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Japan Times
BUSINESS
Jan 28, 2020

Auto tariffs to be key topic in Japan-U.K. trade talks after Brexit

Auto tariffs are expected to come up as a top agenda item in Japan-U.K. trade talks that are expected to start as early as this spring after the latter's exit from the European Union.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Regional Voices: Okinawa
Jan 24, 2020

Indian entrepreneurs create water-saving solution for farmers out of Okinawa fruit scraps

Two Indian entrepreneurs in Okinawa Prefecture are developing an organic polymer made from fruit scraps that can retain water 50 times its weight, in a potential breakthrough for farming in water-scarce regions.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Regional voices: Chubu
Jan 24, 2020

Shaken by Kobe quake, Peruvian works to help Hyogo's Spanish speakers in times of disaster

Roxana Oshiro, a Peruvian of Japanese descent, came to Japan in 1991 and was living in a dormitory in Kobe with her husband and child when the Great Hanshin Earthquake hit the region in 1995.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / BLACK EYE
Jan 23, 2020

Hoping for a Japanese society in which all of its members can shine

Black Eye columnist Baye McNeil opens the new year with an email from a reader that illustrates the importance of language in dealing with multiracial individuals.
JAPAN / Politics
Jan 22, 2020

Opposition parties lay into Abe over scandals and Mideast dispatch

Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan leader Yukio Edano used parliamentary debates to go after Prime Minister Abe on allegations of cronyism over an annual taxpayer-funded cherry blossom viewing party.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / Food Sustainability in Japan
Jan 18, 2020

Vegan Store: Japan's first vegan convenience store

Vegan Store, Japan's first vegan convenience store, is on a mission to demystify vegan fare and make it more accessible in the capital.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Regional Voices: Tohoku
Jan 17, 2020

India relief team chief brings home lessons from 3/11 Tohoku tsunami

The former head of an Indian government rescue team dispatched for relief operations in Onagawa, Miyagi Prefecture, following the Great East Japan Earthquake and tsunami in 2011 is sharing the lessons learned from the disaster-stricken town in his home country.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Regional voices: Chubu
Jan 17, 2020

Nagoya tech school students plan to build seaplane for flood rescues

Members of Nagoya City Technical High School's airplane club are planning to develop a seaplane that can be used to rescue people from floods — an idea they came up with after learning about the Ise Bay Typhoon, a 1959 storm that swept through the Chubu region, claiming more than 5,000 lives.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Books
Jan 11, 2020

'Japanese Woodblock Prints': Mass entertainment began with the humble woodblock

'Japanese Woodblock Prints' exhibits classic ukiyo-e artwork in near-original size, allowing readers to examine them in all their splendid detail. Its 200 reproductions embrace the entire history of the genre and also cover the new print movements of the early 20th century.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Regional voices: Chubu
Jan 10, 2020

Made in central Japan: Chubu bets on Tokyo Olympics to boost sales of local produce

With the Tokyo Olympics and Paralympics taking place this year, prefectures in the Chubu region are eager to make the sporting event an opportunity to promote their local produce.
Japan Times
CULTURE / TV & Streaming / 'Terrace House Tokyo 2019-2020' Recaps
Jan 10, 2020

Ep. 28 'Starving for Affection'

This week's episode of "Terrace House" was all about love — showing it, fighting for it and accepting it — and it marked quite a change from previous kitchen table talks that revolved around mundane topics like Instagram or making carbonara.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Regional Voices: Hiroshima
Jan 10, 2020

Avatar robot allows Hiroshima students to attend classes from hospital beds

The education board in Hiroshima Prefecture has pioneered the use of a pint-sized "surrogate robot" to realize what was previously considered impossible: allowing hospitalized students to take classes remotely without being monitored by teachers.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Crime & Legal / FOCUS
Jan 9, 2020

Once a hero in Japan, Carlos Ghosn's news conference unlikely to restore his image

While international media has focused on criticisms of the Japanese criminal justice system, domestic media outlets have been more critical of Ghosn violating bail conditions.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Jan 8, 2020

'Dumb Type': When actions speak the loudest

Dumb Type's thought-provoking performances and installations explore the influence of technology on humankind.
COMMUNITY / Issues / JUST BE CAUSE
Jan 6, 2020

'Low IQ' kids, parental rights and problematic terminology dogged Japan's international community in 2019

