AP A car bomb exploded outside a mosque Sunday, killing at least 37 people and wounding another 141 in a mostly Shiite Muslim neighborhood in the southern Pakistan city of Karachi — the third mass-casualty attack on the minority sect in the country this ...
It's a dangerous, unpredictable world. Twice in January Chinese warships in the East China Sea challenged Japan's Maritime Self Defense Forces patrols in a manner deemed threatening. And on Feb. 12 came North Korea's nuclear test.
Here's an open secret: Japanese men have a bad international reputation on the romance front.
SELLING WOMEN: Prostitution, Markets and the Household in Early Modern Japan, by Amy Stanley. University of California Press, 2012, 282 pp., $49.95 (hardcover) In the vast cultural landscape, Japan fascinates the mainstream with manga and anime, the martial arts, Zen and kimono. Of course, ...
Kenta Maeda shook off worries about his form with five shutout innings as Japan beat China 5-2 in first-round Pool A of the World Baseball Classic on Sunday at Fukuoka Dome. Japan improved to 2-0 following a tough win over Brazil in Saturday evening’s ...
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Two Japanese women are slain on Guam and 11 of their compatriots wounded by a man who mowed down pedestrians with his car before going on a stabbing rampage.
A Fukushima prefectural panel says two people who were 18 or younger when the meltdown crisis started at the Fukushima No. 1 atomic complex in March 2011 have thyroid cancer, bringing the total cases to three.
The Osaka city board of education fires a 47-year-old high school basketball team coach for alleged violence against the club's captain that led to the youth's suicide in December.
All 11 major parties in the Diet agree in principle to lift the ban on Internet-based election campaigning in time for this summer's Upper House election.
The way North Korea sees it, only bigger weapons and more threatening provocations will force the U.S. to come to the table to discuss what Pyongyang says it really wants: peace. It’s no coincidence that the North’s third underground nuclear test — and by ...
In its 95-year history, Panasonic Corp. has grown into a consumer-electronics giant producing everything from TVs to eyelash curlers. Now, new President Kazuhiro Tsuga is deciding what it can’t afford to make anymore. Next month, the head of the company that lost more than ...
The debate over the legality of drone warfare is stretching from Capitol Hill into the shadow of the Brandenburg Gate, as Germany considers purchasing armed drones for the first time. Ever since World War II, Germany has been skeptical about military deployments, mindful of ...
Japan Wrestling Federation President Tomiaki Fukuda on Wednesday called into question the International Olympic Committee’s decision to drop wrestling from the 2020 Games, saying the sport’s governing body has failed to give “clear reasons” for why wrestling is being removed. Fukuda said the fight ...
Comcast said Tuesday that it’s buying the rest of NBCUniversal from General Electric for $16.7 billion, doing so several years early as the cable TV provider takes advantage of low borrowing costs and what CEO Brian Roberts called a “very attractive price.” At the ...
North Korea’s nuclear test Tuesday could push China to take a tougher stance against its longtime ally. Beijing had earlier signaled a growing unhappiness with Pyongyang by agreeing to tightened U.N. sanctions after the North’s rocket launch in December, surprising China watchers with its ...
A major Japanese business delegation of around 140 officials, including top executives of big firms, has returned from a six-day tour of Myanmar and Cambodia. Their focus was chiefly on strengthening relations with Myanmar, but some businesses appear hesitant about entering the country, which ...
Hoping to make this year’s Valentine’s Day unforgettable, some young women will surprise their loved ones by giving chocolates molded from their faces. The FabCafe, located in Tokyo’s Shibuya district, recently held a two-day workshop where women had their faces 3-D scanned to make ...
The White House cybersecurity executive order signed by President Barack Obama on Wednesday is expected to be the most comprehensive plan yet for confronting electronic attacks on America’s computer networks, or at least a good-faith effort amid an alarming tide in industrial espionage in ...
The manhunt for a former Los Angeles police officer suspected of going on a killing spree converged on a mountain cabin where authorities believe he barricaded himself inside, engaged in a shootout that killed a deputy and then never emerged as the home went ...
Police on Wednesday arrested a truck driver for allegedly causing a six-car passenger train to derail the day before in Takasago, Hyogo Prefecture, leaving 15 people injured. All six cars of the Sanyo Electric Railway Co. train left the tracks. Keiichiro Endo, 36, was ...
JIJI Stocks were battered Wednesday by selling to cash in gains following the yen’s strengthening against other major currencies. The Nikkei 225 average closed down 117.71 points, or 1.04 percent, at 11,251.41. On Tuesday, the key market gauge shot up 215.96 points. The Topix ...
Prominent avant-garde fashion designer Junko Koshino took part behind the scenes in this year’s Sao Paulo Carnival as a designer of the costumes for the Barroca Zona Sul samba school, which took center stage early Tuesday. The Osaka-born stylist, world famous for designing costumes ...
