An Introduction to the Kabuki Stage

Mother arrested for abandoning baby in locker
TV Asahi News / NOJ - Mar 21
Police have arrested a 33-year-old mother on suspicion of abandoning the corpse of a baby in a coin locker at a station in Osaka.

Japan's prime minister gets standing ovation in Delhi
ANI News - Mar 21
Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida addressed the 41st Sapru House lecture on "Free and Open Indo-Pacific (FOIP)" in Delhi on March 20.

Newly discovered orchid in Japan has glass-like petals
CNN - Mar 21
Sometimes newfound flower species are lurking where scientists least expect to see them — in parks, gardens and even in planters on balconies.

Prosecutors will not file an appeal to top court in retrial of 1966 murder case
NHK - Mar 21
Tokyo prosecutors have decided not to appeal a Tokyo High Court decision ordering a retrial for an 87-year-old man convicted of killing a family nearly six decades ago.

Summer Sonic returns to international-heavy lineups with Kendrick Lamar, Blur, The Strokes, Lizzo and Foo Fighters
iq-mag.net - Mar 21
Japan’s marquee international festivals are heralding a return to form with lineups featuring some of the world’s biggest stars.

Japan plans $75 bln investment across Indo-Pacific to counter China
Reuters - Mar 20
Japan's Prime Minister Fumio Kishida on Monday announced a new plan to promote an open and free Indo-Pacific, promising billions of dollars in investment to help economies across the region in everything from industry to disaster prevention.

Tokyo subway sarin attack remembered 28 years on
NHK - Mar 20
People in Tokyo are remembering the victims of the deadly sarin gas attack on the city's subway system nearly three decades ago.

Tokyo's cherry trees set for earliest full bloom in 70 years
TV Asahi News / NOJ - Mar 20
The Yoshino cherry trees in Tokyo are likely to reach their peak soon with the Japan Meteorological Agency expected to report the flowers are in full bloom as early as Monday afternoon.

The bizarre Japanese law that makes kidnapping legal
60 Minutes Australia - Mar 20
It sounds completely crazy, but in Japan it is actually legal to kidnap children.

Tokyo expected to hit full bloom Monday
TV Asahi News / NOJ - Mar 19
People are enjoying cherry blossom viewing parties at Ueno Park for the first time in four years.

Sota Fujii becomes 2nd player in shogi history to hold 6 major titles
Kyodo - Mar 19
Twenty-year-old Sota Fujii became only the second player in the history of the shogi board game to hold six major titles Sunday when he took the Kio crown from Akira Watanabe.

Man arrested for arson after fire kills 3 at his family home in Nagano
Kyodo - Mar 19
A 32-year-old man was arrested Saturday for arson after a fire gutted the house where he lived in the central Japan prefecture of Nagano, apparently killing three of his family members, police said.

Screen time has limited effects on toddlers' development: Japan study
Japan Times - Mar 19
Spending an hour or more in front of digital devices each day has a more limited effect on 2-year-olds’ growth and development than previously thought, a recent study by Japanese researchers has shown, providing fresh insight into the possible risks of the use of digital devices on toddlers.

Japan's 'evaporated' people: Inside an industry that helps people disappear
South China Morning Post - Mar 19
In Japan, as some 80,000 people go missing every year, according to data from the National Police Agency. Some are later found, but others vanish completely, becoming what’s described as an "evaporated person" or johatsu-sha.

Doomsday prepping in Japan: Inside one woman’s living-room bunker
SBS - Mar 19
Tokyo residents are being told to prepare for X Day. That’s the day when a potential massive earthquake could strike the city.

Is This Japan's Greatest Playwright?
Kabuki In-Depth - Mar 19
Chikamatsu Monzaemon (1653 – 1725) is widely considered the most important playwright in Japanese history, and in particular, in the 12 plays originally written by him that continue to be performed on the kabuki stage.