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Japan Times
BUSINESS / Regional voices: Chubu
May 1, 2020

Drive-thru services in Aichi support butchers and restaurants

Firms have been hit hard by requests from municipal governments to shut down businesses and for people to avoid nonessential outings.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Regional Voices: Hokkaido
May 1, 2020

Hokkaido coal mine steam train to be reborn as Tochigi tourist attraction

The refreshed locomotive will run on the Tobu Kinugawa Line that connects Tokyo and the hot spring resort of Kinugawa.
Japan Times
CULTURE / TV & Streaming
Apr 30, 2020

Forget about anime production delays by streaming these classics

Many anime releases have been delayed indefinitely due to the COVID-19 outbreak, but in the meantime, with their vast libraries of anime films and series, streaming services can tide us over.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Apr 26, 2020

Modest multilateralism is in America's interest, and China’s too

The crisis has highlighted the need for more global cooperation, but let's not get carried away.
Japan Times
LIFE / Digital / ON: TECH
Apr 26, 2020

Staying in doesn't mean you need to stop working out

One exercise app can provide a lot of health tips, and when you're done with your phone, check out a device that can sterilize it with ultraviolet light.
Japan Times
Rugby
Apr 26, 2020

Wallaby Matt Toomua calls for rethink of 'outdated' Super Rugby

Wallabies flyhalf Matt Toomua has joined calls for a rethink of the Super Rugby competition once the sport restarts after the coronavirus shutdown.
Japan Times
TENNIS
Apr 25, 2020

Rookie Rafael Nadal facing tough test at virtual Madrid Open

When discussing the favorites to win the Madrid Open the first name on most people's lips would usually be clay-court king Rafa Nadal. Things are a little different this year though.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Regional Voices: Okinawa
Apr 24, 2020

Okinawa islanders conflicted over tourism amid virus pandemic

As more people in Tokyo and elsewhere were beginning to hole up at home during the coronavirus pandemic, others were venturing out to visit islands in Okinawa Prefecture.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Society / Regional voices: Chubu
Apr 24, 2020

More foreign workers in Mie losing jobs and homes in virus pandemic

As the spread of COVID-19 infections hits the nation’s economy hard, foreign workers at manufacturers are being severely affected, with some losing their jobs and homes.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Regional Voices: Tohoku
Apr 24, 2020

Rebuild or relocate? Miyagi city residents face post-typhoon dilemma

Residents in the Shidayachi district in Osaki, Miyagi Prefecture, who were affected by last October’s typhoon are facing a decision over whether to rebuild their ruined properties or to relocate.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Stage
Apr 24, 2020

Traveling Gekidan Miyama troupe grinds to a halt

Traveling stage troupe Gekidan Miyama considers its future as the COVID-19 pandemic rips through Japan's theater industry.
Japan Times
LIFE / Travel / HOTELS & RESTAURANTS
Apr 23, 2020

Get work done in style in quality rooms

For a productive and peaceful teleworking experience, people need to look no further than the ANA InterContinental Tokyo, where offers focused on working remotely include Half Day (three-hour) and Full Day (nine-hour) plans. The plans are available until June 30 and see up to two persons ensconsed in...
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Apr 22, 2020

The role of privacy in ending the lockdown

It is now clear that the only way to protect public health and restart the economy is gradually, through widespread tracking and tracing. But to make such systems palatable, regulatory and technological hurdles will need to be cleared.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Apr 21, 2020

The world’s bad actors see an opportunity in pandemic

China's crackdown on Hong Kong is part of a broader pattern of aggression by Iran, Russia and North Korea.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Apr 20, 2020

Strength in numbers: A more open approach to tracking the virus in Japan

Like many foreign residents of Japan during the early days of the country's COVID-19 outbreak, Shane Reustle and Jiahui Zhou recall poring over websites run by the health ministry and local municipalities to try to get a clear picture of how infections were spreading in the world’s third-largest economy....
Japan Times
JAPAN / Regional Voices: Kyushu
Apr 18, 2020

Delay to games, while frustrating, may allow Kumamoto runner to showcase Aso Bridge rebuilt after earthquakes

