By YURI KAGEYAMA | AP Published: Jan 23, 2012 17:32 Updated: Jan 25, 2012 00:01 KYOTO, Japan: They no longer speak the same language, but two brothers separated nearly 60 years each think the other hasn’t changed a bit. Japanese-American Minoru Ohye celebrate his 86th birthday Monday with his […]
TOKYO – Public dismay with the Japanese government’s response to this year’s triple disaster – earthquake, tsunami and nuclear meltdown – is driving some to become more politically engaged, helped by social and alternative media. While still fledgling, it is the kind of grassroots activism that some say Japan needs […]
Back in the days of “there’s gold in them thar hills,” one of the prospectors’ doleful refrains boasted the title “My Girlfriend’s a Mule and a Mine.” Across the Pacific and some 150 years on, I wouldn’t be surprised if an echo of that plaintive air were not about to […]
Courtesy: Straight.com November 29, 2011 Catherine Murray and Jen Marchbank Remember Canada’s fallen women next Tuesday. Despite our peaceable self image, Canada has been home to femicide, appalling massacres, and serial killers. December 6 is the National Day of Remembrance and Action on Violence Against Women in Canada. But unlike […]
KYOTO — A team of researchers from Kyoto University and the University of Tokyo has worked out a method using artificially created stem cells to produce a large volume of […]
History has not been generous in crediting the crucial roles played by maverick trader Thomas Blake Glover in casting off feudalism and ushering in the modern age. But as the centenary of this most singular Victorian nears, Michael Gardiner sets the record straight By MICHAEL GARDINER This coming Friday, […]
TOKYO — Japan’s whaling fleet left port Tuesday for the country’s annual hunt in Antarctica, press pictures showed, with security measures beefed up amid simmering international protests. Three ships, led by the 720-tonne Yushin Maru, set sail from Shimonoseki in western Japan on a mission officially said to be for […]
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Japan’s oldest person, 115-year-old Chiyono Hasegawa, has died. Hasegawa, who was born Nov. 20, 1896, died at a facility in southern Japan on Friday. Read more
TOKYO (majirox news) — The $21 billion funeral industry is changing as more Japanese households are cutting down on the expensive business of dying during the global economic downturn. Many Japanese are choosing cheaper funerals as the aging population is growing. In fact, Japan has the highest proportion of […]
TOKYO — Fukushima prefectural government officials said Friday night that rice from five locations in Onami town showed radioactive contamination above the government-set safety limit. Read more
IWAKI, Japan (Reuters) – Billionaire investor Warren Buffett said Europe’s debt crisis had shown up a “major flaw” in the 17-member euro zone system and it would take more than words to fix it. “There is a major flaw in the euro system … I do know the system as […]
TOKYO: Ceremonies to celebrate divorces have gained momentum in Japan after the massive March earthquake and tsunami, followed by an ongoing nuclear crisis, caused unhappy couples to reassess their lives. The ceremony to mark a couple’s transition to being single again costs 55,000 yen ($690), includes a buffet meal and culminates […]
TOKYO — Farmland in parts of Japan is no longer safe because of high levels of radiation in the soil, scientists have warned, as the country struggles to recover from the Fukushima nuclear disaster. A team of international researchers said food production would likely be “severely impaired” by the elevated […]
A panel for Japan’s Meteorological Agency has begun looking into measures against long-period ground motions caused by earthquakes. Read more
Yasuyuki Fujimura runs the Atelier Non-Electric company and advocates a lifestyle without electricity. Photograph: Japan for Sustainability It is not all that long ago when we began using so many electrical appliances in everyday life. Japan’s first “pulsator-type” washing machine, a prototype of current models, reached the market in 1953. […]
NEW YORK — At least he’ll have the ocean currents in his favor. Benoit “Ben” Lecomte, a Frenchman living in the United States, intends to swim clear across the Pacific Ocean next year, an unprecedented 5,500-mile (8,800-kilometer) journey expected to last five grueling months—and may land him in the history […]
TOKYO — The head of the International Monetary Fund arrived in Tokyo on Friday, where she will meet Japan’s finance minister and the central bank chief for talks likely to be dominated by Europe’s debt crisis. IMF chief Christine Lagarde, on a trip that has also taken her to […]