The death toll from a blizzard that hit Hokkaido and the Tohoku region over the weekend has risen to nine, local police said Monday. The latest fatality as of Monday was Kuniko Jingi, 76, who was found collapsed under the snow on a road ...
Sleeping in. Breakfast in bed. Sunny brunches. Strolls in the park. Laid-back afternoon tea. Cocktails at sunset. Decadent late nights. Saturday — the word brings to mind a flurry of images associated with the first day of the weekend and the chances are, they ...
For the past year, Tokyo sixth-grader Manami has had dinner at home an average of four times a week. The rest of the time she has had to make do with a juku-ben, a boxed dinner prepared by her mother and consumed between classes ...
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, ...
Cuba overpowers China, winning 12-0 and advancing to the second round of the World Baseball Classic.
Prime Minister Naoto Kan took out nearly a full-page ad in the International Herald Tribune last week to thank the international community for their kizuna (bond of friendship), regarding Japan’s earthquake and tsunami disaster on March 11. It was a stirring tribute to those ...
It’s almost time for the annual festival we have all been waiting for: the Hanaguri “cow nose ring” festival! Held on the third Sunday in April at the Hanaguri Zuka inside a temple in Okayama Prefecture, this is one of the more unusual religious ...
When my friends back home contacted me to see if I was OK after the March 11 disaster, I told everyone the same thing. “We’re OK. We live 500 miles (800 km) from the disaster zone. We haven’t been affected at all.” We didn’t ...
People around the world have marveled at the lack of mass-looting in Japan among the survivors of the recent earthquake and tsunami. Many people are still asking: Why was there no mass-looting? People are undoubtedly comparing the incident in Japan with other natural disasters ...
Japan has repeatedly been referred to as the “most prepared nation in the world” for an earthquake or tsunami disaster. The government has been praised for its readiness via earthquake/tsunami drills, for the prompt organization of the Self-Defense Forces, and for its preparedness to ...
Gumonji is a Shingon Buddhist practice that is easy to explain, difficult to imagine, and nearly impossible to carry out. You still want to try it? Well, OK. In simple terms, gumonji requires one to recite the Mantra of the Buddhist deity Kokuzo Bosatsu ...
Spring is on the way with flying arrows. Which proves that islanders living in Japan’s Seto Inland Sea area don’t just sit around doing nothing all day (well, not every day anyway). On March 6, Awashima Island (population 300) will host a Japanese archery ...
I read a piece of news the other day that makes me feel that “Japan as No. 3″ may finally be headed in the right direction. The news is that celebrity actor and general all-round hunk “Wasao” was appointed as special envoy for World ...
My neighbor Kazu-chan recently booked a trip to Bali with her friend on Garuda Indonesia. She said the travel agency she booked through charged her ¥3,000 to sit next to her friend. And her friend also had to pay ¥3,000 to sit next to ...
The March Grand Sumo Tournament has been canceled due to bout-rigging. The May tournament is now in doubt as well. Who knows, sumo may be the world’s first canceled sport. I think the entire sport should be put on probation for a year. And ...
