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Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / JAPANESE KITCHEN
Nov 17, 2018

A comforting udon noodle recipe for the winter season

Two of the most popular everyday hot udon soups are named after animals that have a special place in Japanese folklore and the Shinto religion: the kitsune (fox) and the tanuki (Japanese raccoon dog).
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / TOKYO FOOD FILE
Nov 17, 2018

Ibrew Shinbashi: Craft beer fits fine in salaryman territory

The cheap, cheerful, crowded, smoke-patinated dives that populate the lower floors of Shinbashi's Ekimae Building are an enduring time capsule of old-school, after-work salaryman drinking culture. Ibrew's craft beer pub has only been open there for a year, but its no-frills, low-budget approach makes...
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
LIFE / Travel
Nov 16, 2018

The Michinoku Coastal Trail: Tohoku's recovery in action

The Michinoku Coastal Trail is a 2013 initiative by Japan's environment ministry to rejuvenate disaster-stricken Tohoku through ecotourism. At 700-kilometers long, it winds through protected forest, bucolic villages and along dramatic coastlines.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music / Sound Off
Nov 15, 2018

Don't worry too much over BTS

Throngs of fans packed Tokyo Dome on Tuesday and Wednesday to watch K-pop group BTS perform songs from across its five-year career. The crowd cheered, bought merchandise and the two days offered the seven-member group some respite from a week of scandal.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Nov 15, 2018

The queen of kawaii: Kyary Pamyu Pamyu reflects on her reign

Kyary Pamyu Pamyu's trip to the Museum of Death in Hollywood proved to be a 2018 highlight for the 25-year-old J-pop star.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / Japan
Nov 14, 2018

The impact of accepting unskilled foreign labor

The new visa system will lack durability unless the needs of employers, local communities and foreigners are balanced.
Japan Times
BASEBALL
Nov 12, 2018

Japanese fans providing new experience for major leaguers

Seeing a different baseball culture, complete with its own traditions, has been an eye-opening experience for the players on the major league squad — many of whom are in Japan for the first time — during the Japan All-Star Series.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / WHY DID YOU LEAVE JAPAN?
Nov 10, 2018

Motomi Morii: Japanese roots, Nordic aesthetic

Since 2009, Motomi Morii has lived and worked in New York. There, she indulges in her love of experimental and improvised music, and takes part in various Japanese cultural events around the city. Most importantly, New York provides her with constant inspiration and opportunity for her career in architectural design.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / 20 QUESTIONS
Nov 10, 2018

Hidemitsu Shimizu: Realizing the full extent of vocal possibility

Narrator and voice actor Hidemitsu Shimizu on how he brings characters to life, who has the sexiest male voice and rapping about math for work.
JAPAN / Media / Japan Pulse
Nov 10, 2018

Illustrators use social media to highlight the minutiae of everyday life in Japan

Garbage collectors perform a service that is essential to the functioning of society, and yet their contributions are often overlooked. Whatever a person’s social standing, however, it doesn’t mean their observations on life aren’t worth examining.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / Japan
Nov 9, 2018

The 'data gap' between the U.S. and China

The stakes are incredibly high in the 'great game' unfolding amid the digital geopolitics of the 21st century
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / Japan
Nov 9, 2018

Japan opening doors more widely to foreign professionals

The perception of 'closed companies' is fast becoming a thing of the past.
Japan Times
PRESS / Corporate Trends
Nov 9, 2018

“An Integrated Course in Elementary Japanese: Genki” series exceeded 2 million copies

Tokyo, Nov. 9, 2018 - The Japanese language teaching material “An Integrated Course in Elementary Japanese: Genki,” published by The Japan Times, Ltd. (Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo. Representative: Takeharu Tsutsumi) has exceeded 2 million copies in its series sold.
Japan Times
Nov 9, 2018

High evaluation from Japanese learners and teachers all around the world
“An Integrated Course in Elementary Japanese: Genki” series exceeded 2 million copies

