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April 28, 2024
 

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OFFBEAT

ASIA PACIFIC / Society
Feb 12, 2015
Young Thais urged to skip sex, see a temple on Valentine's Day
Bangkok city officials are urging young Thais to forgo sex on Valentine's Day this weekend and visit temples instead to mark the day of love.
Japan Times
WORLD
Feb 5, 2015
Vermont gas station attendant bequeaths millions to library, hospital
Perhaps the only clue that Ronald Read, a Vermont gas station attendant and janitor who died last year at age 92, had been quietly amassing an $8 million fortune was his habit of reading the Wall Street Journal, his friends and family say.
Japan Times
WORLD
Jan 29, 2015
San Francisco Zoo lets spurned lovers name roaches, scorpions after their ex
The San Francisco Zoo is giving the spurned lovers a chance to adopt a giant scorpion or hissing cockroach and name it after their heart-trampling ex.
WORLD
Jan 21, 2015
Briton who faked own death in Syria admits terrorism offenses
A Briton who fought with an Islamist group in Syria and then faked his own death in the hope of being able to return home undetected has admitted to terrorism offenses in a London court.
Japan Times
WORLD
Jan 13, 2015
Saudi fathers left in the cold as cleric forbids 'anti-Islamic' snowmen
A prominent Saudi Arabian cleric has whipped up controversy by issuing a religious ruling forbidding the building of snowmen, describing them as anti-Islamic.
Japan Times
WORLD
Jan 7, 2015
Texas Republican proposes making cowboy hat the state's official headgear
The cowboy hat may become Texas' official headgear if a state representative has her way.
WORLD
Jan 6, 2015
Arizona Department of Transportation comes clean on sasquatch pic
A photo posted on Facebook depicting what Arizona officials said may have been a family of sasquatches, attracting hundreds of comments from skeptics and believers alike, was just a joke, authorities said Monday.
Japan Times
WORLD
Jan 3, 2015
Photos of Palin's son stepping on dog trigger online outrage
Facebook photos posted by Sarah Palin showing her son Trig using the family dog as a step stool unleashed online fury Friday reminiscent of the public reaction to the disclosure that Mitt Romney had once driven with his dog strapped on the car's roof.
WORLD
Jan 1, 2015
Puppy heads home after 3,800-km U.S. road trip
A puppy called Penny could soon be reunited with her worry-stricken U.S. owners after she went on a nearly 2,400-mile (3,860-km) road trip that took her to an Iowa truck stop and a Pennsylvania pet hospital, her family says.
WORLD / Crime & Legal
Dec 24, 2014
Ceiling collapse leaves Chinese panty thief exposed
A Chinese man who stole hundreds of pieces of ladies' underwear had his secret exposed after an emergency exit ceiling where he had been storing his hoard collapsed, state media reported.
WORLD
Dec 20, 2014
Gold tooth found in Missouri Salvation Army kettle
People have tossed gold and silver pieces into Salvation Army holiday kettles but a gold tooth found this week in Kansas City was a local first, an organization leader said Friday.
Japan Times
WORLD
Dec 14, 2014
Pope Francis' reported comments on pets going to heaven weren't his words
It was a heartwarming story for legions of pet owners and animal lovers around the world.
WORLD / Science & Health
Dec 11, 2014
Healing tunes: What surgeons should and shouldn't play at work
Almost three quarters of surgeons' operating theaters have music playing when patients go under the knife, according to study in the Christmas edition of the British Medical Journal.
ASIA PACIFIC
Nov 23, 2014
China hospital gives men chance to experience pain of childbirth
A hospital in eastern China is offering fathers-to-be a chance to experience the pain of childbirth after several new moms complained they got little sympathy from their partners.
WORLD
Nov 15, 2014
Russia plans to create 'detailed, reliable' alternative version of Wikipedia
Russia plans to create its own version of Wikipedia to ensure its citizens have access to more "detailed and reliable" information about their country, the presidential library said Friday.
WORLD
Nov 1, 2014
'Plastic' skulls found in Connecticut home are human remains
