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Reader Mail
Jan 25, 2019

Bad funding decisions ail universities

Regarding the opinion piece "The global decline of Japanese universities" in the Jan. 19 edition, I'm not sure professor Takamitsu Sawa has a real grasp of what ails Japan's universities most. More important than how they are evaluated internationally is how their dwindling resources are misused to begin...
Japan Times
BUSINESS / davos special 2019
Jan 22, 2019

Data sharing among 'Fourth Industrial Revolution' goals

Launched in July with the goal of updating regulations that hinder effective usage of cutting-edge technologies, the Centre for the Fourth Industrial Revolution Japan has been helping the government lay out guidelines for an optimal future society.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / davos special 2019
Jan 22, 2019

Looking toward a digital future for a globalized society

Chief Representative Officer of the World Economic Forum's Japan Office Makiko Eda has held a number of leadership roles. | SATOKO KAWASAKI
Japan Times
LIFE / Digital / ON: TECH
Jan 20, 2019

Japan's big moves at CES 2019

This month CES, the world's largest consumer electronics trade show, took place in Las Vegas, with many Japanese companies showcasing new products. On: Tech looks a few that hope to change the way we monitor and use information.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Jan 20, 2019

Stop trying to create Japanese versions of overseas institutions

Japan lacks the human resources to create world-class educational institutions, research institutes and innovation ecosystems.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Jan 19, 2019

Hitachi chief's remarks on nuclear industry spark debate

On Jan. 1, Hiroaki Nakanishi, chairman of the Japan Business Federation (Keidanren), held press interviews on the outlook of the business community and, at one point, the discussion turned to nuclear energy.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Politics / ANALYSIS
Jan 19, 2019

Challenges await Japan as Trump presidency enters its third year

On Sept. 26 in New York, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe was facing reporters at a joint news conference with U.S. President Donald Trump when Trump cracked a joke that in fact sounded like a veiled threat.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Jan 18, 2019

Tokyo Metro aims to ease morning rush hour overcrowding — with free soba and tempura

Instead of a worm, Tokyo's early bird commuters could get free soba noodles with tempura if enough of them take part in a new plan to ease congestion on a busy line in the capital.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY
Jan 17, 2019

#StandUpJapan and other hashtags allow for new voices to be heard

On the morning of Jan. 14, 20-year-old women decked out in brightly colored kimono scrambled to catch trains to take them to ceremonies across the country to mark Coming of Age Day.
Japan Times
WORLD
Jan 17, 2019

Czechs mark 50 years since Jan Palach's fatal fiery protest against the crushing of Prague Spring

Czechs marked the 50th anniversary on Wednesday of student Jan Palach setting himself on fire in central Prague in a desperate act aimed at lifting the apathy hanging over the country in the wake of the Soviet invasion that crushed the Prague Spring of 1968.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Science & Health
Jan 16, 2019

Trash talk: Tokyo city opens bar in waste-management facility to spark environment debate

Like many Tokyoites, Miki Takara, 53, was sipping beer and indulging in specially prepared delicacies at a bar on a recent Friday evening. But something made this scene in Tokyo's western city of Musashino a bit different: At this bar, the only thing separating her from a concrete waste pit was a single...
Japan Times
JAPAN
Jan 15, 2019

Cherry blossoms in Japan are predicted to arrive earlier than usual again in 2019

Although some parts of Japan have yet to see this year's first snowfall, experts say they already know when spring will come.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Society / GENERATIONAL CHANGE
Jan 15, 2019

Japanese volunteer's initiative allows Cambodians to see future beyond dumps where they scavenged

In Anlong Pi, a village on the outskirts of famous tourist destination Siem Reap in northwestern Cambodia, a group of women gather each day to peel bark from 3-meter-long sections of banana tree trunks. The bark pulp taken during the process, akin to peeling onions, is steamed to recover fibers and then...
Japan Times
LIFE / Lifestyle
Jan 13, 2019

Are some of us born to have a beer belly?

Scientific literature on excess weight and health is expanding along with global waistlines, and yet, it's hard to find a solid, coherent scientific explanation for why some people get fat and others don't, and why some overweight people get Type 2 diabetes and heart disease and others don't.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink
Jan 12, 2019

A rare glimpse into the world of Japan's cozy snack bars

Cigarette smoke wafts across rows of whisky and shōchū bottles with dedicated name tags draped around the necks as an elderly man, microphone in hand, belts out a Showa Era enka tune playing on the karaoke machine.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Jan 12, 2019

Japan's vernacular press coverage tiptoes around tattoo controversy

Before the Olympic Games come to Tokyo in the summer of 2020, Japan will get a chance to prove its mettle as an international sporting events host with the Rugby World Cup this fall. The games will be spread out among 12 stadiums nationwide, which means the whole country will be the focus rather than...
Japan Times
WORLD / Science & Health
Jan 12, 2019

North magnetic pole's movement forces unprecedented navigation fix

Rapid shifts in the Earth's north magnetic pole are forcing researchers to make an unprecedented early update to a model that helps navigation by ships, planes and submarines in the Arctic.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Jan 10, 2019

With strong China focus, VW spearheads $300 billion global drive to make all cars electric

Global automakers are planning a $300 billion surge in spending on electric vehicle technology over the next five to 10 years, with nearly half of the money targeted at China, accelerating the industry's transition away from fossil fuels and shifting power to Asian suppliers of batteries and EV technology....
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Jan 10, 2019

Perfume goes back to dance basics ahead of Coachella debut

Perfume keeps finding new opportunities more than 15 years into its career. This spring, the electro-pop trio embarks on its latest international tour, with stops in Asia and North America, but the real development comes at the very end of that jaunt when the group plays the Coachella Valley Music and...
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / Japan
Jan 8, 2019

What the world can learn from Japan

Islandology is spreading globally as other nations recognize the world is a single closed ecosystem.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Stage
Jan 8, 2019

'Crime and Punishment': The crime you'll be glad you were a witness to

In a scoop for Tokyo, Theatre Cocoon in Shibuya Ward is set to mark the new year with the world premiere of a new production of Russian writer Fyodor Dostoevsky's "Crime and Punishment" in an original production by English director Phillip Breen with a Japanese cast.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Jan 7, 2019

Trump and Kim Jong Un likely to choose Hanoi for second summit, report says

U.S. President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un could meet in Vietnam's capital for their second summit on Pyongyang's nuclear ambitions, the South Korean newspaper Munhwa Ilbo said.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Jan 7, 2019

In a Tokyo neighborhood's last sushi restaurant, a sense of loss

"I'll have a draft," says Yasuo Fujinuma, heaving himself down at the sushi counter. He pulls a pack of cigarettes from a frayed pocket of his sweater. From the corner of the restaurant, a small TV hums the noon weather forecast. He never drinks at noon.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Regional voices: Chubu
Jan 7, 2019

Traffic safety-conscious group of bald men in Mie Prefecture breaks up due to aging

In 1985, about 30 bald men in their 30s who were running businesses in Matsusaka, Mie Prefecture, created a group called Hagetemo Katsura wo Kaburan Kai, which roughly translates to a group of men who won't wear wigs even if they go bald.

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