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Japan Times
LIFE / Lifestyle
Apr 7, 2019

The Moomins find a second home in Japan

With almost 50 percent of the global 'Moomin market' in Japan, MoominValley Park has the ideal audience — nostalgic adults, kawaii fans and, of course, woodland-creature-loving kids.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Apr 7, 2019

Art Basel Hong Kong: All the fun of the international art fair

As Hong Kong continues to rise as a hub of Asian contemporary art, Art Basel Hong Kong introduces a clutch of Japanese artists with plenty to say.
CULTURE / Books / ESSENTIAL READING FOR JAPANOPHILES
Apr 6, 2019

'Onward Towards Our Noble Deaths' review: Pulling no punches when it comes to the realities of war

In 'Onward Towards Our Noble Deaths,' manga artist and veteran Shigeru Mizuki brings the Pacific front of World War II to life with unflinching realism and a grotesque and sardonic humor.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Apr 5, 2019

G20 in Osaka offers chance for health and financial policymakers to stop fighting and join hands

To effectively tackle global health issues it's crucial that the Group of 20 nations use their June summit to overcome the barriers that have traditionally separated health experts and policymakers from financial and economic leaders.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Apr 5, 2019

Avant-garde artist creates bridges between life and death

With a strong belief that her role is to connect the invisible with the visible world through art, contemporary artist Miwa Komatsu continues to depict otherworldly creatures. People can’t help but be intrigued by the powerful and colorful images of seemingly frightening, yet strangely charming, creatures...
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Apr 3, 2019

No silver bullet for China's plastics problem

The country could make biodegradable products mainstream, but that won't stop its trash from choking the oceans.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Apr 3, 2019

'Afternoon Breezes': Hitoshi Yazaki's pioneer of Japanese LGBTQ cinema is revisited

What was Japan's first LGBTQ-themed film? One often-mentioned candidate is Keisuke Kinoshita's 1959 melodrama "Farewell to Spring," though more for the emotional ties between its young male protagonists than anything explicitly erotic. More upfront in its treatment — and more critically acclaimed —...
Japan Times
GLOBAL MEDIA POST / Northern Italy report 2019
Apr 2, 2019

Leonardo Fioravanti: Designing for good

“The car is the ultimate expression of personal freedom.” That sentiment has been expressed by car aficionados so many times, it can be brushed aside as a cliche. However, when heard from Leonardo Fioravanti, the Italian engineer associated with Ferrari, the statement gains more credence.
Japan Times
LIFE / Style & Design
Mar 31, 2019

Baku Sakashita: In light of good design

Designer and artisan Baku Sakashita sheds light on his striking Suki series of lamps and the history of design in Japan.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC
Mar 31, 2019

Before mosque attacks, New Zealand failed to record hate crimes for over a decade

Weeks before a gunman killed 50 Muslims in Christchurch, a man had threatened to burn copies of the Quran outside New Zealand mosques, in what community leaders said was the latest in a long list of threatening behavior against religious minorities.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Books / RECENTLY PUBLISHED BOOKS ABOUT JAPAN
Mar 30, 2019

Kyoko Nakajima's 'The Little House': Secrets hiding secrets, and much left unsaid

Kyoko Nakajima's 'The Little House' is the story of how generations in Japan talk — or don't talk — to each other, and their inability to connect across eras.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink
Mar 27, 2019

Tokyo-based pastry chef named Asia's best

Patissier Fabrizio Fiorani was named Asia's Best Pastry Chef at the Asia's 50 Best Restaurants awards ceremony in Macau on March 26.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Mar 26, 2019

Japanese artisanship: As real as it can get

From perfect replicas of fruit to tiny articulated dragons, Japan's ceramic, metal, wood and other craft industries excel at making decorative items that are so detailed and realistic, they can fool the naked eye.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Mar 25, 2019

What a coup for Thailand's junta

Plenty of hard work still lies ahead for the military-backed Palang Pracharath Party.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / TELLING LIVES
Mar 24, 2019

Robert Ryker carved a niche for Tokyo Sinfonia by rescoring more than 500 classics

