Blackening the teeth dates from ancient times in Japan. However, the stratum of society who performed this practice changed with the age. From the 17th century women blackened their teeth upon marriage, sort of a rite of passage to adulthood.

On the evening of August 25 Futoshi Imabayashi, 22, drank copious quantities of beer and shochu at home and a local pub. Then he got behind the wheel. He didn't see the SUV on the bridge...

Yoshihisa Komori, an editor-at-large for the "Sankei Shimbun," a right-of-center daily, earlier this week published in the New York Times an op-ed piece entitled "Who's Afraid of Shinzo Abe"...

The trend worldwide is toward the abolishment of capital punishment. The US and Japan are the only industrialized nations that still carry out executions...

Informed of the renovation of flophouses in Kotobukicho, a stone's throw from JR's Ishikawacho Station in Yokohama, I visited the Yokohama Hostel Village (YHV), on the second road from the canal. The kind people at YHV fixed me up with a room in Hayashi Kaikan, a renovated flophouse, for 3,000 yen a night...

The Nikkei survey reveals Japanese believe foreigners find Azabu-Hiroo the most livable quarter of Tokyo and the Shitamachi among the least livable.

Princess Kiko gives birth to a boy, but at least one Japanese is no fan of the Imperial Family.

The "Kei" (mini) cars are coming!

Headlines across the globe splashed out the Asian giant's
woes: "It happens in Tokyo too: Power cut cripples city"

When I turned on the news Tuesday morning, I was surprised
to see a live telecast of a motorcade.
The broadcaster's helicopter hovered over the black
limousines as they traveled through streets empty because of
hour and season, this being O-Bon, when Tokyoites return to
hometowns...