Vox Populi

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Vox Populi

VOX POPULI: While not a big star, Fujio Tokita’s talent shone brightlyJuly 21, 2018Actor Fujio Tokita, who co-hosted the popular TV show "Manga Nihon Mukashibanashi" (Old tales of Japan in manga) for 20 years with actress Etsuko Ichihara, perfected the art of storytelling like none other. The
VOX POPULI: School closures do not have to equal no future for Japan’s citiesJuly 20, 2018Japanese writer Hiroki Takahashi’s novel “Okuribi” (ceremonial fires to send off spirits returning to the world of the dead at the end of the Buddhist Bon festival), which has earned him the prestigious
VOX POPULI: Wearable aircon and other fresh ideas to help us beat brutal heatJuly 19, 2018Liking the no-nonsense event name of "Mosho Taisaku-ten" (exhibition of items to beat brutal heat) being held in Tokyo's Ariake district until July 20, I decided to go and take a look. An industry trade
VOX POPULI: Kamikaze theory tells only half the story of battles with MongolsJuly 18, 2018Mongolian fleets tried to invade Kyushu on two occasions, but they are said to have been defeated overnight by violent rainstorms, dubbed kamikaze (divine wind). For years, I remained leery of these accounts
VOX POPULI: Exciting Nagoya tournament now all about sumo’s next generationJuly 17, 2018Xin is the protagonist of "Kingdom," a Japanese manga series set in China's Warring State Period in the third century B. C. An impoverished orphan hailing from a village in Qin state, Xin becomes a foot soldier
VOX POPULI: False stories unfairly blamed Toyama women for 1918 rice riotJuly 16, 2018It all started with a discussion session among women in a fishing village on the Sea of Japan coast. In July 100 years ago, a series of actions taken by women in response to soaring rice prices in the village
VOX POPULI: Auction of Winnie the Pooh map brings back fond memoriesJuly 14, 2018The fictional Hundred Acre Wood, home of Winnie the Pooh and his friends in A. A. Milne's (1882-1956) classic children's stories, was not entirely a figment of the author's imagination. It was actually modeled
VOX POPULI: Upper House expansion plan nothing but an LDP power grabJuly 13, 2018A Japanese pro baseball game in 1959 produced a famous quote that secured a place in the history books. During a game between the Daimai Orions and the Nishitetsu Baseball Club, two now-defunct teams, Nishitetsu
VOX POPULI: Hazard maps, place names, and a chronicle of a disaster foretoldJuly 12, 2018The place name Oshikiri, which is fairly common in eastern Japan, may have derived from the verb "oshikiru," which means "to overwhelm," according to Yusuke Kusuhara, many of whose published books are about
VOX POPULI: Shonen Jump’s proud legacy is half a century of nurturing talentJuly 11, 2018Back in 1968, Shonen Magazine and Shonen Sunday were the twin giants of Japan's weekly manga anthologies for boys. Big-name cartoonists who worked for them were so busy, they had no time to spare for any
VOX POPULI: Usual words are not enough for scale of deluge and devastationJuly 10, 2018There are many descriptive Japanese expressions for "torrential rain. "For instance, "ame tsubute" (rain gravel) denotes rain that comes down hard in pebble-sized drops, while "ryaku-u" (blurring rain) means
VOX POPULI: Fatal landslides and ‘special warnings’ are the new normalJuly 9, 2018Japanese used to call a landslide “jakuzure” (snake collapse) or “jaraku” (snake fall). Historian Michifumi Isoda writes in his book that the fury of a landslide was compared to the ferocity of a giant snake. A
VOX POPULI: The Aum guru I covered in court came across as totally spinelessJuly 7, 2018Years ago, I developed a stomach ulcer from taking on more assignments than my health allowed. I was in my 10th year as a reporter, covering the Aum Shinrikyo trials. Followers of the doomsday cult were
VOX POPULI: Fathers do kids no favors with backdoor deals into med schoolsJuly 6, 2018In a Japanese TV drama aired last autumn, the character of a young doctor played by actor Shuhei Nomura told his superior about how he once unknowingly got into a medical school by the backdoor. “I thought
VOX POPULI: Some tricks with ‘anchor sleep’ so you can watch the World CupJuly 5, 2018I have been sort of under the weather since last week, and I know why. This is the price I am paying for staying up well past midnight to watch World Cup soccer games on television. I have attacks of overwhelming
VOX POPULI: Japan won’t lift World Cup, but considerate fans raised the spiritsJuly 4, 2018When Tokyo was known as Edo under the Tokugawa Shogunate, the city had something that surprised the outside world. A Spanish governor and a British diplomat, among others, marveled at the capital’s clean,
VOX POPULI: How grief led a father to develop the prototype for the dash camJuly 3, 2018Practically every taxicab and rental car in Japan today comes equipped with a "black box," the dash cam. I recently visited one of the developers of this device at his home in Yokohama, Kanagawa Prefecture. Kunihiro
VOX POPULI: Reality of aging society puts fun festivals at risk all over JapanJuly 2, 2018The Doronko Matsuri (mud festival) in Shirokawa, a rural town in the city of Seiyo, Ehime Prefecture, was an annual spectacle of mud and laughter. The festival, held in July every year, featured an army
VOX POPULI: Japan's sporting spirit lacking in World Cup clash against PolandJune 30, 2018In "Sakkaa Gurui" (Soccer crazy), musicologist Shuhei Hosokawa cites a philosopher to define the concept of time in soccer as "a state of continuous tension, contraction and heightened intensity. "There
VOX POPULI: Is there anybody out there? Ryugu mission takes us closer to truthJune 29, 2018One of Shuntaro Tanikawa’s poems tells us that we like stories about extraterrestrials so much because the human race feels alone in this vast universe. The Japanese poet composed a piece titled “Nijuoku-konen
VOX POPULI: Vigilance needed to maintain safe havens of ‘koban’ police stationsJune 28, 2018
VOX POPULI: Ardern and ‘kiwi husband’ make big news even in progressive NZJune 27, 2018
VOX POPULI: Basketball court drama sheds light on how we treat foreignersJune 26, 2018
VOX POPULI: Glut of ‘pedigree’ politicians does not make for a healthy systemJune 25, 2018
VOX POPULI: Memorial Day in Okinawa an event for all of Japan to shareJune 23, 2018
VOX POPULI: ‘Evil’ events remind that one man’s villain can be another’s heroJune 22, 2018
VOX POPULI: Fleeting fireflies a mesmerizing sight on these shortest nightsJune 21, 2018

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WASABI - Japanese flavor
This page takes a closer look at wasabi (Japanese horseradish), a condiment originating in Japan that has influenced food culture around the world.
360-DEGREE LIVES
The page features videos of variety of animals. You can view the videos as interactive images that allows you to pan and zoom in to them.
TSUKIJI - Kitchen of the Times
The Asahi Shimbun has recorded the entire picture of the Tsukiji fish market before its relocation to the Toyosu district, and also introduces a variety of sushi.

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