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Japan Times
JAPAN / Regional voices: Chubu
Nov 19, 2018

Don't eat Jiro persimmons, drink them, town in Mie urges

Members of the Nippon Bartenders Association's branch in Mie Prefecture have created original cocktails that make use of typhoon-damaged Jiro persimmons — a local specialty of the town of Taki that is now in harvest — that cannot be shipped for sale.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Regional Voices: Fukushima
Nov 18, 2018

Exports of Fukushima-brand alcohol hit record in fiscal 2017

Exports of sake, liquor and other alcoholic beverages produced in Fukushima Prefecture reached a record high of about 296,000 liters in fiscal 2017.
Japan Times
WORLD / Politics
Nov 18, 2018

May sees 'no alternative' to her Brexit plan

British Prime Minister Theresa May says she sees no alternative to the Brexit deal she presented earlier this week, amid reports that some of her senior ministers want her to renegotiate the draft agreement before meeting EU leaders next weekend.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Media / Japan Pulse
Nov 17, 2018

Live-action Pokemon trailer reaffirms Pikachu's enduring popularity

Ever since the original release of the “Pokemon” games for the Nintendo Game Boy back in 1996, the series’ central character — the electric, yellow rodent Pikachu — has found a permanent place in the world’s pop-culture zeitgeist. Pikachu has since shown up everywhere, including on countless...
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / Japan
Nov 13, 2018

Women, foreign workers or robots?

As its population declines, Japan must make the right policy choices to ensure it has a sufficent labor force.
Japan Times
LIFE / Language / NEWS IN NIHONGO
Nov 12, 2018

Japan launches first survey on 'overtourism'

There's a tourism boom in Japan, but it isn't all good news.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Regional voices: Chubu
Nov 12, 2018

From Yukio Mishima with love: Former lighthouse keeper reminisces about correspondence with novelist

Michio Suzuki, 87, of Toyohashi, Aichi Prefecture, met renowned novelist Yukio Mishima (1925-70) in March 1953 when he was working at Kamishima Lighthouse in Toba, Mie Prefecture.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Nov 10, 2018

Japan's news outlets weigh in on Jumpei Yasuda's culpability in Syria kidnapping

Freelance reporter Jumpei Yasuda gave a three-hour news conference at the Japan National Press Club on Nov. 2 about his hostage ordeal, describing in detail how he was kidnapped after entering Syria in 2015 and then held for more than three years. He also discussed the situation in the Middle East and...
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / KANPAI CULTURE
Nov 10, 2018

The SG Club: Cocktail history in the making

Shingo Gokan's new bar in Tokyo's Shibuya ward, The SG Club, is a living piece of historical fiction that delights in cross-cultural references. The initials 'SG' stand for Sip and Guzzle, and the space is divided into two bars, each with a different vibe.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Nov 10, 2018

Scientists spend too much time on the old

Spending billions on a huge particle collider won't give us the breakthrough discoveries we need.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Regional Voices: Okinawa
Nov 9, 2018

A sad legacy of postwar upheaval, neglected graves hinder safety works in Okinawa

The area around the banks of the Hija River in the town of Kadena, Okinawa Prefecture, is dotted with graves that are left unattended with no one to inherit them, posing a growing problem for urban development and safety works.
Reader Mail
Nov 9, 2018

The occupation never ends in Okinawa

Some people say Okinawa's plight is the end result of Japan's attack on Pearl Harbor in 1941, so that all responsibility for Okinawa's current state of affairs rests with Japan.
Japan Times
Poland report 2018
Nov 9, 2018

Committed to developing strong relationships

Offering a full range of products and services for passenger cars and commercial vehicles, Hitachi Capital Polska is driving into the future. The company provides clients with fleet solutions based on best whole-life cost for business purpose, safety, environmental, guaranteed mobility and customer satisfaction....
Japan Times
JAPAN / Regional Voices: Hiroshima
Nov 8, 2018

Hiroshima A-bomb survivor: Yoshinori Kato regrets failing to save the lives of trapped schoolchildren

Words of regret run repeatedly through the mind of Yoshinori Kato: "I'm sorry I couldn't save you."
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / Japan
Nov 6, 2018

Aspiration over action in Japan's approach to health innovation

Policy actions will be required to enable Japan to harness its technical strengths in the life sciences, robotics and digital innovations to become a global hub for pursuing next-level health innovations.
Japan Times
WORLD
Nov 5, 2018

Saudis sent 'cleanup' team to Turkey after Khashoggi killing, Turkish official says

