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Pavilion featuring Taiwan opens at Osaka Expo

A tape-cutting ceremony is held to mark the opening of the Tech World pavilion featuring Taiwan's culture and technology at the 2025 World Exposition in Osaka, western Japan, on April 22, 2025. A senior Chinese official earlier expressed displeasure over the pavilion, hosted by a Tokyo-based Japanese company that has received investment from a Taiwanese company, saying the pavilion's name, Tech World, could remind the public of the word "Taiwan."

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30th anniversary of Great Hanshin Earthquake

Lanterns are placed to form the Japanese word "yorisou," which means being together, and the date "1.17" at a park in Kobe, Hyogo Prefecture, on Jan. 17, 2025, the 30th anniversary of the Great Hanshin Earthquake that struck the western Japan city and its vicinity. The disaster killed more than 6,400 people.

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30th anniversary of Great Hanshin Earthquake

Lanterns are placed to form the Japanese word "yorisou," which means being together, and the date "1.17" at a park in Kobe, Hyogo Prefecture, on Jan. 17, 2025, the 30th anniversary of the Great Hanshin Earthquake that struck the western Japan city and its vicinity. The disaster killed more than 6,400 people.

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[Breaking News] 29th anniversary of Great Hanshin Earthquake

TAKARAZUKA, Japan Kyodo - The Japanese word for "life" is illuminated during a memorial event in Takarazuka, Hyogo Prefecture, on Jan. 16, 2024, the eve of 29th anniversary of the Great Hanshin Earthquake, which struck the city of Kobe and its vicinity in western Japan claiming over 6,000 lives. (Kyodo)

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29th anniversary of Great Hanshin Earthquake

The Japanese word for "life" is illuminated during a memorial event in Takarazuka, Hyogo Prefecture, on Jan. 16, 2024, the eve of 29th anniversary of the Great Hanshin Earthquake, which struck the city of Kobe and its vicinity in western Japan claiming over 6,000 lives.

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28th anniversary of Great Hanshin Earthquake

Photo taken with a 360-degree camera at a park in Kobe, Hyogo Prefecture, on Jan. 16, 2023, shows lanterns arranged to spell out the Japanese word "musubu" meaning "join" during an event marking the 28th anniversary of the Great Hanshin Earthquake that struck the western Japan city and its vicinity killing more than 6,000 people.

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28th anniversary of Great Hanshin Earthquake

Photo taken at a park in Kobe, Hyogo Prefecture, on Jan. 16, 2023, shows lanterns arranged to spell out the Japanese word "musubu" meaning "join" during an event marking the 28th anniversary of the Great Hanshin Earthquake, which struck the western Japan city and its vicinity killing more than 6,000 people.

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Historical artifacts loaned from Taiwan on display as planned

TOKYO, Japan - Japanese and Taiwanese media members wait for the start of a private viewing for an exhibition at the Tokyo National Museum in Tokyo of historical Chinese artifacts on loan from Taiwan's National Palace Museum on June 23, 2014, following the Japanese side's apology for having omitted the word "National" on posters and other materials and the reinstatement of the official name.

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Octopus dolls popular as good luck charm for entrance exams

SENDAI, Japan - Octopus dolls are being made at a workshop in Minamisanriku, Miyagi Prefecture, on Jan. 16, 2014 as a good luck charm for students taking entrance examinations for higher education. "Octopus-kun," a character representing Minamisanriku where octopuses are a staple marine product, has become a symbol of rebuilding the northeastern Japanese town after the 2011 earthquake and tsunami. The Japanese word for octopus, "tako," sounds like part of a phrase meaning you are "most sought after."

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Sharp unveils advanced "garakei" to be sold via KDDI

Sharp Corp. takes the wraps off advanced "garakei" mobile phones in Osaka, Japan, on Jan. 21, 2015, which it will sell through KDDI Corp., operator of au mobile communication services. Garakei is a Japanese word coinage combining Galapagos Islands, where evolution unique to the islands is believed to have taken place due to their isolation, and "keitai" for mobile phones.