Tokyo, Nov. 9, 2018 – The Japanese language teaching material “An Integrated Course in Elementary Japanese: Genki,” published by The Japan Times, Ltd. (Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo. Representative: Takeharu Tsutsumi) has exceeded 2 million copies in its series sold.
Japan Times
Poland report 2018
Nov 9, 2018

Celebrating Poland: 100 years of independence and diplomatic relations with Japan

Synergy Media Specialists shares key thought leadership insights into Poland’s remarkable development and strong relationship 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
BASEBALL
Nov 8, 2018

NPB, MLB squads to vie for bragging rights in All-Star series

Atsunori Inaba already knows he'll be managing Samurai Japan during the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Voices / VIEWS FROM THE STREET
Nov 8, 2018

Views from Tokyo: Should Japan follow Canada and legalize recreational marijuana?

What do Tokyoites and tourists think of Canada legalizing pot for recreational use? Could or should it ever happen in Japan?
Japan Times
LIFE / EVENTS AND INFORMATION
Nov 8, 2018

Songs of Tokyo to be aired on NHK

On Oct. 11 and 12, the second edition of "NHK World-Japan presents Songs of Tokyo" was filmed before a live audience at the NHK Hall in Tokyo's Shibuya Ward. Artists of various genres representing today's Japanese music scene such as visual kei, idol, dance, rock, enka and more performed in front of...
Japan Times
JAPAN
Nov 7, 2018

Japanese buzzwords of 2018 nominees reflect myriad influences and issues

Thirty candidates for buzzword of the year, announced Wednesday, highlight the numerous scandals that rocked Japan's amateur sports, the brutal summer of natural disasters as well as the country's response to the worldwide #MeToo movement against sexual harassment.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / Japan
Nov 7, 2018

Can foreign labor make Japan great again?

Exposure to workers from different countries and backgrounds will help Japanese people develop a global mindset.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Nov 7, 2018

Rakuten's English drive a case study of success, but wider adoption by Japan Inc. much slower going

Rakuten Inc. CEO Hiroshi Mikitani's 2010 announcement of English becoming the official internal language of the online retailing giant shocked many of the firm's employees, including Fumie Suzuki.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Nov 7, 2018

Partners in grime: The Butterz label thanks Japan with a birthday bash in Tokyo

With its rapid-fire rapping, lyrics that are often impenetrable to outsiders and raw, synthetic timbres, grime was never an obvious candidate for international success. But from east London's tower blocks to the stages of California's Coachella festival, the genre has grown from humble origins to become...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Nov 6, 2018

Waking up to Asia's growing role in art

One year after The National Art Center, Tokyo, and the Mori Art Museum presented the expansive "Sunshower: Contemporary Art From Southeast Asia 1980s to Now," The National Museum of Modern Art, Tokyo, (MOMAT) has unveiled "Awakenings: Art in Society in Asia 1960s-1990s."
Japan Times
JAPAN / Politics
Nov 6, 2018

Japan ready to help Malaysia tackle fiscal problems, Abe tells counterpart Mahathir Mohamad

Tokyo plans to help Malaysia issue yen-denominated “samurai” bonds worth u00a5200 billion as the two countries seek to foster closer economic and cultural ties.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC
Nov 6, 2018

Security spending soars in China's troubled Xinjiang region: report

Spending on security-related construction tripled in 2017 in China's far-western region of Xinjiang, where Beijing is accused of detaining as many as 1 million ethnic Uighurs and other Muslims, an academic analysis of government expenditure found.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Nov 5, 2018

Faced with worker shortage, Japan reshapes its legendary hospitality

Japan's capital expenditure boom is shifting to the services sector, stirring fears that self-checkout systems and software will take the human touch out of omotenashi, the country's vaunted commitment to hospitality.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Nov 4, 2018

The Biwako Biennale makes the old new again

When it comes to curating a biennale, a lack of funding isn't always a big problem as it can lead to more imaginative results.

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