Essayist Agawa

Essayist Agawa

TOKYO, Japan - Photo taken Dec. 25, 2013 shows Sawako Agawa, an essayist and TV celebrity who has conducted 1,000 interviews with actors, athletes, writers and people from various other fields, with the 1,000th one appearing in the special 2014 New Year edition of the Shukan Bunshun weekly magazine released the same day.

Keio professor Agawa appointed minister at Washington

Keio professor Agawa appointed minister at Washington

TOKYO, Japan - Foreign Minister Yoriko Kawaguchi announced on July 26 the appointment of Keio University professor Naoyuki Agawa (in file photo) as minister in charge of public relations at the Japanese Embassy in the United States. The posting, effective on Aug. 1, is in line with the Foreign Ministry's attempt at reform that in part calls for appointing experts from outside the bureaucracy to top posts.

Umehara, 4 others receive cultural award

Umehara, 4 others receive cultural award

TOKYO, Japan - Anthropologist Takeshi Umehara and four others receive this year's Order of Culture from Emperor Akihito at the Imperial Palace in Tokyo on Culture Day on Nov. 3. The photo shows the five recipients and their wives. From L to R, novelist Hiroyuki Agawa, 78, organic chemist Saburo Tamura, 82, painter Fuku Akino, 91, law expert Masami Ito, 80, and Takeshi Umehara, 74.

Umehara, 4 others receive cultural award

Umehara, 4 others receive cultural award

TOKYO, Japan - Anthropologist Takeshi Umehara and four others receive this year's Order of Culture from Emperor Akihito at the Imperial Palace in Tokyo on Culture Day on Nov. 3. The photo shows the five recipients and their wives. From L to R, novelist Hiroyuki Agawa, 78, organic chemist Saburo Tamura, 82, painter Fuku Akino, 91, law expert Masami Ito, 80, and Takeshi Umehara, 74.