Saudi Arabia sent a two-man "cleanup team" to erase evidence of journalist Jamal Khashoggi's killing a week after he disappeared at the Saudi Consulate in Istanbul, a Turkish official said Monday, calling it a sign that top Saudi officials knew of the crime.
Japan Times
LIFE / Language
Nov 5, 2018

Johnny Depp to play American photographer in 'Minamata'

Popular American actor Johnny Depp will play the lead role of Eugene Smith in the movie 'Minamata' (original title), which depicts the life of the master photographer who reported on Minamata disease to the world, and whose death 40 years ago is being commemorated this year.
Japan Times
JAPAN / EXPLAINER
Nov 5, 2018

To what extent will Japan's 2014 downturn repeat with the new tax hike?

The wallets of Japanese residents may get a little lighter next year, as the prices of most goods and services are set to rise under a new consumption tax system starting in October 2019.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Regional voices: Chubu
Nov 5, 2018

Superrealistic face masks by Japan firm attract attention from facial-recognition system developers

Superrealistic plastic face masks produced by a firm in Otsu, Shiga Prefecture, have recently attracted attention at home and abroad, from facial-recognition system developers to a Saudi Arabian royal family member.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Nov 5, 2018

Facebook tamped down on hoax sites but polarization and skewed news thrive

In February, the YourNewsWire page on Facebook was at its peak popularity, boosted by its salacious post claiming that Justin Trudeau, the Canadian prime minister, was Fidel Castro's love child.
Reader Mail
Nov 2, 2018

A long way from full acceptance

Regarding the Oct. 8 article "Gaijin Day: How an event in Hamamatsu about unity proved to be divisive": I lived in Japan for more than 30 years and worked in a Japanese-owned company there as well as working in several universities. I finally left Japan because I found the "quiet" discrimination there...
Reader Mail
Nov 2, 2018

ASEAN support of FONOPs unclear

Regarding the Oct. 31 article "Are U.S. FONOPs upholding freedom or stirring up trouble?" Denny Roy implies that Southeast Asian countries want the United States to continue its confrontational FONOPs. But that is not at all clear. The ASEAN Defense Ministers Plus Meeting expressed unusually blunt concern...
Japan Times
JAPAN / Politics
Oct 29, 2018

Abe grilled at Diet on new visa statuses and upcoming tax hike

The prime minister was also questioned about moves to amend the postwar Constitution.
Japan Times
LIFE / Language / BILINGUAL
Oct 29, 2018

'Ghost kanji' lurk in the Japanese lexicon

Floating around the murky regions of digitized Unicode values are anywhere between 60 and 100 yu016brei-moji — literally, 'ghost characters' — haunting the Japanese kanji lexicon.
Japan Times
LIFE / Language
Oct 29, 2018

Japan and Europe launch probes to survey Mercury

The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency and European Space Agency launched twin Mercury probes on an Ariane 5 rocket from French Guiana on Oct. 19.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Regional voices: Chubu
Oct 29, 2018

Mother of Japanese boy killed in '92 U.S. shooting hopes her book will promote stricter gun control

Mieko Hattori, 70, from Nagoya, whose son, Yoshihiro, 16, was gunned down in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, in 1992, is working on a story for children that calls for stricter gun control measures in the United States.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Oct 27, 2018

Proposed reform to Japan's immigration law causes concern

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe receives a lot of grief from left-leaning pundits who consider his policies and outlook regressive, but right-leaning commentators aren't always enamored of the country’s leader either. They voice frustration at his refusal to visit the controversial Yasukuni Shrine and find...
Reader Mail
Oct 26, 2018

Asanuma's killing re-enacted in U.S.

It should be worth noting that the local Republican Party-sponsored event mentioned in the article,"New York's Andrew Cuomo blasts Trump, Republicans over protest clash" (Oct. 16) included a re-enactment of the 1960 assassination of Japanese socialist party leader Inejiro Asanuma by a young right-wing...
Japan Times
SUMO / INSIDE SUMO
Oct 24, 2018

Sumo boasts rich history of multiculturalism

Visitors to Japan, encountering sumo for the first time, are often surprised to learn that not only are there rikishi from places as far afield as Georgia, Mongolia and Hawaii, but that foreigners have dominated the sport for the better part of a decade and a half.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / Japan
Oct 23, 2018

Can Japan-China relations return to 'normal'?

The Abe administration understands that any sustained economic growth in Japan will necessarily include more, not less, trade and engagement with China.

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