Conductor Zubin Mehta once told Robert Ryker that Mehta's two orchestras, the Montreal Symphony and the Los Angeles Philharmonic, had the world's two finest tuba players. Ryker, then 22 years old, was one of them. It was a rare compliment for any musician, most of whom never gain professional recognition....
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / JAPAN LITE
Mar 20, 2019

If you want to fix the problem of overtourism then just look overseas

I was speaking with a woman the other day who had recently been to Japan. She acknowledged that Japan is the "in" place to travel to and, as if to qualify this fact, complained that "Kyoto was so crowded, I couldn't even get a photo of the Golden Pavilion because of all the Chinese tourists."
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Mar 19, 2019

America isn't as divided as it looks

On some important issues, public opinion is starting to converge.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Markets
Mar 12, 2019

Boeing shares, vanguard of the Dow, crushed after second 737 MAX crash

Boeing Co. shares fell by the most in three years on Monday after China, Indonesia and Ethiopia ordered airlines to ground their 737 MAX 8 planes following the second deadly crash of one of the jets in just five months.
SUMO
Mar 11, 2019

Sumo 101: Pusher-thrusters

When many people think of sumo, they imagine two large men locked in a vice-like grip straining to force each other out of a ring.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Mar 9, 2019

The fight against HIV isn't over yet

The virus has been eradicated from a second patient. In the 20 years since the first cure, the science of prevention and management has transformed.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Mar 7, 2019

Namahage demon festival of northern Japan grapples with blessing and curse of UNESCO listing

As a child, Tatsuo Sato was terrified when the Namahage demons roared into his house every year, but in adulthood he mourned as the centuries-old tradition faded away.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Feb 28, 2019

Tokyo restaurateur develops spore sheet to speed up aging of meat — and fish

Mikio Atobe carefully peels a layer of rayon netting from a chunk of farmed bluefin tuna, revealing a secondary sheet of cloth clinging to its exposed flesh, partially yellowed by the mold coating it.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Feb 28, 2019

Gang of Four's fluctuating degrees of animosity, 40 years on

British post-punk pioneers Gang of Four didn't come to Japan until 2005, nearly 30 years after the band formed. If guitarist Andy Gill had his way, it would have happened a lot sooner. "I clearly remember a conversation in the '80s about going to Japan," Gill says, sitting among an array of equipment...
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / TELLING LIVES
Feb 27, 2019

Dogen: Humor that's not lost in translation

Living in Japan can, from time to time, present a fair amount of frustration for non-Japanese, especially if they can't speak the language well. Long-term resident Kevin O'Donnell, who creates YouTube videos about Japan under the name "Dogen," isn't afraid to vent but avoids any vitriol.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Feb 27, 2019

A rocky way forward for Henoko base

New U.S. base faces a double blow: a referendum defeat and an uphill construction battle.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Feb 26, 2019

The accidental Atlanticist

Europeans must heed Mike Pence's dark warnings to achieve Joe Biden's bright vision
Japan Times
JAPAN / Science & Health / NATURAL SELECTIONS
Feb 24, 2019

There's so much that bonobos and chimps can teach humans

About 6 million years ago in Africa there was an ape species that would change the world. We don't know much about that animal, but we do know that one population separated from the rest and would eventually evolve into our species, Homo sapiens.
Japan Times
GLOBAL MEDIA POST / Southeastern USA report 2019
Feb 22, 2019

Sweet Briar College: Forming the world’s women leaders

Set on 3,250 acres in the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains in Virginia, women’s liberal arts college Sweet Briar College has remained unswerving in its mission to prepare women for the workplace and guide them to become responsible global citizens.
JAPAN / View from Osaka
Feb 16, 2019

Osaka in the spotlight ahead of G20 and elections

January and early February in Kansai, and Japan as a whole, is a busy time for local leaders. New Year's greetings are exchanged by (mostly) elderly men at stuffy buffet parties in luxury hotels. Their job is to stand around holding a white paper napkin-covered drink and toast to, well, something, after...

Longform

Visitors walk past Sou Fujimoto's Grand Ring, which has been recognized as the largest wooden structure in the world.
Can a World Expo still matter? Japan is about to find out.