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Yomiuri Giants put 'Tokyo' back on uniform

TOKYO, Japan - Yomiuri Giants manager Tatsunori Hara (2nd from L) joins players of his team in showing off the Japanese professional baseball club's new uniforms in Tokyo on Dec. 22, 2014, with a version for away games sporting the word "TOKYO" across the chest for the first time in 13 seasons. The players posing with Hara are (from L) pitcher Yuki Koyama, catcher Seiji Kobayashi and infielder Daisuke Fujimura.

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Jeter introduces fans to Japanese term for shortstop

TOKYO, Japan - New York Yankees captain Derek Jeter teaches fans how to pronounce the Japanese word for shortstop in this scoreboard footage captured in April 2014 in New York. Jeter had played with a number of Japanese teammates such as Hideki Matsui before ending his major league career with the 2014 season.

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Toyota to name fuel cell vehicle Mirai

NAGOYA, Japan - A prototype of a Toyota Motor Corp. fuel cell vehicle planned to go on sale in fiscal 2014 is seen in an undated photo. The automaker is expected to name the vehicle Mirai, believed to be associated with the Japanese word meaning the future.

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Machiko Hasewaga's 'Karuta' playing cards

TOKYO, Japan - "Karuta" playing cards for word games drawn by Japanese cartoonist Machiko Hasegawa (1920-1992) are shown to the press on July 3, 2014, a day before a two-day preview for an auction in Tokyo.

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Taiwan museum's exhibitions in Japan might be canceled

TOKYO, Japan - Photo taken June 20, 2014, shows signboards advertising an exhibition, scheduled to begin June 24, of ancient Chinese artifacts from Taiwan's National Palace Museum, set up inside JR Ueno Station in Tokyo's Taito Ward. The word "national" is omitted in referring to the museum on the signboards. Taiwan warned the same day the exhibition will be canceled if posters and other promotional materials prepared by the Japanese side continue to omit the word "national" in referring to the museum.

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Unique Japanese speech contest trophy in China

BEIJING, China - The "Onikawa" Cup, awarded to the winner of a Japanese speech contest organized by Koji Oikawa, a Japanese-language teacher in China, is seen in a classroom in Beijing on May 12, 2014. The character "Oni" in the word "Onikawa" means fiend in Japanese and the play on the word reflects the former comedian's unique and intense way of teaching the language.

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Shimane farmer roots for ski jumper Takanashi with 'unbeatable' pear

MATSUE, Japan - A farmer in Yasugi, Shimane Prefecture, western Japan, shows a gigantic pear printed with the words "Takanashi the unbeatable!" in support of Japanese ski jumper Sara Takanashi competing at the Sochi Winter Olympics. The Chinese character for "nashi" in her surname is the same word for the pear in Japanese. The pear is on display until the end of the Games on Feb. 23, 2014.

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Japan's tsunami anniv. commemorated in Indonesia's Aceh

JAKARTA, Indonesia - Junior high school students form a kanji letter of the Japanese word ''kizuna,'' which means bonds or connections between people, during a ceremony in the village of Peukan Bada, near Indonesia's Aceh provincial capital Banda Aceh on March 11, 2013, to commemorate the second anniversary of the earthquake and tsunami in northeastern Japan.

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Aomori women dance in circle around 'Jesus tomb'

AOMORI, Japan - Women wearing kimono dance a Japanese traditional bon dance in a circle around a cross erected on a turf which local people believe is the tomb of Jesus, in the village of Shingo, Aomori Prefecture, on June 3, 2012. According to legend, Jesus survived his crucifixion and secretly came to Japan and lived out his natural life and died in the village, which used to be called Herai. The legend also says Herai came from the word "Hebrew."

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Abandoned emergency center

OKUMA, Japan - The Japanese government's nuclear accident task force shows the press its emergency office in Okuma, Fukushima Prefecture, on March 2, 2012. The office had been abandoned on March 15, 2011, following the accident at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant. Notes left on the whiteboards, including the word ''explosion,'' show the crisis environment at the time the facility was abandoned.