As a torch relay runner for the Tokyo Olympics and Paralympics, second year junior high school student Teppei Miyata had planned to run near the Aso Bridge in his village in Kumamoto Prefecture, which collapsed during the April 2016 Kumamoto earthquake. Then the games were postponed to next summer, due...
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / Japan
Apr 17, 2020

When the fog lifts, a changed landscape will be revealed

Britain will urgently need to gain a stronger foothold in Asia, and Japan makes the obvious link point.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Regional voices: Chubu
Apr 17, 2020

Motorboat racing in Mie hit hard by outbreak, affecting public finances

Boat Race Tsu, a municipal-run kyōtei (boat race) course in Tsu, Mie Prefecture, is facing difficulties due to plunging sales after it began holding races without audiences to prevent the spread of the new coronavirus.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / Japan
Apr 15, 2020

COVID-19 pandemic prompts a digital revolution

Even as the novel coronavirus pandemic throws the global economy into turmoil and as commercial activities are paralyzed in Japan under the state of emergency declared by the government, at least one sector is seeing an expansion in demand — “virtual” business models and online transactions that...
Japan Times
WORLD / Science & Health
Apr 14, 2020

Tribe’s climate change plight highlights challenge for Native Americans

For several years, Fawn Sharp has seen her tribe on the coastline of Washington state lurch from crisis to crisis: rising sea levels have flooded the Quinault Indian Nation’s main village, and its staple sockeye salmon in nearby rivers have all but disappeared — a direct hit to the tribe’s finances...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Apr 14, 2020

For filmmaker Nobuhiko Obayashi, freedom was the most important thing of all

Director Nobuhiko Obayashi, who died on April 10 at the age of 82, was incredibly prolific during his six-decade career. A pioneering experimental filmmaker in the 1960s, he went on to direct 2,000 television commercials (by his own estimate; no exact count exists) and 43 theatrical features.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Apr 12, 2020

Japan's nightlife entertainers head to cyberspace to dodge virus, host clients online

Hosts and hostesses in Japan's famous nightlife industry are turning to remote entertainment sessions as the COVID-19 pandemic forces them to create a safer environment to survive the public safety crisis.
Japan Times
JAPAN / History
Apr 11, 2020

Looking for solace in Japanese mythology during a pandemic

Amid growing anxiety over an invisible pathogen that has so far claimed tens of thousands of lives worldwide, some Japanese are turning to faith and mythology for solace.
Japan Times
LIFE / Travel
Apr 11, 2020

Forget you're under quarantine and lose yourself in the world of Studio Ghibli

Though COVID-19 has unfortunately scuppered many travel plans this spring, it's still possible to experience Japan from your couch through film. In particular, Studio Ghibli's iconic canon of animated features provide a vivid refuge for those unable to leave the house.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Regional Voices: Hokkaido
Apr 10, 2020

Shortage spurs rush on materials for DIY virus masks in Hokkaido

A nationwide shortage of face masks amid the growing COVID-19 outbreak has sparked a rise in the number of people who make homemade masks using cloth as a substitution for medical gauze as protection against the novel coronavirus.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Companies / Regional voices: Chubu
Apr 10, 2020

As pandemic hits conferences, Aichi firm launches remote interpretation services

As the business environment continues to be affected by the spread of COVID-19, an industrial painting firm based in Anjo, Aichi Prefecture, has begun offering Japanese-English simultaneous interpretation services remotely using teleconference systems.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Apr 10, 2020

Shochiku celebrates a century of Japanese cinema hits

Despite setbacks caused by COVID-19, film studio Shochiku is determined to go ahead with its program of anniversary events and releases where possible.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Regional Voices: Fukushima
Apr 10, 2020

Tepco 10-year plan for scrapping Fukushima No. 1 aims to get local firms involved

Tokyo Electric Power Company Holdings Inc. is expected to disclose detailed 10-year plans for the decommissioning of the crippled Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant, including how much construction material they will have to order and the technology needed for the work, in hopes that it will make it...
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Apr 6, 2020

Abe unveils 'massive' coronavirus stimulus worth 20% of GDP

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe pledged Monday to roll out an unprecedented economic stimulus package equal to 20 percent of economic output as his government vowed to take "all steps" to battle deepening fallout from the coronavirus.

Longform

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