21 lucky winners will receive a dinner voucher for two in Japan  On February 1, 2971, Business World Corporation, founded by the late Yasuhiro Miyata, was established to engage in the international publishing and advertising business. BWC publications have been adopted as the official English-language medium during visits to Japan by world leaders such as HM…

Twenty-three-year-old wrestler Kotooshu breathed some much-needed life into the stagnant sumo competition last year with a couple of upset victories over grand champion Asashoryu and promotion to the rank of ozeki in record time. Is he the Great White Hope that sumo has been waiting for? Keith Robson reports…   The recent actions of the…

SUNTORY TAKES AN INNOVATIVE APPROACH TO RECYCLING  For a relaxing time… It’s mildly amusing, clicking on to indy filmmaker Sophia Coppola’s Lost In Translation website, to see whisky bottles, with scrollover in a garish neon pink blaring “Buy Suntory.” Adjacent is an aging, jaded Bill Murray whose character is paid to endorse Suntory Whiskey, Humphrey…

“Hybrid Relaxation Sei-Tai” has opened near Shirokane-Takanawa station and Sengakuji Station. Kazuaki Maeda, a Judo rehabilitation therapist, has practiced at relaxation salons, osteopathic clinics and orthopedic clinics nationwide. After acquiring national qualifications, he went on to train in traditional massage clinics in Thailand and Tahiti (French Polynesia) and opened this clinic in September 2020. The…

“Lifestyle” has become one of the hottest marketing buzzwords in Japan in recent times and everywhere you look these days you will see someone describing either themselves or their goods and services as “lifestyle this” or “lifestyle that.” The current pervasiveness of this concept suggests it is a relatively new and revolutionary idea, and yet…

Rob Gilhooly spurns the renowned comforts of a ryokan in a bid to get a taste of Japan’s great outdoors. While idling away some dead time on a station platform several years ago, my wife and I played one of those write-and-tell games centering on the theme of an ideal holiday. While her list included…

Japan is first and foremost an island country – with 3,000 of them in all – and yet in stark contrast to other archipelagic nations such as Indonesia and the Philippines the name Japan rarely, if ever, conjures up images of islands in people’s minds. This curious paradox can largely be attributed to the country’s…

Few performers in Japan have been able to make the leap from the kabuki theater to the silver screen – and vice versa – without falling foul of the critics. One actor who has successfully managed to keep a foot in each court in modern times is Shidou Nakamura, who is using his experiences on…

On the day Kaori Yamada was born, a centuries-old ume bonsai in her father’s garden flowered for the first time in over a century. It has blossomed every spring since then. “It seems a little strange, but it came alive when I did, so I guess this tree and I are soul mates,” she said…

Travel writers in recent times have been less than flattering in their assessment of Mandalay, the ancient capital of Myanmar. But, as Stephen Mansfield writes, there’s still a lot of charm left in the disheveled city yet. Photos also by Stephen Mansfield. Technically speaking, Mandalay no longer exists. The old city, built after King Mindon…