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Japan Times
JAPAN / Regional Voices: Hokkaido
Jan 16, 2023

Manga and anime helping Tomakomai to boost tourism sector

In an effort to attract visitors, people in charge of community development in Tomakomai have begun to pay attention to the city's manga and anime resources.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Jan 16, 2023

Nagoya uses auto industry ties to position itself as a startup hub

This transition period comes at a time when the national government has made the creation of startups a priority as it seeks to bolster the economy.
Mizuho Securities is starting a fund to create opportunities for third-party investment into Japan's animation film sector that has created globally popular works such as "Demon Slayer."
BUSINESS / Companies
Jul 17, 2024

Mizuho fund to invest in Japan’s popular but cash-needing anime scene

For investors, Mizuho's fund will be an opportunity to park their money in a sector famous for works like "Demon Slayer."
Gamers can play Assassin's Creed Shadows as either female assassin Naoe or Yasuke, a Black samurai.
LIFE / Digital
Jul 25, 2024

Assassin's Creed makers defend 'creative liberties' in Black samurai row

UbiSoft, the game's maker, said its Assassin's Creed games aren't meant to be perceived as factual representations of history or historical characters.
Yuto Horigome defended his Olympic title in men's street skateboarding on Monday to continue Japan's dominant run in the event.
OLYMPICS / Skateboarding
Aug 1, 2024

Why Japan is so dominant in street skateboarding

Skateboarding has only been a part of the Olympics for two editions, but the sight of Japanese skaters on the podium in the street competition is already a familiar one.
Japan's Yuki Kawamura goes to the basket in the men's preliminary round group B basketball match between Japan and Brazil during the Paris 2024 Olympic Games at the Pierre-Mauroy stadium in Villeneuve-d'Ascq, northern France, on Friday.
OLYMPICS / Basketball
Aug 3, 2024

Japan's 'Slam Dunk' fans upstaged by 'Brazilian chapulines'

The Brazilians crushed Japan 102-84 in men's Group B to end the Asian side's Olympic dreams.
Commuters take a subway home at Sungsu station in Seoul on July 15.
BUSINESS / Companies
Aug 6, 2024

Declaring ‘crisis,’ South Korean firms tell managers to work more

In South Korea, the five-day workweek is only a generation old, introduced by labor laws in 2004.
Shigekix, whose real name is Shigeyuki Nakarai, in action during the world championships in Leuven, Belgium, in September
OLYMPICS / Breaking
Aug 7, 2024

From the Bronx to Paris: Breaking set for its Olympic close-up

B-boys and B-girls from across the globe will soon compete in Olympic dance battles that feature intricate steps, acrobatic moves and plenty of flair.
Conservatives were wrong to call the Paris Olympic's opening ceremony a display of LGBTQ+ ideology and PC uniformity. While it did critique conservative nationalism, it mainly targeted rigid PC moralism or "wokeism."
COMMENTARY / World
Aug 11, 2024

The emancipatory meaning of the Paris Olympics

The Olympic opening ceremony's theme didn’t just show Europe at its best; it reminded the world that only Europe could host such an event.
Polina Oba enjoys the food in Fukuoka, but still finds herself traveling to Tokyo often as that’s where most of the decision-makers are based. 
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / 20 QUESTIONS
Aug 12, 2024

Polina Oba: ‘Try quick, fail quick, learn quick and you need to always pivot’

Networking is at the core of Polina Oba's GourmetPro startup. Not only is it great meeting new people but you'll never know where those connections may lead.
Only two other class of persons were treated with anything like the merciless ferocity meted out to lovers: subversives and Christians.
JAPAN / History / The Living Past
Aug 17, 2024

Love was a most subversive affair in Edo Japan

As the shogunate required order in society, love was seen as a threat to rational thinking — something that you might die for.
University students in Varanasi, India, protest against a recent rape and murder of a doctor in West Bengal. Despite some improvements in legislation following high-profile cases, such as the 2012 gang rape, violence against women has worsened, with recorded rapes increasing.
COMMENTARY / World
Aug 22, 2024

Protests won’t change India's attitude toward rape

Despite some improvements in legislation following high-profile cases, such as the 2012 gang rape, violence against women has worsened, with recorded rapes increasing.
Black Myth: Wukong has sold over 10 million copies in less than a week — by far the best launch of a Chinese-developed single-player game in history.
LIFE / Digital
Aug 27, 2024

With Black Myth: Wukong, China is now a force to reckon with in AAA games

Can China’s first AAA gaming hit bear the weight of the cultural baggage it’s being burdened with?
A polygraph machine sits on a table in an office of AO Eurasian Bank in Almaty, Kazakhstan, in 2013.
BUSINESS / Tech
Sep 6, 2024

AI-powered lie detectors can help tell if you’re lying on a Zoom call

CyberQ is just one of a crop of new companies looking to build AI-powered lie detectors that could be used during work-related online meetings.
Tokyo's Asakusa area, a popular location among foreign tourists
JAPAN
Sep 12, 2024

Japan, China, South Korea set 40 million tourist target

The number of foreign visitors to Japan hit a monthly high of some 3.29 million in July, with about half being from China and South Korea.
American Kara Harris is on the verge of attaining a high-level certification in the world of kimono — and may possibly be the first Black woman to do so.
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / Black Eye
Sep 16, 2024

