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Japan Times
LIFE / Digital / JAPAN TIMES BLOGROLL
Apr 20, 2015

Rachel & Jun

Husband-and-wife YouTube team Rachel & Jun first started making videos in 2012 as a fun way to keep in touch while they were apart. Now, with over 350,000 subscribers, the Japanese-American couple covers a variety of subjects, from what’s considered overweight in Japan to making mochi.
Japan Times
JAPAN / History
Apr 4, 2015

Okinawa: In the crosshairs of war

"We always seem to be at the tail end of history, dragged along roads already ruined by others."
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Mar 31, 2015

Lee Kuan Yew and the myth of Asian capitalism

Singapaore's Lee Kuan Yew thought a competent meritocratic government should not only provide order but also guide economic development. The success of 'Asian capitalism' seems to prove him correct.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Mar 25, 2015

From nuclear safety to nuclear security

Japan's nuclear disaster has spurred reforms in the field of nuclear safety. But when it comes to nuclear security, complacency remains a major problem.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / LEARNING CURVE
Mar 15, 2015

First impressions count for ALTs meeting their new Japanese colleagues

Fostering a good vibe early in the new school year can pay huge dividends, making the next 12 months easier for the both of you.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Books
Mar 7, 2015

The problems and pleasure of publishing the horrors of the 3/11 tsunami

At a symposium on "Trauma and Utopia" held in Tokyo in October 2014, photographer Naoya Hatakeyama talked about his work in the aftermath of the 2011 Great East Japan Earthquake and tsunami, a disaster that killed his mother and destroyed his home in Rikuzentakata, Iwate Prefecture. During this, he acknowledged...
Japan Times
PRESS / Publications
Mar 2, 2015

“Japanese History in Simple English” and “American History in Simple English”on sale now

COMMENTARY / Japan
Feb 24, 2015

Brazilians, Japanese and the virtues of integration

Japan can strengthen its future by integrating foreigners and rejecting voices that call for separation.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music / STRANGE BOUTIQUE
Feb 24, 2015

Sympathy for the snob: Real DJs play vinyl

Up a backstreet in Shibuya's Udagawacho neighborhood, tucked in behind the Milky Way, Chelsea Hotel and Star Lounge live-music venues — an area tight with record stores — I'm on my way to a party crammed with style-conscious young folk in sweaters and berets, DJing against the backdrop of Roman Polanski's...
Japan Times
LIFE / Lifestyle
Feb 14, 2015

Love thy neighbor? Chinese nationals who call Japan home

Like tempestuous lovers, China and Japan have sparred for centuries but have remained interdependent in each other's economy, politics, culture, language and arts.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Media / BIG IN JAPAN
Feb 7, 2015

In violent times, young Japanese just shrug

The weekly Shukan Kinyobi discerns a "new fatalism" among young people. Meaning what? A feeling that effort reaps no rewards and so is not worth making; that the world is what it is and cannot be changed — at least not by me, even if I felt like changing it, which I don't; that luck or inborn talent...
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / LEARNING CURVE
Jan 18, 2015

A top 10 for non-Japanese parents considering local schools

Whether your children are already in the local system or you are weighing up your future schooling options, here are 10 issues for parents to keep in mind.
JAPAN / History / THE LIVING PAST
Jan 17, 2015

Seeking independence through civilization

For the first time in 600 years Japan was threatened by foreign aggression. One among many differences between the 19th century American threat and the 13th-century Mongol invasions is this: 13th-century Japan was fiercely militarist, 19th-century Japan was impotently militarist.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Jan 13, 2015

Lantis looks to woo a dedicated fan base with anisong tour

Fans breach the language barrier at overseas expos of Japanese pop culture as soon as the music starts. Legions of non-Japanese, most of whose knowledge of the language is limited to basic greetings and exclamations, burst into karaoke-style singalongs, mimicking dance moves and waving glow sticks. This...
COMMUNITY / Voices / COMMUNITY CHEST
Jan 1, 2015

Readers' letters: Roppongi, Ferguson, 'Massan,' Julien Blanc and more

Some emails received in response to Community articles at the tail end of 2014.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Dec 24, 2014

Our critics in the crossfire

The Japan Times' three film writers got together before Christmas to discuss their top picks of movies released this year. Unusually, this year both Giovanni Fazio and Kaori Shoji agreed on their No. 1, choosing "The Broken Circle Breakdown." Mark Schilling picked Mipo Oh's "Soko Nomi Nite Hikari Kagayaku"...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music / STRANGE BOUTIQUE
Dec 23, 2014

Who was music being made for in 2014?

When looking back on the year in music, the big question music fans should be asking themselves is, "Who was music being made for in 2014?" Looking at the broader picture, we can find the answers writ large across the Japanese music scene.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / TELLING LIVES
Dec 17, 2014

For TV celeb LiLiCo, success flows from adversity and preparation

Famous for her regular Saturday morning TV appearances as a film commentator on popular TBS show "King's Brunch," half-Swedish entertainer LiLiCo says her work is such fun it is the fundamental driving force in her life.
COMMUNITY / Voices / COMMUNITY CHEST
Dec 14, 2014

Readers' letters: Hague abduction pamphlets, East Asia ties, temping teachers and learning English

Some emails received in response to recent Community articles.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Dec 8, 2014

Post-'Abenomics' reforms

Japan needs to address six major challenges in the post-Abenomics era with an eye toward structural reforms aimed at reviving Japan's influence on the global scene.
COMMENTARY / World
Dec 8, 2014

Xi's cultural revolution looks doomed to fail

China's government has just reserved the right to send film and television actors, directors, writers and producers on all-expenses-paid, involuntary, 30-day sabbaticals to rural mining sites, border areas, and other remote locations.
Japan Times
CULTURE / CULTURE SMASH
Nov 28, 2014

Cool Japan sets its sights on Southeast Asia

A full year and a half has passed since the Japanese government gave its final approval for the Cool Japan Fund — a 20-year, public-private entity aimed at spreading Japan's cultural appeal overseas — the official soft-power push that some bureaucrats and academics had been advocating for at least...
Japan Times
CULTURE
Nov 27, 2014

CNN series 'On the Road' looks at drinks and drums in Japan

CNN journalist Paula Newton is waiting to try the world's best whisky at The Society bar at the Shiodome Park Hotel in Tokyo. Her verdict? "The drink was very good."
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Voices / VIEWS FROM THE STREET
Nov 10, 2014

Catalans in Tokyo: How did you vote in the Catalonia referendum and why?

Independence-minded Catalans at a polling station in Tokyo explain why they voted in defiance of Madrid in a referendum that had already been ruled invalid.
Japan Times
LIFE / Lifestyle
Nov 8, 2014

Kendama: a whole new ball game

Almost every child that has grown up in Japan has seen a kendama, a wooden traditional Japanese toy consisting of a ken (sword) and tama (ball) connected by a length of string.

Longform

Construction takes place on the Takanawa Gateway Convention Center in Tokyo, slated to open in 2025.
A boom for business tourism in Japan?