A long-term Non-Japanese resident friend, married with a Japanese husband and adult kids, recently told me about a new development in their relationship: Christmas was no longer to be celebrated in their household.
Breast Pocket Mountain by Karen Hill Anton tells a story of self-discovery in rural Japan, which fills the reader with hope. Karen, a New Yorker, ends up raising a bicultural family, becomes a writer for the Japan Times, a teacher of modern dance, and a Shodo calligraphy practitioner of merit.
A year and a half after the brutal military coup, responses to the crisis in Myanmar remain muted, including towards the ongoing genocide of the Rohingya people.
Sri Lanka has announced that it is pulling out of a deal with Japan to develop a section of its main port of Colombo, marking the second time within six months that a major agreement has fallen through.
Two Buddhist priests in Kyoto have established a company, Tera Energy, with the objective of combating climate change by selling renewable energy to temples and followers.
Lee Birnbaum, from a New York family I have been close to since university days in Boston, messaged me that his friend had been mugged and murdered in Tokyo. Wait, what?
Rising to popularity during the 13th century, shojin ryori is a traditional dining style of Buddhist monks in Japan.
One small town’s desperate fight to prevent their community becoming a dump for highly radioactive materials from Fukushima.
Host Michael Penn interviews journalist and book author Tim Hornyak and learns why the Japanese really love their robots.
The issue of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s fringe views on wartime history has become a global topic whenever contemporary Japanese diplomacy is discussed, but the problem of selective, self-serving narratives of the past has also infected his coalition partner, Komeito.
