Japan

Stories 1181 - 1200 | << Prev   Next >>

Obama Bow: Right Idea, Wrong Bow
Obama Bow: Right Idea, Wrong Bow
etiquette lesson

Obama Bow: Right Idea, Wrong Bow

Even Nixon bowed to the Japanese emperor —but he did it better

(Newser) - A friend of ABC’s Jake Tapper would like to clear up some misconceptions about President Obama’s bow to the Japanese emperor: First, “the right is wrong about Obama’s bow.” It’s not an “unprecedented” display of subservience from an American president—Richard Nixon bowed...

Obama Bows to Emperor
 Obama Bows to Emperor 
here we go again?

Obama Bows to Emperor

Critics on the right already weighing in

(Newser) - Prepare for another bowing controversy. A photo of President Obama bowing to Japanese Emperor Akihito has surfaced, and it's likely to set off critics on the right—as happened when Obama maybe sorta bowed to the king of Saudi Arabia in April. This time, there's no question about it: It's...

Help! We're Being Killed by Cuteness
 Help! We're Being 
 Killed by Cuteness 
OPINION

Help! We're Being Killed by Cuteness

This is what happened to Japan after WWII, and it's terrible

(Newser) - There is an epidemic of cuteness in the country, Jim Windolf writes, symptomatic of our national desire to be loved and taken care of after 8 years of George W. Bush and a much-diminished standing in the world. The signs are everywhere: giggling babies, LOLcats, cupcakes, “cutegasms,” the...

Obama: China No Threat to US
 Obama: China No Threat to US  

Obama: China No Threat to US

President promises ties to Japan won't suffer

(Newser) - President Obama wrapped up his visit to Japan today with a speech in which he said the US would maintain its relationships with longtime allies in the region—like the host country—while pursuing stronger bonds with China. Indeed, Obama said, an ever-stronger China is not a threat to the...

Obama Arrives in Japan to Shore Up Relations

President will be in Asia for a week

(Newser) - President Obama arrived in Japan today to open his weeklong summit in Asia. At a news conference with Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama, Obama acknowledged that relations with Tokyo have been strained and agreed that it's time to modernize the nations' 50-year-old treaty. "Our effort will be focused on revitalizing...

A Bra That's a Putting Mat
 A Bra That's a Putting Mat 
PAR 34C

A Bra That's a Putting Mat

A perfect gift for the naked golf enthusiast

(Newser) - Lingerie maker Triumph has really outdone itself this time in the “wacky Japanese novelty bra” category. Its “Nice Cup in Bra,” a corset made to highlight the increasing popularity of golf among Japanese women, has pockets for balls and tees and rolls out into a 5-foot-long practice...

Matsui Leaves New York In Style

World Series hero probably done with pinstripes

(Newser) - In New York he was anonymous. In Japan they resented him for twice skipping the World Baseball Classic. But last night Hideki Matsui made fans take notice and cheer, capping a World Series performance that compares favorably to Reggie Jackson’s storied 1977 Series—Jackson hit .450 with 1.250...

Giant Jellyfish Sink Trawler
 Giant Jellyfish Sink Trawler 

Giant Jellyfish Sink Trawler

Net filled with 400-pound creatures capsizes boat

(Newser) - A 10-ton fishing trawler sank off the coast of Japan after its crew tried to haul in a net filled with gigantic jellyfish. The three crew members were pitched into the water as the ship capsized and were rescued by another boat, the Telegraph reports. Nomura's jellyfish can weigh up...

Nissan Leaf Wins Name Game
 Nissan Leaf Wins Name Game 

Nissan Leaf Wins Name Game

Not dirty, sexy, or violent, brand is 'a minor miracle'

(Newser) - Nissan already had its work cut out in designing a hybrid—whatever it made had to measure up to Toyota’s hugely successful Prius. Then it needed a name, which came at the end of a process blending business, culture, and the law. Possibilities must be cleared in hundreds of...

Brit Health Service Endorses Wii Fit

First-ever video game supported by NHS

(Newser) - Turn on the boob tube and get fit. That's the message from the British National Health Service, which is endorsing Nintendo's new Wii Fit Plus video game. It's the first time ever the service has endorsed a video game and it's sure to raise criticism from some health experts, reports...

