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 ...
For Christopher Johnson's latest contributions to The Japan Times, see below:
I seem to have the whole mountain to myself. The vast majesty of Fukushima Prefecture spreads out below me, all around. Up here, skiing on powdery snow, zigzagging through challenging moguls, it’s easy to forget about the nuclear reactors 120 km away. Say what ...
Yes, it’s true. Spending some money on skiing among snow monsters and soaking in hot-spring baths is a good way to help the Tohoku region of northeastern Honshu recover from the Great East Japan Earthquake of March 11, 2011, the terrible tsunami it triggered ...
Shisaku is a homophone meaning essay, a meditation upon a subject, a policy or measures a government takes. A fitting title for analyst Michael Cucek’s blog which provides insight and opinion on Japanese politics, with a distinct hint of satire. In the eight years ...
With all its American, European and Asian cultural influences, it’s easy to forget that Japan is also an island nation in the Pacific. Japan’s connection to another Pacific nation, the Marshall Islands, hit home to this writer one Sunday morning in the fish market ...
Continental Micronesia airlines operates an island-hopper run to Majuro in the Republic of the Marshall Islands via Guam, Chuuk, Pohnpei, Kosrae and Kwajalein — a great way to see fantastic scenery and sample the flavors of each airport. Descending into Majuro in the Marshall ...
As bitter winds blow around cesium and other radioactive particles spewed from the nearby Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant’s reactors, Naoto Matsumura lights a cigarette, which he considers relatively good for his health. “I would get sick if I stopped smoking; I have ...
Like the Japan tsunami, flooding in Thailand will have a global impact on the supply and price of rice, cameras, computers and cars. Yet many are wondering who is overseeing crisis management in Bangkok: fugitive former leader Thaksin Shinawatra, exiled in Dubai; or his ...
Before the March 11 tsunami, the Miyako area of Iwate Prefecture was a beloved tourist destination, famous for the beaches of Jodogahama and a national park with majestic views of coves and shimmering Pacific waters. On March 11, an indented coastline funneled a surge ...
Here I am, taking a holiday in minus-20 Hokkaido instead of plus-20 Okinawa. I’m either losing my marbles or just a normal Canadian pining for a winter wonderland. At this season, for sure, Hokkaido can be Japan’s Siberia, a world of white where everything ...
At this dazzling time of year, it seems that half of Japan’s population turn into photographers journeying to their favorite spots or seeking out new ones around the city as they try to capture the myriad colors of autumn leaves. Doing that, though, is ...
