Search - places

 
 
CULTURE / Books
Mar 19, 2016

The human stories lining the Kiso Road

Many — some might say too many — travel writers build their books around a version of themselves. In spite of all the interesting places Paul Theroux visits, for example, the most memorable thing in most of his travel writing is "Paul Theroux." William Scott Wilson, in "Walking the Kiso Road: A Modern-day...
JAPAN / Society
Mar 15, 2016

Blogger's viral tirade on day care puts Abe on back foot

An anonymous Japanese blogger's tirade about failing to secure a day care place for her child has spurred Prime Minister Shinzo Abe into action.
Japan Times
LIFE / Lifestyle / CHILD'S PLAY
Mar 12, 2016

Learning from a neighborhood stroll

As winter makes its exit from the archipelago and the pink petals of spring begin to emerge, I feel an intense pang of nostalgia for my old neighborhood on Tokyo's east side. Sure, the city's cherry blossoms are beautiful in places like Yoyogi Park and Shinjuku Gyoen, but one of the nicest things to...
JAPAN
Mar 11, 2016

Japan marks fifth anniversary of devastating 3/11 disasters

Millions observe a moment of silence across the nation to mark the fifth anniversary of the March 2011 quake and tsunami.
COMMENTARY / World
Mar 11, 2016

The world is witnessing a new interventionism

The consequences of Russia's intervention in Syria stretch far beyond the Middle East, heralding a new era in geopolitics.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Voices / FOREIGN AGENDA
Mar 9, 2016

Minamisoma mayor sees future for Fukushima 'nonnuclear' city in energy independence

Turning to the use of solar and wind power in tandem with energy-saving measures, Mayor Katsunobu Sakurai is aiming for his city to be energy self-reliant by 2030.
COMMENTARY / COUNTERPOINT
Feb 27, 2016

Does Tohoku's disaster tourism exploit or educate?

Disaster tourism can be an unsettling descent into voyeurism as visitors ghoulishly gawk at, and photograph, those caught up in catastrophe as if they're at a petting zoo. The concept has prompted widespread condemnation of insensitive tourists and travel companies exploiting disasters as marketing opportunities....
Japan Times
Figure Skating / ICE TIME
Feb 23, 2016

Miyahara primed for a run at first world title

Before the recent Four Continents Championships in Taipei, Satoko Miyahara said she was "tired of finishing second at international events."
Japan Times
JAPAN / NATIONAL SPOTLIGHT
Feb 15, 2016

Kanazawa retirement community a relocation-from-Tokyo success story

With its artistic traditions and preserved traditional neighborhoods, the city of Kanazawa, Ishikawa Prefecture, has long been known as "Little Kyoto." But over the past year, it has also been seen as a potential model for future continuing care retirement communities, or CCRCs, nationwide.
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 / EXPLAINER
Jan 18, 2016

Rescues point to dangers of searching out backcountry powder

Backcountry skiing and snowboarding have come under scrutiny after the recent rescue of two groups of skiers stranded in mountains in Nagano and Fukushima prefectures.
Japan Times
LIFE / Travel
Jan 16, 2016

Dotonbori: Where Osakans eat, drink and be merry

Comparing Osaka with almost any other Japanese city is akin to likening a bloodied steak to boiled chicken.
Figure Skating / ICE TIME
Jan 5, 2016

Higuchi in elite class with Mao after result at nationals

Lost in the glare of the spotlight that shone on Olympic champion Yuzuru Hanyu and his record run and the return of three-time world champ Mao Asada at the recent Japan nationals was the second-place finish of junior sensation Wakaba Higuchi.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Jan 5, 2016

Japan's rural temples see the light in luxury tourism

Deep in a forest in Fukui Prefecture, a 13th century Buddhist temple where Steve Jobs once dreamed of becoming a Zen monk has teamed up with a Tokyo skyscraper builder to seek the commercial enlightenment of foreign tourist dollars.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Society / DEMOGRAPHIC CHALLENGES
Jan 4, 2016

Isolation a real danger for men caring for an elderly relative

Like many people who care for elderly family members at home, Norio Watanabe, 51, struggled to deal with the physical and mental burdens of looking after his father, who had dementia.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC
Jan 3, 2016

As water crisis deepens, India seeks mystical Saraswati river

Gagandeep Singh stands at the edge of a trench cutting through a sugarcane field in rural India. He looks down at a dozen or so men toiling in the mud in plastic flip-flops and bellows: "Dig!"
JAPAN / NATIONAL SPOTLIGHT
Dec 20, 2015

Summit preparations to increase security, but for whom?

Last month's terror attacks in Paris and the closely timed suicide bombings in Beirut have raised fears in Japan of a similar attack to unprecedented levels. With Japan hosting next year's Group of Seven leaders' summit in Mie Prefecture, and a host of smaller ministerial conferences elsewhere around...
Figure Skating / ICE TIME
Dec 15, 2015

Hanyu's magic transcendent, truly a sight to behold

"Yuzuru Hanyu is not from this planet."
Japan Times
LIFE / Lifestyle
Dec 12, 2015

Food for thought: A traditional Okinawan diet may help prolong life

The view that, if there is a Garden of Eternal Life, it is likely located in Okinawa, may be a touch exaggerated but few places offer better models for the correlation between food, health and longevity than Japan's southern islands.
JAPAN / Society
Dec 11, 2015

State retirement communities, aimed at luring elderly from cities, take shape in Japan

Ten to 20 cities and towns will be named next year as sites for a state program to create new retirement communities for Japan's rapidly graying populace.
COMMENTARY / World
Dec 10, 2015

How not to combat terror

The U.S. must get Saudi Arabia to halt its sponsorship of radical Islam if it is going to successfully prosecute the war on terror.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Dec 6, 2015

It should be home sweet home, but not in Japan

The destructive nexus between construction companies, bureaucracy and politicians is largely responsible for Japan's glut of rapidly depreciating houses.
Japan Times
LIFE / Travel
Dec 5, 2015

Oku-Nikko: Once home from home for Japan's diplomats

‘One of the principal points to which travelers will direct their steps is the Lake of Chuzenji,” writes Ernest Mason Satow (1843-1929) in “A Guide Book To Nikko,” the first English tourist guide of the area published in 1875. Satow, a British diplomat and Japanologist, arrived in Japan in 1862...
Japan Times
JAPAN / CHARITY DRIVE 2015
Dec 3, 2015

Priest's aid effort provide education in rural Cambodia

A Japanese nonprofit organization committed to helping disadvantaged Cambodian children receive an education celebrated the completion of its 19th school there in February.
LIFE / Lifestyle
Nov 28, 2015

Is Tokyo killing the rest of Japan?

The overconcentration of people and resources in the capital could be holding back the remainder of the country.

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.