Transport authorities launched a full-fledged investigation Sunday into the derailment of a bullet train on the Akita Shinkansen Line in Daisen, Akita Prefecture, on Saturday afternoon.
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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The Miyazaki Shining Suns, who have a league-worst 5-31 record, and the Eastern Conference-leading Yokohama B-Corsairs (25-9) are on shaky financial ground, multiple sources claim in recent comments to The Japan Times. In the words of one source who spoke on condition of anonymity, ...
Competing Democratic and Republican measures to avoid painful government spending cuts failed in the Senate on Thursday, putting the U.S. on course to see $85 billion automatically slashed from government spending.
The government will allow Japanese companies to take part in the manufacture of parts for F-35 fighter jet as an exception to the nation's ban exporting weapons.
South Korea’s decision to support a United Nations investigation into human rights abuses by North Korea signals that Seoul’s new conservative administration is willing to pressure its neighbor on such issues — even if it hurts the chances for engagement. South Korea’s pledge Wednesday ...
In a significant policy shift, the Obama administration said Thursday it will for the first time provide nonlethal aid directly to rebels battling to oust Syrian President Bashar Assad, announcing an additional $60 million in assistance to Syria’s political opposition. The modest package of ...
Quentin Tarantino, whose film plots are often fueled by a mania for vengeance, has struck again with the Oscar-winning “Django Unchained.”
Since its start in 2009, the Okinawa International Movie Festival has been more than its name implies. It has the usual competition sections: one called Laugh for comedies and another called Peace for dramas, though not all the films fit neatly into these two ...
"I am not very fond of sugar and sweet things, and yet I became a pastry chef." The story of British pâtissière Rose Carrarini, whose quote adorns the wall in the growing number of cafe-bakeries that bear her name, is an eye-opener on many ...
Way back in 1992 there appeared a hot new indie flick called “Reservoir Dogs” by a then-unknown video-rental clerk turned director called Quentin Tarantino. This newcomer’s knack was to take a classic genre movie — the heist flick — and pump it full of ...
Yonkoma manga, or four-cell gag comics, are popular here with both sexes and all ages, but they account for relatively few of the many hit live-action films made from manga. For one thing, it’s not so easy to string all those gags together into ...
Be prepared for the most terrifying flying experience you’re ever likely to encounter, expertly created by Robert Zemeckis (“Forrest Gump,” “Back to the Future”) and engineered on-screen by Denzel Washington. “Flight” may put you off air travel for a while, but on the other ...
In order to escape the current harsh winter weather, some of us might be planning a getaway to somewhere nice and warm, such as Okinawa. But for the rest of us who can’t actually make the trip to Japan’s delightful subtropical region and lie ...
Japanese cuisine at its loftiest is elegant and profound. It can be taut as a tea ceremony or exquisite as a furisode kimono. But inventive, irreverent? Only at Den.
If you’ll excuse the pun, Andrea Riseborough is a star on the rise. In her home ground of Great Britain she’s famed for her role in 2010′s “Brighton Rock,” and in the U.S. she turned heads last year with her performance in Madonna’s “W.E.” ...
Coinciding with the second anniversary of the Great East Japan Earthquake, Tokyo Opera City will be filled with the powerful voices of Japanese choir group Ritsuyukai, featuring new Japanese choral works. Comprising 15 amateur choirs under the direction of Japanese conductor Fumiaki Kuriyama, Ritsuyukai ...
Singapore food fair at Royal Park The Royal Park Hotel in the Nihonbashi district of Tokyo is holding a Singapore food fair at its Symphony restaurant on the lobby floor, through March 31. In cooperation with the Embassy of Singapore, the Singapore Tourism Board ...
Being a talented conversationalist is a vital part of the skill set of any accomplished hostess. The same goes for top-class geisha. Veteran geisha Ikuko, for example, recalls scouring newspapers avidly for potential conversation topics, dining with her apprentices every morning, and even frequenting ...
Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s administration will take “drastic” measures to revitalize the economy, Finance Minister Taro Aso pledged Thursday, suggesting that previous policies had been insufficient to beat back more than a decade of deflation. “Deflation is a deep-rooted problem that has undermined the ...
Japan will play Bulgaria in a friendly on May 30 at Toyota Stadium, the Japan Football Association announced on Thursday. The match will serve as a warmup for the Asian champions’ final two qualifiers for the 2014 World Cup at home to Australia on ...
The government will permit the restart of more nuclear reactors if their safety is confirmed, economic revitalization minister Akira Amari said Thursday. He made the remark in a meeting in Tokyo with Kansai Economic Federation Chairman Shosuke Mori, who asked that idled reactors be ...
The “miracle pine” that survived the massive March 2011 tsunami in Rikuzentakata, Iwate Prefecture, is 173 years old, the local municipal office said. The 27-meter-tall pine, which also survived major tsunami in 1896 and 1933, had been thought by some local people to be ...
The government-backed Riken scientific research institute said Thursday it has applied for government permission to conduct clinical research using induced pluripotent stem cells, known as iPS cells, to regenerate retinas. If the ministry accepts Riken’s plan, it would be the world’s first clinical research ...
Todd Solondz never makes comfortable films, and “Dark Horse” is no exception, featuring as its protagonist an overweight, overbearing 30-something nebbish named Abe (Jordan Gelber) who’s a toy-collector nerd and still living at home with his parents. Classic comedy-loser material, in other words, but ...
Carmelo Anthony scored 35 points, J.R. Smith hit the tiebreaking shot with 1:10 left, and the New York Knicks overcame Stephen Curry’s NBA season-high 54 points to beat the Golden State Warriors 109-105 on Wednesday night. Curry was 18 of 28 from the field, ...
Director: Temujin Doran Language: English Chris Hedges is a Pulitzer Prize-winning correspondent who left the New York Times after it censured him for voicing opposition to the Iraq war. “Open,” a documentary based on Hedges’ book “Death of the Liberal Class,” is composed of ...
A total of 1,009 targeted email cyber-attacks hit Japanese companies and other institutions last year, the National Police Agency said Thursday. The NPA arrived at the figure after analyzing information collected from around 4,900 companies and research organizations in the fields of defense and ...
The battle had raged for four days, and would continue for 31 more, a marathon of sand and heat and unrelenting death. But at that moment there was an order from the brass: Get a bigger flag up there. The small American flag fluttering ...
Director: Sion Sono Language: Japanese (subtitled in English) Third Window Films of the U.K. has released a region B Blu-ray of “Ai no Mukidashi (Love Exposure),” Sion Sono’s 2008 four-hour black-comic epic about a pure-hearted Catholic (Takahiro Nishijima) who becomes an up-skirt photographer to ...
The government may expand its sanctions against North Korea over its recent atomic test, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga said, indicating individuals involved in Pyongyang’s nuclear arms and missile programs may not be allowed to re-enter Japan. Tokyo has already prohibited nine people from ...
Tokyo Electric Power Co. may suspend power supply to companies and factories that are refusing to accept the utility’s higher electricity rates, which it has increased since last April by an average of 14.9 percent, a company official said Wednesday. The utility, which is ...
Eight major Japanese automakers reported Wednesday their combined domestic output in January fell 10.6 percent from a year earlier to 714,580 vehicles as domestic sales sagged after the end of government subsidies for eco-friendly vehicle purchases. Their domestic production declined for the fifth straight ...
Director: Steven Soderbergh Language: English Check this out on DVD at a rental shop near you, or just go buy it — “Haywire” may turn out to be a keeper. Consider the tough and gritty Mallory Kane (mixed martial artist Gina Carano) in director ...
