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Japan Times
BUSINESS / Tech / ADVANCES IN PROGRESS
Dec 7, 2014

Synthetic fluorite puts lens biz in focus

Iwatani Corp. brightened the outlook for camera fans in October by announcing it had developed the world's first viable technology for synthesizing high-purity fluorite — an element critical to making the world's best lenses.
Japan Times
LIFE / Style & Design
Dec 6, 2014

Code + culture: new media art from Japan

Domestic media artists have been using programming code in recent years to create some astonishing works of art. We look back at how this scene developed over the years and examine four contemporary artists who have defined the way the genre has evolved.
Japan Times
Places
Dec 6, 2014

Day trips from Tokyo

Tokyo has plenty to offer to visitors and residents, but for those times when you need something different, something slower, something roomier, here are few select days trips out of Tokyo.
Japan Times
JAPAN / CHUBU CONNECTION
Dec 5, 2014

Nagoya YWCA offers language classes with day care

The Nagoya YWCA School of Japanese Language in Aichi Prefecture has added a "Bambina" course to its curriculum.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Dec 3, 2014

Looking Japan's film-industry myths in the eye

Who doesn't love a listicle titled "(X) surprising things you never knew about (Y)"? What surprises me about a lot of commentary on the Japanese film industry — from insiders and outsiders alike — is how it substitutes judgment calls (usually of the "Japanese films are crap" variety) for out-in-plain-sight...
BUSINESS
Dec 3, 2014

North Korea's fingerprints reportedly found on Sony hack

North Korea may have had a hand in the digital attack against Sony Pictures Entertainment that used destructive malware to disable systems and destroy data, according to two sources with knowledge of the investigation.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Dec 2, 2014

Taking vocal software beyond Miku

Tokyo-based electronic musician mus.hiba has worked with a handful of vocalists during his short stint as a producer. However, many of them haven't been human.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Dec 2, 2014

Shizuoka set for a rock fest with local flare

A raucous bassist shouting at the top of his lungs, a guitarist who models himself on AC/DC's Angus Young and a drummer dressed in nothing but a fundoshi (loincloth) — meet The Wemmer.
Japan Times
BASKETBALL / ONE-ON-ONE WITH ...
Dec 1, 2014

Iwate's Randall stays focused on winning

The Japan Times features periodic interviews with players in the bj-league. Scootie Randall of the Eastern Conference-leading Iwate Big Bulls is the subject of this week's profile.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Voices / VIEWS FROM THE STREET
Dec 1, 2014

Yokohama: How can you make your Christmas in Japan more ... Christmassy?

Many foreigners will spend the Christmas holiday in Japan away from family. So how do they attempt to create the feeling of a Western Christmas like those they knew back home?
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Tech
Nov 30, 2014

Unreleased films feared filched in Sony attack; North Korea suspected

Two as-yet unreleased films might have been stolen in a cyberattack on Sony Corp. that may be linked to North Korea.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Nov 28, 2014

Missing out on an Iran deal

Negotiators may have let slip the most opportune moment for ending the standoff on Iran's nuclear program.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Nov 28, 2014

A modern annex for an old favorite

I always feel a little inadequate arriving at the Tokyo Metropolitan Teien Art Museum, shambling up its gravel drive in my slovenly journalist garb and running one hand over my face to check if I've shaved that day. It's such an elegant venue that I feel I really should be arriving in more style, possibly...
Japan Times
JAPAN / CHUBU CONNECTION
Nov 28, 2014

Flash cards help foreign children learn kanji

An elementary school teacher from Aichi Prefecture has developed a unique new way for foreign children to learn Japanese from flash cards.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Nov 27, 2014

'Group Show of Contemporary Artists 2014'

In support of the activities of up-and-coming artists across the country, Tokyo Metropolitan
Japan Times
CULTURE / Stage
Nov 26, 2014

French idol reflects on her Japanese droid son

As a playwright, stage director, Osaka University professor, manager of the Komaba Agora Theater in Tokyo and leader of the city's Seinendan theater company he formed in 1983, Oriza Hirata — whose "contemporary colloquial theater" set the scene for much of Japan's new drama over the last 20 years —...
CULTURE / Music / STRANGE BOUTIQUE
Nov 25, 2014

Pop artifice was never better with Aya Matsuura

When a pop singer who has long faded from the limelight suddenly starts appearing in your Twitter timeline in the form of glowing, nostalgic re-evaluations, they're either gearing up for a comeback . . . or dead.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / THE PERSISTENT VEGETARIAN
Nov 25, 2014

Pass the sauce: Turkish meze makes for a meal

I know it's meant to be enticing. But the scent of roasting meat on a stick — a staple ingredient of the Turkish street-food doner kebab, found in many popular Tokyo neighborhoods — is enough to have me crossing the street just to avoid the wafting smell, or else holding my breath as I walk by the...
WORLD
Nov 24, 2014

New malware used for surveillance in 10 countries, Symantec says

An unidentified nation may have developed a "highly complex" surveillance tool that targeted companies and other victims in at least 10 countries, including Russia and Mexico, Symantec Corp. researchers said.
Japan Times
BASKETBALL / NBA
Nov 23, 2014

JT to excerpt new Jordan book

The Japan Times will run excerpts from Hall of Fame writer Sam Smith's new book "There Is No Next: NBA Legends on the Legacy of Michael Jordan" on the NBA great beginning in Wednesday's print edition.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Books
Nov 22, 2014

Blood & Guts

"Blood & Guts" by Australian journalist Sam Vincent is a behind-the-scenes investigation into whaling and a tale of two countries. Australia is on one side, united in its love of whales and its condemnation of Japan, which has refused to stop killing whales in the Antarctic despite (or perhaps in spite...
Japan Times
JAPAN / CHUBU CONNECTION
Nov 21, 2014

Translator moved to action by Malala

Malala Yousafzai, who at 17 became the youngest recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize, has influenced countless people all over the world as an activist for female education. One of those is Yoshiko Nishida.

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