AP A car bomb exploded outside a mosque Sunday, killing at least 37 people and wounding another 141 in a mostly Shiite Muslim neighborhood in the southern Pakistan city of Karachi — the third mass-casualty attack on the minority sect in the country this ...
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 ...
On July 28-29 the 35th annual Toriningen Kontesuto (Birdman Rally) was held in Shiga Prefecture on Lake Biwa and featured 37 contestants. It will be broadcast under the same name on Nippon TV on Monday (7 p.m.). Each individual or team builds a flying ...
In June, the Omodakaya kabuki clan carried out its first succession ceremony in 49 years, when the head of the clan, Ichikawa Ennosuke, incapacitated by a stroke some years ago, passed his name to his nephew, Kamejiro. Ennosuke’s own son did not undergo traditional ...
Commercial stations normally broadcast specials about the end of the war at this time of the year, but apparently they spent too much money on Olympic coverage, and a large portion of air time this week is devoted to recaps. It’s up to NHK ...
The variety special “Nakayoshi Terebi” (“Intimate TV”; Fuji TV, Tues., 7 p.m.) brings together commentators from Japan, China and South Korea to argue over current affairs and poke fun at one another’s cultures and economies. In the typical variety-show manner, it’s all done in ...
Master explainer Akira Ikegami makes his sixth appearance on “Mirai Seiki Jipangu” (“Future Century Japan”; TV Tokyo, Mon., 10 p.m.) for a two-part exploration of the Kingdom of Bhutan in the eastern Himalayas. Bhutan is famous for having the highest Gross National Happiness in ...
Atsuko Asano plays the title role in the mystery special “Okinawa Rizoto Konsheruju Gushiken Yoko no Meisuiri Ibitsu-na Misshitsu” (“Okinawa Resort Concierge Yoko Gushiken’s Excellent Deduction of the Irregular Locked Room”; TV Tokyo, Wed., 9 p.m.). Hotel guest Maiko (Akiko Ogata) calls the front ...
Monday is a holiday, and Nippon TV will air a 90-minute special in the afternoon about sustainability called “Chikyu no Mirai! Kinkyu Shuzai!” (“The Future of Earth! Urgent Coverage!”; 2:55 p.m.), hosted by popular announcer Seiji Miyane. The special looks at secrets to future ...
Right after the Great East Japan Earthquake, the only commercials on TV were from the non-profit Ad Council. One of them featured a touching children’s poem by Misuzu Kaneko (1903-1930) about the primacy of sibling relationships. The poet’s brief life is dramatized in “Kaneko ...
Nippon TV obviously thinks we’re not sick of taxes yet because this week they launch a new drama series called “Tokkan” (Wed., 10 p.m.), an abbreviation of tokubetsu kokuzei chōshūkan, or “special national tax collection officer.” Mao Inoue plays Miki Suzumiya, who wants a ...
The travel show “Sekai Itte Mitara Honto wa Konna Toko Datta” (“If You See the World This is What You Really Get”; Fuji TV, Mon., 10:30 p.m.) expands to an hour for a special on the Kingdom of Morocco, which has become very popular ...
As everyone knows, the job market is tight — even for young people just entering the workforce. This week, the NHK “real life” information program, “Otona e Tobira TV” (“The Door to Adulthood TV”; NHK-E, Thurs., 7:25 p.m.) offers advice for job seekers, who ...
A new obsession in Japan is something called the “long life” (chōju) hormone, a naturally occurring chemical that prolongs the life of the person who produces it. The medical variety show “Shujii ga Mitsukaru Shinryojo” (“The Clinic Where You Can Find Your Own Home ...
