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There’s a story about a Japanese student who has recently has tested positive for H1N1 flu in an initial examination, the first suspected domestic infection of the virus, the government said last Saturday. According to the article, Japanese authorities are carrying out further genetic tests on samples taken from the male high school student, from [...]

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One of the highlights of my recent Tokyo trip was meeting Missouri-born cop reporter Jake Adelstein, who covered police for a daily newspaper in Tokyo, and has run afoul of the mob there. I didn’t want to write anything until…

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As I walked around the biggest electronics store I’ve ever seen in my life in the “Electric City” district of Tokyo (also called Akihabara), the strains of a familiar song kept jumping into my brain. It had happy Japanese words…

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So says my friend Andrew Morse, who covers Japanese companies for the Wall Street Journal. Morse gave me an awesome tour of Tokyo, including a series of small bars in districts tourists rarely find. The bars seat nine or 10…

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A few funny quirks I’ve been learning about Tokyo: 1) It’s much more western than you’d expect. Walking the streets, I have to remind myself at times that I’m not in Brussels or Amsterdam. Who knew there would be so…

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If you travel to China and Japan or any other country that uses chopsticks you’ll find the locals always compliment you on your chopstick use. It’s like they think no one else in the world uses chop sticks to eat…

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Spent an hour at the peace memorial and other than that chained to my hotel room writing my book. Needless to say, to visit Hiroshima now is special given N Korea situation. The Peace Garden is OK, but the museum…

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After Kyoto we trained several hours north to a small mountain town called Takayama. Did you know Japan has hikeable alps? Yup, and not only that, but our couple days there provided some of the most spectacular scenery I’ve seen…

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We spent the past four nights in Kyoto. Great city. If you visit Japan, Kyoto must be on the list. It’s the only city sparred from WWII bombing and as such its temples and gardens shine. The main tourist attractions…

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