Wednesday, 3 September 2014

Senior member of N. Korea secret police met Japan diplomat over abduction issue

A senior official of North Korea's secret police organ directly linked to leader Kim Jong Un met Japan's top diplomat for Asian affairs in a ...

Mosquito traps placed in Tokyo’s Yoyogi Park to gauge dengue fever spread

Faced with the first domestic outbreak of dengue fever since 1945, the Tokyo Metropolitan Government set up mosquito traps in Yoyogi Park to gauge how ...

U.S. military attacks al-Shabab in Somalia

U.S. military forces attacked the extremist al-Shabab network in Somalia on Monday, the Pentagon said, and a witness described ground-shaking explosions in a strike that ...

Story of Mitsuoki Shigeta’s first Thai surrogate offers clues into mystery of 16 babies

When the young Thai woman saw an online ad seeking surrogate mothers, it seemed like a life-altering deal: $10,000 to help a foreign couple that ...

Workers grappled with darkness at start of Fukushima nuclear crisis

This is the first in a series on the Fukushima nuclear catastrophe based on the accounts of people who struggled to contain the crisis in ...

Amid dengue outbreak, eviction also a threat to Yoyogi Park’s homeless

The greatest danger the outbreak of dengue fever traced to Tokyo’s Yoyogi Park poses to the homeless there may be the threat of eviction, not ...

Asia’s best friends shape an axis

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi's watershed visit to Japan, and the bear-hug welcome from Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, have added concrete content to a relationship ...

War criminals don’t deserve praise

Reports that Prime Minister Shinzo Abe expressed sympathy for Japan's World War II war criminals during a memorial service for them in April will only ...

Put fiscal health ahead of politics

Ballooning budget requests by ministries for fiscal 2015 total more than ¥100 trillion for the first time, raising serious doubts about the Abe administration's commitment ...

Wrong path to full sovereignty

The change in the government's long-standing interpretation of Article 9 of the Constitution may lift some restrictions on Japan's use of military force, but Japan ...

Moscow views world as war theater

Even if Ukraine is defeated militarily, that's just one small battle won in an eternal, multi-modal war that Russia is fighting against the West because ...

Hankering for the grills and thrills of Greek cuisine

Few things in this world are more pleasurable than sinking your teeth into heavily herbed, charcoal-grilled paidakia, the fabled lamb chops adored and revered by ...

Explore the many flavors of Belgian beer

While people comment on the increasing number of small-scale breweries and craft-beer bars in Japan, I can’t help but notice that Belgian beer is also ...

Toriki: Yakitori made with care but no frills

Yakitori is comfort food. No matter how high-end or low-rent the location, it’s all about the simple pleasures of chewing on grilled chicken and kicking ...

Faro Slow Time: Take your time over the food, not the line

The distinctive orange-clad Shiseido Building in Ginza is more than just a showroom for the company’s cosmetics: Its swish 10th-floor restaurant, Faro, serves some of ...

Dustin Wong and Takako Minekawa let their imaginations run wild on new album

Guitarist Dustin Wong is upfront about not having the cleanest apartment. “There are so many plastic water bottles in the kitchen, equipment sprawled all over ...

Startline hopes to tap into Japan’s punk love

In the 2000s, Gumx was one of South Korea’s top-tier punk acts. With that band on indefinite hiatus, though, Gumx drummer Gun Choi is now ...

Review: Lisa Loeb at Billboard Live

Everyone has probably heard at least one Lisa Loeb song, and most likely it was her debut single “Stay (I Missed You)” — a worldwide ...

Takahashi should light Olympic flame at 2020 Games

We still have more than 2,000 days to go until the 2020 Tokyo Olympics begin, but it is never too early to speculate on a ...

Fighters veteran Inaba announces plan to retire

Hokkaido Nippon Ham Fighters infielder Atsunori Inaba said Tuesday he will retire at the end of the 2014 season, bringing an end to an illustrious ...

Hamels, trio no-hit Braves

Cole Hamels and three Philadelphia Phillies relievers combined to pitch a no-hitter Monday, beating the Atlanta Braves 7-0 and giving a last-place team a rare ...

Spain, Greece stay unbeaten in FIBA World Cup

Spain and Greece are headed to the round of 16, and Senegal is in position to join them after shaking up Group B with an ...

Chiefs give Smith huge extension

When he was traded to the Kansas City Chiefs last offseason, quarterback Alex Smith professed his admiration for coach Andy Reid and his excitement at ...

German cities seeking Olympic bid

Berlin and Hamburg have presented low-cost models with contrasting approaches in bids to become Germany’s candidate city for the 2024 or 2028 Olympics. Both cities ...