Search - 2015

 
 
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Sep 18, 2016

Kana Nishino's 'Just Love' may drive cynics mad, but her pop formula is working

Kana Nishino has been a marquee name since debuting in 2008, but this July she finally owned the spotlight with "Just Love."
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Sep 17, 2016

Yuki Tanada's new film sees the humor in societal changes

The Japanese women directors who have been gaining attention in the past two decades, beginning with frequent Cannes invitee Naomi Kawase, tend to be serious types, understandably. Their struggle for respect and recognition in a male-dominated industry is difficult enough — and goofy comedies are usually...
Japan Times
JAPAN / Media / BIG IN JAPAN
Sep 17, 2016

'Elderly terrorists' and 'hidden poverty' — Japan's new normal?

It's hard to read Spa! magazine without feeling that something is dreadfully wrong with Japan. Week after week, it pursues themes that soon grow familiar: hopeless poverty, pointless toil, unrelieved loneliness. In just one issue this month (Sept. 6) it tackles, in separate articles, "hidden poverty,"...
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / COUNTERPOINT
Sep 17, 2016

Memories of 1931 Mukden Incident remain divisive

Today marks the 85th anniversary of the 1931 Mukden Incident (also known as the Manchurian Incident), when Japanese troops staged a bombing of their own railway by placing explosives near the train tracks. Even though the explosion did minimal damage and a train managed to pass the damaged section soon...
Japan Times
WORLD
Sep 17, 2016

U.N. inquiry blames Syrian military for chlorine bomb attacks, diplomat says

An international inquiry has identified two Syrian Air Force helicopter squadrons and two other military units as responsible for chlorine gas attacks on civilians, a Western diplomat told Reuters.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC
Sep 16, 2016

Canadian imprisoned in China on 'spying' charges back home after two years behind bars

A Canadian man held since 2014 in China on charges of espionage and stealing state secrets has been freed and has returned to Canada, his family said Thursday.
COMMENTARY / World
Sep 16, 2016

Historical facts vanish in Putin's memory holes

Modern tyrannies depend on state control of national memories — retroactive truths established by government fiat.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Sep 16, 2016

Fiat Chrysler recalls 1.9 million cars over deadly defect that keeps air bags from deploying

Fiat Chrysler Automobiles NV said on Thursday it is recalling 1.9 million vehicles worldwide for an air bag defect linked to three deaths and five injuries.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Sep 14, 2016

Love beyond the laws of physics and nature

"Correspondence" (also known as "La Corrispondenza") is the kind of romance the Japanese have traditionally loved to love — two people locked in a relationship that barely exists.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Sep 14, 2016

East Hokkaido waits on Abe-Putin talks over Russia-held isles

In Hokkaido's far east, Nemuro feels nothing like a typical Japanese city. Mist and fog often shroud the area in the summertime. During July and August, while much of the country bakes in 30 degree-plus temperatures, it's just over 20 degrees in Nemuro.
BUSINESS / Markets
Sep 14, 2016

BOJ is said to mull change or abandonment of JGB maturity range

The Bank of Japan is considering either a tweak to or an abandonment of its guidance on the range of government bonds that it buys, according to people familiar with the discussions.
Japan Times
WORLD / Science & Health
Sep 14, 2016

Transgender inmate Manning to end hunger strike after U.S. Army OKs surgery

U.S. soldier Chelsea Manning, serving a 35-year prison term for passing classified files to WikiLeaks, ended her hunger strike on Tuesday after the army said she would be allowed to receive gender transition surgery, the American Civil Liberties Union said.
COMMENTARY / World
Sep 13, 2016

Team Clinton attacking Trump's lies with ... lies

Why are Hillary Clinton's people resorting to the exact same style of lying that they claim to criticize about Donald Trump?
COMMENTARY / World
Sep 13, 2016

The Islamic State's problem with women

While its craven massacre of women helped put Islamic State on the map, its gradual downfall is coming partly at the hands of Kurdish women fighting against it on the front lines.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC
Sep 13, 2016

Philippines guarantees U.S. defense deal intact as Duterte's salvos test ties

The Philippines moved to shore up relations with the United States on Tuesday with guarantees that a treaty between them would be honored and security ties were "rock solid," despite President Rodrigo Duterte's railings against Washington.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Sep 13, 2016

China names new Tianjin Communist Party boss amid corruption probe

China has appointed former Communist Party secretary of Hubei province Li Hongzhong as the new party chief for the strategic port city of Tianjin, days after announcing a corruption investigation into the northeastern city's former mayor.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC
Sep 13, 2016

China says peace with Vietnam in South China Sea must be maintained

China and Vietnam should work together to maintain peace and stability in the South China Sea and manage and control disputes, Chinese Premier Li Keqiang told Vietnamese Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Sep 13, 2016

California becomes first state to pledge overtime pay to farmworkers

California will become the first U.S. state to require farmers to pay overtime to field workers and fruit pickers under a bill signed on Monday by Democratic Gov. Jerry Brown.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC
Sep 12, 2016

Duterte says he wants U.S. special forces out of southern Philippines

Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte on Monday called for the withdrawal of U.S. military from a restive southern island, fearing an American troop presence could complicate offensives against Islamist militants notorious for beheading Westerners.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Science & Health
Sep 12, 2016

Woman who contracted Zika in Vietnam diagnosed in Tokyo

A Vietnamese woman has been confirmed infected with the mosquito-borne Zika virus in the first case in Tokyo since the government recognized the disease as Class-4 in February.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Tech / ADVANCES IN PROGRESS
Sep 12, 2016

Tech world wraps head around 360-degree photography

As virtual reality makes strides in the tech world, the next big thing is tipped to be a visual technology that can capture and show what people see in 360 degrees.

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