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Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / LEARNING CURVE
Mar 6, 2023

Round 2 at your teaching job: New confidence, new opportunities

We're coming up on a new school year. Aim to improve your language skills and travel the country more with your newfound confidence.
Japan Times
LIFE / Language / BILINGUAL
Mar 3, 2023

Japanese mottos: Where there’s a will, there’s a zayū no mei

Japanese business culture in particular is partial to the idea of a person being able to sum themselves up with a catchy — and insightful — phrase to live by.
Japan Times
PODCAST / deep dive
Mar 2, 2023

Infinity and beyond: Yayoi Kusama’s next evolution

Culture critic Thu-Huong Ha joins the podcast to explain Yayoi Kusama’s latest stage of evolution.
Japan Times
JAPAN / FOCUS
Feb 21, 2023

'We’re all different': Russians in Japan reflect on year since Ukraine invasion

The past year has seen them reflect on what it means to be Russian today and the new normal that comes with their home country being at war.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Economy / Longform
Feb 20, 2023

Unpacking Japan’s great wage conundrum

With inflation running at a four-decade high, the world’s third-largest economy’s famously stagnant salaries are finally showing signs of rising. Can the momentum be sustained?
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Feb 18, 2023

Is this Yayoi Kusama's final evolution?

A recent branding campaign with luxury brand Louis Vuitton raises the question: Is she still interesting?
Japan Times
CULTURE / Books
Feb 11, 2023

'The Tatami Galaxy' is an imaginative romp through parallel worlds

Tomihiko Morimi’s rollicking novel about a disillusioned college student searching for his ideal life infuses looping narratives with lightly philosophical insights into choice and destiny.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Feb 6, 2023

Death, glory and warlordism in Vladimir Putin's Russia

The Russian state’s ideological madness and reversion to warlordism have been abetted by a religious fundamentalism.
Japan Times
WORLD
Feb 5, 2023

Take a bow-wow! Meet Bobi, the world's oldest dog on record

At over 30 years old, the canine's owner attributes his longevity to living in the countryside, never being chained and eating only 'human food.'
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / OBITUARY
Jan 29, 2023

Angela Jeffs: The Japan Times columnist who taught us to ‘write the mind alive’

Angela Jeffs helped the international community make sense of Japan and our place in it.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Entertainment news
Jul 12, 2023

Czech novelist Milan Kundera dies at 94

Through his characteristic satire and poetic prose, Kundera had sought to express all that is compelling and absurd about life.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Jan 22, 2023

Workplace friendships are worth the awkwardness

Research suggests forging personal connections at work matters more than financial success.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Jan 17, 2023

Satellite-saving robots can turn killer, too

Orbiting machines used to repair other spacecraft can just as easily be used to destroy them and will require new international rules to keep the peace.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Books
Jan 17, 2023

Could the Akutagawa Prize get its first American winner?

Gregory Khezrnejat, whose short story “Kaikonchi” is up for the literary award, sees writing in Japanese as a minor rebellion against English's assumed dominance in global culture.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Jan 12, 2023

Jobs vs. membership: Making sense of Japan's system of employment

A family-based 'membership-type' system of work underpins Japanese society, but the conditions and traditions attached to it aren't always favorable — or easy to understand.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / FOCUS
Jan 12, 2023

Biden's climate agenda has a problem: Not enough workers

With the U.S. unemployment rate at a historic low of 3.5%, companies fear that plans to transition away from fossil fuels could stall out as they struggle to fill job vacancies.
Japan Times
TENNIS
Jan 12, 2023

Naomi Osaka reveals pregnancy and plans to miss 2023 season

The 25-year-old has not played a tennis match since September and her withdrawal from the Australian Open next week had puzzled many observers.
Japan Times
WORLD / Society
Jan 9, 2023

Italy's resurgent right takes on a woman's right to choose

Abortion repeatedly made headlines in September's elections, a process that elevated Giorgia Meloni to lead Italy's most right-wing government since World War II.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Jan 8, 2023

As Asian societies age, ‘retirement’ just means more work

Across East Asia, populations are graying faster than anywhere else in the world, and while younger generations shrink, older workers are often toiling well into their 70s and beyond.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Jan 6, 2023

Xi's speech echoes a second coming of Mao

Chinese leader Xi Jinping's year-end speech is very much attune to Communist Party mythology and shows where his mind lies.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Dec 31, 2022

What you’ll find inside Nintendo’s new California theme park

Starting next year, Nintendo fans can step through a life-sizeu00a0warp pipe and enter the Mushroom Kingdom for the first time on American soil.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / 20 QUESTIONS
Dec 29, 2022

Answers in 2022 encouraged activism, recommended books and provided advice

The 20 Questions section discusses people's experiences of Japan in their own words. As we emerge from the pandemic, an underlying theme in 2022 was fighting for change.
Japan Times
LIFE / Digital / 2022 in Review
Dec 29, 2022

Kizuna AI's departure marked a new era for virtual stars in 2022

Fans were shocked when the pioneering digital character stepped down in February, but virtual YouTubers are still proving to be one of Japan's strongest pop culture exports.
Japan Times
WORLD
Dec 24, 2022

U.S. House approves Ukraine aid including arms after Zelenskyy visit

The aid measure passed by the U.S. House, part of a $1.66 trillion government funding bill that won Senate approval a day earlier, will now go to U.S. President Joe Biden.
Japan Times
WORLD
Dec 23, 2022

'Armed with English': Ukraine soldiers take language lessons

Lessons are practical — giving soldiers words like 'wounded,' 'semi-automatic' and 'cache' as well as phrases such as 'killed in action.'
Japan Times
JAPAN
Dec 21, 2022

Watchdog OKs new rules to allow Japan's nuclear plants to operate beyond 60 years

The move comes as Prime Minister Fumio Kishida pushes continued use of older nuclear plants in the years ahead to meet national carbon reduction goals.
Japan Times
Special Supplements
Dec 12, 2022

NHK Top Docs tells powerful stories about the world around us

Documentaries explore, preserve and publicize history in immersive ways so that we can learn from it. That’s why NHK Top Docs, a free streaming service provided by NHK World-Japan, is such an important project. With all the resources of Japan’s public broadcaster behind it, NHK Top Docs introduces...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Dec 8, 2022

‘Dr. Coto's Clinic 2022’: Heartwarming drama offers predictable prognosis

Much of the original cast from Fuji TV's 2003 drama “Dr. Koto's Clinic” return for this feature film about the highs and lows of life as an island physician.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Books
Dec 4, 2022

Firebrand poet Rin Ishigaki speaks for modern women in 'This Overflowing Light'

Poet Rin Ishigaki may not have been as prolific as some of her contemporaries such as Makoto Ooka and Shuntaro Tanikawa, but she occupies a unique space in Japanese poetry with her affinity for elevating the familiar and her pragmatic take on the human condition.

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