Third seed Maria Sharapova advanced to the third round of the Qatar Total Open on Tuesday night with a 6-3, 6-2 victory over qualifier Caroline Garcia of France. Sharapova, who had a first-round bye, broke Garcia’s serve in the opening game of the match ...
With the third World Baseball Classic less than three weeks away, the 33 invitees to manager Koji Yamamoto’s Samurai Japan training camp will gather Thursday in Miyazaki and begin training the following day. The Chunichi Dragons, who didn’t send a single player to Japan’s ...
President Barack Obama on Tuesday wagered his second term on an ambitious bid to strengthen America at home by reigniting its economic engine, cutting gun killings and fixing a broken immigration system. Focusing his State of the Union address squarely on domestic priorities, Obama ...
It’s not the type of streak that LeBron James ever thought about, this run of putting together at least 30 points and 60 percent shooting in six straight games. Still, it’s something he’ll savor. He’s rolling right now, and so are the Miami Heat. ...
The chief executive of Italian defense and aerospace giant Finmeccanica was arrested in a corruption probe Tuesday, the third corporate scandal to erupt during Italy’s hotly contested national election campaign. Finmeccanica CEO Giuseppe Orsi is under investigation in a case involving the payment of ...
Yomiuri Giants ace Tetsuya Utsumi and his teammates started spring training on Feb. 1 in the pursuit of a second straight Japan Series championship. But for Utsumi, his role in the regular season is on the backburner as the lefty gears up for March’s ...
Mayors of the only two cities ever attacked with atomic weapons, survivors of the explosions in 1945 and relatives of Japanese nationals abducted by North Korean agents blasted Pyongyang on Tuesday for conducting its third nuclear test despite strong international calls not to do ...
Being blindfolded, handcuffed and locked in a dark room under the gaze of a surveillance camera is not everybody's idea of fun. But a new game in high-pressure Hong Kong is playing on people's escapist fantasies.
Juventus punished poor defending with some clinical finishing to beat Celtic 3-0 in the first leg of their last-16 match in the Champions League on Tuesday, virtually sealing the Italian champions’ place in the quarterfinals. Mistakes by defender Efe Ambrose, who only returned from ...
Overall World Cup champion Marcel Hirscher helped Austria win the team event Tuesday and earn the host nation its first gold medal at the FIS Alpine World Ski Championships. In his first appearance at the worlds, Hirscher teamed with Philipp Schoerghofer, Michaela Kirchgasser and ...
The Japan Automobile Importers Association said Wednesday that it expects sales of foreign-brand vehicles to keep growing this year, but at a slower pace than in 2012 because of the termination of the subsidy program for purchases of eco-friendly cars. The association said it ...
Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and South Korean President Lee Myung Bak said Wednesday that they will coordinate closely with each other and the United States in dealing with North Korea, which conducted its third nuclear test Tuesday, a Japanese official said. Speaking by telephone, ...
The Oakland Athletics and free agent left-hander Hideki Okajima finalized a minor league contract Tuesday after he passed a physical and immediately got to work. Okajima played last season for the Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks, going 0-2 with a 0.94 ERA and nine saves in ...
Jiri Tlusty and the Carolina Hurricanes concluded a grueling six-game road trip with a satisfying win over the Eastern Conference-leading New Jersey Devils. Tlusty scored two goals in the third period and Cam Ward made 26 saves as the Hurricanes beat the Devils 4-2 ...
France on Tuesday came a step closer to legalizing gay marriage when the lower house of Parliament approved a bill allowing same-sex couples to wed and adopt children. The legislation, a key election pledge of Socialist President Francois Hollande, passed by a vote of ...
The nation’s once-thriving manufacturing sector saw its total workforce fall below 10 million for the first time in 51 years in December — down sharply from an October 1992 peak, when it employed just over 16 million, government data has shown. With 9.98 million ...
A Tibetan man is in critical condition after setting himself on fire in Nepal on Wednesday, police said — the 100th self-immolation bid since 2009, according to a toll by Tibet’s government-in-exile. Police spokesman Keshav Adhikari said the man doused himself in gas and ...
The dollar fell below ¥93.50 in Tokyo trading Wednesday after showing volatile moves abroad over a statement from top finance officials of the Group of Seven major industrial nations. At 5 p.m., the dollar stood at ¥93.20-21, down from ¥94.22-23 at the same time ...
The IOC's decision stuns Japan, which collected six wrestling medals at the 2012 London Games.
The camera never lies — or does it? The double-barreled exhibition now on at the Yokohama Museum of Art suggests that it doesn’t always tell the truth either. “Two Photographers: Robert Capa Centennial/ Gerda Taro Retrospective” is a time-traveling trip back to the middle ...
