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Japan Times
JAPAN / Science & Health / NATURAL SELECTIONS
Mar 18, 2017

Darwin specimens showcase evolution for first time in Tokyo exhibition

Charles Darwin certainly did not consider it a sin to kill a mockingbird. The 19th-century English biologist killed many of the birds whilst on board the HMS Beagle survey ship as he traveled around the world. The specimens are more important than you might think and you can see a number of them at "Treasures...
Japan Times
JAPAN / View from Osaka
Mar 18, 2017

Moritomo scandal delivers an education in Japanese politics

"Our subjects ever united in loyalty and filial piety have from generation to generation illustrated the beauty thereof. This is the glory of the fundamental character of Our Empire, and herein also lies the source of Our education."
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC
Mar 18, 2017

Philippines to strengthen military facilities in contested South China Sea

The Philippines said Friday it will strengthen its military facilities on islands and shoals in the disputed South China Sea and announced initial plans to build a new port and pave an existing rough airstrip.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / DESSERT WATCH
Mar 17, 2017

Chouxcream Chouxcri's Cassius Orange: A 'syukurimu' for true connoisseurs

Lovers of dessert, rejoice. The Chouxcream Chouxcri dessert store outfit have opened a second establishment selling syukurimu made from top-line ingredients near Shinjuku Station. The new outpost offers the chain's signature cream puff (¥290), but the highlight is clearly the Shinjuku-only Cassius...
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC
Mar 17, 2017

China planning 'monitoring station' on hotly contested South China Sea shoal

China is planning to build an "environmental monitoring station" on a hotly disputed reef at the center of an ongoing territorial row over the South China Sea, according to a top official who administers Beijing's regional island claims.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC
Mar 15, 2017

China begins new work on disputed South China Sea island

China has started fresh construction work in the disputed South China Sea, new satellite images show, a sign that Beijing is continuing to strengthen its military reach across the vital trade waterway.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Mar 15, 2017

'Strange' hotel, run by robots, opens near Tokyo; more to come

Major travel agency H.I.S. Co. on Wednesday celebrated the opening of its second robot-staffed Henn na Hotel. The new location is near the Tokyo Disney Resort in Urayasu, Chiba Prefecture.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Mar 14, 2017

Borders in question for Chim↑Pom's new art show

Ballsy art collective Chim↑Pom have taken on Donald Trump's America in their solo exhibition "The other side." One of the most well-known contemporary iconoclasts in Japan, Chim↑Pom have previously caught rats before dyeing them yellow and red to resemble Pikachu and installing them on a Tokyo street,...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Mar 14, 2017

'Old Masters from the State Hermitage Museum'

March 18-June 18
COMMENTARY / World
Mar 13, 2017

Seoul gets the impeachment process right

The removal from office of South Korean President Park Geun-hye is a remarkable outcome for a relatively new democracy.
Japan Times
JAPAN / CHUBU CONNECTION
Mar 13, 2017

Nagoya venture taps researcher's reagent to make quick work of synthesizing proteins

A Nagoya-based venture has started selling a reagent that allows researchers to significantly reduce the time needed to synthesize proteins, supporting the development of medicines including one that can control the growth of cancer cells.
JAPAN / AFTEREFFECTS OF MARCH 2011
Mar 10, 2017

Nuclear energy industry lacks new talent as Fukushima fallout turns off graduates

At a Tokyo job fair for the atomic energy industry on March 4, Kenta Kakitani, a graduate student at the University of Tokyo, hopes to some day become a nuclear plant design engineer.
Japan Times
JAPAN / OKINAWA BEAT
Mar 9, 2017

Taiwan auto parts firm leads way in Okinawa business push

The Taiwanese boss of an auto component-maker in the Okinawan city of Uruma is confident that his decision to come to the island prefecture was the right one.
Japan Times
Figure Skating / ICE TIME
Mar 7, 2017

Honda prepping for world juniors with legend Zoueva

Reigning world junior champion Marin Honda traveled to Canton, Michigan, recently to spend time working with coach and choreographer Marina Zoueva at the Arctic Edge Ice Arena. Honda is tuning up for defense of her title at the world junior championships in Taipei this month.
Japan Times
JAPAN / CHUBU CONNECTION
Mar 6, 2017

