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 ...
Nothing is more important in Japanese cooking than dashi, the fundamental cooking stock that underpins every aspect of the cuisine. There are many ingredients that can deliver a boost of umami savor, both natural (konbu seaweed or shiitake mushrooms) and artificial (various powders out ...
Another year comes to an end, with the usual round of Christmas and bōnenkai “drink the old year to oblivion” parties. Except, of course, it was not just another year. And though we will all be glad to put it behind us, 2011 will ...
As the Yule season approaches, thoughts turn inevitably to cakes and sweetmeats. Homemade is always best, but sometimes expensive cravings arise for the kind of elegant confections that can only be furnished by bespoke chocolatiers and dessert chefs. Here are five of the desserts ...
A mound of oysters on the half shell, with a pint of intense hop-driven IPA on the side. It’s a combination that could well get to be a habit this coming winter, if we can only get over to Otsuka more often, to the ...
The bubbly season is upon us. The illuminations and Christmas music have been with us for weeks already, but now we’re into December, it’s high time to think about where to uncork a quiet commemorative bottle or two. Somewhere special and secluded, with plush ...
For the longest time, one of our most vociferous complaints about Tokyo was that there weren’t enough wine bars worthy of the name. These days, thankfully, we are spoiled for choice in every price range. One of the best of the new crop we’ve ...
Bread and wine: what a great combination. We cannot live on either alone, but put the two together — along with an easygoing attitude and a tasty side menu of home-cooked snacks — and that’s the recipe that makes Ahiru Store one of our ...
The Monocle Cafe — the first in the world created by the eponymous international lifestyle magazine — looks just the way you’d expect. Sleek but comfortable, with light-wood furniture in a modern Scandinavian vein, it blends in perfectly with the designer boutiques inside Hankyu ...
Poets may talk all they like about mist and mellow fruitfulness, but for us, autumn is above all mushroom season. And this year we have a new favorite place in which to indulge our fondness for fungi: Les Chanterelles. Open since the beginning of ...
Kaiseki ryōri, Japan’s traditional multicourse “haute cuisine,” is known for its rarefied elegance, its depth and subtlety of flavor, an exquisite focus on the seasons and, too often, for being as much fun as a funeral. But there is also another kind of kaiseki, ...