A pair of Connecticut junk haulers was stunned to learn on Friday that two skulls picked up at the cluttered home of a deceased man on the day before Halloween were human remains, not made of plastic as they had thought.
WORLD
Oct 17, 2014
Australian gets spider removed from stomach
An Australian man had a spider removed from his stomach after it burrowed into his body and survived there for three days before being removed.
WORLD
Oct 15, 2014
Gun-slinging patrolwoman chases off polar bear at Alaskan home
A gun-slinging Alaskan wildlife manager chased off a massive polar bear that broke into an 81-year-old's house in a remote community to feast on a drum of seal oil, the Alaska Dispatch News reported.
WORLD / Crime & Legal
Oct 15, 2014
Remorseful robber waits for police after Washington state heist
A suspected robber with a guilty conscience walked out of a Washington state bank with stolen cash on Tuesday, then waited outside the building for police to arrest him, police said.
WORLD
Aug 28, 2014
Shaun the sheep, when shorn, may turn out to be world's woolliest
Two Australian farmers may have found the world's woolliest sheep, whose estimated 25-kg (55-pound) coat, if confirmed, could shatter the world record, currently held by New Zealand.
Town to block view of Mount Fuji in response to overtourism
The town government of Fujikawaguchiko, Yamanashi Prefecture, decided to set up a 2.5-meter-high screen to prevent tourists from taking pictures of Mount Fuji looming behind a convenience store.
In Japan, regional revitalization fails to halt population decline
Sakiyama elementary school in Tamba, Hyogo Prefecture, in March .Over the past decade, the government has directed efforts toward policies designed to give young people incentives to base themselves in rural areas.
Number of homeless in Japan hits record low
Homeless people sleep on the street in Tokyo's Shinjuku Ward in August 2021.
Ukraine is far from doomed
When comparing Ukraine’s military situation in 2024 to Europe’s in 1941, Russia’s defeat seems entirely possible.
Japan wants you to spend more with ‘luxury tourism’
Performers play a traditional drum unique to Wajima, Ishikawa Prefecture, in the prefectural capital of Kanazawa on March 16 to mark the extension of the Hokuriku Shinkansen line to Tsuruga Station in Fukui Prefecture.
Tokyo's Koto Ward by-election a race unlike any other
Natsumi Sakai, the Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan’s candidate and one of four female candidates running in the by-election, touts her experience as a cancer survivor and midwife as having prepared her to tackle issues that women currently face.
Japan wants you to spend more with ‘luxury tourism’
Performers play a traditional drum unique to Wajima, Ishikawa Prefecture, in the prefectural capital of Kanazawa on March 16 to mark the extension of the Hokuriku Shinkansen line to Tsuruga Station in Fukui Prefecture.
Casa del Cibo: A thriving jewel born from Tohoku’s harsh past
When chef Ryohei Ikemi moved to Hachinohe, Aomori Prefecture, and opened Casa del Cibo in 2011, it was the first proper Italian restaurant in the city.
Town to block view of Mount Fuji in response to overtourism
The town government of Fujikawaguchiko, Yamanashi Prefecture, decided to set up a 2.5-meter-high screen to prevent tourists from taking pictures of Mount Fuji looming behind a convenience store.
Top U.S. and China diplomats talk tough amid warnings of new ‘downward spiral’
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken and China's Foreign Minister Wang Yi at the Diaoyutai State Guesthouse in Beijing on Friday

Podcast

From easily navigable train stations to the helpfulness of its municipal staff, Tokyo has earned high praise for its commitment to accessibility for disabled travelers.
[Rebroadcast] Japan is doing better on accessibility than you may think

Longform

Later this month, author Shogo Imamura will open Honmaru, a bookstore that allows other businesses to rent its shelves. It's part of a wave of ideas Japanese booksellers are trying to compete with online spaces.
The story isn't over for Japan's bookstores
By Alex K.T. Martin

SUSTAINABLE JAPAN

Leading Japan’s sustainability from Tokyo
Leading Japan’s sustainability from Tokyo

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