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.
A breathtaking performance by Spanish flamenco dancer Miguel Can~as is bound to captivate audiences in Fukuoka next week. The show, “Tablao: Miguel Can~as,” will be held at Tiempo, a Latin cultural center in Fukuoka, on Aug. 20. Can~as is a world-famous dancer, choreographer and ...
There’s an area in Miyagi Prefecture called Kejonuma that’s home to an arresting legend. Kejonuma means “pond of the ghost woman,” and the tale that gave birth to this name tells of a beautiful damsel, daughter of a rich farmer, who lived near a ...
The sound of bells echoes through the monastery at Gion Shoja, telling all who hear it that nothing is permanent. The flowers of the sala trees show that all that flourishes must fade. Proud men, powerful men will fall, like dreams on a spring ...
The Miyanoharu Line that connected Oita and Kumamoto prefectures in Kyushu was a scenic wonder when it opened along its entire route in 1954, winding for 27 km through mountains and valleys and across no fewer than seven bridges in the town of Oguni ...
On a scorching hot day in late June, some 20 tourists were gazing at the fenced-off entrance of an abandoned tunnel named Taura Zuido (Taura Tunnel) in the Kanagawa Prefecture port city of Yokosuka. Yoshiyuki Hiranuma, who was guiding that “Old Tunnels of Yokosuka” ...
Bryan Whitehead redefines what it means to “make something from scratch.” Starting with some silkworm eggs and easily available natural resources, he eventually ends up with rolls of fine and heavy kimono silk. The textiles created by this Vancouver native are not only beautiful, ...
Chaine, a friendly husky living in Tokyo, was 5 years old when her owners, Motoko Shiraishi and Yasushi Ishikawa, took her to see a sled-dog race in Gunma Prefecture in the winter of 2003. Although Chaine’s ancestors were from the harsh wilds of Siberia, ...
Want to get away from it all? Then why not fly 2,000 km toward the Equator from Tokyo to Ishigaki, the main island of the southerly Yaeyama group in Okinawa Prefecture. And once there, then treat yourself to a stay at Club Med Kabira ...
Three Japanese silent movies will be screened in Tokyo on June 25, giving audiences a taste of yore. One of the movies is titled “Tokyo Koshinkyoku” (“Tokyo March”). This 1920s romance is about a boy, Yoshiki, who falls in love with a girl, Michiyo. ...
Classes in canoeing, fishing and other outdoor activities will be held in Ibaraki Prefecture May 29 and 30. Kawa asobi kyoshitsu (Class for playing on a river) is organized by canoeist Tomosuke Noda, who has written many books about his experiences canoeing on rivers ...
