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Japan Times
BUSINESS / Companies
May 7, 2014

SoftBank tops archrival Docomo for first time on record profit

Amid growing smartphone sales and a raft of acquisitions, SoftBank Corp. has announced that its group operating profit hit a record ¥1.08 trillion, and its net profit an all-time high of ¥527 billion in fiscal 2013, surpassing rival NTT Docomo Inc. for the first time.
Japan Times
WORLD / Society
May 4, 2014

How consumerism turns babies into monsters

If you have been planning a shopping trip with the kids, you might not want to read any further, because teaching your children consumerism is helping to turn them into selfish, immoral creatures without a streak of empathy, according to a new study.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Media / BIG IN JAPAN
May 3, 2014

Avoiding the crowds during Golden Week

Let's be sensible: During Golden Week, why on earth would any sane person choose to drive to a destination on the expressway only to spend a good part of their holiday ensnared in a 35-km-long traffic jam? Doing their part to ease the congestion, domestic magazines are offering some imaginative alternatives...
EDITORIALS
May 3, 2014

Nightclub beats rap on dancing

In a prod toward a modern legal view of sexual morals, an Osaka nightclub owner beats a charge, based on a 1948 law, of allowing patrons in his club to dance without a special permit for dancing.
Japan Times
LIFE / Lifestyle / CHILD'S PLAY
May 2, 2014

Conquering every parent's dread: a toddler trip to the hairdresser

It is perhaps one of the biggest challenges of parenthood. No, not teaching a child to how read, share toys or have good manners, but the task of trying to get a child to sit still — in particular when getting their hair cut.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Companies
May 1, 2014

Sony reports loss 18% bigger than forecast

Sony Corp., the maker of Xperia smartphones and PlayStation consoles, posted a loss 18 percent larger than forecast as the company cut earnings for the third time in the past year amid slumping consumer electronics sales.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink
May 1, 2014

A golden time to dine outdoors

Now is the golden season in Tokyo: balmy days, mellow temperatures, low humidity and no mosquitoes. There's nothing better than a nice, leisurely (and maybe even boozy) lunch outside — dinner, too, as long as you bring a warm jacket or throw.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Economy / FOCUS
Apr 30, 2014

To boost economy, recruiting stay-at-home dads

Manabu Tsukagoshi, a Tokyo-based consultant, took a month of paternity leave after his second child was born. That prompted his wife, a homemaker, to get a full-time job in the financial industry.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Media / NET NEWS WATCH
Apr 28, 2014

AKB48 may be the pop the economy needs: ex-chief cabinet secretary Edano

In Yukio Edano's essay “Popular Songs Change with the Times; Yasushi Akimoto, the AKB strategy and the Japanese Economy,” the Democratic Party of Japan Lower House member of Japan argued that AKB48's business strategy “could be effective for the economy in general.”
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Tech
Apr 27, 2014

New Mexico dig uncovers 'E.T.' video games buried after 1980s flop

Documentary filmmakers digging in a New Mexico landfill on Saturday unearthed hundreds of "E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial" cartridges. The game was considered by some to be the worst video game ever made; it was blamed for contributing to the downfall of the video game industry in the 1980s.
Japan Times
LIFE / Travel / BACKSTREET STORIES
Apr 26, 2014

Spring greening in Koganei

It’s time to bask in sunshine, birdsong, and blossom-filled breezes. Koganei Park, situated at the center of the Tokyo metropolis, looks like the ideal spot for such a “spring-gasm.” The JR Chuo express train whisks me from Yotsuya to Musashi-Koganei in less than 30 minutes, and I alight with glee....
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Apr 24, 2014

'The Amazing Spider-Man 2'

Spider-Man returns once again — something other superheroes also have a tendency of doing. Marvel Comics' entomological superhero, aka Peter Parker (Andrew Garfield), is up to his web-spinning ways again in "The Amazing Spider-Man 2" — the second in the rebooted "Spider-Man" movie series launched...
BUSINESS
Apr 23, 2014

Banker's bribe trial scrutinized

A former Deutsche Bank AG salesman's admission in a Japanese court that he bribed a pension fund executive with lavish entertainment could attract the attention of prosecutors in other countries.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC
Apr 21, 2014

