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Japan Times
LIFE / Language / BILINGUAL
Oct 17, 2016

How do I struggle with katakana? Let me count the ways

The fuss over the use of the 'shin' katakana in the 'Shin Godzilla' film's title highlights the mystery that surrounds this often-frustrating syllabary.
LIFE / Language / MORNING ENGLISH
Oct 17, 2016

Let's discuss men and housework

Three male politicians have donned 'pregnancy' vests in a campaign urging men to help out more at home.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / THE FOREIGN ELEMENT
Oct 5, 2016

Japan's English-language print media feel the pinch

Publications struggle for relevance in a world where news is available free, to all, all the time.
Japan Times
ENVIRONMENT / OLD NIC'S NOTEBOOK
Oct 1, 2016

Passing on ancient steel production techniques

When the first Portuguese merchants and missionaries reached Japan in 1543, the warriors they encountered were armed with steel swords that were equal to, or better than, any being produced in Europe.
LIFE / Travel / HOTELS & RESTAURANTS
Sep 29, 2016

Delightful and delicious Xmas treats; enjoying chestnut-flavored treats; ring in the new year in style

Delightful and delicious Xmas treats
BUSINESS
Sep 28, 2016

Department store closures mark end of an era

On a recent weekday morning, the Sogo department store in Kashiwa, Chiba Prefecture, is unusually crowded with shoppers flocking to a closing down sale before it shuts its doors for good on Friday.
CULTURE / Stage
Sep 27, 2016

Munby's 'Crucible' speaks to societies built on fear

"When the opportunity came to work at Theatre Cocoon in Tokyo, I was so excited about the great dramatist Yukio Ninagawa being the artistic director there," the English director Jonathan Munby declared.
EDITORIALS
Sep 27, 2016

Polarization in regional land prices

A gap is growing in land prices between the four major regional cities of Sapporo, Sendai, Hiroshima and Fukuoka, and the rest of the regional economies.
JAPAN / Society
Sep 24, 2016

The future looks bleak for Yokohama's day laborers

Once a bustling town of casual workers, Kotobukicho is now a community of aging welfare recipients.
Japan Times
LIFE / Travel
Sep 24, 2016

Shizuoka: Where writers go to hide from the world

Ask a Japanese person which part of Japan they most associate with writer Lafcadio Hearn and they are likely to instantly respond: Matsue, a seaside town in Shimane Prefecture.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Sep 23, 2016

Sony to open new Ginza store

Sony Corp. will on Saturday open the doors to its new store in Tokyo's bustling Ginza district.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Sep 22, 2016

A conduit to China, Japan dodges pressure to ban ivory sales

Defying international pressure, Japan has stopped short of deciding to shut down its market for elephant ivory, traditionally used to carve hanko (personal seals). Instead it is promising to put trade on a tighter leash.
EDITORIALS
Sep 21, 2016

Growth in senile dementia cases

Japan must prepare to handle a larger number of senile dementia cases as the size of its eldlerly population increases.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink
Sep 16, 2016

Hakata, Nagahama, Kurume: A guide to Fukuoka's best ramen styles

Fukuoka was named the world's seventh most-livable city by Monocle magazine this year for its eco- and business friendly initiatives — but its status as a ramen mecca couldn't have hurt. Within Japan, Fukuoka is known, perhaps more than anything else, for tonkotsu (pork bone) ramen, thanks in part...
Japan Times
JAPAN
Sep 14, 2016

East Hokkaido waits on Abe-Putin talks over Russia-held isles

In Hokkaido's far east, Nemuro feels nothing like a typical Japanese city. Mist and fog often shroud the area in the summertime. During July and August, while much of the country bakes in 30 degree-plus temperatures, it's just over 20 degrees in Nemuro.
JAPAN / Society
Sep 10, 2016

Is Japan waking up to the menace of stalking?

Health professionals are trying to be more proactive in rehabilitating stalkers before their actions escalate to something more sinister.
Japan Times
BASEBALL / BASEBALL BULLET-IN
Sep 10, 2016

Countryside games add challenges, concerns for NPB teams

Japan's schedule of countryside games (those played away from the home franchise stadiums of the 12 Central and Pacific League teams) has concluded for the season. The last scheduled game, where the Hokkaido Nippon Ham Fighters were to have played the Chiba Lotte Marines on Tuesday at Asahikawa was rained...
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / KYOTO RESTAURANTS
Sep 9, 2016

Hyakushokuya: The wagyu joint that only makes 100 meals each day

Hyakushokuya, "100 meal shop," makes 100 meals a day — and that's it. The daily challenge for staff is to make and serve them as fast possible, so that they can take the rest of the day off. It seems that this is typically accomplished by the end of lunchtime, at which point a chalkboard is placed...
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Sep 8, 2016

Age of Asian sweatshops coming to an end?

Automation is replacing human labor in Asian garment factories, but workers who lose their jobs face an uncertain future.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / LEARNING CURVE
Sep 7, 2016

Surviving Japan on an international student's budget

Current and former international students in the capital share some of their experiences and offer advice that might help incoming students save some yen.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / Japan
Sep 7, 2016

Japan shows why the Fed should hike rates

Tokyo's lesson is that keeping rates at zero for too long may do more to deaden confidence than instill it.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Sep 6, 2016

Japan's TOP museum sees the big picture

After being closed for two years for major renovations, Tokyo's best-known photography museum in Tokyo's fashionable Ebisu neighborhood reopened on Sept. 3, just in time to celebrate its 20-year anniversary. The venerable facility now boasts a new look, improved exhibition spaces and a new name in English:...
Japan Times
JAPAN / CHUBU CONNECTION
Sep 5, 2016

Nagoya park becomes 'holy ground' for 'Pokemon Go' players

A little over a month has passed since the smartphone game "Pokemon Go" was released in Japan, but people are still found wandering around Nagoya's Tsuruma Park — a magnet for its players — until late at night.
Japan Times
JAPAN / GENERATIONAL CHANGE
Sep 4, 2016

Champion of craftsmen on mission to showcase Japan's masters online

Keigo Omaki, director of the video website Nippon Teshigoto Zukan (Japan Handwork Encyclopedia), has an almost addictive interest in traditional items made by Japanese craftsmen, and he's not sure why.
Japan Times
LIFE / Travel
Sep 3, 2016

Strolling the quiet alleyways of Nara, Japan's forgotten capital

It's hard playing second fiddle when you used to be first chair. Just ask Nara, Kyoto's underpraised southern neighbor.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / COUNTERPOINT
Sep 3, 2016

Complicating Taiwan's love affair with Japan

This month, the Ama (grandma) Museum will open in Taipei. It will be a venue dedicated to Taiwan's wartime "comfort women" who provided sexual services under duress at Japanese military brothels.
Japan Times
LIFE / Style & Design / ON: DESIGN
Sep 3, 2016

The cat's meow of creature comforts

This month, On: Design lets the cat out of the bag about The Japan Times' love of pets by allowing Chibi-chan, my adopted stray, to review a few products that she claims may persuade her to become a house pet.

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