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Japan Times
JAPAN / Regional Voices: Hokkaido
Dec 13, 2019

U.S. digital publisher boosts reach of Japanese 'light novels' in English-speaking world

"Isekai Rebuilding Project," a fantasy novel by a Hokkaido-based writer who publishes under the pseudonym Yukika Minamino, has become available to English-reading audiences through a website run by an American digital publisher of Japanese novels aimed at teenagers and young adults.
Japan Times
Rugby
Dec 13, 2019

Rising wheelchair rugby star Katsuya Hashimoto looks to show the world what he's made of

At 17 years old, Katsuya Hashimoto is the youngest wheelchair rugby player on the Japanese national team. With less than 300 days until the opening ceremony of the Paralympic Games, he often pictures himself on the court at the 2020 venue, ready for his first competition as a Paralympian.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Regional Voices: Hiroshima
Dec 13, 2019

Hiroshima's middle school students wear bike helmets, so why not high schoolers?

A 33-year-old housewife in the city of Kure phoned the Chugoku Shimbun one day to convey her concern about her sixth-grade son. He will be attending a junior high school starting next spring and will be traveling there by bicycle, but he does not want to wear a helmet because he does not like its design....
JAPAN / Science & Health
Dec 12, 2019

At Madrid climate talks, Japan's Shinjiro Koizumi confronts critics over coal

Koizumi defended the government's policy by saying the country was not getting enough credit for its efforts to move to more environmentally friendly energy sources.
Japan Times
LIFE / Language / WELL SAID
Dec 10, 2019

The grammar point known as 'to iu'

When you're trying to describe what something is in Japanese, the structure 'to iu' can come in very handy.
JAPAN
Dec 7, 2019

Japanese transport ministry to study shinkansen accessibility for wheelchair users

Transport minister Kazuyoshi Akaba said Friday a study group will be set up as early as this month to consider how to make bullet trains more accessible to wheelchair users.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Regional voices: Chubu
Dec 6, 2019

Girls revive previously male-dominated cheering squads

Typical cheerleading clubs in schools, known as ōendan, consist of men clad in black gakuran stand-up collar uniforms yelling vigorously and performing synchronized, dynamic choreographed moves to support sports teams.
COMMENTARY / World
Dec 5, 2019

Brexit underlines perils of populist politics

The standoff between equally matched camps may solidify into a deep rupture in the national fabric.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Companies / Regional voices: Chubu
Nov 29, 2019

Toyota group member Aisin Seiki cuts low-priority meetings, reducing work hours as a result

Aisin Seiki Co., a Toyota group auto parts maker based in Kariya, Aichi Prefecture, has set about conducting work-style reform, including abolishing dress codes and low-priority meetings to give its workers breathing room to come up with new ideas.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Regional Voices: Tohoku
Nov 29, 2019

Sendai launches new waterway project to prevent city flooding

Deadly Typhoon Hagibis caused riverbanks to burst across Japan in October, and also led to sewer flooding around Sendai Station, known as the gateway to the Tohoku region, leaving roads and underground passages in the heart of the city underwater.
WORLD / Crime & Legal
Nov 28, 2019

U.S. judge delays sentencing of ex-Trump adviser Michael Flynn

A U.S. judge on Wednesday delayed the planned Dec. 18 sentencing hearing of President Donald Trump's former national security adviser, Michael Flynn, but did not set a new date.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Nov 27, 2019

Carlos Ghosn's wife wants him to go on trial in France, says he won't get a fair hearing in Japan

A year after the dramatic arrest of Carlos Ghosn, his wife, Carole, said the fallen auto titan should face trial in France because he won't be given a fair hearing in Tokyo.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / Japan
Nov 25, 2019

China's growing threat to academic freedom

Professor Nobu Iwatani's detention in China marked a potential new, dangerous phase in the CCP government's undermining of academic freedoms for its expansive regime security interests.
JAPAN / Regional Voices: Okinawa
Nov 22, 2019

Shuri Castle fire threatens Okinawa's tourism and traditional crafts industries

A predawn fire that destroyed much of Shuri Castle in Naha, Okinawa Prefecture, has shocked the local tourism industry and associations of traditional Ryukyu Kingdom crafts, raising alarm about the loss of the historic attraction and potential harm to the prefecture's ability to promote its culture....
Japan Times
JAPAN / Regional voices: Chubu
Nov 22, 2019

Massive increase in concentration of microplastics seen on beach facing Japan's Ise Bay

