hokkaido ripe for melodrama in 'Colors of Wind'

After making films in Japanese and Chinese, South Korean director returns to these isles for 'Kazo no Iro.'
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Jan 16, 2018

Three's never a crowd for Kitty, Daisy & Lewis

British sibling trio Kitty, Daisy & Lewis are discussing why their fourth album "Superscope" is their most upbeat yet. "I think you just get bored of moaning all the time, don't you?" says Daisy, 29. "Going on about love and 'poor old me,' that kind of thing can get boring."
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Markets
Jan 15, 2018

Mystery Twitter user 'Okasanman' has vast, and growing, following of Japan traders

On a day when billions in profits and losses would be determined by split-second trades, the salaried professionals of Japan's financial markets were glued to their news terminals. Another group was staring at the feed of an anonymous Twitter account.
Japan Times
LIFE / Language / BILINGUAL
Jan 15, 2018

Yonkoma manga: Lives told, lessons learned in four frames

The internet has provided would-be manga artists with an easy way to publish their own yonkoma (four-frame manga), resulting in a wide variety of different stories that are easily accessible and free.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / The Big Questions
Jan 7, 2018

Ambassador eager to brand and boost country

'The readiness is all,' utters the Danish title character in the last act of Shakespeare's 'Hamlet.'
Japan Times
CULTURE / Books
Jan 6, 2018

'Lady First': Lea O'Harra examines gender roles in a murder mystery

Women have made significant inroads towards infiltrating Japan's patriarchal society, but their progress is still stymied by traditional views. With a long career as a university lecturer in Shikoku, Lea O'Harra draws on her own experiences to examine gender roles in provincial Japan in this, her third...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Jan 3, 2018

'Mr. Long': Chang Chen's charisma carries a stylish film

The cool, tight-lipped killer-for-cash that Clint Eastwood played in the Sergio Leone Westerns of the 1960s has become an icon and, in his many imitators, something of a cliche.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Jan 2, 2018

The zero hour of Kobe's avant-garde

Hyogo Prefectural Museum of Art's present draw card is the Saint Petersburg collection, "Old Masters from the State Hermitage Museum." But on a lower level, at the far end of a long corridor gallery, are photos and grainy videos — the small-scale documentation of one of Japan's little-known postwar...
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / TELLING LIVES
Dec 24, 2017

Tony Cetera, 'Lone Ranger' of Tokyo's homeless, calls for a good deed a day

Tony Cetera is 79 years of age and has bad legs, but that doesn't stop him helping the homeless whenever he can.
Japan Times
LIFE / Language / BILINGUAL
Dec 18, 2017

Hit products of 2017 home in on uchi

Nikkei Marketing Journal ranks the hit products for 2017, with Amazon and Rakuten sitting pretty among the grand champions.
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / The Big Questions
Dec 17, 2017

Furthering Pakistan-Japan bonds through education

What the world needs now is less individualism and more Japanese-style consensus-building, said Pakistan's Ambassador Asad Majeed Khan.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC
Dec 17, 2017

Hoping to extend maritime reach, China lavishes aid on Pakistan town

China is lavishing vast amounts of aid on a small Pakistani fishing town to win over locals and build a commercial deep-water port that the United States and India suspect may also one day serve China's navy.
JAPAN / History
Dec 16, 2017

Heart of gold: The Ginza Line celebrates its 90th birthday

Born of disasters, war and massive infrastructure projects, 21st-century Tokyo has plenty of ghosts buried underground. If you ride the subway these days, you can catch a fleeting glimpse of two of them but, if you blink, you'll miss them. The Ginza Line is marking 90 years since its opening with the...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Dec 13, 2017

Whether you're Japanese or not, results are what count in music

There are many factors to keep in mind when trying to break into the Japanese music industry as a non-Japanese person. One that might be easy to overlook but ultimately rings true: You're going to have to work hard.

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