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Japan Times
CULTURE / Entertainment news / Regional Voices: Okinawa
Aug 10, 2018

'Namie Amuro generation': Okinawa moms pursue dream of fame

Five Okinawa women in their 40s, who practiced singing and dancing as teens at the same school as pop diva Namie Amuro, have recently relaunched their music careers after a lengthy break with a goal of achieving fame.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Voices / FOREIGN AGENDA
Aug 8, 2018

The incoherent, divisive dogma of cultural appropriation outrage

Clueless online crusaders risk doing real harm to the very cultures they claim to represent
Japan Times
MORE SPORTS
Aug 6, 2018

Father of injured Kwansei Gakuin player speaks out in wake of illegal tackle scandal

Yasutoshi Okuno, the father of the Kwansei Gakuin University quarterback who was illegally hit from behind by a Nihon University defensive end during their exhibition game on May 6 in Tokyo, hopes the defender can begin playing football again.
Japan Times
LIFE / Language / NEWS IN NIHONGO
Aug 6, 2018

Tokyo Metro QR codes give audio directions to the blind

In a bid to boost the user-friendliness of the subway for visually impaired people, the Tokyo Metro will place new QR-coded stickers on the bumpy tiles that mark the path for the blind in one of its stations.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Regional voices: Chubu
Aug 5, 2018

Using their noodles: Fukui school's soba club hopes to roll to national title

Noodle club members from a high school in the city of Fukui are hurriedly honing their soba-making skills to prepare themselves for the national high school championship in Tokyo later this month.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Aug 4, 2018

Japan's rigid koseki system keeps it all in the family

Liberal Democratic Party lawmaker Mio Sugita is being criticized for comments she made about how LGBT individuals should not receive government “support” because, biologically speaking, they can’t have children and are thus “unproductive” as members of society. Although the media have covered...
Japan Times
JAPAN / Media / BIG IN JAPAN
Aug 4, 2018

There's no easy way to escape from your smartphone

Two decades ago, it was still common to see articles in the media disparaging the lack of manners and self-absorbed behavior of mobile phone users. By around 2003, however, the phones had become so ubiquitous that the erstwhile complainers had most likely become phone addicts themselves.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / NATURE'S PANTRY
Aug 4, 2018

When it comes to high-quality sesame, the roaster is key

For five generations, family-owned Wadaman sesame has used their exceptional roasting process to produce top-notch sesame oils and products.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Politics
Aug 1, 2018

Liberal Democratic Party campaign: Abe and rivals home in on local concerns

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's top political goal remains constitutional revision, including changing Article 9's war-renouncing clause. But for Liberal Democratic Party chapters across the country, priorities tend to be on local issues, especially securing financial assistance from Tokyo for all manner...
Japan Times
JAPAN / Politics
Jul 30, 2018

Japan launches next-generation destroyer carrying latest version of the Aegis anti-missile system

A launching ceremony for an 8,200-ton, 169.9-meter warship for the Maritime Self-Defense Force was held Monday at a plant in Yokohama's Isogo Ward as Tokyo keeps steadily bolstering its defense capability against North Korean and Chinese missiles in close cooperation with U.S. military forces.
Japan Times
LIFE / Language / NEWS IN NIHONGO
Jul 30, 2018

60% of families in Japan use smartphones during family time

Sixty percent of parents and children in Japan use their smartphones or cellphones when they are together for family time, the highest percentage in a comparison with the U.S., South Korea and China.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Regional voices: Chubu
Jul 30, 2018

Nagoya school hires AC Milan coach to guide soccer team

A coach from AC Milan has been training members of the soccer team at Nagoya International Junior and Senior High School since April. Although the soccer club, which is part of the top Italian league Serie A, offers lessons to children in Japan and in 12 other countries, it is the first time for the...
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / LABOR PAINS
Jul 30, 2018

Japan's courts don't share Mio Sugita's views on supporting LGBT people, precedents show

The country's courts are drawing a line in the sand over discrimination against LGBT people, even as far-right LDP lawmaker Mio Sugita slams support for 'unproductive' members of society.
Japan Times
JAPAN / History / Defining the Heisei Era
Jul 28, 2018

Defining the Heisei Era: Japan embraces insularity

The third installment of a monthly 12-part series that looks back at the leading issues of the past three decades.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Society
Jul 27, 2018

