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Japan Times
LIFE / Travel / BACKSTREET STORIES
Nov 28, 2015

The big-ticket gifts of Kumano-dori

As November grows chilly, I warm up with an urban hike to hunt out seasonal gifts for friends and family. Tokyo is a bastion of creativity and craftsmanship, and shopping the backstreets is like touring a gallery of desires you never knew you had. I exit the Ginza Line's Gaienmae Station, and trot off...
BUSINESS / Tech
Nov 15, 2015

Google seeks to influence AI research by giving software away

Google wants to set the standard on artificial intelligence.
WORLD / Science & Health
Oct 30, 2015

Fossil unearthed in Spain sheds light on ape evolution

The well-preserved partial skull and skeleton of a gibbon-like creature that lived 11.6 million years ago in Spain is shedding new light on the evolutionary history of modern apes.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / TOKYO MOTOR SHOW 2015
Oct 28, 2015

Toyota showcases a look at vehicles of tomorrow

Toyota Motor Corp. will present its vision for the future of mobility at this year's Tokyo Motor Show, where three very different new concept cars will be revealed.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / TOKYO MOTOR SHOW 2015
Oct 28, 2015

Honda to showcase extensive lineup

Using its global brand slogan — The Power of Dreams — as a booth concept, Honda Motor Co. will exhibit a broad range of items including innovative mobility items to make daily life easier, as well as a lineup of products capped by racing machines that pursue excellence in driving performance.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / TOKYO MOTOR SHOW 2015
Oct 28, 2015

Mitsubishi places EVs in the spotlight

Mitsubishi Motors Corp. will debut the Mitsubishi eX Concept compact SUV concept car with a next-generation electric vehicle (EV) system at the Tokyo Motor Show.
Japan Times
JAPAN / HOTEL SPECIAL 2015
Oct 16, 2015

Grand Hyatt serves best of autumn harvest

Grand Hyatt Tokyo is offering autumn menus at all of its restaurants, featuring a colorful lineup of dishes for guests to enjoy the harvest season with family and friends.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Oct 10, 2015

'Omotenashi' comes up short on humility

A Japanese friend who used to travel a lot for work told me of a funny thing that once happened to her in a Tokyo hotel. She was checking in when a bellhop came up and, without saying anything, picked up her bag. She resented the presumption and tried to yank it out of his hand. A silent tug of war ensued....
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Tech
Oct 6, 2015

Toyota's driverless car is put through paces in Tokyo

Touch a button on the steering wheel and put your hands up — this Toyota will take it from here.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Oct 3, 2015

Automakers look to tech firms to fix cars over the air

As cars increasingly resemble digital devices, a group of technology firms that can send wireless software updates to cars are in hot demand by carmakers scrambling to catch up to Tesla Motors in the arena of over-the-air updates, or OTAs.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film / Wide Angle
Sep 30, 2015

Tokyo International Film Festival showcases classic anime, J-horror and yakuza films

The Tokyo International Film Festival, Japan's biggest film fest and a showcase for foreign movies that otherwise might never see the light of day here, will run from Oct. 22 to 31 this year. Opening the festival is Robert Zemekis' "The Walk," and the closer is local tearjerker "Kishuten Eki Taminaru"...
COMMENTARY / World
Sep 28, 2015

'Pope-onomics': Francis' keys to a better economy

Pope Francis is a strong and eloquent advocate of people sharing and governing their enterprises together.
Japan Times
LIFE / Digital / ON: GAMES
Sep 26, 2015

Good things come in threes

Veni, vidi — Vita!
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Tech / ADVANCES IN PROGRESS
Sep 14, 2015

Sony's MESH gives new purpose to old gadgets

At first glance, users may have no idea what they are and how to use Sony Corp.'s MESH — four colorful rectangular blocks the size of an eraser.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Aug 31, 2015

