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Explore the heart of Japanese culture with this three-part travel guide. First, visit Kyoto, where you will discover 1,000 years of history from the ancient love story the Tale of Genji to the traditional tea ceremony. Then head to Tokyo to experience Japan’s cutting-edge capital, where the 21st-century kawaii culture collides with landmarks like the Kabuki-za Theater and the Imperial Palace. For a different perspective, venture outside the city to the seaside towns of Tohoku, the region largely affected by the 2011 tsunami disaster. Written by local expert Sumiki Kajiyama and illustrated in lively animation style, this book introduces readers to Japan’s national heroes and must-see places from a uniquely Japanese perspective. Informative, entertaining and useful, Cool Japan is an ideal introduction for any traveler looking for a deeper understanding of Japanese culture, past and present.

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Boeing 787 Dramliners Grounded

American regulators grounded the Boeing 787 Dreamliner on Wednesday night, saying a recent series of safety incidents meant urgent action was needed.

The US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) said it would require airlines to demonstrate that the plane's cutting-edge batteries were safe before allowing further flights. It has notified regulators in other countries of its action.

Japan's two leading airlines, All Nippon Airways (ANA) and Japan Airlines, had already grounded their fleets of Boeing 787s after one of the Dreamliner passenger jets made an emergency landing in Japan.

Season Finale of "The Amazing Race" Tonight

In "It's a Great Place to Become Millionaires" - The final four Teams battle for the $1 million prize in a grueling two-hour season finale that starts in Japan, where Racers call upon their track skills for an exhausting Japanese game show, and concludes in Hawaii, where Teams hit the waves to put their rescue mission skills to the test, on THE AMAZING RACE, Sunday, May 6 (8:00-10:00 PM, ET/PT) on CBS.

Typhoon Hits Japan

Typhoon Roke, the second big storm to hit Japan this month, was packing winds of up to 220 km per hour (130 miles per hour) and dumped more than 40 cm (16 inches) of rain in parts of eastern and western Japan over the past 24 hours, the Japan Meteorological Agency said.

The storm cut power to more than 575,500 households in Tokyo Electric Power Co's service area, and forced companies including Toyota Motor Corp, Nissan Motor and Mitsubishi Heavy Industries to close some plants, company spokesmen said.

"We need to exercise maximum caution against heavy rains, strong winds and high waves in wide areas from eastern to northern Japan," Chief Cabinet Secretary Osamu Fujimura told a news conference.

Roke made landfall near Hamamatsu, 200 km (125 miles) west of Tokyo, around 2 p.m. local time (0500 GMT), and cut a path through eastern Japan before moving north of the capital in the evening.
Television showed waves crashing over breakwaters on the Pacific coast and trees knocked down on streets of Tokyo.

Tokyo Electric, the operator of the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant 240 km northeast of Tokyo that was crippled by a massive earthquake and tsunami in March, said the typhoon has so far caused no damage to the plant.

"The biggest element of concern is the rise of (radioactive) water levels in turbine buildings," Junichi Matsumoto, a Tokyo Electric official, told a news conference.

The site still has huge amounts of water that was used to cool reactors where fuel meltdowns took place after cooling systems were knocked out by the March disaster, raising concerns that heavy rain could cause overflows of radioactive water into the sea and groundwater.

7.1 Magnitude Earthquake Rocks Northern Japan

A powerful earthquake struck off the eastern coast of Japan on late Sunday morning, seismologists said, prompting tsunami advisories for local coastlines.

The 7.1-magnitude earthquake at 10.57 a.m. local time (0057 GMT) was centered about 212 kilometers (131 miles) east of Sendai, the capital city of Miyagi Prefecture. It struck about 10 kilometers (6.2 miles) deep, making it a shallow earthquake, according to the Japan Meteorological Agency (JMA).

The Japanese government immediately issued tsunami advisories for the coasts of Iwate Prefecture, Miyagi Prefecture, and Fukushima Prefecture. It said a tsunami could have a height up to 0.5 meters and this could cause serious damage to the area.