Thousands rally to protest LDP lawmaker Mio Sugita's remark calling LGBT people 'unproductive'

Thousands of angry protesters rallied on Friday night in front of the headquarters of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party, calling for the resignation of junior lawmaker Mio Sugita, who had earlier branded the nation's lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) community "unproductive."
Reader Mail
Jul 27, 2018

Outsourcing teaching jobs bad for schools

David John raises crucial points in his July 13 letter "Teachers and students lose while companies rake in profit."
COMMENTARY / Japan
Jul 24, 2018

It's too early to write off the Indo-Pacific strategy

The Indo-Pacific framework and Quad should focus on the relative advantages of each member state while upholding values that meets the overarching theme of promoting a Free and Open Indo-Pacific.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Politics
Jul 24, 2018

LDP policy chief Fumio Kishida says he won't run in party leadership election, leaving two-way race between Abe and Ishiba

Kishida said he made the decision because he believes it is better for Abe to handle a number of ongoing issues facing Japan.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / Japan / SENTAKU MAGAZINE
Jul 23, 2018

Osaka quake adds to misunderstandings of active faults

Seismologists should do away with the misleading term 'active fault.'
Japan Times
LIFE / Language / NEWS IN NIHONGO
Jul 23, 2018

Kids cheer on their bugs at the Kabutomushi Sumo Competition

The National Kabutomushi Sumo Tournament, where rhinoceros beetles are made to fight on tree branches instead of sumo rings, was held recently in Yamagata Prefecture.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Regional voices: Chubu
Jul 23, 2018

Gifu electronics firm Ibiden draws acclaim for its embrace of renewable energy

As more firms shift to renewables to power their operations, electronics and ceramics components maker Ibiden Co., based in Ogaki, Gifu Prefecture, is drawing international attention as a forerunner in clean energy use.
Japan Times
WORLD / Crime & Legal
Jul 23, 2018

Accused Russian agent Maria Butina met in 2015 with U.S. Treasury, Fed officials

Accused Russian agent Maria Butina had wider high-level contacts in Washington than previously known, taking part in 2015 meetings between a visiting Russian official and two senior officials at the U.S. Federal Reserve and Treasury Department.
Japan Times
MORE SPORTS
Jul 21, 2018

Matsuda elected to swim Hall of Fame

Swimmer Hitomi Matsuda, a prolific breaker of world records, will take her rightful place among the masters legends of the sport later this year.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / Japan / SENTAKU MAGAZINE
Jul 20, 2018

Japan automakers' dominance is fading

Japanese automakers have fallen behind Germany in the development of autonomous driving technologies.
EDITORIALS
Jul 19, 2018

The lessons of Trump's European trip

Tokyo must recognize the reality of Trump's approach to foreign policy and insulate the bilateral relationship and Japan's security from the vicissitudes he can create.
ASIA PACIFIC
Jul 17, 2018

Thailand's rescued cave boys to address media on Wednesday

The 12 Thai boys and soccer coach who were rescued from a flooded cave will be discharged from hospital on Wednesday and hold a news conference the same day to satisfy huge media interest in their story, a government official said.
Japan Times
LIFE / Language / NEWS IN NIHONGO
Jul 16, 2018

Three Mount Fuji trails open for the climbing season

The three trails on the Shizuoka Prefecture side of Mount Fuji opened on July 10 at the start of the climbing season.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Regional voices: Chubu
Jul 16, 2018

Greenhouse gas education program developed by Aichi professor proves popular both at home and abroad

An environmental education program developed in Aichi Prefecture, designed to help children deepen their understanding of climate change through measuring the concentration of carbon dioxide in places around them, has been introduced at a number of schools in the Tokai region and also in Taiwan.
Japan Times
SATOYAMA CONSORTIUM
Jul 15, 2018

Woods offer opportunities for prosperity

The Japan Times Satoyama Consortium organized a two-day study tour in Okayama Prefecture in June to learn about creative efforts made by two cities, Maniwa and Bizen, to establish a sustainable and circulating society.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Regional Voices: Fukushima
Jul 15, 2018

Fukushima has high hopes for certified farm produce ahead of 2020 Games

The Fukushima Prefectural Government has set its sights on promoting local farm products certified under Global Good Agricultural Practices (Global GAP), with an eye toward having them served to Olympic athletes in 2020.

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