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 ...
How smart is will.i.am? Pretty damned smart, I’d say. He might have the trappings of a rap star with an entourage that includes a film crew, but that’s only a small part of it. He’s also one of the most sought-after producers in the ...
Twitter continues to ride high. Facebook has grown a lot, but newcomer Line seems set to overtake it. Social game companies Gree and Mobage have shifted their overseas expansion into high gear. And Mixi finally admits that it needs to try harder to understand ...
Dwango, the operator of online video-sharing site Nico Nico Douga, surprised its users last week by announcing that gaming giant Nintendo will be a special co-sponsor of the second Nico Nico Cho Kaigi event, which aims to bring the virtual activities of Nico Nico ...
The holidays are just around the corner, so for those who subscribe to a little late-December consumerism, here are a few ideas for your gift list. Cocorobo In the steady march of machines that will one day replace us mere humans, the robot vacuum ...
It’s so small that it could easily be mistaken for a small pack of mints. In fact, if you actually have a packet of Frisk on you hang on to it, it’ll come in handy. Pocket Geiger, one of many gadgets on display at ...
When talking about Japan’s advanced technology, many may imagine that it’s mostly developed by huge household-name firms such as NTT, Sony and Toyota. However, much of Japan’s “unique” or quirky technology is developed by individuals and small groups of geeky inventors — hundreds of ...
Late last month, Nintendo issued a press release, regarding its smash hit “Animal Crossing: New Leaf.” The game, a simulator in which cute characters do things like collect items and decorate their houses, hit No. 1 on the game charts thanks to its dedicated ...
With so many different types of screens to choose from, it’s a wonderful time for home entertainment these days. Whether you opt for the latest HDTV, or a shiny new tablet computer as your second screen, there’s something for everybody depending on your specific ...
Despite the fact that Japan has the world’s largest market for digital-manga, which are primarily read on cellphones, and that Amazon has recently brought out its Kindle platform in Japan — after a delay of 5 years — the e-book business here has yet ...
Takara-Tomy has a habit of producing or distributing weird and wacky toys that incorporate interesting uses of technology, and two of its most recent releases are no exception. New Furby If you were one of the millions of people who owned a Furby back ...
This is a tale of controllers: the Wii U GamePad and the Wii U Pro Controller. For years, Nintendo gamers have wanted a hardcore game controller like those that come with Microsoft’s Xbox 360 and Sony’s PS3 consoles — instead they have the Wii ...
With the recent closely-timed releases of new tablet devices by Apple, Google and Amazon, the battle for control of the 7-inch tablet market has turned into an all out war. And with Japanese cellphone carriers wading into the fray by releasing tablets in the ...
