The father of a teenage sumo wrestler who died in June following suspected hazing by his fellow wrestlers said Thursday he wants to know the truth behind his son's death.</PARAGRAPH> <PHOTO> <TABLE WIDTH='250' ALIGN='RIGHT' BORDER='0'> <TR> <TD><IMG ALT='News photo' BORDER='0' SRC='../images/photos2007/nn20070928a3a.jpg' WIDTH='250' HEIGHT='188'/></TD> </TR> <TR> <TD><FONT SIZE='1'><B>Masato Saito –

talks about the death of his 17-year-old son Takashi, a sumo wrestler who died in June, during a news conference in Tokyo on Thursday. At right, Takashi, whose ring name was Tokitaizan, poses in ceremonial attire in an undated photo. KYODO PHOTOS

News photo

Police are building a criminal case against the wrestler's stable master and some of his senior wrestlers.

Japan ruling bloc projected to lose majority in Upper House election drubbing
Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba speaks at the Liberal Democratic Party’s headquarters Sunday after exit polls showed poor results for the ruling coalition in the Upper House election.
Polls open for key Upper House election that could shake Japanese politics
People vote during Japan's Upper House election at a polling station in Tokyo on Sunday.
Sunken WWII Japanese warship Teruzuki found off Solomon Islands
The Solomon Islands. A team from the U.S. nonprofit Ocean Exploration Trust has discovered the Imperial Japanese Navy destroyer Teruzuki on the deep seabed off the Solomon Islands as the 80th anniversary of the war's end approaches.
Japan team finds ancient ocean full of squids
The ancient ocean was full of squids, whose population exceeded that of fish or ammonites, a Japanese research team mainly from Hokkaido University has found through a new method using technology.
Hitomi Obara, 2012 Olympic champion in wrestling, dies at 44
Hitomi Obara competes at the London Olympics in August 2012.
‘Noto Democracy’ and the slow work of civic change
Yukio Iokibe’s “Noto Democracy" centers on Motoyuki Takii, a former junior high school teacher who publishes a handwritten newspaper every month to encourage the residents of Anamizu, Ishikawa Prefecture, to engage in local politics.
In microbes we trust: Embracing the nature of fermented food
You don't need an oven to make Kenji Morimoto's easy and delicious Miso Sticky Toffee Crepe Cake.
Touring the Silk Road — without leaving Tokyo
One of the entrances to Pao Compound, a nine-story Silk Road-inspired complex in Tokyo's Higashinakano neighborhood
Japan's rice farmers are confounded by Shinjiro Koizumi’s policies
Kiyoshi Shibata stands in front of one of the rice paddies in Murayama, Yamagata Prefecture, where he produces the prefecture's signature rice brand Tsuyahime.

Our Planet

A coral reef in Okinawa in July 2022. Some jurisdictions around the world have moved to ban certain sunscreens in a bid to protect coral reefs, but some say the impact on reefs is far from clear.
Japan’s top brands get tied up in the great sunscreen debate
By Tomoko Otake

Podcast

One of the many entrances to the Kabukicho neighborhood in Tokyo’s Shinjuku Ward.
Kabukicho: Tokyo’s ‘stadium of desire’

Longform

After pandemic-era border regulations eased, Indian migrants began returning to Japan. Their population now stands at more than 50,000 across the country.
How remote work is rewriting the migrant experience in Japan
By Megha Wadhwa

SUSTAINABLE JAPAN

Muji has been sustainable from the beginning
Muji has been sustainable from the beginning

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