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Abandoned emergency center

OKUMA, Japan - The Japanese government's nuclear accident task force shows the press its emergency office in Okuma, Fukushima Prefecture, on March 2, 2012. The office had been abandoned on March 15, 2011, following the accident at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant. Notes left on the whiteboards, including the word ''explosion,'' show the crisis environment at the time the facility was abandoned.

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Words meaning 'peace' projected onto Brandenburg Gate

BERLIN, Germany - The Japanese word ''heiwa'' and the German word ''FRIEDEN,'' both meaning ''peace,'' are projected onto the Brandenburg Gate in Berlin, Germany, before dawn on Sept. 9, 2011, in a rehearsal for an event to commemorate the 150th anniversary of friendship between Japan and Germany. Words for ''peace'' in 48 languages, including the above two, illuminated the gate at the end of the rehearsal. Japanese lighting designer Motoko Ishii is producing the event, which will be held on Sept. 9 and 10.

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Divorce ceremony

TOKYO, Japan - A former bride and groom hold a wooden hammer together to smash a wedding ring during a ''divorce ceremony'' in Tokyo's Asakusa district on Feb. 19, 2011. The hammer is in the shape of a frog, or ''kaeru'' in Japanese which is a pun for the word ''return,'' to symbolize their return to single life. Hiroki Terai started holding the event for divorce-bound couples in 2009.

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Ishikawa 1st teenage money champ

TOKYO, Japan - At Tokyo Yomiuri Country Club, teenage golfer Ryo Ishikawa holds a cardboard sign carrying his autograph and a Japanese word meaning top money winner on Dec. 6, 2009, after becoming the youngest money title winner in Japanese golf history at the Nippon Series JT Cup. The 18-year-old finished the 2009 campaign top of the money list with 183 million yen to replace Masashi ''Jumbo'' Ozaki as the youngest money winner on the JGTO tour. Ozaki won the money title at age of 26 in 1973.

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Winny software developer acquitted

OSAKA, Japan - Isamu Kaneko, the developer of the Winny file-sharing software program, shows the Japanese word for ''innocence'' during a news conference in Osaka on Oct. 8, 2009, after the Osaka High Court acquitted him of copyright violation, reversing the initial guilty ruling by a lower court that imposed a 1.5 million yen fine.

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'Beckoning cats' selling like hot cakes as general election nears

OWARIASAHI, Japan - An employee at ceramic ware maker Tamazen in the city of Owariasahi in Aichi smiles alongside some of the company's hot-selling ''maneki neko'' -- decorative figures of beckoning cats believed to invite good fortune -- ahead of voting day in the Aug. 30 House of representatives election. The company is getting a rush of orders from election workers for the figures, decorated with leopard-skin marks, to attract votes, called ''hyo'' in Japanese, the same pronunciation as another Japanese word meaning leopard.

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U.S. nuclear aircraft carrier George Washington in Japan

YOKOSUKA, Japan - Crew members of the nuclear-powered U.S. aircraft carrier George Washington form a Japanese word meaning ''how do you do'' on its deck off Yokosuka, Kanagawa Prefecture, on Sept. 25 while heading to its new home port in the city.

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Kotooshu celebrates after clinching Emperor's Cup

TOKYO, Japan - Bulgarian ozeki Kotooshu raises two sea breams in celebration at the Sadogatake stable in Matsudo, Chiba Prefecture, on May 24 after clinching the title of the Summer Grand Sumo Tournament in Tokyo with an unbeatable 13-1 record on the 14th day of the 15-day meet. Standing behind him is Stefanov Mahlyanov, Kotooshu's father. Sea breams, or ''tai'' in Japanese, are used on festive occasions in Japan as the word rhymes with ''medetai,'' or ''felicity.''

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Buddhist temples urged to become relevant again to locals

KAWAGUCHI, Japan - Mothers and children make ''miso,'' a fermented soybean paste commonly used in Japanese cooking, at the word of command from Joko Yoshii (far right), a 33-year-old Buddhist priest at a hands-on class held in the main hall of Zengyoji, a Buddhist temple in Kawaguchi, Saitama Prefecture on Feb. 19.

