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Japan Times
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Apr 5, 2014

Fallout from the tax rise may hit in surprising ways

Prior to the consumption tax increase last Tuesday, from 5 percent to 8 percent, Japanese consumers were spending to beat the band. The local business magazine Economist (not to be confused with the English language newsweekly) reports that ¥4 trillion was spent on goods and services in recent months...
JAPAN
Apr 5, 2014

Host clubs: a hotbed of human trafficking

The Japanese host. You can see them on the streets of Tokyo's Kabukicho: the dapper thin men with colored, blown-dry hair, fake suntans, snazzy suits and charming smiles, chatting up passing females and trying to get them to come and have drinks. They've been the subject of documentaries, television...
Japan Times
LIFE / Travel
Apr 5, 2014

Phuket puts Peranakan heritage back on map

As evidenced by all the Chinatowns dotted around the globe, over the centuries China has seen many of its people seek new lives in other parts of the world. And from about 1400, Southeast Asia was especially popular for Chinese emigrants who had a yearning for foreign shores.
Japan Times
ENVIRONMENT / OLD NIC'S NOTEBOOK
Apr 5, 2014

Horses power across time and places

As a wee nipper I'd sometimes be treated to donkey rides on our local beach at Port Talbot in South Wales, but the first time I sat astride a pony was near my home in Neath when I was 8. Around then, the old dairyman occasionally let me join him as he made his daily rounds with his horse-drawn cart collecting...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Books / ESSENTIAL READING FOR JAPANOPHILES
Apr 5, 2014

The Cape And Other Stories From The Japanese Ghetto

When reading Kenji Nakagami, it is best to forget the stylistic niceties and aesthetic fussiness of writers such as Yasunari Kawabata. Instead, this collection of structurally complex stories by Nakagami contains accounts that, eschewing inference for the explicit, are nonetheless highly sophisticated,...
EDITORIALS
Apr 5, 2014

Steps to fight Net child porn

Police in April started increaseing cooperation with Internet service providers to help contain the distribution of child pornography in and from Japan, which has long been criticized for not taking strict enough measures,
CULTURE / TV & Streaming / CHANNEL SURF
Apr 5, 2014

A 'black company' comedy and a stock market drama; CM of the week: Takarakuji

The new Fuji TV series, "Black President" (Tues., 10 p.m.), is not about Barack Obama. It's about a man named Mitamura (Ikki Sawamura), an entrepreneur who has turned his apparel company into a national success, mainly by oppressing his workers, which is why his enterprise is called a burakku kigyo (black...
Japan Times
WORLD / Society
Apr 4, 2014

Caracas poor find haven in 'skyscraper slum'

It boasts a helicopter landing pad, glorious views of the Avila mountain range, and large balconies for weekend barbecues.
Japan Times
WORLD / Science & Health
Apr 4, 2014

Copenhagen Zoo opts to tell truth about life behind bars

Copenhagen Zoo, which sparked global protests over its killings of a young male giraffe and four lions, will continue to be open about its culling to show the truth about how animals are kept in captivity.
Japan Times
JAPAN / CHUBU CONNECTION
Apr 4, 2014

Chubu airport retools to attract foreign tourists

Chubu Centrair International Airport in Nagoya has started various new services to cater to foreign visitors, including new bus services to the city, tourist information and announcements in Chinese and Korean.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Apr 4, 2014

Abe's immigrant dream is a wage nightmare

Prime Miniser Shinzo Abe wants to import 200,000 foreign workers a year into Japan to counter the decline in the population. But the gambit might work at cross-purposes with his push to get companies to increase wages.
Japan Times
WORLD / Politics
Apr 4, 2014

U.S. Senate panel votes to declassify report on CIA interrogations

The U.S. Senate Intelligence Committee voted Thursday to declassify its long-awaited report on the CIA's use of brutal interrogation methods that critics say amount to torture.
Japan Times
WORLD / Politics
Apr 4, 2014

U.S. denies it created Twitter-like service in Cuba to foment unrest

The U.S. government created a service similar to Twitter in Cuba in a "discreet" operation intended to promote democracy on the communist-ruled island, officials said Thursday, but denied that the $1.2 million effort was aimed at fomenting unrest.
WORLD / Society
Apr 3, 2014

New Zealand tops world social index; Japan leads in health

Japan leads the world in health and wellness in a new global index that ranks countries by social and environmental performance.
JAPAN
Apr 3, 2014

Abe stirs gadget-use debate in Diet

Using iPads and other digital devices during Diet sessions is banned under current rules as well as custom, but this may change after Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said the devices may invigorate deliberations.
BASKETBALL / HOOP SCOOP
Apr 3, 2014

Time for FIBA to suspend JBA, force necessary changes to be made

The Japan Basketball Association has changed its alleged goal so many times, it's difficult to remember the original target.
TENNIS
Apr 3, 2014

Japan, Czech Republic turn to replacements in Davis Cup tie

The Czech Republic will continue its bid for a third straight Davis Cup title against an undermanned Japan this weekend in their World Group quarterfinal tie at Ariake Colosseum.
Japan Times
LIFE / Travel / HOTELS & RESTAURANTS
Apr 3, 2014

Luxurious lodging in heart of city; running around central Tokyo; not dead yet; disco lives on

Luxurious lodging in heart of city Andaz, Hyatt's upscale, boutique-inspired lifestyle hotel, will make its Japan debut in June, in one of Tokyo's newest and most distinguished business towers, Toranomon Hills.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Apr 3, 2014

'Blue is the Warmest Color'

Remember being a teen. Remember the gossip amongst your friends about who had a thing for you, the awkward dates, the stolen kisses. Remember the crushes that came and went all too easily, and then recall the arrival of something else entirely: first love. Remember the overwhelming feeling of getting...
COMMENTARY / World
Apr 3, 2014

The India democracy show

Indians are just days away from the start of the greatest democratic show on earth, as 814.5 million of them prepare to cast ballots at 930,000 polling stations between April 7 and May 12.
COMMENTARY / World
Apr 3, 2014

Will Ukraine's new boss be like the old boss?

The question facing Ukrainians is whether Petro Poroshenko, the man who seems poised to win the presidency on May 25, will prove that all their recent efforts to put an end to decades of corrupt, oligarchic rule have been in vain.
Japan Times
WORLD
Apr 3, 2014

U.N. Arms Trade Treaty takes leap toward entry into force

The U.N. Arms Trade Treaty took a major step forward on its eventual entry into force on Wednesday as 18 countries, including five of the world's top 10 arms exporters, delivered proof of its ratification to the United Nations.
Japan Times
WORLD / Politics
Apr 3, 2014

Supreme Court's rejection of U.S. campaign funding limits opens door for big-money donors

The U.S. Supreme Court on Wednesday struck down a key pillar of federal campaign finance law by allowing donors to give money to as many political candidates, parties and committees as they wish.

Longform

The building of new high-rise residential buildings has some alarmed that they could empty and fall into disrepair as Japan's population shrinks.
The high cost of letting Japan's condos crumble