The Business Times – Oct 31, 2106 – [TOKYO] Tokyo nursed a giant pumpkin-sized hangover Monday after a weekend of Halloween revelry which saw blood-spattered ghouls, fluffy animals and fake presidential candidates cut loose. For the normally reserved Japanese, the macabre celebration of the dead is an excuse to slip on a wacky costume and let their hair down at boozy parties decorated with tombstones, skeletons and spiders. “We got into Halloween when our children…

Anime News Network – Oct 25, 2016 – Mixed Vegetables author Ayumi Komura‘s Mori no Takuma-san manga will end in this year’s 23rd issue of Shueisha‘s Margaret magazine on November 5. The same issue will also include the second half of Ryoko Ikeda’s two-part extra episode of her The Rose of Versailles manga. The story of Mori no Takuma-san centers on Karin, a girl who dreams of falling in love with a man like a prince. Although she has trouble finding a guy who meets her idealized standards, Karin’s mother finally…

Hearst – Oct 24, 2016 – TOKYO (AP) — Time warps, half-bestial children and parallel worlds are, for Mamoru Hosoda, a natural way to pursue the universal coming-of-age story that has driven all his movies. “A child growing up is fascinating and stunning, a true wonder of the world,” the burly but friendly Japanese animation director said recently in an interview at his suburban Tokyo Chizu Studio. “There is struggle in growth and change, between that…

Reuters – Oct 20, 2016 – The 2019 Rugby World Cup in Japan, the first in Asia, is an opportunity for the sport to expand beyond its traditional communities, World Rugby Chairman Bill Beaumont said on Thursday. “With over 75 percent of the population an hour’s travel time from a Rugby World Cup venue, it will be accessible to all and will ensure the tournament is for all of Japan,” Beaumont said at the World Forum on…

Christian Times – Oct 18, 2016 – After months of speculations, it is now confirmed that the second season of “One Punch Man” will be released in the first quarter of 2017. Earlier this year, it was reported that “One Punch Man” Season 2 would air during the third or last quarter of 2016, although the fans will have to wait a few more weeks to see the next adventure of the world’s most powerful…

Vine Report – Oct 13, 2016 – “Hunter x Hunter” is one of the most successful and best-selling manga series ever, but its popularity could soon take a huge tumble if its most recent hiatus does not come to an end. For those who are still waiting for chapter 361, the sad news is that there still is no development as to its official release date. According to iTechPost, the reason for the delay remains the…

The Japan Times – Oct 11, 2016 – The central government will expand the scope of its assistance to konkatsuspouse-hunting events to include those hosted by companies and other private organizations. Such support is currently limited to activities sponsored by municipalities. The central government hopes to encourage more people to marry, aiming to improve the nation’s birthrate. “We’d like to boost the momentum of marriage,” Katsunobu Kato, minister for creating a society enabling dynamic engagement by…

The Yomiuri Shimbun – October 6, 2016 – Japan should lead other countries to boost the momentum for the implementation of the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) trade pact, all the more so because it remains uncertain what the United States will do regarding the accord. The bill to approve the agreement is the biggest focal issue of the ongoing Diet session. At a House of Councillors Budget Committee meeting, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said emphatically: “An…

Deccan Chronicle – October 5, 2016 – The robot olympics are coming to Japan in 2020, the same year that the eyes of the world will be on the summer games in Tokyo. As top human athletes battle for medals, their cutting-edge droid counterparts will also be locked in fierce competition at the “World Robot Summit”. Japan’s trade ministry is hosting the event which will feature “competitions and exhibits” involving a variety of machines including…

The American Conservative – September 12, 2016 – As you would expect, North Korean leader Kim Jong-un declared his nation’s test-firing of a submarine-launched ballistic missile (SLBM) the “greatest success and victory.” What he probably didn’t expect is that it would bring together South Korea, Japan, and China in opposition. Japan’s foreign minister, Fumio Kishida, said the North’s missile launch was a “provocation that simply cannot be tolerated.” His South Korean counterpart, Yun Byung-se, said that…