It’s December and small flocks of young, creative-looking types are making their way to a shipyard in Osaka’s Namura district. Tucked among an expanse of otherwise drab warehouses there is Creative Center Osaka, and tonight is “Hot Docks 2,” an art and music spectacle. ...
Pianist Tomoko Yazawa always thinks about her music with the future in mind. However, for her latest album, “Playing in the Dark,” she made a rare diversion into the past — specifically, France at the end of the 19th century. Although Yazawa was classically ...
Painter Daisuke Fukunaga (b.1981) states: “If the world is the stage of a theater, I want to paint the bustle of the things waiting behind the blackout curtain rather than the heroine.” His motifs are of things forgotten and neglected, but unlike his earlier ...
My Bloody Valentine bassist Debbie Googe manned the decks for a rare DJ set at a Tokyo Indie event in Tokyo on Friday. The acclaimed alt-rock band was in Japan to play sold-out shows in Osaka and Tokyo in support of its new album ...
For five years starting in 2007, Shinpei Kusanagi (b.1973) made monthly serialized paintings to accompany installments of Teru Miyamoto’s novel “Mizu no Katachi” (“The Shape of Water”) in the magazine éclat. Text and image had little to do with one another, though the small, ...
Drop by your local jazz club and on an average night there’s a fair chance the band will at some point play a rendition of “Autumn Leaves,” “My Favorite Things” or ” ‘Round Midnight” — or maybe all three. You might hear an inspired ...
Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has suggested that his administration may study the option of pre-emptive strikes on enemy bases such as ballistic missile sites. At a Tuesday session of the Lower House Budget Committee, Abe said that with the international situation changing fast, Japan ...
A senior U.S. officer said Tuesday that possible compulsory budget cuts taking effect next month could force the navy to delay its planned major shift to the Asia-Pacific region and reduce exercises in the region. The naval officer made the remark before reporters after ...
Japanese manufacturers are generally shying away from applying for patents in ASEAN countries for reasons such as the “immatureness” of the judicial system in intellectual property (IP) trials and the low level of technology assessment by local IP authorities, said a representative of the ...
The health ministry said Wednesday two more people have been confirmed dead due to a viral infection transmitted by a mite bite, bringing the death toll in Japan to three. Both were men, one living in Ehime Prefecture and the other in Miyazaki Prefecture. ...
Canadian energy producer Nexen Inc. says a U.S. government agency has given the final approval required for its acquisition by China’s state-owned CNOOC. Nexen said Tuesday the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States has now given its approval, clearing the way to ...
A massive watercolor painting of the March 2011 disaster that hit the Tohoku region will go on display for 11 days starting March 20 at the Design and Creative Center Kobe. The painting, a poignant of the megaquake and tsunami that hit the region ...
Jamaica will restructure its local debt for the second time in three years as the Caribbean island struggles to boost economic growth and secure a new accord with the International Monetary Fund. The nation asked bondholders late Monday to exchange “higher-interest debt for lower-cost ...
North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un’s latest test of a nuclear device is complicating President Barack Obama’s plan to reduce the U.S. nuclear arsenal. The Obama administration has concluded that the U.S. has more nuclear weapons than it needs to deter North Korea, Iran ...
Syrian rebels on Tuesday overran a military air base and captured warplanes, gaining ground in the country’s north for a second straight day as the U.N. said the death toll from the 23-month conflict was approaching 70,000. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said ...
After a 10-year winning streak in wheelchair tennis, Esther Vergeer felt she had nothing left to prove. The 31-year-old Dutchwoman retired Tuesday, ending one of the most amazing careers in any sport. “I’m hugely proud of my performances, my titles, and can look back ...
The Dow Jones industrial average closed at its highest level of the year, coming within 1 percent of its October 2007 record. The latest gain was powered by impressive results from two big consumer brands, Avon and luxury clothing maker Michael Kors. The Dow ...
When it comes to mating, guppies treasure their ugly friends — because they look so good by comparison. An article published Wednesday by Britain’s Royal Society says that male guppies prefer to associate with their drab-colored counterparts when females were around. “Males actively choose ...
Scientists reported Wednesday on the bizarre sex life of a sea slug that discards its penis after copulation, then grows a new one. “No other animal is known to repeatedly copulate using such ‘disposable penes,’ ” Japanese biologists wrote in the Royal Society journal ...
Wholesale prices fell 0.2 percent in January from a year earlier for the 10th straight month of decline, reflecting a continued decline in prices of steel and information and communications equipment, including mobile phones, the Bank of Japan said Wednesday. But the size of ...
FC Tokyo is in talks to acquire Japan striker Tadanari Lee from Premier League club Southampton, Takayuki Tateishi, head of team operations for the first division J. League club, said Wednesday. “We want to decide on a striker by the end of camp (in ...
Filipino nurses and caregivers already in Japan under the bilateral economic partnership agreement and those to follow need more support, not just to help them pass the Japanese license exam but also to encourage them to stay permanently. Academic and industry experts from the ...
