s oldest person, who celebrated her 116th birthday on Wednesday. Okawa, who became the world's oldest person last June following the death at 116 of fellow Japanese Jiroemon Kimura , was given a cake with just three candles at her nursing home in Osaka – one for each figure in her age. Okawa is one of only five people alive – all women – confirmed as having been born in the 19th century. While she...
My mother was forced into sexual slavery by the Japanese military. To hear the Japanese prime minister say 'comfort women' were voluntary prostitutes is shocking I am supporting the proposed "comfort women" statue, by the respected Chinese artist Pin Hsun Hsiang, to be erected in Strathfield in Sydney. My mother would be one of three former "comfort women" depicted in the statue,...
Prime minister plays down prospect of East China Sea spat derailing attempts to settle agreement Daniel Hurst ...
Anti-whaling group slams Australian environment minister Greg Hunt for ‘broken promises to monitor whaling’ ...
Prime minister to visit Japan, China and South Korea in April to nail down agreements ...
s 1992 western offers a grand spectacle Westerns have traditionally borrowed from Japanese legend ( The Magnificent Seven reworking Seven Samurai etc) so now it's time to repay the compliment with this handsome translation of Clint Eastwood's Oscar-winner from Korean-Japanese film-maker Lee Sang-il . Set on the northernmost island of Japan at the dawn of the Meiji era (the time period matches that...
Wall Street Journal says Fast Retailing has approached management of chain favoured by Michelle Obama and Angelina Jolie Dominic Rushe ...
The bitcoin exchange has debts of £38m and assets of just £22.6m, it reported on Friday. By Alex Hern Alex Hern ...
s atmosphere safe for future exploration. Yet that is what scientists in Japan will have in mind when they put a satellite into orbit on Friday, equipped with an experimental electrodynamic tether they say will give the final frontier a long overdue spring clean. The Space Tethered Autonomous Robotic Satellite-2 ( Stars-2 ) will be included on a satellite jointly developed by the US and Japan to monitor...
Foreign minister’s comments criticising China over islands dispute sparked surprising rebuke, says foreign affairs figure ...
Despite the Japanese exchange going offline and rumours of millions in theft, the digital currency will continue to evolve Bitcoin is here to stay, despite a little hiccup in Japan. The digital currency, seen by its promoters as a super-efficient way to pay online, has suffered a setback with the Tokyo-based MtGox business, that once boasted it was the largest bitcoin exchange in the world, evaporating,...
s nuclear energy dependency will be reduced but that reactors meeting new safety standards set after the 2011 nuclear crisis should be restarted. Japan has 48 commercial reactors, but all are offline until they pass the new safety requirements. The draft of the Basic Energy Plan says a mix of nuclear, renewables and fossil fuel will be the most reliable and stable source of electricity to meet Japan's...
s board, while Issao Mizoguchi, a Brazilian of Japanese ancestry who has worked with Honda's South American operations for nearly 30 years has been appointed operating officer, Honda said on Monday. The appointments need shareholder approval at a meeting set for June. Japanese companies have come under fire for promoting only Japanese men. Putting women in leadership positions is a pillar of Prime...
Footage released by environmental group Sea Shepherd that it says shows two Japanese harpoon ships attempting to disable its vessel the Bob Barker ...
Sea Shepherd says two harpoon ships crossed bow of Bob Barker at close range and dragged steel cable across vessels ...
s 2007 all over again after slew of remarks angers Washington and sports fans in Japan Imprudent remarks by ministers cost Shinzo Abe his job just 12 months into his first term as prime minister. Seven years later, a new cast of gaffe-prone colleagues is again making life uncomfortable for Japan's leader. In recent weeks, Abe's advisers have angered Japan's closest ally, the US, while his appointee...
s public libraries council, said: "We have had complaints from five of (Tokyo's 23) wards so far, but I don't yet know exactly how many libraries are affected. We don't know why this happened or who did it." Chief cabinet secretary Yoshihide Suga told journalists: "This is a shameful act, and I am confident that the police authority is making a thorough investigation." The incidents are drawing widespread...
Beijing condemns ‘gross interference’ as relations remain strained by territorial disputes with Japan and others in region ...
s body recovered as dive tutor Saori Furukawa tells of sea 'like washing machine' and three-day ordeal One of the five Japanese scuba divers who were rescued after spending three days stranded on a reef off the coast of Bali has described how the group survived by drinking from coconuts after a sudden storm turned the sea into a violent whirlpool. Saori Furukawa, 37, a Bali-based diving instructor,...
UK inflation is expected to have fallen below the Bank of England’s 2% target for the first time in more than 4 years. Jennifer Rankin Nick Fletcher ...