Boeing Co.’s proposal to get the 787 Dreamliner back in the skies, while comprehensive, will require extensive testing even if approved before regulators end the plane’s grounding, the top U.S. aviation official said. Federal Aviation Administrator Michael Huerta on Wednesday wouldn’t speculate when the ...
China has overtaken Japan in global information technology spending, German IT industry group BITKOM said Wednesday, ahead of the CeBIT, the world’s biggest high-tech trade fair. Global IT spending is poised to rise by 5.1 percent to $3.5 trillion, said BITKOM in a new ...
Alex Smith quietly stayed behind the scenes after losing his job and watched from the sideline as San Francisco returned to the Super Bowl for the first time in 18 years. Yet the No. 1 overall draft pick from 2005 did make one thing ...
The United States will conduct training flights of Osprey aircraft over the main islands next week, Lt. Gen. Samuel Angelella, the top commander of the U.S. military in Japan, said Thursday. It will be the first time the controversial aircraft will conduct training flights ...
A 22-year-old woman was stabbed to death early Thursday on a street in Tokyo’s Kichijoji district, the Metropolitan Police Department said. A 17-year-old male Romanian national believed to have some connection with the attack was apprehended about 500 meters from the scene, the police ...
With welfare abuse in the spotlight, the city of Ono, Hyogo Prefecture, is mulling an unprecedented ordinance that would ban welfare recipients from using the money for gambling. The city presented a draft ordinance to the assembly Wednesday. If approved, it would take effect ...
Seven-Eleven Japan Co. opened almost 90 new outlets Thursday, pushing the convenience store chain past the 15,000-store mark for the first time for any Japanese retailer. The chain, a unit of Seven & I Holdings Co., now has 15,072 stores after opening 89 shops ...
Official campaigning began Thursday for the March 17 Chiba gubernatorial poll, which will pit the incumbent against two rivals. Actor-turned-Gov. Kensaku Morita, 63, who is seeking a second four-year term, must vie against Sadanobu Miwa, 75, professor emeritus at Chiba University backed by the ...
Itochu Corp. says it will invest in the construction of an export base for liquefied petroleum gas in the United States with the major energy trading Vitol group. Construction of the base in the Gulf Coast region will entail about $500 million, or ¥4.5 ...
A man in his 30s, a former yakuza, dropped by to see Yukako Fukushima, 41, a prosthetics maker, to tell her some good news. “I got a job thanks to you,” said the man, who was wearing a pinkie Fukushima had made for him. ...
The quest of the International Sumo Federation (IFS) to have amateur sumo accepted as a bona fide Olympic sport has long been viewed as as a pie-in-the-sky proposition by many. In the wake of the recent IOC decision to drop the far more recognized sport ...
The Bank of Japan’s options to reinforce its monetary easing grip will probably be limited even if Asian Development Bank President Haruhiko Kuroda, a strong advocate of aggressive easing, takes the BOJ helm in March. The government’s nomination of Kuroda, 68, apparently reflects its ...
FC Tokyo leads a host of teams looking to improve their fortunes during the 2013 J. League campaign.
Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida pledged Thursday to protect Japanese territory and called on China to refrain from escalating tensions over the Senkaku Islands. In his first foreign policy address to the Diet, Kishida said there is no territorial issue to be resolved concerning the ...
Prosecutors say former WNBA player and Olympic gold medalist Chamique Holdsclaw is being indicted over a November 2012 shooting in Atlanta. Fulton County District Attorney’s spokeswoman Yvette Jones said Wednesday that a six-count indictment charges the 35-year-old with aggravated assault, criminal damage and possession ...
Reviewing its response to the Algerian hostage crisis last month, the government admitted Thursday it doesn’t have enough Arabic-speaking diplomats or military attaches in Africa, making it nearly impossible to gather sufficient intelligence. According to a 19-page interim report, the embassy in Algeria — ...
Worn down by constant criticism by fans, Rafael Benitez announced Wednesday he will leave as Chelsea’s manager at the end of the season. Benitez made his decision public during an extraordinary post-match outburst in which he also took aim at the Premier League club’s ...
