Yuya Iwasaki from The Yomiuri Shimbun:
Orin metallic bowls, which are used in Buddhist rituals and ceremonies, produce a clean and clear high-pitched sound when struck. The purifying sound stretches out as if echoing in the ears.
The orin made by Kazuya Nanjo transcend the conventional framework of Buddhist implements. They move people’s hearts even when used in interior decoration or as a musical instrument.
A great look into the craftsmanship of making these precise bowls and the determination of keeping a tradition alive.
From The Yomiuri Shimbun:
The number of locations with a heat wave of 35 C or higher reached 105 nationwide. The government has issued a heat stroke alert for 26 prefectures across the country, urging people to drink plenty of water and use air conditioners properly.
Stay cool, friends.
Robbie Swinnerton from The Japan Times:
You are on the small island of Kouri, seated in the plush dining room of 6 Six, a restaurant with a small name but a reputation that is growing fast. The cuisine it serves is usually described as innovative French. It would be closer to the truth to call it one of a kind.
The name, whose French pronunciation sounds like "cease" (rendered in Japanese as "shisu"), apparently refers to the sixth sense — intuition or an elevated sensibility. Certainly, all the standard five senses are given an extended workout over the course of a dinner that can take almost three hours from sitting down to the final coffee and mignardises (petits fours).
Mari Yamaguchi from The Sydney Morning Herald:
“They are distasteful. As a Japanese citizen I feel embarrassed, as I see many foreign visitors pass by those billboards and they must wonder what’s going on,” said Mayumi Noda, an office worker. “As a voter, I think it’s outrageous and disrespectful to the other candidates who are seriously competing.”
A record 56 candidates, including incumbent Governor Yuriko Koike, who seeks her third four-year term, are running in the election. Many of the candidates are fringe figures or influencers seeking even more exposure. They include a man dressed as The Joker, who supports freedom of sexual expression, including allowing polygamy to help Japan’s falling birth rate.
While the exploitation of the traditional poster advertising system was a nice way to show its flaws, there is a more nihilist element in these elections than usual. Even moreso than in the British elections on Thursday, which featured its usual cast of characters like Elmo, Count Binface, and Rishi Sunak.
From South China Morning Post:
“Obviously, you got to let the criminal justice process play out. But that doesn’t mean you don’t express on a human level your sense of regret.”
“We have to do better,” he said, adding that the US military’s high standards and protocols for education and training of its troops was “just not working”.
Emanuel said the US may be able to propose measures to improve training and transparency with the public at US-Japan foreign and defence ministers’ security talks expected later this month in Tokyo.
Justin McCurry from The Guardian:
The former professional boxer, now aged 88 and battling physical and mental illness, will learn his fate in late September when the Shizuoka district court rules in his retrial, which started in March 2023. He has not appeared in court, having been declared mentally unfit to give credible evidence. His long incarceration has exposed what campaigners call inhumane treatment of death row inmates in Japan.
Regardless of his guilt or not, the death penalty is an echo of an uncivilized past and Japan could easily gain a few rungs on the human rights ladder by abolishing it.