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 ...
Although Japanese samurai warriors were engaged in daily bloody battles, it didn’t mean that they lacked cultural sophistication and style. Some were poets and calligraphers, and many chose to have their tsuba (sword guards) decorated with intricate metal inlay, known as damascening. Contrary to ...
Information about the life of Japanese people during the Jomon Period (Japan’s neolithic era) is limited, but the study of ancient ruins and archeaological finds have helped us develop a picture of their lifestyle. For example, it is assumed that they hunted boars in ...
The kimono is one of Japan’s most famous traditions. Recently, it has garnered even more international attention as not only a fashionable garment but also as an art form. This exhibition mainly showcases kimono from the mid-Edo Period (1603-1867) to the beginning of Showa ...
Fukuoka Prefecture’s art industry rapidly prospered during the 1950s-60s with the rise of Group Kyushu, a highly experimental and controversial artists’ group. From the 1970s, however, an artistic stagnancy prevailed, and the generation of artists that emerged after the “golden period” struggled to make ...
Before the current prefectural system was established, Japan was split into provinces. The western half of Aichi Prefecture was known as Owari Province, and during the Edo Period (1603-1867) the area became a domain of the influential and prospering Tokugawa clan. Tokugawa Yoshinao (1600-50) ...
The Edo Period (1603-1867) was a time of rapid prosperity for Japan’s Tokaido region, which stretches across the southeastern edge of Honshu. Improved public roads gave travelers easier access to the region, whose renowned shrines became popular pilgrimage and tourist destinations. Such journeys were ...
Ikko Narahara first shot to fame in 1956, with “Human Land” — a photographic documentation of expeditions to the deserted Gunkanjima (Battleship Island) in Nagasaki Prefecture, and the lava-ravaged Sakura Island in Kagoshima Prefecture. On those islands, Narahara isolated himself from society, so that ...
Japanese banknotes are patterned with highly intricate, geometrical designs of a style known as guilloche, or saimon in Japanese. Guilloche was first introduced to Japan in the beginning of the 19th century. Its complexity not only produces aesthetically pleasing patterns, but it is also ...
Japanese banknotes are patterned with highly intricate, geometrical designs o a style known as guilloche, or saimon in Japanese. Guilloche was first introduced to Japan in the beginning of the 19th century. Its complexity not only produces aesthetically pleasing patterns, but it is also ...
‘Friendship,” “endeavor,” and “victory” are three main concepts underpinning a slew of popular manga stories that constitute the long-running weekly magazine Shukan Shonen Jump. As the titular word shonen (boys) suggests, these themes are precisely designed to intrigue fantasy-prone, thrill-seeking young boys. However, the ...
