On Sunday, people across Japan marked the passing of 2017 and the arrival of the new year at temples and shrines, both big and small. While the evening of oshōgatsu is celebrated in numerous ways, for many it is a time for spiritual purification and prayer ...
Yutaka Kadono, 80, was supposed to retire from his business as an intermediate wholesaler at the Tsukiji fish market last October. Kadono has glaucoma in his left eye, which means it takes more time to judge a good fish, prompting him to decide to throw ...
'Tears of Arizona' still surface 75 years after attack on Pearl Harbor
A visitor from Oklahoma stood in front of the USS Arizona Memorial in Hawaii, staring at the stone monument bearing the thousands of names of those killed in the Imperial Japanese Navy's attack on Pearl Harbor. The man said he teared up after seeing the ...
Election day and night: from ballot boxes to celebrations and shock waves
A long and often tumultuous campaign came to a climax that many media polls did not predict: a victory for Donald Trump, the controversial presidential candidate for the Republican party, who managed to pull ahead and maintain his lead over the Democrat candidate, Hillary ...
GSDF troops begin training for wider South Sudan protection mission
The Ground Self-Defense Force has supported U.N. peacekeeping operations in South Sudan since January 2012, six months after the nation gained independence. The troops have been helping to build infrastructure such as roads. New security laws that came into force in March give SDF personnel more ...
43,000 flock to Minamisoma for festival's horseback samurai climax
Horsemen in medieval samurai armor raced through tracks and paraded in front of cheering crowds as the annual Soma Nomaoi festival reached its climax recently in Minamisoma, Fukushima Prefecture. Spectators photograph samurai horseman in the Kacchu Keiba race during the Soma Nomaoi festival in Minamisoma, ...
While the city of Shima in Mie Prefecture is famous for its tradition of female ama divers, men have similarly been hunting the depths without the assistance of breathing devices.
