Bodies of 3 Japanese returned from China

Bodies of 3 Japanese returned from China

NARITA, Japan - Airport workers bow to containers holding the bodies of three Japanese travelers -- Yoko Ogawa, 62, Kuniko Watanabe, 68, and Shunichiro Yanai, 76 -- at Narita airport, near Tokyo, on Nov. 10, 2012. The bodies of the three, who died in heavy snows during a trekking tour near the Great Wall outside Beijing, were transferred to a funeral hall in Tokyo after arriving at the airport.

Yoko Watanabe, pioneer Japanese opera singer, dies at 51

Yoko Watanabe, pioneer Japanese opera singer, dies at 51

TOKYO, Japan - Yoko Watanabe (in an undated file photo), the first Japanese soprano to have performed in a lead role in all the world's four top opera houses, died of heart failure at her home in Milan on July 15, the Japan Opera Foundation said on July 16. She was 51. The four opera houses include La Scala in Milan and Wiener Staatsoper in Vienna. After graduating from the Tokyo National University of Fine Arts and Music, she studied in Italy and completed a program at a research institute attached to La Scala.

Yoko Watanabe, pioneer Japanese opera singer, dies at 51

Yoko Watanabe, pioneer Japanese opera singer, dies at 51

TOKYO, Japan - Yoko Watanabe (in an undated file photo), the first Japanese soprano to have performed in a lead role in all the world's four top opera houses, died of heart failure at her home in Milan on July 15, the Japan Opera Foundation said on July 16. She was 51. The four opera houses include La Scala in Milan and Wiener Staatsoper in Vienna. After graduating from the Tokyo National University of Fine Arts and Music, she studied in Italy and completed a program at a research institute attached to La Scala. (Kyodo)