Asia Pacific

Car bomb kills dozens outside Shiite mosque in Karachi

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 ...

Fever from the fields

At least five people in Japan have died of severe fever from thrombocytopenia syndrome (SFTS), a virus infection said to be transmitted by ticks.

Language | BILINGUAL

Tense times in Japan’s relationships with its neighbors

by Michael Hoffman

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.

Issues | THE FOREIGN ELEMENT

Everything you wanted to know about Western women (but were afraid to ask): No-holds-barred guide targets Japanese men

by Kaori Shoji

Here's an open secret: Japanese men have a bad international reputation on the romance front.

Review

‘A person and a possession’: Japanese women in history

by Kris Kosaka

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, ...

Baseball | World Baseball Classic

Maeda regains pitching form, holds China scoreless for five innings

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 ...

More Sports / Rugby

Kahui’s Japan move irks Hansen

AFP-JIJI

WELLINGTON – All Blacks coach Steve Hansen expressed disappointment Tuesday at Richard Kahui’s decision to play rugby in Japan next year, saying he was frustrated the center never gave him a chance to change his mind.

Kahui announced last week that he would move to Top League club Toshiba Brave Lupus in 2014 after seeing out the Super 15 season with the Waikato Chiefs.

“We were very disappointed with that because he didn’t really speak to us, or his agent didn’t,” Hansen told commercial radio. “I always find that a bit frustrating.”