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Pope Francis’ fascination with the devil took on remarkable new twists Tuesday, with a well-known exorcist insisting Francis helped “liberate” a Mexican man possessed by four different demons despite the Vatican’s insistence that no such papal exorcism took place. The case concerns a 43-year-old ...
Kazuhiro Shiraishi, 66, is a guest-house manager in the Izu-kogen Highlands, a famous resort area on the Izu Peninsula of Shizuoka Prefecture. Looking out onto the Pacific Ocean, and just 90 minutes by train from Tokyo, Izu has a warm climate all year round ...
“I was stopped by two men in a government-registered vehicle, blindfolded and dragged off the street. They took me away to a house in a place I did not know. I was forced into a room with blood all over the walls and floor, ...
Guitarist Dustin Wong hesitates for a split second. It’s a pause that would go unnoticed during most other sets, but Wong has spent the last 40 minutes seemingly in a trance while playing guitar and looping the notes via an array of pedals in ...
Tim Duncan saves the day as the Spurs hold off the Grizzlies in overtime
Tadataka Koide, president of Aichi Gakuin University in Nagoya, is awaiting this month’s entrance exams with anticipation and anxiety. Adults attend a Waseda University class as part of the school’s lifelong education program. Like most colleges, applications for Koide’s university, which has 12 courses ...
When Ryoichi Kawakami, a 34-year veteran schoolteacher in Saitama Prefecture, was appointed to the National Commission on Educational Reform in March, he was skeptical about whether his input could help solve the problem of “classroom collapse.” Classroom collapse is a term commonly used to ...
The 53-year-old Fundamental Law of Education needs to be revised if Japan is to lay the foundations of a better education system in the 21st century, according to newly appointed Education Minister Nobutaka Machimura. Revising the law is one of the key issues on ...
English, as the dominant language in cyberspace, is becoming an indispensable communication tool for Asian people. And the increased use of English among nonnative speakers should make it more colorful as a world language. However, journalists from the Asia-Pacific region said in a recent ...
A recent Tokyo Metropolitan Government announcement that it plans to abolish the Tokyo Women’s Foundation to save tax money has sparked protests among citizens’ groups promoting gender equality. Although the metro government said it will continue to promote gender-equality issues, feminists worry that the ...
MAEBASHI, Gunma Pref. — A new international school here may be starting off small, but what it lacks in size it makes up for in aspirations. Determined to challenge Japan’s monolingual culture, four international couples have launched a school that aims to eventually offer ...
Upon retiring after a 38-year career with the Foreign Ministry followed by six years as head of the Japan International Cooperation Agency, Kimio Fujita was naturally expected to accept an honorary post, such as on a government panel. Instead, he is going to Samoa ...
Mikio Aoki, a key member of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party’s most powerful faction and the chief Cabinet secretary to two prime ministers, said his faction will support Prime Minister Yoshiro Mori until the Upper House election next summer. In an interview with The ...
Prime Minister Yoshiro Mori is less than happy about the state of his official residence, saying the many mice that scurry through the dwelling are not the aging residence’s only unwanted visitors — “Some say there are ghosts as well,” he said. Mori’s comments ...
For the first time in 70 years, Mejiro Station is finally getting a facelift. While most of the other 28 stations on the JR Yamanote Line have undergone some type of renovation over the past 40 years or so, Mejiro has stubbornly remained in ...
Since issuing the call for reform of the Liberal Democratic Party more than a month ago, Nobuteru Ishihara has been bombarded with questions from reporters and political observers: Is his group aiming to replace Yoshiro Mori as party chief? What about kingpin Secretary General ...
A new breed of Liberal Democratic Party lawmaker openly says that the party is an anachronism. These lawmakers hate the factionalism and seniority rule that have long been the LDP’s yardsticks for selecting Cabinet members and party executives, and they are disgusted with its ...