Grand old landmark Hotel Okura Tokyo says sayonara, for now

The main building of the historic Hotel Okura Tokyo closed Monday for demolition and a rebuild after 53 years of hosting fascinating guests amid Japanese decorative beauty. The hotel's guest list of dignitaries and celebrities has arguably been as impressive as its interiors.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Aug 29, 2015

Composer Shiro Sagisu scores songs to be devoured to on 'Attack on Titan' soundtrack

During one scene in Shinji Higuchi's recent film "Attack on Titan," soldiers leap from building to building battling a carnivorous giant with nothing but swords. The horror is heightened by the music: razor sharp synthesizers accentuate a foreboding orchestral melody. It's hard to imagine the action...
Japan Times
LIFE / Travel
Aug 22, 2015

Miyagi's hot-spring valley of the dolls

If local train rides, bucolic vistas, simple family-run ryokans and hot-spring baths overflowing with mineral-rich waters sounds like the perfect getaway, Naruko Onsen village in Miyagi Prefecture should be your next destination.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Tech / ADVANCES IN PROGRESS
Aug 9, 2015

New marker's magic is ink's conductivity, user's creativity

Tokyo-based venture AgIC Inc.'s silver magic marker looks like any other average marker. But in fact, it's far from ordinary.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Aug 5, 2015

Tokyo Olympics logo designer says he's 'shocked' by plagiarism claim

The designer of the emblem for the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games said Wednesday that he was "shocked" and "pained" that a Belgian theater logo designer had accused him of plagiarism.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Jul 26, 2015

Ten years after its Japan special, who would Interview want to talk to?

In 1969, pop artist Andy Warhol founded Interview magazine. The New York-based publication was initially distributed among the city's "in crowd," later finding a wider audience in those seeking more than the usual mainstream fare.
WORLD
Jul 22, 2015

Security experts hack into, seize control of moving car

A pair of veteran cybersecurity researchers have shown they can use the Internet to turn off a car's engine as it drives, sharply escalating the stakes in the debate about the safety of increasingly connected cars and trucks.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Companies
Jul 14, 2015

Sporty but quirky, Honda's S660 is a car of contradiction

Honda Motor Co.'s name may currently be tainted with the global air bag recalls, but it has proved that it remains an automaker with an attitude, launching a new, genre-defying mini sports car developed by a twenty-something pioneer.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Jun 30, 2015

The Edo samurai knew how to look sharp

'The World of Edo Dandyism: From Swords to Inro" at the Nezu Museum is a splendid collection of Edo Period (1603-1868) swords and sword accessories that includes blades, scabbards and metal fittings, as well as decorative sets of inrō (pill boxes) and netsuke (carved toggles). The exhibition looks back...
Japan Times
JAPAN / CHUBU CONNECTION
Jun 29, 2015

Good-looking gorilla has crowds going gaga at Higashiyama Zoo

A western lowland gorilla from Higashiyama Zoo and Botanical Gardens in Chikusa Ward, Nagoya, is becoming a celebrity, thanks to Twitter.
CULTURE / TV & Streaming / CHANNEL SURF
Jun 26, 2015

Countries with a pro-Japanese slant; the detective who loved criminals; CM of the Week: Asahi Beer

The theme of "Mirai Seiki Zipangu" ("Future Century Japan"; TV Tokyo, Mon., 10 p.m.) is Japan's role in the world, and the series has a subseries covering countries with a "pro-Japanese" slant that most Japanese "don't know about."
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Jun 19, 2015

LLLL, Envy, Taka Goto and Mr. Children albums among best of the year so far

With the arrival of Line Music this month, and the possible arrivals of Spotify and Apple Music on the horizon, Japan's powerful CD industry could see some arguably necessary shakeups. Up until now, though, 2015 has been much the same in terms of sales.

Longform

Construction takes place on the Takanawa Gateway Convention Center in Tokyo, slated to open in 2025.
A boom for business tourism in Japan?