Hasebe plays mini-soccer game with Banda Aceh kids

Hasebe plays mini-soccer game with Banda Aceh kids

BANDA ACEH, Indonesia - Japan captain Makoto Hasebe (C) plays a mini-soccer game with elementary school children in Banda Aceh, Indonesia, on Dec, 23, 2014. Hasebe, in cooperation with the Japan Committee for UNICEF, visited the area hit by devastating tsunami in December 2004.

Japan varsity reps visit Yangon to lure students

Japan varsity reps visit Yangon to lure students

YANGON, Myanmar - Seminar participants (L) listen to officials from six Japanese national universities brief them on studying in Japan in Myanmar's largest city Yangon on Dec, 17, 2014. One of the schools, Okayama University, is scheduled to establish a stronghold in Yangon in 2015 to facilitate the acceptance of students from Myanmar.

Chinese official takes issue with Koizumi's Yasukuni visits

Chinese official takes issue with Koizumi's Yasukuni visits

TOKYO, Japan - Chinese State Council spokesman Zhao Qizheng speaks with reporters after visiting Chief Cabinet Secretary Hiroyuki Hosoda at the premier's office on Dec, 7. Zhao, director of the State Council Information Office, took issue with Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi's visits to the war-related Yasukuni Shrine in Tokyo.

Nishizawa to be oldest Japanese to fight title match

Nishizawa to be oldest Japanese to fight title match

TOKYO, Japan - Yoshinori Nishizawa speaks in Tokyo on Dec, 2 of his upcoming fight in Australia in January. Nishizawa, who will be 38 at the time of the match, will become the oldest Japanese fighter to enter the ring when he meets World Boxing Association (WBA) super-middleweight champion Athony Mundine of Australia for a 12-round title bout in Mundine near Sydney on Jan. 19.

Japan's last coal mine to be closed

Japan's last coal mine to be closed

KUSHIRO, Japan - File photo shows the head office of Taiheiyo Coal Mine Co. in Kushiro, Hokkaido, which officially informed its 1,000-member labor union Dec, 7 of its plan to close Japan's last coal mine on Jan. 30, 2002. The closure will mark the demise of Japan's coal mining industry, which played a key role in helping rebuild the economy from the ruins of World War II.