Locals seek to preserve Nagoya park's wartime radio broadcast tower

One of few surviving "radio towers" that were built before and during World War II has been gaining local attention in Nagoya, prompting residents to push for the important legacy to be preserved.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Mar 6, 2017

Innovation attractive to international tech firms

Saitama City, just 20 to 30 minutes by train to central Tokyo hubs such as Tokyo and Shinjuku stations, boasts many leading technology companies that produce key components and materials for high-technology machines.
JAPAN / Media / BIG IN JAPAN
Mar 4, 2017

Japan's magazines get misty-eyed over Showa Era brothels

Commencing with the death of Emperor Taisho on Christmas Day, 1926, the Showa Era ran for 62 years and two weeks, ending with the death of Emperor Hirohito (posthumously referred to as Emperor Showa) at the age of 87 on Jan. 7, 1989.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / DESSERT WATCH
Mar 3, 2017

Patisserie Kihachi kick-starts spring with Mont Blanc Sakura sweet

It may not feel like it, but spring is right around the corner, and for the nation's dessert makers that means everything gets a bit pink as they capitalize on the coming of the ever-fleeting cherry blossoms.
Japan Times
LIFE / EVENTS AND INFORMATION
Mar 2, 2017

Exploring the nation's tea and rice cuisine

Arigato.kitchen presents its first book, "Chazuke" (¥1,200), an inside look at traditional Japanese recipes, ingredients and regional attractions. As the book aims to introduce both Japanese and international readers into the culinary art of , a bowl of rice with tea poured over it and topped with various...
Japan Times
LIFE / Travel / HOTELS & RESTAURANTS
Mar 2, 2017

Celebrating 7 years with fine fare

From March 7 to April 2, the ANA InterContinental Tokyo hotel is inviting guests to celebrate the seven year anniversary of its 36th-floor Pierre Gagnaire restaurant with menu items created for the occasion.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Mar 1, 2017

'Snow Woman': chillingly modern

The Japanese folklore story of the "Snow Woman" has been told in many places, in many ways, and in many versions, but best-known is that of Lafcadio Hearn, the Greek-Irish writer who published it in his 1904 collection, "Kwaidan: Stories and Studies of Strange Things."
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC / Science & Health
Mar 1, 2017

Laser technique sheds light on pivotal feathered dinosaur

A technique using high-powered lasers to reveal hidden soft tissue in fossils is bringing insight into one of the major evolutionary transitions: small feathered dinosaurs taking flight as birds.
Japan Times
JAPAN / CHUBU CONNECTION
Feb 27, 2017

Nagoya ad startup uses bonus boost to discourage overtime

An online advertising startup has adopted a unique method to achieve zero overtime in its workplace by paying a higher bonus to employees who have reduced their work hours after quitting time, a move likely to draw attention as more Japanese try to achieve a better work-life balance.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Feb 26, 2017

What's in a name? Just ask Cairophenomenons

When a band changes its name, it sometimes signifies a switch in artistic direction. For indie band Cairophenomenons — previously known as Cairo — the decision was far more practical, even if the new moniker is a bit of a mouthful.
Japan Times
LIFE / Digital / ON: GAMES
Feb 25, 2017

Nintendo is switching it up

It's still early in 2017, but Switch, Nintendo's newest gaming console, is bound to be the most desirable hardware of the year. Both a home console and a handheld, it's being touted as an all-in-one must have. Drop it in its dock and players can game on a television screen. Attach Joy-Con controllers...
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / NEIGHBORHOOD HOP SPORTS
Feb 24, 2017

Koenji's alehouses and brewpubs put the craft back in beer

Often touted as Tokyo's apex of cool, Koenji is a maze of narrow mixed-use streets, where the city's trendsetters, en route to hip cafes, cross paths with pensioners browsing cheap vegetables and various knickknacks.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / KNOWING KISSATEN
Feb 24, 2017

Tokyo's retro coffee palaces are in a class entirely their own

The archetypical kissaten (traditional coffee shop) would probably be a cozy neighborhood joint with faded '60s decor, one of those vintage pink pay phones that only take ¥10 coins and a couple of elderly customers smoking furiously as they squint over their newspapers.

Longform

Visitors walk past Sou Fujimoto's Grand Ring, which has been recognized as the largest wooden structure in the world.
Can a World Expo still matter? Japan is about to find out.