Some 60,000 particles of microplastics per square meter — meaning one particle per 16 square millimeters — are estimated to exist at Nasanohama beach on Toshi Island in Toba, Mie Prefecture, a study by Yokkaichi University professor Satoshi Chiba has revealed.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Regional Voices: Hokkaido
Nov 22, 2019

Hokkaido scholarships for foreign care workers draw nationwide attention amid labor crunch

Three municipalities, including Higashikawa in Hokkaido's Kamikawa subprefecture, and nursing care providers in the prefecture's north introduced in April a scholarship program for non-Japanese attending welfare services schools to encourage them to take up jobs at local nursing homes.
JAPAN / Regional Voices: Kyushu
Nov 22, 2019

Less than a quarter of Kyushu municipalities have up-to-date flood risk maps

Production of flood hazard maps along rivers in Kyushu is lagging far behind other regions in Japan, with less than a quarter of municipalities required by law to create such maps having finished the work as of the end of March.
JAPAN
Nov 22, 2019

In a show of resilience, arson-hit Kyoto Animation to continue training programs for aspiring animators

In a show of resilience following a deadly arson attack on one of its studios earlier this year, Kyoto Animation Co. has announced that it will continue to offer training programs for aspiring animators next year.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Regional Voices: Fukushima
Nov 15, 2019

German state leader to visit Fukushima to see recovery and renewable energy efforts

Minister President Armin Laschet of North Rhine-Westphalia, a state located in western Germany, is set to pay a visit to Fukushima Prefecture in January to evaluate the progress being made to implement renewable energy sources and the region's recovery following the Great East Japan Earthquake and subsequent...
Japan Times
JAPAN / Regional voices: Chubu
Nov 15, 2019

Foreign students in Japan hold back on applying for newly created visas due to past illegal overwork

Many foreign students in Nagoya have recently been found to be reluctant to apply for newly created visas intended to bring more workers from abroad, fearing their applications might not be accepted because they have been working more part-time hours than permitted for those with student visas.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Regional Voices: Hiroshima
Nov 15, 2019

Five years after earning Super Global status, Hiroshima University eyes elusive top 100 ranking

As this year marks the fifth anniversary of the education ministry designating Hiroshima University as a "Type A Super Global University," the university has taken major steps to achieve globalization.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / Japan
Nov 12, 2019

Food as a 'connector' between people

When technology is used to connect people who are in different locations and allow them to share the experience of eating together in virtual space, using a smartphone, for example, it will help reduce the problems linked to eating alone.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Nov 12, 2019

Sharing economy conference explores global phenomenon from Japan perspective

From transportation to holiday homes, the "sharing economy" is gaining traction worldwide, and in typhoon- and earthquake-prone Japan the concept is increasingly seen as instrumental to disaster management.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Nov 11, 2019

Alibaba's Singles' Day sales hit $23 billion in first nine hours

Chinese retailer Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. said Monday that sales logged from its annual Singles' Day shopping blitz crossed the $30 billion mark late Monday afternoon, putting the event on track to set a record in its 11th year.
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Nov 9, 2019

Exploring the artistic subtleties at play behind the controversial Aichi Triennale exhibition

The Aichi Triennale arts festival closed on Oct. 14, and, along with it, a controversial exhibition titled "After 'Freedom of Expression?'", which had been temporarily shut down following threats of violence and complaints. The main point of contention was a statue of a Korean "comfort woman," the inclusion...
Japan Times
JAPAN / World Bosai Forum Special
Nov 8, 2019

International forum aims to spread disaster relief awareness

First of all, we pray for the repose of the souls of those who died in recent disasters, including Typhoon Faxai and Typhoon Hagibis, and extend our deepest sympathies to the many people affected.
CULTURE / Entertainment news
Nov 5, 2019

Gay Byrne, Ireland's 'most influential broadcaster,' dies at 85

Ireland's best known television personality, Gay Byrne, who hosted "The Late Late Show" for almost 40 years, died aged 85 on Monday, and was hailed by the prime minister as the "most influential broadcaster in the history of the state.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / JAPAN LITE
Nov 3, 2019

Are Japanese classes in the countryside cram school worth moving out of the city?

It seems like a good idea, move to the country and focus on Japanese. And it works, it just depends on what kind of Japanese you want to learn.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Regional voices: Chubu
Nov 1, 2019

Now on air: Quake reinforcement work gives Nagoya TV Tower that floating feeling

Nagoya Television Tower, which is currently undergoing seismic reinforcement work, saw the completion of the process of cutting off its four pedestals from its underground concrete foundation on Oct. 23, making it look as if it is floating in the air.

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.