School building gets new life as manga museum
| KYOTO--Just three years old, the Kyoto International Manga Museum has already established itself as a major draw for Japanese manga aficionados and foreign tourists. | More than 10 percent of visito...
TERRITORIAL RESTRICTION: This article is not available for purchase in the U.K.
| (AP) - As we pull into Toyohira, an unusual and unexpected welcome committee is lined up ready to receive us. | The group of primary-age children breaks into a song about the bonds of friendship bet...
Seaweed beds, the 'cradle of the sea,' vanishing
| Fisherman Hideo Kawamura recalls how the Suruga Bay seabed full of kelp and other sea grasses gave him an eerie feeling as a novice abalone catcher. | "I went down to find grasses dancing as if they...
Joe Hallett commentary: This train is bound for an inglorious fate, and that's too bad
| The horn, barely audible in the distance, was a soothing, omnipresent companion. | In my small northwestern Ohio farm town, trains brought downtown traffic to a stop about 120 times a day as the gat...
Getting up to speed on Seattle, Salt Lake City and Japan
| He lives in Salt Lake City, but Apolo Anton Ohno says his favorite city is Seattle. (Associated Press file photo) | Apolo Anton Ohno will be competing in his third Olympic Games this month. The shor...
Away From the Copenhagen Chill, Climate Debate Heats Up
Some discussions, like coal, generate more heat than light. Global warming glowed feebly into a heated controversy as the Inter-governmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) was set in the pillory for h...
Frost & Sullivan: Strong Government Support Through Effective Policies, Key to Expanding Growth Opportunities in the North Asian Solar PV Systems Market
| Download image | Download image | SINGAPORE, Feb. 1 /PRNewswire/ -- Very high end-users' inclination towards adopting clean energy technologies, mainly in Japan and South Korea, for electrifying hom...
Haryana varsity inks MOU with Japan research institute
Rohtak (Haryana): The Maharshi Dayanand University (MDU) here signed a memorandum of understanding with Japan-based Research Institute for Humanity and Nature (RIHN) to facilitate joint research and j...
VOX POPULI: In a gray case, voters choose black or white
| In her posthumous book, Hinako Sugiura (1958-2005), who researched the culture of the Edo Period (1603-1867), noted that kimono in shades of brown and grey-black represented the ultimate in sartoria...
United Airlines' Uniforms Fly to New Heights
New uniforms from award-winning designer Cynthia Rowley in 2011 will bring a fresh design and high quality to the airport runway | Download image | CHICAGO, Nov. 6 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Uni...
Giant salamander: Human threat, human promise
| Many Japanese rivers are now, in reality, canals - boxed in concrete, guided down valleys to keep floodwaters away from homes and secure a supply to the irrigation systems. | To breed, hanzaki need ...
Hacking into the mind of the CRU climate change hacker
| Analysis suggests the hacker was in east coast of America and operated over a number of days, but much remains unknown | Hacker in staged photograph surrounded by computers. Photograph: Corbis | Fig...
Samurai rabbit enjoys long career: Sakai's 'Usagi Yojimbo' slashes enemies, teaches Japanese culture
| "There was the old movie theater down the street from where I lived that showed the old samurai movies, those chambara movies, every Saturday. I'd go to see the old Toshiro Mifune movies. Get-in-for...
COMICS REVIEW / A nation of kept men
| Ooku: The Inner Chambers | By Fumi Yoshinaga | Translated by Akemi Wegmuller | 2 volumes and counting | Viz Media, 205-235 pp, 12.99 dollars each | With its shrinking population, chronically depress...
NATURE IN SHORT / The long-nosed connection between yatsude and tengu
| One of the easiest trees to identify here in Japan is the yatsude ( Fatsia japonica). Although the tree itself rarely grows more than a few meters high, the leaves are absolutely enormous. A typical...
Asahi Haikuist Network
| Solemn silence | on the morning of the first | a tiger's smile | --Marie Shimane (Chiba) | * * * | Black ink strokes | onionskin paper | tiger calligraphy | --Mickey Nasu (Tokyo) | * * * | Bengal ti...
KANSAI & WEST / Ways of making the world feel welcome
| TANABE, Wakayama--Canadian Brad Towle is working to improve local hospitality for foreign tourists visiting Kumano Kodo pilgrimage routes by promoting the use of English among local tourism-related ...
Japanese cultural tidbit: Setsubun
| Did you know February 4 is the first day of spring? According to the Chinese lunar calendar, it is. I know you're thinking that's a silly concept; spring begins near the end of March! In her...