Of the issues non-Japanese had to deal with in the past year (and even the past decade), some were major news stories and some fell quietly into the cracks.
Japan Times
LIFE / Travel
Jan 5, 2020

Get ready for Japan's backcountry with an avalanche safety course

Black Diamond Tours has been offering Avalanche Skills Training courses in English since 2009 to educate skiers and snowboarders on the risks when riding in Japan's backcountry.
JAPAN / Politics
Dec 31, 2019

How Abe works, or doesn't work, with the media

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe answers questions in brief, on-the-spot interviews with beat reporters far less frequently than before, according to journalists who have intensively covered the country's longest-serving prime minister.
LIFE / Language / NEWS IN NIHONGO
Dec 31, 2019

'Hagoita' paddles feature big names of 2019

A Kyodo article on Hagoita paddles comes filled with the kanji of this year's newsmakers.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Media / Japan Pulse
Dec 28, 2019

Evolving debate over cultural differences worldwide leads to greater social media insight

Almost everyone who voluntarily relocates to a country besides the one they grew up in enjoys some kind of honeymoon phase in their new surroundings. Everything about their adopted home feels shiny and praiseworthy, with all of the memories of one’s past suddenly looking far rustier than it ever did...
Japan Times
JAPAN / Regional Voices: Kyushu
Dec 27, 2019

Critics assail secrecy over unexploded chemical weapons left by Imperial Japanese Army

At the end of World War II, the Imperial Japanese Army left a number of unexploded shells filled with poison gas used as munitions. In the 2000s, when such artillery shells were discovered and retrieved from the seabed off the coastal town of Kanda, Fukuoka Prefecture, the central government issued an...
Japan Times
JAPAN / Regional voices: Chubu
Dec 27, 2019

VR builds bridge between staff and young detainees with developmental disorders in Japan

One day in mid-November, instructors at the Miyagawa medical reformatory, which treats delinquent teenage boys with developmental disorders, in Ise, Mie Prefecture, experienced how people with the disabilities perceive the world by wearing virtual reality goggles and watching a video.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Regional Voices: Okinawa
Dec 27, 2019

Okinawa residents live in fear of stray munitions from U.S. practice range

The proximity of Okinawa Prefecture's Igei Ward in the town of Kin to a U.S. Marine Corps live shooting range puts residents at constant risk of stray bullets and other munitions landing on private property, ripping through roofs or even injuring civilians.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Regional Voices: Fukushima
Dec 27, 2019

Tokyo Olympic torchbearers from Fukushima hope event showcases recovery

Applicants across Japan have begun receiving notification that they were selected to run in the Japan leg of the Tokyo 2020 Olympic torch relay that will kick off on March 26 at the J-Village soccer facility in Fukushima Prefecture, where efforts to recover from the 2011 Great East Japan Earthquake and...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music / 2019 in Review
Dec 26, 2019

2019 served as a reminder of the importance of community in music

As music scenes fragmented, the year showed a renewal in community events for alternative music in Japan, with festivals and gigs taking to new venues and battling the weather
Japan Times
LIFE / Lifestyle / 2019 in Review
Dec 22, 2019

Japanese trends you couldn't have missed in 2019

Amid the hard news of the past year, there were some trends that lit up Japan's media offered the nation a sense of, if not a little hope, at least some relief.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC
Dec 19, 2019

Change to Chinese university's charter dropping 'freedom of thought' stirs debate

Changes to the charter of one of China's top universities — dropping the phrase "freedom of thought" and adding a pledge to follow the Communist Party's leadership — have sparked heated debate and a rare act of student defiance.
CULTURE / Books / ESSENTIAL READING FOR JAPANOPHILES
Dec 14, 2019

'A Mature Woman': The truth squares off against corrupt Japanese establishments

Saiichi Maruya's 'A Mature Woman' takes on misogyny, power harassment and corruption with a witty, satirical touch.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Regional voices: Chubu
Dec 13, 2019

Aichi city hires non-Japanese assistants to support foreign children at elementary schools

During a recent math class at an elementary school in Aichi Prefecture, Kamila Tamy Tida Miyamoto, 31, a Brazilian school assistant, pointed to the textbooks of Aika and Ayumi, second-grade Brazilian students who enrolled this year, as she explained concepts to them in Portuguese.

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.