Photo Source: Washington Post.

Washington Post: In Japan, baseball brings normalcy

Before the March 11 earthquake and tsunami, at least, Minamisanriku’s Shizugawa High School baseball team had a clear goal: making it to Japan’s version of March Madness — a nationwide single-elimination tournament that, for a few weeks every summer, becomes the focus of this [...]

Minamisanriku Fireworks. Photo Source: Miyagi Prefectural Government

Wall Street Journal: Tohoku Town Gets New Relief: Fireworks

“Considering the current after-quake conditions, we were wondering whether we should not do it this year,” said Yoshiaki Takahashi, who works in the fishing industry and is a member of the team of 17 volunteers who have been organizing [...]

Fiona Graham (‘Sayuki’). Photo Source: The Telegraph.

The Telegraph: First ever Western geisha leaves the ‘sisterhood’

“She was in the association for more than three years, but she did not take part in lessons and she did not follow our rules,” another geisha, who asked not to be named, told The Sunday Telegraph. “And she [...]

Market in Ofunato, Iwate. Photo Source: Chicago Tribune.

Chicago Tribune: Japanese tsunami survivors find strength and solace in 200-year-old street market

Sakariki-machi market has survived for more than two centuries in this coastal Japanese town, through natural disaster and war, not to mention the advent of 7-11s and discount chains. Now, in its small but [...]

Fukushima evacuees screened for radiation. Photo Source: Mail Online

Daily Mail: Sealed off and screened for radiation: Tsunami survivors make emotional visit to ghost-town homes engulfed by Japan’s nuclear meltdown

The people were covered in protective suits, head nets, and rubber gloves before being screen and transported by bus to the devastated region.
After an painful [...]

Photo Source: Korea Herald

Korea Herald: Prayers around the world for Japan quake victims

Tibetan monks living in Taiwan and Taiwanese people pray for the victims of Japan’s deadly tsunami triggered by a strong earthquake during a Buddhism ceremony in front of Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall, Monday, March 14, 2011, in Taipei, Taiwan.

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Japan Times: Sanrio to license Hello Kitty theme park in China

Sanrio will license the use of its Hello Kitty characters to a closely held company in Zhejiang that plans to open a 95,000-sq.-meter theme park in 2014

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Prime Minister Hatoyama met on Monday with Chinese President Hu Jintao, where he apparently discussed the idea of an East Asian community, based on the European Union. I will admit that I don’t know all the ins and out of such a plan, and will be interested to learn more [...]