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Japan Times
CULTURE / Stage
Feb 25, 2016

Cultural differences over suicide made for an interesting creative process in 'Eternal Chikamatsu'

In 2014, rising playwright and director Kenichi Tani translated Harold Pinter's "Old Times" for an all-Japanese production by top English director David Leveaux staged that year in Tokyo and Osaka. After that, Leveaux asked Tani, 33, to write a new contemporary play for him based on "Shinju Ten no Amijima"...
COMMENTARY / Japan / SENTAKU MAGAZINE
Feb 25, 2016

Supreme Court, Abe battle over judicial independence

The Supreme Court is locked in a war with the Abe administration over the independence of the judicial branch.
Japan Times
BASKETBALL / MAN ABOUT SPORTS
Feb 23, 2016

NCAA hoop landscape enduring wholesale change

If you've been on a mission to Mars with Matt Damon for a year or two and just returned to earth, welcome back.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Feb 23, 2016

Tokyo sightseeing boats offer unique views, but missing foreign tourist tide

A trip to Tokyo does not necessarily mean elbowing your way through crowds. You can get fine views of the capital from a boat on the bay.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Society
Feb 23, 2016

Forced labor allegations and abuses continue to dog Japan's foreign trainee program

Tang Xili came to Japan in 2013, hoping to earn enough in three years to build a new home for her daughter. Instead, she ended up in a labor union shelter after leaving an employer she says owes her about ¥3.5 million in unpaid wages.
Japan Times
JAPAN / EXPLAINER
Feb 22, 2016

Cellphone cease-fire signals change

The Japanese mobile phone industry recently came under fire from the government for using ambiguous price-setting schemes and excessive handset discounts that stole customers from rivals but penalized loyalty.
BUSINESS / Tech
Feb 21, 2016

Anti-drone firms work to counter devices in tiny battle for the skies

The drone intruder was roaming around the Rose Bowl as 94,000 fans cheered, oblivious to the threat. But scientists testing a new security device at the game detected its radio signals and seized control.
Japan Times
JAPAN / View from Osaka
Feb 20, 2016

Kansai is in need of some youthful innovation

In its latest report, released Feb. 12, the Kansai Economic Federation presented mixed news about the local economy. Looking at monthly sentiment in eight different areas ranging from industrial production to housing purchases to sentiment toward China, the report showed that, on the whole, 2015 was...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Feb 19, 2016

Omake Club helps Zombie-Chang escape down her own artistic rabbit hole

Midway through our conversation at a dimly lit Shibuya cafe, Meirin Yung offers to break down any song on her recently released album under the name Zombie-Chang. I choose the slacker-inspired "Semete Kanashii Tokiniwa" (loosely translated as "At Least in Sad Times") that served as the advance preview...
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Feb 19, 2016

California high-speed rail's first leg to connect Central and Silicon valleys

California's ambitious plan for high-speed rail service will become reality within a decade, with service between the state's agricultural Central Valley and high-tech Silicon Valley, state officials announced on Thursday.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink
Feb 18, 2016

Chef Rodolfo Guzman rediscovers his roots

On a cloudless afternoon a little over a year ago, chef Rodolfo Guzman contemplated a plant he had discovered while wandering up to the Salar de Tara salt flats, which lie 4,860 meters above sea level, in the middle of northern Chile's Atacama Desert.
Japan Times
WORLD
Feb 18, 2016

'Highly dangerous' radioactive material stolen in '15 in Iraq has arms potential

Iraq is searching for "highly dangerous" radioactive material stolen last year, according to an environment ministry document and seven security, environmental and provincial officials who fear it could be used as a weapon if acquired by Islamic State.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / LEARNING CURVE
Feb 17, 2016

Developing confidence in English through Skype and scarecrows

Innovative classes in Shikoku hone students' cultural sensitivity as well as their communication skills.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Feb 17, 2016

Breaking into and out of Japanese show biz

Eiji Uchida's scabrous new comedy about the struggles of a down-and-out indie film director, "Lowlife Love" ("Gesu no Ai"), confirms what I have known for years: Japanese show business can be brutal to the weak or clueless. They end up used and discarded, like so many human Kleenexes.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film / Wide Angle
Feb 17, 2016

Tokyo festival for 'alternative visions' is loaded with art films

The Yebisu International Festival for Art & Alternative Visions 2016 is on until Feb. 20 and is taking place in one of Tokyo's most highfalutin chunks of real estate: the area around Yebisu Garden Place in the Ebisu neighborhood.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC
Feb 17, 2016

Canadian behind Rodman trips to bring hockey to North Korea

The Canadian man who once helped bring basketball hall-of-famer Dennis Rodman to North Korea is now eyeing another project: a hockey tournament that could see former NHL players visit the secluded nation.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Feb 16, 2016

'Zakka: Goods and Things'

Feb. 26-June 5
Japan Times
LIFE / Digital / JAPAN TIMES BLOGROLL
Feb 16, 2016

The Uwaga Pies

The YouTube duo known as The Uwaga Pies — Krzysztof Gonciarz, from Poland, and Kasia Mecinski, from America — use their channel to give English-speakers a peek into Japan.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Feb 15, 2016

The art of the spin in U.S. presidential primaries

Presidential primary 'winners' are usually determined not just by the electorate but by what the political journalist Hendrik Hertzberg dubbed the 'expectorate.'
Japan Times
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Feb 13, 2016

Should Japan's major newspapers be given a red card for sponsoring the Olympics?

Because it's never too early to talk about how expensive the Olympics will be, Tokyo Shimbun pondered the question on Feb. 6 and found out that no one involved has a clue about the cost of the 2020 Games.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Books
Feb 13, 2016

Art Place Japan: The Echigo-Tsumari Art Triennale and the Vision to Reconnect Art and Nature

In an era of relentless urbanization, global travel and weightless images, the Echigo-Tsumari Art Triennale has pioneered a ground-breaking model of place-based art curation that aims to cast a little edifying rural grit into the oyster of contemporary urban affluence. Centred on a declining, depopulating...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Books / ESSENTIAL READING FOR JAPANOPHILES
Feb 13, 2016

After the Banquet

Considering Yukio Mishima's reputation, it seems odd that a book as innocuous as "After the Banquet" could have had such an impact. The novel tells the story of Kazu, the owner of a restaurant frequented by the rich and powerful of Tokyo society, and Noguchi, a semi-retired politician. They marry, but...
ASIA PACIFIC / Science & Health
Feb 11, 2016

Australian cuts to climate change research may hit drive into Asia

Funding and job cuts at Australia's climate change research body could undermine the country's goal of dominating the Asian premium food market by placing farmers at a disadvantage to U.S. and European competitors.

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