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 ...
A fun thing I like to do at New Year’s is to go on a walking tour of seven shrines and temples in Tokyo. The hike is called the shichifukujin meguri (pilgrimage to Seven Lucky Gods), and there are a number of such pilgrimage ...
It’s that time of year again. Expect the city of Osaka to be teeming with excited children and families over the weekend as the German Christmas Market in Kita Ward continues to attract merrymakers. As the title suggests, the event allows visitors to experience ...
A dizzying variety of ideas and solutions for a greener society are to converge this weekend at the Eco-Products 2012 exhibition in Tokyo. The annual show, now in its 13th year, is arguably the biggest environmental expo in Japan, drawing around 180,000 attendees every ...
American photographer Clark Little gives nonsurfers a chance to see what they’re missing in a series of pictures he is showing at the “Clark Little Photo Exhibition” in Tokyo. The photographs of waves in Hawaii, breaking close to the North Shore area of Oahu ...
It may be a bit touristy to hunt for geisha in Kyoto, but head to Fukuoka and they’re there for all to see. The 22nd Hakata Odori will be held in Hakata Ward in Fukuoka on Dec. 7 and 8. In the annual show, ...
Military commander Sengoku Hidehisa (1552−1614) will forever be remembered as a Japanese warrior who messed up the worst but redeemed himself the most. Sengoku was quick to be promoted to the role of daimyo (feudal lord), but due to his lack of chivalry and ...
Got a spare ¥4,000? With that small sum you could not only enjoy a live rendition of Johann Sebastian Bach’s “Christmas Oratorio” or George Frideric Handel’s “Messiah” but at the same time you could provide four Sudanese refugee families each with a set of ...
After first appearing at the Shizuoka Performing Arts Center (SPAC) 13 years ago, Swiss-Colombian director/actor Omar Porras is on his way back there this weekend with a time-honored classic in tow. Porras’ Geneva-based Teatro Melandro company will stage William Shakespeare’s “Romeo and Juliet,” along ...
Tokyo’s Aoyama district will ratchet up its hip quotient this weekend when it hosts the Aoyama Jazz Initiative, a student-run celebration of jazz. Hosted by Aoyama Gakuin University (AGU), the event is now in its third year. As always, it will feature student bands ...
Snowboarding always comes with the risk of injury, but the danger can be especially high for a certain type of thrill-seeker. Not limiting the stage of their performance to snowy roads or mountains, jibbers experiment with everyday constructions such as handrails, fences and walls. ...
The art of Japanese textile will mix with the beauty of fashion from other Asian countries at the Sakura Collection this weekend. As an event meant to bring cultures together, it’s fitting that it will be held at Kansai International Airport. A fashion show ...
A soon-to-be-demolished school building might sound too spooky to be a venue for an art show, but that’s precisely where Trans Arts Tokyo is being held. The 17 above-ground floors and two basement floors that used to belong to Tokyo Denki University in the ...