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Gov't economic report drops word 'deflation' after 5 yrs

TOKYO, Japan - Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi walks into a room to preside over a meeting of economic ministers at his office on July 19. The meeting adopted a monthly economic report signaling that the Japanese economy is definitely moving out of deflation in the current fiscal year. The word ''deflation'' was dropped from a key monthly economic report for the first time in five years.

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(2)Aichi Expo holds pre-opening ceremony

NAGAKUTE, Japan - Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi delivers a speech during the pre-opening ceremony of the 2005 World Exposition in the town of Nagakute, Aichi Prefecture, on March 24. Koizumi said that people should appreciate the significance of the Japanese word ''Mottainai (waste not, want not)'' and achieve economic development while protecting the environment through the use of science and technology.

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Mazda unveils Verisa compact

TOKYO, Japan - Mazda Motor Corp. President and CEO Hisakazu Imaki unveils the company's new Verisa compact on June 28 in Tokyo. Designed for the Japanese market, the vehicle's name is a combination of ''verita,'' the Italian word for truth, and the English word ''satisfaction.''

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(1)Families exhausted after waiting for word on hostages

TOKYO, Japan - The families of three Japanese kidnapped by a militant group in Iraq look exhausted and emotionally drained as they talks with reporters in Tokyo on April 13.

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(2)Families exhausted after waiting for word on hostages

TOKYO, Japan - The families of three Japanese kidnapped by a militant group in Iraq give a joint press conference in Tokyo on April 13. They looked exhausted after days of waiting to hear about the fate of their loved ones.

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Afghan children practice Japanese calligraphy

KABUL, Afghanistan - Afghan children practice Japanese calligraphy at the Japanese Embassy in Kabul on Feb. 1. They wrote the word for peace in Japanese characters in the gathering held to teach them about Japanese culture.

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Shigenobu's daughter arrives in Japan

NARITA, Japan - Mei Shigenobu, 28, the daughter of Fusako Shigenobu, founder of the Japanese Red Army guerrilla group who was arrested in Japan last year after decades on the run, arrives at Narita airport on the evening of April 3 from her home in Lebanon. She did not say a word but repeatedly made peace signs to the press corps packed in the airport lobby.

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S. Korea regrets Japan's change of 2002 World Cup title

SEOUL, South Korea - Chung Mong Joon, head of the South Korean football association and co-chairman of the (South) Korean Organizing Committee for the 2002 FIFA World Cup (KOWOC), attends a news conference in Seoul on Jan. 16. Chung said it was ''regrettable'' that Japan has apparently reneged on an earlier agreement and changed the word order on its Japanese ticket application forms for the 2002 World Cup from ''Korea-Japan'' to ''Japan-Korea''.

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NCB to make fresh start as 'Aozora Bank'

TOKYO, Japan - File photo shows the Tokyo headquarters of the nationalized Nippon Credit Bank (NCB), which was sold to a consortium led by Internet investor Softbank Corp. on Sept. 1. The group plans to rename it ''Aozora Bank'' -- the Japanese word for blue sky -- on Jan. 1 next year.

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Group demands Ishihara stop using 'Shina'

Members of a Hong Kong civic group hold a banner in front of the Japanese Consulate on April 15, demanding Tokyo Gov.-elect Shintaro Ishihara stop using the word ''Shina'' when referring to China. Shina, a little-used holdover from the days when Japan occupied Manchuria in northeastern China, is considered to be a derogatory way of referring to China.

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Gymnastics: Olympic medalist Murakami grateful upon retirement

Japan's Mai Murakami had a word of gratitude for gymnastics as the first Japanese woman to medal in an individual event at the Olympics called it a career on Monday. The 25-year-old claimed the bronze medal in the floor exercise at the Tokyo Olympics over the summer when she finished fifth in the all-around, also the best a Japanese woman has achieved at any games.

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"Daruma" doll making for Japan's general election

A worker paints the word "hissho" (victory) on traditional "daruma" dolls in Takasaki, Gunma Prefecture, on Oct. 5, 2021, as making of the dolls, a fixture in Japanese election campaigns, is in full swing ahead of the House of Representatives election to be held later in the month.

