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The head of an official inquiry into the deadly collapse of a Bangladesh factory complex said the building’s owner was the “main culprit” for the disaster because he violated construction codes. The cave-in of the eight-story Rana Plaza outside the capital last month killed ...
Throughout most of Japan, June is the rainy season. While all that rainfall is great for rice paddies so that we can have delicious new harvest rice in the fall, it makes it a rather dull month for seasonal produce: The summer’s bounty of ...
“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, ...
Claude Regy says the team at the Shizuoka Performing Arts Center (SPAC) threw him the “best birthday party ever” when he arrived in Japan just days after the actual May 1 occasion. The 90-year-old French director is hoping for an even better birthday gift, ...
As far as debuts go, Shohei Otani's delivered. The celebrated rookie pitched fairly well on Thursday night, and though he finished outside the decision, he left the mound with the Hokkaido Nippon Ham Fighters well within striking distance of the Tokyo Yakult Swallows.
The Tokyo Hotaru Festival is back for a second round. This participatory art installation involves 100,000 blue LED light bulbs that will be floated down Tokyo’s Sumida River. It’s sponsored by a consortium of parties including the Sumida and Taito ward offices, local tourism bureaus, the Tokyo Chamber of Commerce ...
The LGBT community in Tokyo is hard at work. Not even a month after the Rainbow Pride parade, the biennial ...
The story goes that precisely 1,385 years ago, two brothers, Hinokuma Hamanari and Hinokuma Takenari, were fishing in Sumida River ...
There’s something to be said about watching a concert outside. The music fills the air and the feeling of summer becomes liberating. This weekend, people in Fukuoka are going to get a headstart on feeling that vibe. Circle ’13 is set to return for ...
Here’s your chance to make a difference while staying fit and having fun. The Nagoya Walkathon — International Charity Festival will be held at Moricoro Park in the city of Nagakute, a suburb of Nagoya, this Sunday. Started in 1992 and sponsored by the ...
The city of Yokosuka, Kanagawa Prefecture, is known by many as “curry town.” The port city claims that the curry rice dish that is commonly consumed in Japan spread from its kitchens, as it had a close connection to the Imperial Japanese Navy, which ...
It’s that time of the year when things get rosy for flower lovers in Japan. The International Roses & Gardening Show, held annually at the Seibu Dome in Saitama Prefecture, will mark the 15th anniversary of its launch this year. To commemorate the occasion, ...
An annual rice-planting festival known as the Mibu no Hana Taue Matsuri will be held Saturday in Hiroshima, giving visitors a peek into the centuries-old popular ritual that was added to the UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage list in 2011. In the agricultural ritual, which ...
If you missed the African Festival last month, head over to Yokohama this weekend to take part in Africa Festa. Reportedly one of the largest events in Japan aiming to promote relations with Africa, the event is being held ahead of the fifth Tokyo ...
The port city of Wajima, Ishikawa Prefecture, located on the country’s Noto Peninsula, will be filled with things to do for one week from the end of May as it kicks off its Citizens’ Festival. One of the biggest attractions at the event, which ...
This year’s sakura (cherry blossoms) took many people by surprise — especially in the Kanto region. Unusually warm weather in March hastened the peak of the blossoms by a couple of weeks, and by early April, when all the parties by and under the ...
One of Japan’s oldest citizen-run events hits the city of Fukuoka this long-weekend, as the annual Dontaku Festival winds its way into town. It was back in 1179 that the merchants of Hakata (now a central district of the city of Fukuoka) first organized ...
The timing of this year’s Golden Week holidays doesn’t allow many people to travel far. You can, however, get a taste of Latin America if you head down to Yoyogi Park. The park will host a large-scale festival for this year’s Cinco de Mayo ...
Photographer Michio Hiraiwa has been given the title of goodwill ambassador for Kenyan tourism because of his numerous visits to the country — 150 times since 1972. The 78-year-old has also traveled to neighboring Tanzania 80 times. Hiraiwa’s daughter, Masayo, eventually began to join ...
Tokyo, Miyagi Known as the “Golden Voice of Togo,” singer King Mensah’s dedication to his country has always been expressed through his artistic endeavors. He will perform for the first time in Japan next week on the occasion of Togo’s independence day on Sunday. ...