Thursday 25 April 2013

Seoul protests Abe for defending shrine visits

South Korea's Foreign Ministry summons the Japanese ambassador to protest Prime Minister Abe's defense of his Cabinet members' visits to Yasukuni Shrine.

U.S. not backing down, Dempsey tells troops at Yokota

America's top military officer tells U.S. troops at Yokota Air Base that "the best way to avoid war is to prepare for it."

Warnings on Dhaka building ignored

Garment factories in Bangladesh ignored orders to evacuate after deep cracks in their building became visible before its deadly collapse.

Tepco develops its own filtered venting system to hasten reactor restarts

Tokyo Electric plans to equip its idled nuclear reactors with filtered venting systems developed in-house to hasten efforts to restart them, it is learned.

Young Gree chief loses $2.6 billion to smartphone boom

In five years, Yoshikazu Tanaka became Japan's youngest billionaire as investors piled into Gree Inc., valuing his controlling stake in the early maker of phone-based ...

Yasukuni visits make unified response to N. Korea difficult

At a time when North Korea's erratic behavior has underscored the need for cooperation in Asia, Japan's delicate ties with China and South Korea have ...

Yasukuni visits undermine diplomacy

Recent visits to Yasukuni Shrine by three Abe Cabinet members suggest that they view personal ideological urges as important as Japan's diplomatic interests.

A call for Japanese fiscal discipline

If trust in Japan's fiscal discipline is lost, the monetary easing carried out by the Bank of Japan could wreak havoc on both the Japanese ...

Cost of the American dream

The U.S. Fed policy of low interest rates and easy money is criticized for creating a "bubble machine" from which asset prices could rise without ...

Sample a sweet Golden Week experience at the National Confectionary Expo

Sweets mean different things to different people. Some say such treats are their perfect stress release, while others say they bring back childhood memories.

Katsuo, Japan’s ubiquitous tuna

In the world of sushi and sashimi, maguro (tuna, especially bluefin tuna) currently reigns supreme. It's so popular that large specimens of the fish fetch ...

Murakami’s ‘Jellyfish Eyes’ blends kawaii and creepy into a postquake critique

In the West he's been referred to as "the other Murakami." To those in Japan, the difference is so prominent that very few would ever ...

‘Wara no Tate (Shield of Straw)’

Takashi Miike has hit the director career sweet spot, being both feted at major festivals abroad and scoring at the box office at home, often ...

‘Killing Them Softly’

There's a scene in "Killing Them Softly" where Brad Pitt, playing Mafia enforcer Jackie Cogan, drives up alongside a car driven by a suspect gambling ...

Japanese photographer points his camera at Cameroon for exhibition

Photographer Michio Hiraiwa has been given the title of goodwill ambassador for Kenyan tourism because of his numerous visits to the country — 150 times ...

Gondry’s bus proves a great vehicle for teen drama

François Truffaut once said that the most important quality for a filmmaker is to retain his inner child. In that sense, Michel Gondry fits the ...

Emergency meeting pays off for Marines

The Marines erased a four-run deficit over the final four innings, taking the lead on Josh Whitesell's tiebreaking solo home run in ninth, and got ...

JAAF selects marathon runners, race walkers for World Athletics Championships squad

The Japan Association of Athletics Federations announced the selection of eight marathoners and seven race walkers for the IAAF World Athletics Championships in Moscow on ...

Newton’s return sure to solidify Ryukyu’s run at title

The reigning champion Ryukyu Golden Kings have been so good for so long that veteran forward/center Jeff Newton's recent monthlong absence due to a knee ...

Cards hand Strasburg fourth straight defeat

The St. Louis Cardinals' very first batter, Matt Carpenter, got it started against Stephen Strasburg by stretching a single into a double when Bryce Harper's ...

Hakuho stays focused on matching Asashoryu’s win total

Yokozuna Hakuho has set his sights on joining retired yokozuna Asashoryu in third place on the all- time championship list with 25 career titles by ...

Thunder take 2-0 lead on Rockets

Russell Westbrook relishes the moments when an opponent challenges him and his Oklahoma City Thunder teammates and it becomes time to respond. Rookie Patrick Beverley showed ...