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"Daruma" doll making for Japan's general election

A worker paints the word "hissho" (victory) on traditional "daruma" dolls in Takasaki, Gunma Prefecture, on Oct. 5, 2021, as making of the dolls, a fixture in Japanese election campaigns, is in full swing ahead of the House of Representatives election to be held later in the month.

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Gov't economic report drops word 'deflation' after 5 yrs

TOKYO, Japan - Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi walks into a room to preside over a meeting of economic ministers at his office on July 19. The meeting adopted a monthly economic report signaling that the Japanese economy is definitely moving out of deflation in the current fiscal year. The word ''deflation'' was dropped from a key monthly economic report for the first time in five years. (Kyodo)

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Kotooshu celebrates after clinching Emperor's Cup

TOKYO, Japan - Bulgarian ozeki Kotooshu raises two sea breams in celebration at the Sadogatake stable in Matsudo, Chiba Prefecture, on May 24 after clinching the title of the Summer Grand Sumo Tournament in Tokyo with an unbeatable 13-1 record on the 14th day of the 15-day meet. Standing behind him is Stefanov Mahlyanov, Kotooshu's father. Sea breams, or ''tai'' in Japanese, are used on festive occasions in Japan as the word rhymes with ''medetai,'' or ''felicity.'' (Kyodo)

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U.S. nuclear aircraft carrier George Washington in Japan

YOKOSUKA, Japan - Crew members of the nuclear-powered U.S. aircraft carrier George Washington form a Japanese word meaning ''how do you do'' on its deck off Yokosuka, Kanagawa Prefecture, on Sept. 25 while heading to its new home port in the city. (Kyodo)

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First light images taken by Japan's 'Subaru' telescope

This handout photo of the Orion nebula, released by the National Astronomical Observatory of Japan (NAOJ) on Jan. 29, has been taken using 'Subaru,' one of the world's largest optical-infrared telescopes located in Hawaii. It shows sharp images of four bright stars called Trapezium, which are normally concealed behind gas clouds. The Subaru Telescope, named after the Japanese word for Pleiades, made verifiable observations of objects 5 billion light years away in the Milky Way Galaxy in two hours, compared with the seven hours it took the orbiting Hubble Telescope, NAOJ officials said. ==Kyodo

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Hiroshige - 53 Stations of the Tokaido - Print 42

42 Miya - Two gangs of men and horse dragging a festival car (not shown) past the entrance to Miya Temple on a f괥 day. The name Miya literally means "shrine", and is a shortened word denoting the Atsuta Shrine. It is one of the most important shrines in the country because it holds one of the three divine symbols of the Japanese imperial throne. Now Nagoya City has grown around the shrine to become the third largest metropolis in Japan. Utagawa Hiroshige (1797 - 1858). The Fifty-Three Stations of the Tokaido - Hoeido edition (1831-4) Date: 1831 - 1834

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Exchanging culture

KITAKYUSHU, Japan - A North Korean girl (L) and a Japanese girl show their calligraphy works with the word "friend" in their own languages. The photo was taken June 23, 2001 at a North Korean school in Kitakyushu, Fukuoka Prefecture. (Kyodo)

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"Victory" doll making in full swing ahead of election

A craftsman of the Japanese traditional "daruma" doll paints the word "hissho" (victory) on the doll's body in Takasaki, Gunma Prefecture, in central Japan on June 13, 2016, as making of the doll, a fixture in Japanese election campaigns, is in full swing ahead of the July 10 upper house election. The daruma doll is usually on sale with both eyes left blank, and the buyer paints the pupil in one eye in making a certain wish. When the wish comes true, the other eye is painted, a scene often seen after a candidate wins an election. (Kyodo) ==Kyodo

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"Victory" doll making in full swing ahead of election

A craftsman of the Japanese traditional "daruma" doll paints the word "hissho" (victory) on the doll's body in Takasaki, Gunma Prefecture, in central Japan on June 13, 2016, as making of the doll, a fixture in Japanese election campaigns, is in full swing ahead of the July 10 upper house election. The daruma doll is usually on sale with both eyes left blank, and the buyer paints the pupil in one eye in making a certain wish. When the wish comes true, the other eye is painted, a scene often seen after a candidate wins an election. (Kyodo) ==Kyodo