Gates Warns Japan Not to Back Out of Troop Deal

Relationship with Asian ally increasingly strained

(Newser) - All is not well between the US and Japan. Yesterday Robert Gates warned the country of serious consequences if it backs out of a troop movement deal the two countries spent 10 years negotiating. Japan’s new ruling party wants to reopen those negotiations, as it moves to redefine its...

Japanese 'Bust Up Bra' an Overnight Sensation
 Japanese 'Bust Up Bra' 
 an Overnight Sensation 
culture clash

Japanese 'Bust Up Bra' an Overnight Sensation

Japanese product latest in long line of often-wacky breast solutions

(Newser) - All sorts of Japanese products, from “biscuits and beverages to rather bizarre rack rearranging rollers,” claim to give women larger or more pleasingly shaped breasts, Lee Chapman blogs for Tokyo Times. But those probably all take effort, you cry. Enter the “Sleeping Bust Up Bra,” which...

Japanese Dying to Get Into Highrise Cemeteries

High-tech facilities in demand as traditional grave prices top $100,000

(Newser) - High-tech, high-rise cemeteries are sprouting across Japan as a shortage of land drives up prices in ground-level graveyards. The cemeteries, typically five or six stories high, store the dead in urns which can be retrieved by robots and delivered to mourning rooms by visiting family members with a swipe of...

Asia, UK Challenge US Supremacy in Higher Ed

US still has more universities in THE's top 200 than any other country—for now

(Newser) - The United States is home to more top-level universities than any other country in the world, this year’s survey by Times Higher Education confirms, but its advantage may not last forever. Although 54 of the top 200 schools are in the US, Asia is making remarkable progress: Japan has...

Fight Swine Flu: Wear This Suit
Fight Swine Flu: Wear
This Suit

Fight Swine Flu: Wear This Suit

Japanese company says its duds slay H1N1 virus on contact

(Newser) - Want to avoid the swine flu and look sharp doing it? A Japanese menswear company has just the thing. Haruyama Trading claims its latest suit, which goes on sale today for about $590, guards against H1N1 with a thin titanium dioxide coating. The chemical, found in toothpaste and makeup, reacts...

Gov't to Japanese: Have Babies, We'll Pay You

But cash alone might not be enough to raise birth rate

(Newser) - With Japan’s aging, pension-collecting population eating away at the country's coffers, its leaders have decided they need more kids who can in turn support the elderly—and they’re willing to pay for them. They’re proposing a program that would pay new parents $3,300 a year for...

'Princess Corps' Shakes Up Japanese Politics

New lawmakers include former sex industry reporter

(Newser) - A group of young, attractive female politicians are credited with helping the Democratic Party of Japan sweep to victory last month, but some of them are attracting more attention for their pasts than their policies. The DPJ's 26 new female members of parliament—dubbed the "Princess Corps" or "...

Manga Mein Kampf Sweeps Japan

Comic adaptation brings Hitler's manifesto to Japanese audience

(Newser) - A cartoon version of Hitler's Nazi manifesto and early autobiography has been a hit in Japan since its launch late last year. The manga-style Mein Kampf is the biggest seller in the publisher's "learn with manga" series of adaptations of historical classics and political tracts. It has sold 45,...

Japan Loses Its Taste for Luxury

From food to handbags, high-cost items are suffering

(Newser) - Hundred-dollar melons and pricey designer handbags used to sell so well in Japan that companies considered luxury goods a mass-market sector. But while the Japanese kept on shopping through previous recessions, this one has produced a sea change. The luxury industry has been hard hit, and the change may be...

Japan Cops Get Tough on Subway Gropers

Tokyo launches 'groping prevention week'

(Newser) - Japan has dispatched undercover police officers across Tokyo's commuter rail system to make sure men with wandering hands feel the strong arm of the law, the Guardian reports. Sexual harassment has long been a problem for Tokyo's subway, with two-thirds of young women saying they have been inappropriately touched while...

Stories 1181 - 1200 | << Prev   Next >>