Creating a system to ensure the speedy delivery of information to the prime minister’s office during an emergency is an urgent task for the government, former Chief Cabinet Secretary Yukio Edano said in a recent interview. Ahead of the two-year anniversary of the March ...
One hundred “life-size” figures of the popular manga character Doraemon will adorn areas in and around Hakone, Kanagawa Prefecture, as part of an event running from March 9 through 31, Odakyu Electric Railway Co. said. Each Doraemon figure will have a different facial expression ...
Industrial production grew 1.0 percent in January from December for the second straight monthly rise, backed by positive developments in global economic conditions and the weakening yen, the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry announced Thursday. METI upgraded its basic assessment of production, saying ...
Sales of products featuring Kumamon, the official black bear mascot for Kumamoto Prefecture, swelled to at least ¥29.36 billion in 2012, about 11 times more than the previous year, officials said. Taking advantage of the boom, prefectural officials said a Kumamon song — the ...
Three Chinese maritime surveillance ships entered Japanese territorial waters near the disputed Senkaku Islands in the East China Sea on Thursday morning, the Japan Coast Guard said. It is the first time in four days that Chinese government ships have entered Japanese waters. The ...
Top European Union officials late Wednesday struck an agreement on a package of financial laws that include capping bankers’ bonus payments at a maximum of one year’s base salary. The bonuses will only be allowed to reach twice the annual fixed salary if a ...
The dollar firmed above ¥92 in Tokyo trading Thursday as market participants regained their risk appetite on the back of the upbeat stock market. At 5 p.m., the dollar was quoted at ¥92.34-35, up from ¥91.83-83 at the same time Wednesday. The euro stood ...
A Maldives court has sentenced a 15-year-old alleged rape victim to 100 lashes and eight months under house arrest after she admitted to having premarital sex in a separate incident, an official said. During a police probe into allegations that the girl had been ...
Thailand signed its first-ever public agreement with a rebel group in its Muslim-majority south Thursday, pledging to work toward peace talks aimed at ending a festering insurgency. The potentially historic pledge was signed in Kuala Lumpur by Paradorn Pattanathabutr, secretary general of Thailand’s National ...
Van Cliburn, the U.S. pianist whose triumph at a 1958 Moscow competition helped thaw the Cold War and launched a spectacular career that made him the rare classical musician to enjoy rock star status, has died at age 78. Cliburn died early Wednesday at ...
Stocks bounced back sharply Thursday, buoyed by hefty gains on Wall Street and purchases from fund managers attempting to spruce up their portfolios at the end of the month. The Nikkei 225 average closed up 305.39 points, or 2.71 percent, at 11,559.36. On Wednesday, ...
Truth and alcohol may not mix, particularly when people are asked how much they drink. That is the implication of a study released Wednesday that reveals a big gap between the booze Britons own up to drinking and the amount of alcohol sold nationwide. ...
Focus It was billed as China’s Dubai: a cluster of sail-shaped skyscrapers on a man-made island surrounded by tropical sea, the epitome of an unprecedented property boom that transformed skylines across the country. But prices on Phoenix Island, off the palm tree-lined streets of ...
About 150 friends and family of a man killed in a shark attack wrote messages to him in the sand Thursday and stepped into the water at a New Zealand beach to say goodbye. Adam Strange, 46, was an award-winning television and short film ...
A defiant Beijing restaurateur refused to apologize Thursday despite removing a racist sign barring citizens of states in maritime disputes with China, along with dogs, following an international outcry. The notice in the window of the Beijing Snacks restaurant, near the Forbidden City, had ...
Telecommuting, a growing trend in the U.S. workplace, is coming under fresh scrutiny following news that Yahoo is curbing the practice. The trend of working from home has been gaining steam for decades as part of a workplace evolution that allows greater family-work balance ...
