Japan has ambitious plans to become a basketball powerhouse but a row involving star player Rui Hachimura and disagreements over the domestic league’s direction mean success is anything but a slam dunk. Once a minnow on the world stage, Japan qualified for last year’s Paris Olympics and took eventual silver medallists France to overtime in […]
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Japan’s biggest opposition party shuns rival merger ahead of election
The leader of Japan’s main opposition party said on Wednesday he was happy to cooperate with other opposition groups in a July 21 upper house election, but brushed aside calls from a rival party to merge to fight Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s ruling bloc. The idea of a merger “is objectively mistaken … If we […]
Skin deep: Japan’s ‘washi’ paper torn by modern life
Once an indispensable part of daily life in Japan, ultra-thin washi paper was used for everything from writing and painting to lampshades, umbrellas, and sliding doors, but demand has plunged as lifestyles have become more westernised. Despite its 1,300-year history and UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage status, washi paper is struggling to attract consumers and the […]