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Japan Times
JAPAN / EXPLAINER
Jul 29, 2013

Grip on Diet leaves no scapegoats for LDP

The Liberal Democratic Party won a landslide victory in the July 21 Upper House election and regained control of both chambers of the Diet, ending years in which the legislature was effectively divided and bills were held hostage.
CULTURE / Film
Jul 25, 2013

There's a royal problem in portraying the ruler

Akira Kurosawa once told me that if he were to make a film about the Emperor, "I would probably be killed. ... Even if the film were highly positive, just the fact that I was using the Emperor as a character would be enough to make (the rightists) mad."
Japan Times
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Jul 20, 2013

Ando's joy brings up an old taboo

The morning after TV Asahi's evening news show "Hodo Station" ran an interview with figure skater Miki Ando on July 1, the media was buzzing over the revelation that Ando had given birth in April. The baby was not the ostensible reason for the interview, which focused on her athletic activities, and...
JAPAN
Jul 19, 2013

Free study abroad prep in Kumamoto

Kumamoto Prefecture will open a free cram school Sunday for junior high and high school students who want to enroll in universities overseas.
Japan Times
SOCCER / SOCCER SCENE
Jul 17, 2013

Zaccheroni on lookout for new blood at East Asian Cup

Japan heads to South Korea for the East Asian Cup this weekend expecting a completely different challenge from last month's Confederations Cup, but with the disappointment of a first-round exit from Brazil still fresh in the memory, manager Alberto Zaccheroni will be keen to come home with the title....
Japan Times
JAPAN / EXPLAINER
Jul 15, 2013

Nintendo brought arcade games into homes 30 years ago

On July 15, 1983, Kyoto-based Nintendo Co. launched the Family Computer video game console, or "Famicom." Priced at ¥14,800, more than 63 million units of the iconic white, red and gold machine were sold worldwide, laying the foundations for today's gaming industry.
Japan Times
LIFE
Jul 13, 2013

Gender bending in Japan

Do our genitals define us? Increasingly, they do not. Is sexuality more complicated than male/female? Increasingly, it is.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Media / BIG IN JAPAN
Jul 13, 2013

'Black' business tales cast shadow on candidate

Elections for the House of Councillors will be held a week from today. The election is being billed as historic in that candidates are permitted to appeal to voters via the Internet.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Jul 10, 2013

C86 sound jangles on in the Japanese indie scene

If pop culture is primarily about escapism, one of the enduring mysteries of the music world must surely be how the sounds of cold, wet afternoons in mid-1980s Manchester came to capture the imaginations of artists around the world. From the sunny shores of California to the icy hillsides of Finland,...
Japan Times
JAPAN / EXPLAINER
Jul 8, 2013

As new UNESCO site, Fuji set to beckon to masses

The official climbing season for Mount Fuji kicked off July 1 amid added fanfare over the iconic peak's inclusion as a UNESCO World Heritage cultural site in late June.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Jul 6, 2013

Sins of the father are Rola's burden

Two weeks ago one of the big stories in the tabloid press was on Jurip Al-Asa, the father of popular TV personality Rola. He was in the news because the Tokyo Metropolitan Police had issued a warrant for his arrest on charges of swindling. Allegedly, Jurip, a Bangladesh national, conspired with a compatriot...
Japan Times
WORLD
Jul 6, 2013

Snowden assisted by WikiLeaks' 'gatekeeper'

He didn't have the space for it, but Gavin MacFadyen needed more bodies. The American running a British think tank for investigative journalism had eight employees crammed into a 4.5-by-3.5-meter office in east-central London, trying to crack a story on wrongdoing at a multinational company.
Japan Times
JAPAN / EXPLAINER
Jul 2, 2013

Nuclear safety rules put onus on utilities

The Nuclear Regulation Authority on July 8 will begin enforcing new safety standards at atomic power stations, more than two years after Tokyo Electric Power Co.'s Fukushima No. 1 plant experienced three reactor core meltdowns.
Japan Times
LIFE / Language / BILINGUAL
Jul 1, 2013

Voting for idols is bigger than politics

Elsewhere in the world, the kind of sōsenkyo (総選挙, general election) that fires up public interest and garners media attention is one where political parties compete for national office. In Japan, however, the sōsenkyo of aidoru gurūpu (アイドルグループ, idol group) AKB48 tends to grab...
JAPAN / Media / BIG IN JAPAN
Jun 30, 2013

Smartphones are killing the art of conversation

If our age is rich in anything, it is, one would think (wrongly), rich in things to talk about. How can anyone nowadays be at a loss for words? What excuse is there for awkward silence? The merest glance at a newspaper furnishes conversational fodder for a lifetime — reminding us, if anyone is in danger...
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives
Jun 29, 2013

Multimedia artist finds community in Odawara nurtures her creativity

Sunlight streams in through large windows that look out on a sweeping Pacific Ocean vista. Artworks stand waiting in various stages of creation, while mobiles twist and dance in the sea breeze. This space, known as Atelier Hayakawa, is where Canadian multimedia artist Kirsten Woest comes to dream, to...
ASIA PACIFIC
Jun 28, 2013

China lets Tibetans venerate Dalai Lama

The Chinese government has loosened restrictions that kept Tibetan monks in two provinces from openly revering the Dalai Lama, Radio Free Asia reported.
BUSINESS / Tech
Jun 27, 2013

Google to publish data on malware

Google on Tuesday said it will begin to regularly publish Internet security data on malware and phishing scams that infect computers and steal consumer information.
Japan Times
LIFE / Travel / TRAVEL INSIDER
Jun 26, 2013

Air France helps Japanese orphans; Virgin campaign with cruise line; Aeromexico's Dreamliner plans

Air France helps orphans
Japan Times
LIFE / Digital / TECH_JAPAN
Jun 25, 2013

Finally, 'The Last of Us' is here

Finally, 'The Last of Us' is here
WORLD
Jun 22, 2013

Fighting the poachers on Africa's thin green line

Esnart Paundi rarely smiled for the camera. One old photo shows her wearing her ranger's camouflage fatigues and a pensive expression as she crouches beside a mound of bushmeat and three despondent poachers, one handcuffed. In another she is in a black leather jacket at her sister's home, leaning against...
Japan Times
JAPAN / EXPLAINER
Jun 18, 2013

'Big data' — a digital sea of personal info ripe for the taking?

Shop at Amazon.com and one automatically receives recommendations on books and other items based on previous queries and purchases. Similarly, checking a Facebook entry causes ads for local products and services to pop up.
BUSINESS
Jun 17, 2013

Treasuries end longest losing streak since '09 as Fed taper bets ebb

Treasuries rose, breaking the longest streak of weekly losses since 2009, amid skepticism the Federal Reserve is about to slow its bond-buying program designed to hold down borrowing costs and spur the economy.
JAPAN / Media / BIG IN JAPAN
Jun 16, 2013

Occasionally Japan's glass ceiling is smashed

Someday people will look back in astonishment at the way society treated women.

Longform

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