Several kilograms of gold bullion were found in two toilets on a Vanilla Air low-cost carrier flight from Taipei bound for Kansai International Airport on Sunday, July 9th, Sankei Shimbun Newspaper learned. Authorities, including Osaka Customs, are investigating the possibility that a smuggling ring may have been behind the attempt to smuggle […]
As record rains in northern Kyushu lead to widespread damage, the Imperial Household Ministry has decided to postpone the wedding announcement of Princess Mako, the eldest daughter of Prince Fumihito (Akishinonomiya), to her college classmate at International Christian University (ICU), Kei Komuro. An official announcement will be forthcoming. According to sources close […]
What lets us know that someone has lived? Mao Kobayashi, a television personality who passed away on June 22 from breast cancer, had her blog. She started it when she was first diagnosed, as a way to record her feelings and thoughts. She didn’t want to tell anyone about her illness, didn’t want […]
Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, who is also president of the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP), announced plans to submit the Diet a draft new Constitution by autumn, hoping to get the required support to pass it by next year. “We hope to submit LDP proposals to the Constitution Commission before the end of the […]
All of Japan is currently captivated by the 14-year-old Souta Fujii. Undefeated since his debut match last December, the youngest ever professional shogi (or Japanese chess) player (or kishi) has extended his winning streak to equal the longest official undefeated streak of 28 games on June 21. Artificial intelligence (AI) has played […]
A lecture by author Naoki Hyakuta, scheduled for June 10 at the Hitotsubashi University, has been cancelled due to pressure from various groups opposed to his political views. Some experts criticized the move, saying “freedom of speech and university autonomy has been lost.” The lecture was part of the two-day “Kodaira Festival” organized by […]
Rights advocates roundly condemned in a recent symposium the violations being committed by China in Baluchistan, the biggest of the four provinces of Pakistan. Speakers revealed the forced evictions, arson, and other forms of oppression that the Pakistani government allegedly allows Chinese investors to commit. “China’s influence is expanding, as are the […]
“There’s a tendency to underestimate North Korea’s capabilities for political reasons,” Jenny Town, a leading researcher from John Hopkins University in Washington DC, said in a recent interview with Sankei Shimbun in Tokyo. “However,” she added, “accurate information is required in order to establish how best to respond.” One discovery her […]
United Nations Office at Geneva David Kaye In April of 2016, United Nations Special Rapporteur David Kaye visited Japan to study the state of freedom of expression in the country. He was here for 8 days from April 12, and met with government officials, non-governmental organizations (NGOs), and “anonymous” members of the media. […]
Noritoshi Kanai was 41 when he arrived in Los Angeles, California, with his family of four in 1964. He had come to take a job as head of a small trading company specializing in Japanese food products. Japanese cuisine was just starting to gain popularity in the United States, and Kanai hoped he could help […]
Chinese authorities have detained 6 Japanese nationals for alleged espionage, bringing to 11 the number of Japanese nationals detained on charges of “Endangering National Security.” Detained this time were employees of a Japanese company involved in hot spring development, whose actions bear no connection to espionage. It appears as though they have become unwitting […]
Princess Mako on the right with her parents Prince and Princess Akishino at an exhibition of London’s Natural History Museum in Tokyo, May 22, 2017. The courtship of Princess Mako and her soon-to-be fiancé Kei Komuro, both age 25, resembles in many ways that of her parents’. Princess Mako and Komuro met […]
