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Japan Times
BUSINESS / Companies / Regional voices: Chubu
May 29, 2020

Toyota focuses on esports to boost fan base as motorsport shuts down

Technical advancements have enabled the carmaker to make use of virtual races in developing its vehicles.
Japan Times
MORE SPORTS
May 25, 2020

Formula E driver disqualified for getting impostor to race for him

Audi Formula E driver Daniel Abt was disqualified and ordered to pay €10,000 ($10,900) to charity on Sunday for getting a professional gamer to compete under his name in an official esports race.
Japan Times
LIFE / Digital / ON: TECH
May 24, 2020

Solving pandemic-era problems with the help of two apps and a fan

This month's collection of products and services are great to help deal with the pandemic but may work just as well when it's over.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Apr 23, 2020

Not even a global pandemic can keep jazz musician Haruka Kikuchi from her trombone

Japanese jazz trombonist Haruka Kikuchi is coping with COVID-19 restrictions by streaming live performances from her home in New Orleans.
Japan Times
WORLD
Apr 22, 2020

‘We needed to go’: Rich Americans activate pandemic escape plans

As coronavirus infections tore across the U.S. in early March, a Silicon Valley executive called the survival shelter manufacturer Rising S Co. He wanted to know how to open the secret door to his multimillion-dollar bunker 11 feet underground in New Zealand.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Tech
Apr 20, 2020

Houseparty vies with Zoom to be homebound chatters’ app of choice

Sima Sistani has been getting through the coronavirus outbreak’s shelter-in-place order the past month in many of the same ways others have: home-schooling her 7-year-old, trading off parenting shifts with her husband, and jumping from room to room to find a quiet space for phone calls.
Japan Times
LIFE / Style & Design / ON: DESIGN
Apr 19, 2020

Visit the workplaces of Japan’s artisans while staying at home

Sheltering in place may just get you thinking more about design. Luckily, there are plenty of videos online that can help in this endeavor.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Books
Apr 11, 2020

Japanese books to get you through a lockdown

With "staying in" now the new "going out," housebound activities have become officially the cool thing to do. But what if you’re stuck for a good book? Read on to see four of our critics’ top reads for an extended period of self-isolation.
Japan Times
LIFE / Travel
Apr 4, 2020

When you can’t travel in actual reality, go virtual

During these strange days, the idea of online anything is proving more attractive — and vital. Families experience first-time conference calls, while musicians around the world put on internet gigs for locked-down audiences. Travel, too, is just a tap away, thanks to virtual reality.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Mar 11, 2020

Intersection: Bridging the Pacific through the medium of J-pop

Intersection's four dual-heritage members say they want Japanese music listeners to be more open to international culture and people with more diverse backgrounds.
Japan Times
LIFE / Digital / ON: GAMES
Mar 2, 2020

Knockout games with a twist

Nioh 2 has really demonic players; One Punch Man is late to the game, but in a good way; and Pokemon Mystery Dungeon ditches the trainers.
Japan Times
WORLD / Science & Health
Jan 31, 2020

Sun's surface revealed in closest detail yet

Images from a powerful new telescope installed on top of a volcano in Hawaii show the surface of the sun in the closest detail yet, revealing features as small as 30 km (18 miles) across.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / Japan
Jan 28, 2020

Why Sony has developed an electric vehicle

Sony's Vision-S electric car project may be a harbinger of its true comeback.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Jan 13, 2020

Modi's project to make a Hindu India

India represents the most successful example in history of managing the challenge of unity in diversity, but the ruling party's Hindutva agenda threatens this achievement.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Jan 8, 2020

'Dumb Type': When actions speak the loudest

Dumb Type's thought-provoking performances and installations explore the influence of technology on humankind.
Japan Times
LIFE / Digital / ON: GAMES
Jan 6, 2020

Welcoming back some video-game classics

Keita Takahashi delights gamers with Wattam; Musou Orochi gets the 'ultimate' treatment; and Brain Age has switched up a notch
Japan Times
CULTURE / CULTURE SMASH
Jan 6, 2020

When American country meets Japanese anime

The lineup of artists onstage at the Tokyo premiere of 'Sturgill Simpson Presents: Sound & Fury' was as eclectic as the film they'd all made: a 41-minute anime music video set to an entire album by the Grammy-winning Simpson.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Jan 5, 2020

2020 Olympics fuel race to monetize autonomous driving

One day in December, a self-driving bus in Gunma completed an 18-km run from Maebashi to Shibukawa and back, dropping fare-paying passengers off at designated stops and navigating public roads.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / TOKYO FOOD FILE
Jan 1, 2020

Dining out in 2019: The world came to Tokyo, and the city answered

Before we leave 2019 behind, there's just time to look back on the past 12 months of dining out in Tokyo. And to wish all The Japan Times' readers good luck, good health and good eating in the year ahead.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC / Science & Health
Dec 24, 2019

Exhibition in China reflects on loss of anonymity to recognition technology

An art exhibition exploring the impact of facial recognition technology has opened in China, offering a rare public space for reflection on increasingly pervasive surveillance by tech companies and the government.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Regional voices: Chubu
Dec 6, 2019

Girls revive previously male-dominated cheering squads

Typical cheerleading clubs in schools, known as ōendan, consist of men clad in black gakuran stand-up collar uniforms yelling vigorously and performing synchronized, dynamic choreographed moves to support sports teams.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Dec 5, 2019

Steve Gadd: Drummer still 'laying it down,' 50 years on

Ahead of his band's tour of Japan, Steve Gadd discusses a career drumming for the likes of James Brown, Eric Clapton and Steely Dan.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Dec 5, 2019

Instagram to collect ages in push for youth safety and alcohol ad dollars

Facebook Inc.'s Instagram said it will require birth dates from all new users starting on Wednesday, expanding the audience for ads for alcohol and other age-restricted products while offering new safety measures for younger users.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink
Nov 30, 2019

Gelinaz! Shuffle 2019: Creativity thrives when chefs stay at home

The Grand Gelinaz! Shuffle 2019: Stay In Tour critiques the relentless travel chefs have come to view as necessary, while still maximizing global culinary exchange and creativity.
Japan Times
LIFE / Travel
Nov 30, 2019

More zany than Zen: Kyoto hotels paving the way to 2020

Tired of always staying at the same minimalist hotel? Inject some levity into your Kyoto trip by booking a room at one of these avant-garde boutique hotels instead.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Nov 1, 2019

Display of 'comfort women' artwork canceled in Japan

The city government of Ise, Mie Prefecture, has decided against displaying a piece of artwork that features an image of a statue of a girl symbolizing "comfort women" at an ongoing exhibition, it was learned Thursday.
Japan Times
WORLD
Oct 29, 2019

Facebook wants to offer users advice on preventive health care

Facebook Inc. is cracking the door open into another part of its users' personal lives: their health.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Books
Oct 26, 2019

Tokyo's Jimbocho neighborhood won't close the chapter on books

Thousands of bibliophiles are expected to descend on Tokyo's Jinbocho neighborhood over the next week or so as the city celebrates the 60th anniversary of its largest secondhand book fair.
Japan Times
LIFE / Travel / HOTELS & RESTAURANTS
Oct 24, 2019

Top-tier jazz performances and signature dishes

At The Peninsula Tokyo, restaurant Peter will present "Jazz Nights at Peter" with its specialties, free-flowing Dom Perignon and concert supported by Japan's premier jazz club Blue Note Tokyo on Nov. 1 and Dec. 18.

Longform

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