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CULTURE / Music
Nov 30, 2017

Basking in afterglow of solid sophomore album, Suchmos reflects on a stellar year

Picking one highlight from 2017 proves a tough task for Suchmos vocalist Yosuke Kasai. The past 11 months have been good for him and his six-member band. They've gone from a Jamiroquai-inspired outfit playing late-night sets at small Shinjuku venues to a national phenomenon, their music moving tens of...
JAPAN
Nov 29, 2017

Yokozuna Harumafuji retires in wake of assault on junior sumo wrestler

After weeks of heated media coverage, sumo grand champion Harumafuji announces his retirement to take responsibility for the Oct. 25 assault on wrestler Takanoiwa.
Japan Times
WORLD / Science & Health
Nov 29, 2017

NASA plans new rover for Mars 2020 mission

NASA's next mission to Mars in 2020 will feature a souped-up unmanned rover vehicle to search for signs of ancient microbial life in areas of the uninhabitable red planet.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Science & Health / A MATTER OF HEALTH
Nov 29, 2017

Japanese firm uses VR simulations to offer a glimpse into the world of dementia

On a moderately crowded train, I've just woken up after dozing off, but I can't remember where I am or where I'm going. Apart from the noise of the moving train, it's quiet, and the other passengers are half asleep, fiddling with their phones or spacing out.
Japan Times
WORLD / Science & Health
Nov 29, 2017

Russia loses contact with weather satellite after launch from new spaceport; orbit believed failed

Russia said it had lost contact Tuesday with a weather satellite just hours after it was launched from its Vostochny cosmodrome, in only the second rocket liftoff from the new spaceport.
EDITORIALS
Nov 28, 2017

Hasten efforts to put Paris accord into action

Japan's efforts to combat climate change are falling far short of what's needed.
Japan Times
MORE SPORTS
Nov 28, 2017

Middleweight champ Ryota Murata training for first title defense

Ryota Murata said that the biggest difference since he became a champion is that taxi drivers are surprised to see him when they look at the back seat of their cars.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Nov 28, 2017

The beginning, end and rebirth of sculpture

The subtitle given to the retrospective of the 60-year career of Osaka-based Michio Fukuoka is oxymoronic: "A Sculptor Who No Longer Sculpts." He used to, but became frustrated and filled with doubt about creativity and so he made sculpture anyway, often about "doing nothing."
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Nov 28, 2017

Top Chinese military official hangs himself amid corruption probe

A top Chinese general hanged himself at his home last week after becoming the latest prominent official to be swept up in President Xi Jinping's wide-ranging corruption campaign, state-run media reported Tuesday.
WORLD / Society
Nov 28, 2017

Central America's LGBT people forced to flee for their lives: Amnesty

Killings and violence against LGBT people in Central America are driving hundreds to flee their homes each year, but they have no safe sanctuary to run to, Amnesty International said on Monday.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Nov 27, 2017

As Abe pushes for structural reform, old Japan Inc. culture fights back

While Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's vaunted third arrow — structural reforms — has generally been rated as unsuccessful, his administration has received high praise from Japan analysts for shaking up the country's corporate management system.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC
Nov 27, 2017

Xi prods China to spruce up toilets in bid to boost tourism and quality of life

China must keep up efforts to "revolutionize" its toilets until the task is completed, state media quoted President Xi Jinping as saying Monday, amid efforts to boost the domestic tourist industry and improve the quality of life.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Books
Nov 25, 2017

Ensuring women are not lost in translation

The literary arts are mainly solitary activities. Wordsmiths are, however, social animals and — the odd Pynchon aside — seek out the company of the rest of the species.
ASIA PACIFIC / FOCUS
Nov 25, 2017

Border without doctors: Defector drama highlights South Korea's inadequate trauma care

A defector's treatment for critical injuries suffered during his dramatic dash from North Korea has highlighted a shortage of South Korean trauma doctors and underscored Seoul's lack of preparedness in the event of hostilities with Pyongyang.
Japan Times
Figure Skating
Nov 24, 2017

Rika Kihira, Mako Yamashita, Riko Takino in running for coveted Japan women's junior crown

With Kaori Sakamoto, Marin Honda and Yuna Shiraiwa having moved on to the senior ranks, Japan will crown a new junior women's queen this weekend at the Japan Junior Championships at Gunma Ice Arena.
Japan Times
WORLD / Society
Nov 23, 2017

Famine forcing besieged Syrians to eat trash or go days without food: WFP

Syrians in the besieged enclave of Eastern Ghouta are so short of food that they are eating trash, fainting from hunger and forcing their children to eat on alternate days, the U.N. World Food Program said in a report on Wednesday.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Nov 21, 2017

Hindu nationalists lay siege to the Taj Mahal

Hindu extremists have long considered it humiliating that a monument built by a Muslim emperor could be Hindu-majority India's most recognizable site. Now the Taj Mahal is being rejected even by India's own government.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Nov 21, 2017

China gives flying cars a real boost

A Chinese automotive firm's acquisition of a U.S. flying car startup marks an important advance for a technology that could reshape the 21st-century city.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC / Society
Nov 21, 2017

U.N. rights panel says North Korean women suffer discrimination, rape, malnutrition and lack legal recourse

North Korean women are deprived of education and job opportunities and are often subjected to violence at home and sexual assault in the workplace, a United Nations human rights panel said on Monday.

Longform

Atsuyoshi Koike, the president and CEO of Rapidus, says there is a “sense of urgency” when it comes to Japan’s efforts in manufacturing semiconductors. “We have to make sure we are successful,” he says.
Atsuyoshi Koike’s big game: Fourth down and 2 nanometers to go