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Japan Times
SUMO
Mar 7, 2019

Hakuho, other challengers ready to chase spring glory

The Osaka Basho, which gets underway on Sunday, is arguably the most wide-open tournament sumo has seen in years.
Japan Times
SOCCER / From the Spot
Mar 6, 2019

With super club dreams, Vissel Kobe tries to rewrite history

Most sports writers have their own personal pantheon of inspirations. At the top of mine is Hunter S. Thompson.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / LAW OF THE LAND
Mar 6, 2019

Robot rights: From Asimov to Tezuka

Asimov's 'Three Laws of Robotics' are fictional rules, so why do we keep looking to them for guidance? The closest thing to real-world robot law we could have more seems likely to develop around the question of when autonomous military drones can make 'kill' decisions without human intervention.
Japan Times
JAPAN / YEN FOR LIVING
Mar 5, 2019

Japan's tax laws get in way of more women working full time

One of the key elements of the Abe administration's efforts to stimulate the economy is getting more women into the workforce. As it stands, Japan has one of the highest rates of working women in the developed world, so the problem is not so much jobs but rather the quality of the jobs women get and...
Japan Times
LIFE / Language
Mar 4, 2019

Navigating the tricky world of permission when speaking Japanese

When speaking Japanese, getting the basics of language relating to permission can be helpful, from asking a colleague to pick up your slack to requesting a photo with a celebrity.
Japan Times
TENNIS
Mar 4, 2019

Nick Kyrgios shaking up tennis world

A few hours after Roger Federer collected the 100th ATP title of his career in Dubai, Nick Kyrgios was preparing for his Mexican Open final against Alexander Zverev — on a jet ski.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / WHY DID YOU LEAVE JAPAN?
Mar 2, 2019

Tomoko Houtzager: Moving to the bush just to live off the land

A WWOOF trip to Australia leads to a new way of life for a former city girl.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics / ANALYSIS
Mar 2, 2019

Kim-Trump summit exposes frailties over North Korea

As the dust settles in the wake of the much-vaunted and, ultimately, failed second summit between U.S. President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un in Vietnam, are the two countries now back at square one?
Reader Mail
Mar 1, 2019

The battle with plastic goes on

As a long-time volunteer garbage collector in our community, I was very much interested in "As world drowns in plastic, a city in Kyoto fights back" in the Feb. 25 edition. And I also am afraid that our community, with its riverbank and greenery, may drown in plastic in the future.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Feb 26, 2019

Kim, Trump arrive in Hanoi ahead of second nuclear summit

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and U.S. President Donald Trump arrived in the Vietnamese capital of Hanoi on Tuesday for their second summit, where the two aim to find common ground in negotiations that could ultimately see the North relinquish its nuclear weapons.
Japan Times
Rugby
Feb 26, 2019

Fukuroi ready to welcome fans for Rugby World Cup

When it comes to international sports, the cozy western Shizuoka Prefecture town of Fukuroi has already been there and done that.
Japan Times
JAPAN / History
Feb 26, 2019

Writers recall their initiation to Japanese literature via Donald Keene

The Japan Times asked author Suzanne Kamata to reach out to some of her fellow writers for their memories and thoughts about Donald Keene, the noted scholar of Japanese literature who died Sunday in Tokyo at age 96. Here is a short collection of their replies.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Feb 25, 2019

Seoul says U.S. and North Korea could reach deal on end-of-war declaration

The United States and North Korea could reach a deal on declaring an end to the 1950-53 Korean War at a summit meeting this week between their two leaders, South Korea's presidential Blue House said Monday.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Tech
Feb 25, 2019

Microsoft boosts HoloLens performance and cuts price in hunt for corporate clients

Microsoft Corp. is introducing an improved version of its HoloLens augmented-reality goggles and lowering the price, as it tries to develop a bigger business selling the devices to corporate customers.
Japan Times
JAPAN / History / Defining the Heisei Era
Feb 23, 2019

Defining the Heisei Era: Women in Japan speak out on inequality

Last April, a female reporter from TV Asahi accused Junichi Fukuda, the top bureaucrat at the Finance Ministry, of sexual harassment.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Feb 20, 2019

Localization 101: How to release a Steven Soderbergh film in Japan

Hollywood sends its products all over the world but global audiences can have widely different experiences of the same Hollywood movie. In Italy, dubbing foreign films is standard; in Japan, subtitling is, though dubbing has become more common, especially for films targeted at younger audiences.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / BLACK EYE
Feb 20, 2019

The onus is still on us to be black history

A few years back, I wrote a piece for Black History Month in which I challenged people of African descent living here in Japan to "be black history." I implored them not to necessarily dwell on the past but to: "Dwell on the now instead. Because everything you do now becomes history and herstory the...
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / Japan
Feb 19, 2019

Japan's economy is far from hopeless

A rebound in fourth-quarter GDP may disappoint idealists, but the fact that the economy is treading water is pretty good these days.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Feb 19, 2019

Ethiopian coffee farmers are betting on blockchain to make trade fairer and boost business

On a bustling street near the shiny new international airport in Ethiopia's capital is a small coffee roastery with big dreams.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC / FOCUS
Feb 18, 2019

With every incident, fear grows that China is giving New Zealand the cold shoulder over Huawei ban

When an Air New Zealand jet to Shanghai was forced to turn around earlier this month, it seemed a relatively innocuous event put down to misfiled paperwork.
Japan Times
SUMO / INSIDE SUMO
Feb 13, 2019

Wrestlers put aside differences to promote U.S. sumo

Kelly Gneiting is a religious fundamentalist.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / How-tos
Feb 13, 2019

Starting fresh in Tokyo is easier than you think

I know what you're thinking: Moving to Tokyo is going to be a whole world of stress. That's what I thought at least. There was the language barrier, the fact that I had no idea where in the city I wanted to live and the innumerable articles I'd read online providing helpful information on just how next-to-impossible...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Feb 13, 2019

Twenty years after frontman Shinji Sato's death, Fishmans is still walking in the rhythm

In the eternal present of modern listening, when the entire history of recorded sound is just a few clicks away, some music reverberates for longer. That's been the case with Fishmans, a cult Japanese act from the 1990s whose blend of dub rhythms and dream-pop reverie continues to lure new fans 20 years...
Japan Times
JAPAN / Society / GENERATIONAL CHANGE
Feb 10, 2019

Japanese makeup guru on crusade to revamp men's grooming habits

As a university student, Hiroki Takahashi could barely step outside his home without a surgical mask on. Even when he did venture out, he was terrified of the fluorescent lighting ubiquitous in convenience stores and trains that ruthlessly illuminated what he was desperately trying to hide — a mass...
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Feb 9, 2019

U.S.-China trade talks resume next week with focus on intellectual property

U.S. negotiators are preparing to press China next week on longstanding demands that it reform how it treats American companies' intellectual property in order to seal a trade deal that could prevent tariffs from rising on Chinese imports.
Japan Times
WORLD / Politics
Feb 9, 2019

Land is key ingredient missing from U.S. Green New Deal, experts say

Amid the rollout of a high-profile climate proposal in Congress, some are warning that a major gap exists around urban land policy.

Longform

Totopa in Tokyo’s Shinjuku Ward was picked by consultants TTNE as the best sauna of the year.
Japan’s sauna movement: Relax, refresh, repeat