Japan | GlobalPost

"It's Dante's Inferno for dolphins"

Justin McCurrySeptember 25, 2009 07:22Updated May 30, 2010 13:08

TAIJI, Japan — Taiji reveals its Janus face as soon as you emerge from the road tunnel on the town’s periphery. Bottlenoses leap out of the water in unison at the aqua park, where visitors are invited to board rowing boats and “play with the dolphins.” Giant models of two whales, framed by a brilliant blue sky, serve as reminders of the town’s traditions, while the emerald waters of the Pacific Ocean combine with heavily wooded cliffs to form a coastline of outstanding beauty.

Jordan tech sector taking off

Tom A. PeterOctober 24, 2009 10:37Updated May 30, 2010 13:08

AMMAN, Jordan — This summer, Jordan’s IT sector took many outsiders by surprise with the announcement that Yahoo! had purchased Maktoob.com, a local company that provides Arabic email and other online services. While the terms of the deal have not been disclosed, it represents one of the most high-profile IT success stories in the Arab world.

Death row, Japanese-style: "Cruel, inhuman and degrading"

Justin McCurrySeptember 23, 2009 06:56Updated May 30, 2010 13:08

TOKYO, Japan — Whether or not Iwao Hakamada committed the gruesome murders for which he was sentenced to hang is a matter of debate. What is certain is that the 73-year-old — the world’s longest-serving death row prisoner — has come to personify the cruelty inherent in Japan’s treatment of its most heinous criminals. Hakamada, a former professional boxer, has spent 41 years on death row for a murder that even one of the three judges who sentenced him now believes he did not commit.

A poet faces death for "killing" God

Tom A. PeterJanuary 2, 2010 16:12Updated May 30, 2010 13:08

The DPJ's first day

Gavin BlairSeptember 16, 2009 15:17Updated September 16, 2009 15:17

Cash for kids in Japan

David NakamuraSeptember 16, 2009 06:38Updated May 30, 2010 13:07

TOKYO, Japan — In the country with the lowest birth rate in the world, the newly empowered Democratic Party of Japan has proposed a solution: pay to procreate. As part of the manifesto that helped the DPJ rout the long-ruling Liberal Democratic Party in last month’s election, families will receive 26,000 yen (about $280) per month for each child through junior high school.

Indonesian maid left at hospital weighing only 45 lbs.

Tom PeterSeptember 15, 2009 11:19

Abuse of migrant workers has long been an issue in the Middle East, however, a rather extreme case has been making headlines in Jordan. The Indonesian Embassy here is filing a lawsuit against a doctor who dumped his maid in front of a medical facility.

A World of Trouble: Is the nightmare over?

Thomas MuchaSeptember 10, 2009 06:57Updated May 30, 2010 13:07

With signs of economic recovery finally emerging, here's where things stand in 20 countries.

Japan's cubicle sluggers

David NakamuraSeptember 8, 2009 06:47Updated May 30, 2010 13:06

TOKYO — On a recent afternoon, Yasuhiko Maehara, a general manager at Nissan Motor Co., excused his staff from work and accompanied them to the Tokyo Dome to watch a baseball game. For a company that lost $2.4 billion last year and cut 20,000 jobs, this might have appeared to be wasteful mismanagement. But this wasn’t just any game.

What's the frequency, Miyuki?

Thomas MuchaSeptember 2, 2009 15:22

Uh-oh. Japan may have just produced a historic change in last weekend's elections. Then again, it may have just made things worse. It seems that the country's new first lady, Miyuki Hatoyama, has traveled to Venus. By UFO. "While my body was asleep, I think my soul rode on a triangular-shaped UFO and went to Venus," Hatoyama, the wife of premier-in-waiting Yukio Hatoyama, wrote in a book published last year.