South Korean class trip to resort island turned into horror with sinking

It was supposed to be their last bit of teenage fun.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Books / ESSENTIAL READING FOR JAPANOPHILES
Apr 19, 2014

Shogun

This best-selling historical novel by the British author, James Clavell, is set in Japan around 1600. It begins when The Erasmus, a Dutch ship, reaches Japan by mistake. James Blackthorne, the English captain working for the ship (based on William Adams, the first Englishman to enter Japan) is singled...
Japan Times
LIFE / Digital / JAPAN WEB WATCH
Apr 18, 2014

Apps take new lead from social games

On Japanese TV, you may notice that a lot of commercials for smartphone social games emphasize the word muryō (free). Consumers have been purchasing digital content on their phones for years, even since the clam-shell cellphone days. Now, more and more Japanese people are migrating to the sort of smartphones...
Japan Times
LIFE / Digital / JAPAN TIMES BLOGROLL
Apr 17, 2014

Hyakumonogatari Kaidankai: Tales of the Weird and the Strange

While many overseas scholars are attracted to the retrained aesthetics of Japanese arts and letters, it was the country's wild and wooly folklore that captivated Zack Davisson, an American writer and translator. While pursuing his masters degree in Japanese studies Davisson immersed himself in the mysterious...
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC / ANALYSIS
Apr 11, 2014

Apocalypse near? 'Year of the Bear' implosion haunts China

"It's like a horror movie. People like to watch but don't want to be in it," quipped economist Andy Xie about his popular lectures where he predicts a collapse in China's property and stock markets.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Apr 10, 2014

'Kirishima, Bukatsu Yamerutteyo' (The Kirishima Thing)

Director: Daihachi Yoshida
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Apr 10, 2014

Geki×Cine marks 10 years of screen-stage marriage

You wouldn't know it to look at our poker faces, but deep down every Japanese is a drama queen.
Japan Times
LIFE / Digital
Apr 7, 2014

A day-trip date with the virtual romantics of 'New LovePlus+'

While Japan's video-game industry no longer dominates the world, there is still one niche of digital entertainment that this country does better than any other: romantic man-machine interaction. Love with a virtual being is something plucked straight out of science-fiction.
Japan Times
JAPAN / AT A GLANCE
Apr 6, 2014

Tokyo jumps on theme bar bandwagon

Tokyo and its surrounding areas provide an array of entertainment spots to serve the varied interests of its inhabitants, day or night. The latest fads are theme bars and restaurants for those seeking an unusual drinking or dining experience. Guys who were fascinated by Ultraman in the heady high-growth...
JAPAN
Apr 5, 2014

Host clubs: a hotbed of human trafficking

The Japanese host. You can see them on the streets of Tokyo's Kabukicho: the dapper thin men with colored, blown-dry hair, fake suntans, snazzy suits and charming smiles, chatting up passing females and trying to get them to come and have drinks. They've been the subject of documentaries, television...
BASKETBALL / HOOP SCOOP
Apr 3, 2014

Time for FIBA to suspend JBA, force necessary changes to be made

The Japan Basketball Association has changed its alleged goal so many times, it's difficult to remember the original target.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Apr 3, 2014

Polish history captured by a man who was there

He may be 88 years old and the director of 54 films, but Polish film giant Andrzej Wajda is still evolving as a storyteller. His latest, "Wałesa: Man of Hope," opens in Tokyo on April 5 (as "Wałesa: Rentai no Otoko") and marks his further foray into the realm of history as entertainment, following...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Apr 3, 2014

'Nazotoki wa Dinner no Ato de (The After-Dinner Mysteries)'

Director: Hijikata Masato, Ishikawa Junichi
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Voices / VIEWS FROM THE STREET
Mar 31, 2014

Do you feel like people have been deceived about issues surrounding Fukushima? And if so, by whom?

I'm suspicious about the whole thing. I don't know who is covering what up, but I definitely feel there's a lot we're not being told about. There's absolutely no way that everything could be as fine as we are being led to believe after such a massive disaster.

Longform

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