Algeria hostage crisis

Algeria hostage crisis

NARITA, Japan - Japanese Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida (C) offers flowers at the coffin of former JGC Corp. Vice President Tadanori Aratani at Narita airport near Tokyo on Jan. 26, 2013. Aratani's body, the last of the 10 Japanese victims from a recent hostage crisis in Algeria, arrived in Japan the same day.

Algeria hostage crisis

Algeria hostage crisis

NARITA, Japan - Koichi Kawana (R), president of engineering firm JGC Corp., offers flowers at the coffin of former JGC Vice President Tadanori Aratani at Narita airport near Tokyo on Jan. 26, 2013. The last body of the 10 Japanese victims from a recent hostage crisis in Algeria arrived in Japan the same day.

Algeria hostage crisis

Algeria hostage crisis

NARITA, Japan - Koichi Kawana (L), president of engineering firm JGC Corp., offers flowers at the coffin of former JGC Vice President Tadanori Aratani at Narita airport near Tokyo on Jan. 26, 2013. Aratani's body, the last of the 10 Japanese victims from a recent hostage crisis in Algeria, arrived in Japan the same day.

Enka singer Jero charms L.A. audience

Enka singer Jero charms L.A. audience

LOS ANGELES, United States - Jero, an American singer of the Japanese melancholic ''enka'' songs, performs at the Aratani/Japan America Theater in Los Angeles on March 31, 2010.

Enka singer Jero charms L.A. audience

Enka singer Jero charms L.A. audience

LOS ANGELES, United States - Jero, an American singer of the Japanese melancholic ''enka'' songs, performs at the Aratani/Japan America Theater in Los Angeles on March 31, 2010. (Kyodo)

Kabuki laid bare for American audience

Kabuki laid bare for American audience

LOS ANGELES, United States - An actor of Kabuki, the highly stylized Japanese dance drama, shows a step-by-step makeup demonstration for American audiences at the Aratani/Japan America Theater in Los Angeles on Oct. 15, 2009. Actors from the esteemed Shochiku Company in Tokyo gave behind-the-scenes lectures on Kabuki, including the makeup and costuming demonstration, as well as an explanation of the various gestures and movements used by performers to convey particular emotions in Kabuki, which is listed as one of UNESCO's Masterpieces of the Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity. (Kyodo)