JAPAN TODAY
 TOKYO — Japanese society is turning increasingly gray as the estimated number of people aged 80 or older topped the 10 million mark for the first time, government data showed Sunday.
 
The estimated number of people aged 65 or older stood at a record 33.84 million as of last Tuesday,...

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BBC
 Japan's parliament has voted to allow the military to fight overseas for the first time since the end of World War Two 70 years ago.
A vote on the new law was delayed for several hours as the opposition tried to stop the measure coming into force.
Outside, demonstrators rallied in a last-di...

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JAPAN NEWS
 JOSO, Ibaraki — Fifteen people reported missing after record torrential rain here caused the Kinugawa river to breach its banks have been found alive and safe, local prefectural government authorities said Tuesday.
The Ibaraki prefectural government’s disaster countermeasures headquar...

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JAPAN TODAY
 TOKYO —Japan announced on Tuesday changes to its refugee system that activists said will make the country, which accepted less than a dozen asylum seekers last year, increasingly hard to reach for people in need of protection.
Measures including fast-track assessment of applications ...

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JAPAN TRENDS
 Japan faces a chronic aging problem: ,ore than a quarter of the population is over 65. There are now so many older citizens that the government won;'t give silver cups to newbie centenarian anymore!
The demand for more care-workers for this growing army of seniors, at least, can arg...

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JAPAN TODAY
TOKYO — There was an overflow of talent, skilled dancers, and amazing performances at the World of Dance competition held in Los Angeles last month, but this boy’s dance group from Japan made a particularly strong impression on the audience. Not only were their moves awe-inspiring and...

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JAPAN TRENDS
Imagine two of the coolest things guys tend to get excited about: Star Wars and Japan’s Warring States (Sengoku) Period. Combine them — and you have something truly awesome.
Hoping to cash in on the Star Wars fever gripping Japan this year, Bandai has created the Meisho Movie Realiza...

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JAPAN TODAY
TOKYO — The town of Taiji in Wakayama Prefecture began its controversial dolphin hunt on Thursday after bad weather delayed the start, according to a local fisheries official, while a separate whaling hunt is due to start at the weekend.
But the dolphin-hunt boats returned to Taiji’s ...

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ROCKET NEWS
Even within the world of Japanese pop music, anime songs are their own special breed. Unabashedly sentimental, bombastically energetic, or sometimes both, not just anyone can grab a mike and belt out a performance that will capture the hearts of legions of otaku, which is why one Japa...

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JAPAN TIMES
The Japan Sport Council on Tuesday started publicly seeking design and construction plans for a new National Stadium, which will be the main venue for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, after the previous costly design was abandoned in July.
Its total construction cost is now capped at ¥155 bil...

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