Japan

[ad_1] Amid a chorus of European club managers complaining about the midseason loss of key Japanese players, the Samurai Blue are looking to lift the Asian Cup in Qatar en route to their pursuit of an even loftier goal: the 2026 World Cup.Managing Asian football's highest-placed team in the FIFA rankings (17th), Hajime Moriyasu has pulled some surprises but "assembled the best members to win" the Asian Cup, with the […]

[ad_1] In early November, Yoshihiro Watanabe, 33, worked silently at his home in the city of Kumamoto, concentrating for two hours as he cut out a sheet of colored paper. Without any sketch on the paper, he made a cutout using a pair of scissors as if drawing with a single stroke of a brush.What came out was a detailed cutout of a dinosaur, an instantly recognizable triceratops. Watanabe, who […]

[ad_1] Cape Canaveral, Florida – The first American spacecraft to attempt to land on the moon in more than half a century is poised to blast off early Monday — but this time, private industry is leading the charge.A brand new rocket, United Launch Alliance's Vulcan Centaur, should lift off from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida at 2:18 am (0718 GMT) for its maiden voyage, carrying Astrobotic's Peregrine […]

[ad_1] New York – Left-hander Shota Imanaga is continuing to draw interest from the Chicago Cubs, Los Angeles Angels, San Francisco Giants and Boston Red Sox ahead of Thursday's deadline to sign him under the posting system, MLB.com reported. The New York Mets have agreed to a two-year deal with southpaw Sean Manaea and their starting rotation, which includes Kodai Senga, is believed to be complete, according to the report […]

[ad_1] Barcelona – Barcelona reached the last 16 of the Copa del Rey but were given a scare by fourth-tier Barbastro in an entertaining 3-2 win on Sunday.The record 31-time winners took a two-goal lead through Fermin Lopez and Raphinha, before Adria de Mesa pulled one back for the hard-working hosts.Substitute Robert Lewandowski netted from the spot for the Spanish champions but Marc Prat smashed in a late penalty for […]

[ad_1] In October, 30 international relations experts from Japan, South Korea, the United States and China came together in Tokyo to discuss pressing issues, especially relating to security in East Asia.These conversations took place during the first edition of an international conference, the East Asia Quadrilateral Dialogue, or "the Quad,” hosted by the New Diplomacy Initiative, a Tokyo-based think tank, along with American and South Korean organizations.The three-day meeting ended […]

[ad_1] A fire broke out Monday afternoon at the former residence of the late former Prime Minister Kakuei Tanaka in Tokyo's Bunkyo Ward. The Tokyo Fire Department is trying to put out the fire, which has spread across the 800-square-meter two-story wooden residence and a wooded area within the compound. Around 3:20 p.m., there was an emergency call from a man who said that smoke was rising from the house, […]

[ad_1] Data storage media that prosecutors seized when searching offices of arrested lawmaker Yoshitaka Ikeda were found to have been damaged, sources said Monday.The special investigation squad of the Tokyo District Public Prosecutors Office believes that Ikeda or his staff damaged the storage media in an attempt to destroy evidence.Ikeda, 57, a member of the House of Representatives, was arrested Sunday on suspicion of violating the political funds control law. […]

[ad_1] Washington's stance and policies on Taiwan are unlikely to change significantly regardless of who wins the island’s presidential and legislative elections on Saturday, a former director of the United States’ de facto embassy in Taiwan has told The Japan Times.Douglas H. Paal, who headed the American Institute of Taiwan (AIT) from 2002 to 2006, said in an interview that, regardless of whether the ruling Democratic People's Party (DPP), the […]