‘The people I’d seen in kimono didn’t have as much melanin as I do’

A student of Kara Harris says the kimono instructor knows how to expertly fit the traditional garment to bodies with more curves than the stereotypical Japanese frame.
Solar panels and wind turbines at a power plant in Hami in China's Xinjiang region. The U.S. and other countries have described China’s actions against Uyghurs in the Xinjiang region, a key cog in the cleantech supply chain, as a genocidal campaign aimed at erasing an entire culture.
ENVIRONMENT / Energy / OUR PLANET
Sep 16, 2024

How China’s dominance of solar and batteries is impacting Japan’s energy transition

China has thrown its industrial might behind cleantech, putting Japan in a tough spot as it weighs human rights concerns against its climate targets.
Having grown up in North Carolina, where people are chatty and friendly, Duane Levi says Kansai and Osaka in particular had a similar vibe.
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / 20 QUESTIONS
Sep 27, 2024

Duane Levi: 'Once you are able to create something that has sustainability … you’re going to get help and support.'

Unable to get a job in PA and recording, Duane Levi forged his own path in the Japanese music scene and has introduced many artists to the market here.
The number of consultations from foreign visitors to Japan about problems related to accommodations and shopping is increasing.
JAPAN / Society
Oct 3, 2024

Consumer consultations by foreign visitors to Japan on the rise

The number of consultations from foreign visitors in fiscal 2023, which ended in March this year, stood at 227, up for the second straight year.
Masakazu Tokura
JAPAN
Oct 10, 2024

2025 Expo head expects ticket sales to speed up

Around half of the 14 million advance tickets that the organizer aims to sell by the start of the Expo have been sold.
Performers at Stand Up Indonesia Tokyo shows crack plenty of jokes, but the main purpose behind the group, organizers say, is to provide a space where Indonesian expats can express themselves about any struggles they may have about living abroad.
COMMUNITY / Our Lives
Oct 14, 2024

Tokyo’s Indonesians get through life abroad with a couple of laughs

Stand Up Indonesia Tokyo is a community of comedians, comedy fans and others with connections to Indonesia seeking a reminder of home.
Emperor Naruhito and Empress Masako offer silent prayers on Monday for the victims of the Jan. 1 earthquake and the September rain disaster that hit the Noto Peninsula.
JAPAN
Oct 16, 2024

Emperor and empress visit Gifu for cultural festivals

The imperial couple attended the opening ceremony of the National Cultural Festival and the National Arts and Culture Festival for Persons with Disabilities.
Hokkaido Gov. Naomichi Suzuki helped mark the first seven decades of the America-Japan Society of Hokkaido on Sept. 19.
JAPAN / Society / Regional Voices: Hokkaido
Oct 28, 2024

America-Japan Society of Hokkaido celebrates 70th anniversary

The society is poised for further growth, with more firms from the U.S. and elsewhere looking to set up shop in Hokkaido.
Cardinal Sean Patrick O'Malley leaves after attending a press conference hosted by the Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors to release its first annual report, at the Vatican on Tuesday.
WORLD / Society
Oct 30, 2024

Church must act faster against abusive priests, papal commission says

The detailed global report from the Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors was the first since the body was set up by Pope Francis in 2014.
Cream-filled 'maritozzo' buns are just one of the many sweet treats on offer at Japanese convenience stores.
LIFE / Food & Drink
Nov 3, 2024

Exploring the ‘B-gourmet wonderland’ of Japanese convenience stores

Tourists who obsess over 7-Eleven and FamilyMart can seem a bit absurd, but there's no denying the integral role these stores have in daily life in Japan.
Unattended picket signs are piled up outside a Boeing facility in Seattle on Monday, after unionized workers voted to end their strike.
BUSINESS / Companies
Nov 6, 2024

Boeing CEO in battle to mend rifts after bitter strike ends

The strike exposed divides that run right through the company.
The film character Godzilla poses on the red carpet during a ceremony to receive a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in Hollywood, California, in November 2004.  
COMMENTARY
Nov 6, 2024

After nearly three-quarters of a century, Godzilla’s monstrous empire is thriving

The famed Japanese monster went from serious metaphor for nuclear destruction to a kitschy pop culture icon.
Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes looks to pass against the Raiders during the fourth quarter of their game in Paradise, Nevada, on Oct. 27.
MORE SPORTS / Football
Nov 8, 2024

Unbeaten Chiefs looking to match best-ever start with win over Broncos

The Broncos beat the Chiefs 24-9 last year in Denver.
Former Nissan Chairman Carlos Ghosn poses during the opening of the Beirut Sports Festival in Beirut on May 23.
BUSINESS
Nov 16, 2024

French prosecutors request Carlos Ghosn and French minister stand trial

Ghosn's lawyers said he had learned about the request through media reports and challenged the legal basis of the legal procedures.
The Bluesky social network has soared to one of the top positions in social network downloads in app stores in the past week since the U.S. election. The company reported a recent gain of 700,000 new users joining the social media platform, an alternative to X.
BUSINESS / Tech
Nov 18, 2024

How Bluesky, alternative to X and Facebook, is handling explosive growth

Bluesky’s meteoric growth underscores its role as a decentralized alternative to traditional social networks, prioritizing user control and developer creativity.

Longform

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