Need Japan News Now? Check Out The Japan Times

My friend Nagamimi just wrote a great post on print advertisement media in Japan.  Here is a related follow up post from me. Years ago when I lived in Japan, I used to like reading the English version of The Japan Times, a print newspaper that brought me up to date on current news, issues, special events, book and movie reviews, even Japanese lessons. Today, though I no longer live in Japan, I still want news of what's going on there. I continue to look to The Japan Times for my info fix by going to my bookmarks and clicking on my saved link to The Japan Times Online. It's a mainstream media news source useful for catching up on Japan current events and trends.

The Japan Times Online is quite impressive for being a free news website. You can get late breaking news and current date news reports, weather, sports and general interest and cultural stories.  The English site (there is a Japanese website too) is well-written and organized.  It's aimed at Western audiences and all English speakers; the writers seem to favor use of American English, as opposed to British English (if that makes any difference to you), except for weights and measures.  In that case, the metric system, used by Japan, Britain and many other countries, is how you get your information. 

The Japan Times Online is the electronic counterpart of the flagship newspaper, The Japan Times. In the  electronic format you get a digest of news and feature stories from the newspaper.

One of my favorite sections is "Life in Japan." Click on this title in the menu bar to see a list of feature and special interest stories about life experiences and cultural discoveries.  Articles are written by both Japanese and non-Japanese writers, so you can get different perspectives on what it's like to live in Japan (or visit).  Here are examples of articles I recently came across that proved to be very interesting reading! I'll provide links if you'd like to read them in full.  1)  Farmers markets in Tokyo; 2) Jelly noodles. Of course, there are articles on many other topics besides food. This just happens to be one of my favorite subjects!

If you wish to read the entire contents of the current day print publication, that is made possible by subscribing to Japan Times Plus.  This can be set up online.  You can subscribe to receive daily issues, or weekly issues, in English or in Japanese.

I just discovered that The Japan Times has a You Tube channel, too. This is great since I spend lots of time on You Tube watching video news stories and special interest videos directly from Japan. (Okay, and Japanese singers and TV dramas as well.)  Some videos are in English, while others are in Japanese. Very nice to have both!  Keep in mind this is not the only media source taking advantage of You Tube.  I also subscribe to other Japan-related You Tube channels, including asahicom, modulartokyo, tbsnewsi, fujitv and tokyomx.)  Below is the banner for The Japan Times Online and one of the many video playlists you can choose from.

You can find videos like this one covering a summer festival that just took place last month.

 The Japan Times is quite visible on the Internet, including Facebook.

Want to receive tweets about Japan via Twitter?  You can!  Just log into your Twitter account and do a search, then subscribe to one of the many options. I follow  @japantimes_life.  What I really like about the Facebook page and Twitter feeds is that you can view comments and reactions posted by readers in real time.  It's fun to see what others think of the news stories published. Note: Another very reliable Japan-based tweeter of information I follow is Kyodo News (@Kyodo_News_EN).  Also, I like reading tweets by Hiroko Tabuchi, a New York Times reporter based in Tokyo. Below is her Twitter summary and a tweet she sent 13 hours ago. 

Of course, The Japan Times is not the only news source for Japan-related information - there are many options out there. But I like that it's very well organized in both print and electronic forms. It is a great place to start when you need more information or an update on what's happening in Japan right now.