Printmaker Yozo Hamaguchi (1909-2000) is best known for his ground-breaking work in colored mezzotints. His predominant use of soft but dark coloring, which gave the mezzotints a peaceful and serene quality, differentiated his work from other print artists, and led to the global recognition ...
Olympus Corp. has lowered its group earnings forecasts for the year through March to reflect sluggish camera operations. Sales are now estimated at ¥740 billion, the company said Tuesday, down from the previous projection of ¥757 billion, while operating profit is estimated at ¥35 ...
British police searching for the source of horse meat in kebabs and burgers Tuesday raided two meat plants in the first such operation since a scandal over the mislabeling of beef gripped Europe. France, meanwhile, became the second European country after Britain to confirm ...
After its cancelation two years ago due to the Great East Japan Earthquake, the annual “Hina Matsuri Dolls from the Mitsui Family Collection” returns this year to showcase a number of Girls Day Festival ornamental dolls. The highlight of the show is a complete ...
The Tokyo High Court on Wednesday upheld a lower court order that Kawasaki Heavy Industries Ltd. pay some ¥234 million in damages to the government over the crash of a Ground Self-Defense Force helicopter in 2000. While the focus of the suit was on ...
Russia’s lower house of Parliament on Tuesday passed a bill prohibiting smoking in public places, an extraordinary measure in a country where about 60 percent of adult men smoke. The bill was proposed by the Ministry of Health and energetically endorsed by Prime Minister ...
Sony Corp. said Wednesday it has launched a high-resolution digital cinema projection system for midsize to small movie theaters and public halls, including those in emerging markets. The new product utilizing “4K” technology, which displays images four times sharper than current high-definition resolutions, is ...
A self-described “photograffeur,” French artist JR’s artwork is based on flyposting giant photographic images in public spaces to offer a form of social commentary. In “Portrait of a Generation” (2006), he brought attention to the community in Montfermeil, France, by flyposting portraits of teens ...
Total shipments of beer and beerlike drinks fell 2.6 percent in January from a year earlier to 20.54 million cases, the third consecutive month of decline, industry data showed Wednesday. The total was the second-lowest ever for a January, affected by cold weather across ...
A South Korean soccer player who displayed a political banner at the London Olympics will get his bronze medal back, the IOC announced Tuesday. Park Jong Woo was issued with just a warning for his actions after his team’s 2-0 victory over Japan, the ...
Influential labor unions on Wednesday submitted requests for annual pay hikes amid a major gulf with employers. The unions at major carmakers, including Toyota Motor Corp., and electronics firms called for annual, seniority-based automatic raises and bonus hikes. Companies plan to respond to the ...
Britain’s troubled Barclays bank will ax at least 3,700 jobs this year, it announced Tuesday after revealing that it plunged into the red in 2012 amid the Libor rate-rigging scandal. The lender said it would “reduce head count by at least 3,700 across the ...
A Kyrgyz military court on Tuesday sentenced in absentia former President Kurmanbek Bakiyev to 24 years in prison and his brother Janysh to life over the 2009 murder of a powerful top official. Kurmanbek Bakiyev, who was toppled in a bloody 2010 uprising fueled ...
Hadi Mezawi has never set foot on the Caribbean island of Dominica, has never seen its rainforests or black-sand beaches. But he’s one of its newest citizens. Without leaving his home in the United Arab Emirates, the Palestinian man recently received a brand new ...
Pope Benedict XVI had a secret operation three months ago to replace the batteries in his pacemaker but this did not influence his decision to resign, the Vatican said Tuesday. “It was a routine operation. He already had a pacemaker. This had nothing to ...
Chicago Bulls star Derrick Rose still has no target date for his return from a torn anterior cruciate ligament in his left knee, and he even indicated he might sit out the season. In an interview with USA Today posted on Tuesday, the three-time ...
Japan’s ancient capital of Kyoto has long been a popular theme for artists. This exhibition explores how Japanese painters from different eras have visualized and interpreted the city’s unique allure. Created at different points in history, the images also portray social and environmental changes ...
While the rest of the world reacted with outrage, North Koreans were swept up in a “storm of excitement” over their country’s latest nuclear test, Pyongyang’s state media reported Wednesday. In dispatches released the day after the test, the Korean Central News Agency interviewed ...
U.S. satellites have detected a large loss of freshwater reserves in the Tigris and Euphrates river basins during a seven-year period beginning in 2003, a new study has found. The river basins, which water parts of Iraq, Iran, Turkey and Syria, have lost almost ...
The Japan Olympic Committee is sending questionnaires about abuse in sports to more than 5,000 athletes and coaches, sources said. Coaches and athletes from 57 different sports federations will be asked whether they had suffered or witnessed physical abuse. The coaches and athletes will ...
