On New Year’s Day, many traditional Japanese performance arts come into their element. Rakugo is a time-honored version of standup comedy. Well, sit-down really, since the kimono-clad performer actually sits on a cushion and uses nothing but a towel and a fan as props ...

The infamous terrorist attacks on the United States have done much to alter the global economic landscape. But they have done nothing to change the economic problems Japan needs to tackle. Indeed the very shifts that have occurred in the global scenery demand Japan ...