Homare Sawa's 86th minute equalizer against New Zealand rescued a point for the Japan women's national team, who opened their 2008 Olympic campaign with a 2-2 draw on Wednesday.

By MATTHIAS MESSMER and HSIN-MEI CHUANG

Jiang Rong (pen name of Lu Jiamin), who is now 62, was born in Jiangsu Province, China, and educated in Beijing. In 1967, at age 21, he volunteered to go and work in Inner Mongolia, where he'd heard about the ...

By MICHAEL HOFFMAN

By MICHAEL HOFFMAN

By PHILIP BRASOR

In Japan, Don Wilson's band popularized the electric guitar and outsold The Beatles — twofold. And they're not done yet...

By PHILIP BRASOR

By KAORI SHOJI

It's easy to fall in love with a novel by Gabriel Garcia Marquez, but certain obstacles stand in the way of loving his characters. As time goes by and one becomes increasingly mired in the concerns of the 21st century ...

By MARK SCHILLING

By GIOVANNI FAZIO

By ROBBIE SWINNERTON

Japan's infatuation with ramen can seem bewildering to the uninitiated. When you see lines around the block outside nondescript noodle joints in remote locations, with waits of up to an hour, it's hard not think the obsession is verging on ...

By NICHOLAS COLDICOTT

By ROBBIE SWINNERTON

The symmetrical beauty of Tsurugaoka Hachimangu Shrine, the meditative colossus of Kotokuin, and the Zen-inspired splendors of Kenchoji and Enkakuji may win Kamakura inscription on the World Heritage List. Comparatively unknown are its Western-style buildings constructed after Kamakura became accessible ...

By PETER LYON

Ask any concert pianist whether they would rather play a Steinway & Sons piano or a Yamaha, and I'll bet ...

By PERRIN LINDELAUF

By ERIKO ARITA

Amanojaku, an ensemble of taiko Japanese drummers, will hold concerts on Aug. 13 and 14 in Tokyo to commemorate the centennial of Japanese migration to Brazil, which started in 1908. ...

By ERIKO ARITA

By CHIHO IUCHI

The pick of this week's specials at Japan's hotels and restaurants.