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Japan Times
BUSINESS / Regional Voices: Tohoku
Feb 19, 2021

Sendai farmers' post-tsunami struggles compounded by pandemic and policy

Last spring saw a decrease in demand for fresh produce as eateries closed during the state of emergency, and wholesale prices of some vegetables dropped by half.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Regional Voices: Hiroshima
Feb 19, 2021

Small hotels diversify to stay afloat as pandemic crushes tourism

The Go To Travel subsidy campaign run by the government, hailed by some as helping revive the tourism industry, didn't do much to benefit some cheaply priced inns.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Regional voices: Chubu
Feb 15, 2021

Empty stores and offices on the rise in Nagoya

Nagoya's central district is seeing more empty stores and offices as the COVID-19 pandemic has led to an increase in teleworking and almost no inbound tourists.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Society / Regional Voices: Kyushu
Feb 12, 2021

Is Japan's national payment for childbirth sufficient?

While the country provides a lump sum for mothers to assist with childbirth costs, some are finding it doesn't stretch far enough as a result of pandemic pressures.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Companies / Regional voices: Chubu
Feb 12, 2021

Closing a factory, the Toyota way

When the company decided to shut one of its plants in Japan, it took inspiration from a previous factory closure in Australia, in which efforts had been made to protect a legacy.
Japan Times
WORLD
Feb 11, 2021

Trump’s environmental policies killed thousands of people, scientists say

The Trump administration deliberately harnessed racism and class animosity to push policies that caused hundreds of thousands of American deaths, according to The Lancet.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC
Feb 11, 2021

China teaches children its own version of the climate change story

China's state-led approach to climate change is less tolerant of public debate over how it's going to reach its emissions targets.
BUSINESS / Companies
Feb 10, 2021

Clubhouse tops Japan chart as CEOs and celebrities embrace chat app

The invite-only drop-in conversation app, currently only on iPhones, topped the country's download charts with more than 440,000 new installs last week.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Feb 10, 2021

The nicest Clubhouse on the internet

If you don't already know, Clubhouse is a year-old social media service consisting of virtual 'rooms” where people can talk to each other — by voice.
Japan Times
JAPAN / History / JAPAN TIMES GONE BY
Feb 7, 2021

Japan Times 1971: Crown Prince opens pre-Olympic Games in Sapporo

Fifty years ago, Japan began to gear up for the 1972 Sapporo Olympics with some pre-game events to test the facilities.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Companies / Regional Voices: Hokkaido
Feb 5, 2021

Hokkaido businesses go extra mile for overseas clients unable to enter Japan

Many customers have postponed travel and events due to the novel coronavirus, and it's unclear when Japan's government will lift its entry ban for foreign tourists.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Regional Voices: Hiroshima
Feb 5, 2021

Iwakuni 'dream town' project becomes nightmare for Mount Atago community

After leveling a 120-meter-high mountain, officials gave up on a new town program and instead transformed the site into facilities for U.S. military personnel stationed nearby.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Feb 3, 2021

Suu Kyi is proven right about Myanmar

Faced with a constricting institutional and constitutional position, Suu Kyi's efforts to extricate the military from the power structure was always going to be a huge challenge.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / Food Sustainability in Japan
Jan 30, 2021

How COVID-19 is forcing us to re-examine food waste

The pandemic is breaking down the 'invisible wall' between food producers and consumers. But is it enough to change wasteful habits?
Japan Times
MORE SPORTS / Regional voices: Chubu,Regional Voices: Chubu
Jan 29, 2021

Ishikawa student gains victory in world capoeira championship

“I hope to continue competing in capoeira and become infinitely awesome,” said 13-year-old Akari Tachi, who hails from the city of Hakusan.
BUSINESS / Economy / Regional Voices: Okinawa
Jan 29, 2021

As COVID-19 compounds Okinawa's tourism woes, industry looks for a way out

An emergency system through which workers are temporarily seconded to companies so that they can return to their jobs once the economy is back on its feet has been proposed.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Regional Voices: Tohoku
Jan 29, 2021

Fukushima businesses struggling to stay afloat despite government help

Financial issues will not end soon, given that only a portion of the residents who evacuated from disaster-stricken areas have returned or are expected to.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Books
Jan 23, 2021

‘Indian Migrants in Tokyo’ sheds light on an overlooked community

There are currently around 40,000 Indians living in Japan and their stories, similar to minority groups in other countries, are often ignored or pushed aside. This lack of public awareness and representation can lead to cultural misunderstanding, or worse, discrimination.
Japan Times
WORLD / Politics
Jan 23, 2021

U.S. Senate confirms Lloyd Austin in historic vote, installing first Black defense secretary

His most immediate agenda includes an increasingly muscular China, an aggressive Russia, the protracted conflict in Afghanistan and a vague and looming threat of Iran.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Regional Voices: Fukushima
Jan 22, 2021

Fukushima residents demand stricter decontamination to enable safe return

Remaining restrictions blocking people from living in the town of Tomioka are due to be lifted in 2023.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Regional Voices: Kyushu
Jan 22, 2021

Hosting U.S. jets brought free school meals to Iwakuni, but some question the trade-off

Residents near Iwakuni base cast doubt over deal sealed under watch of then-Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga.
JAPAN
Jan 22, 2021

New panel to probe growing use of marijuana and stiffen draconian pot law

Under the Cannabis Control Law, owners and growers of the illicit plant already face up to seven years of imprisonment.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY
Jan 21, 2021

The ugly truth about a 'beautiful sight' in Hong Kong

One weaponized use of the Nancy Pelosi's quote in reference to the Capitol attack comes from a staunchly nationalistic Beijing tabloid.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Voices / BLACK EYE
Jan 18, 2021

Let's take stock on the progress we've made this Martin Luther King Jr. Day

Martin Luther King Jr. Day is a good day to look back on how we've progressed and plan how we'll continue to move forward.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Books
Jan 16, 2021

'Wintering': A memoir of hope for embracing dark and lonely times

A few weeks ago, The Financial Times published a sobering essay on an urgent subject: loneliness in the time of COVID-19. Written by the paper’s Chicago correspondent, Claire Bushey, it described what it has felt like to live by yourself in this miserable year.
SUMO / INSIDE SUMO
Jan 8, 2021

New Year Basho arrives with yokozuna absent and virus concerns rising

The first grand tournament of 2021 is scheduled to begin Sunday despite the announcement of a state of emergency in parts of the greater Tokyo area.
MORE SPORTS
Jan 6, 2021

Hakone ekiden's stubborn crowds cause for Olympic concern

The 2021 Tokyo-Hakone Round-Trip College Ekiden Race concluded as a last-mile thriller between the eventual winner Komazawa University and runner-up Soka University.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World / Beyond COVID-19
Dec 27, 2020

The pandemic of fear

When people are isolated in their homes and haunted by fear, boredom and paranoia, one of the few activities that does not cease is discussion of the coronavirus.
Japan Times
LIFE / Lifestyle
Dec 26, 2020

Japanese abroad adjust to new realities of life in a foreign community amid COVID-19

Uncertainty surrounding the outbreak has forced many Japanese living overseas to view their future with fearful optimism.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Regional voices: Chubu
Dec 25, 2020

Hot spring resorts in Aichi struggling to stay afloat

The government's Go To Travel subsidy campaign offers only temporary aid for hotels that had difficulty attracting domestic visitors even before the pandemic.

Longform

Visitors walk past Sou Fujimoto's Grand Ring, which has been recognized as the largest wooden structure in the world.
Can a World Expo still matter? Japan is about to find out.