Latest news with #Kurokawa
Yomiuri Shimbun
3 days ago
- Yomiuri Shimbun
Award-Winning Noto Chefs Design JAL In-Flight Meals; Special Dishes Seek to Promote Region, Encourage Quake Recovery
KANAZAWA — Special dishes created by two chefs from the quake-stricken city of Nanao, Ishikawa Prefecture, are being served in economy and premium economy classes on Japan Airlines' international flights until the end of August. The project aims to promote food from the Noto region and raise awareness of the recovery efforts following the Noto Peninsula Earthquake. The two chefs are Toru Kawashima, 40, of Ipponsugi Kawashima, a Michelin-stared Japanese restaurant on Ipponsugi street, and Kyohei Kurokawa, 37, of Restaurant Blossom, a Western-style eatery in the Wakura Onsen area. Both have achieved outstanding results in RED U-35, one of the largest competitions for young chefs in Japan. Kawashima's chicken dish is topped with a white miso sauce and rice steamed in broth mixed with pickled greens, while Kurokawa's dish consists of a hamburger steak paired with mushroom butter rice.A total of about 420,000 of the meals are expected to be served, covering 33 daily flights traveling from Japan to North America, Europe, Australia, South Asia and Southeast Asia. 'I hope people enjoy the synergistic umami flavors,' Kawashima said. Kurokawa said, 'I hope the in-flight meals spark interest in Noto.'
South China Morning Post
02-07-2025
- Entertainment
- South China Morning Post
Japanese women break silence on WWII rapes by Soviet troops
Nearly 80 years after 15 young women were forced to 'offer' themselves to protect their community from Soviet troops invading Japan 's Manchurian colony in 1945, the survivors among them have spoken out publicly about their horrific experiences. The accounts of the three survivors are at the heart of In Their Own Words: The Women of Kurokawa, a new documentary by director Fumie Matsubara, which will be released in Japan on July 12. Matsubara unveiled the film at a press conference at the Foreign Correspondents' Club of Japan on Wednesday. The women recalled being forced by their isolated community to submit to the Soviet soldiers' demands and being repeatedly sexually assaulted. They were shunned and became the subject of gossip following their return to Japan. 'It was life or death for us then,' survivor Harue Sato says in the film. 'In fact, I died there once,' she adds, referring to the repeated rapes she endured over two months after the Soviets arrived in their village in Manchukuo , the puppet state set up by imperial Japan in Manchuria. 'All we could do was grit our teeth and hang on. We held each other's hands and cried for our mothers to save us,' she says. In 1942, more than 600 settlers from the remote mountain village of Kurokawa, in Gifu prefecture in central Japan, took over vast tracts of land on the plains of Manchukuo.
Asahi Shimbun
16-06-2025
- Business
- Asahi Shimbun
Dual surname issue takes toll on common-law couple in Tokyo
A common-law couple using the pseudonyms Mitsuru Nezu and Toko Kurokawa in Tokyo on May 30. They joined a 2024 lawsuit aiming to give married couples the option of maintaining different surnames. (Suzuka Tominaga) A Lower House debate on a selective surname bill signifies the first time in 28 years for the issue to make it to the Diet. However, there are no prospects for the bill to be passed before the current Diet session closes in a week, meaning the difficulties will continue for a Tokyo couple who have maintained a de facto marriage. It has been 17 years since Mitsuru Nezu and Toko Kurokawa—both pseudonyms out of consideration for their daughter—opted for a common-law marriage in order for them to hold different surnames. Kurokawa, 52, said her last name 'is the foundation that shapes my life and myself.' When the couple were initially considering marriage, Kurokawa had already been known by her last name and used it in her professional life for more than 30 years. She said she did not want to be legally married and force either her or her husband to give up their last name. Nezu, 51, had conversely thought that women change their last names by default. However, he changed his mind after building an equal relationship with Kurokawa. 'There is no reason for a woman to change her last name other than customary practice,' he concluded. 'We can't just follow the same old way of doing things.' The couple instead chose common-law marriage, thinking, 'This is our way of life.' But as the years went by, the disadvantages and insecurities of being in a non-legal partnership 'began to hit us like body blows.' About 10 years ago when the couple wanted to buy a house, they inquired with every major financial institution about obtaining a pair loan, or joint mortgage. Almost all of them did not recognize common-law marriages. 'I thought that de facto marriages were treated lightly,' Kurokawa said. The two ended up signing for a loan with a high interest rate. Health and tax matters hold additional stressors as their medical expenses cannot be combined into one household and are not eligible for a tax deduction. Were one of them to become a dependent after falling ill or becoming disabled, the couple would be unable to file for a spouse deduction. A death would likewise not include the standard deductions or benefits, including those concerning inheritance. Both also are unclear on their ability to consent to a surgery on behalf of the other in the event of an emergency. Though they all live together, Kurokawa has sole custody of their daughter who is in junior high school. 'We eat together as a family, laugh together and fight. These casual, sweet days can't be separated from anxiety, as if we are walking on thin ice,' Kurokawa said. The couple joined a group of plaintiffs in a March 2024 damage lawsuit calling for a system allowing married couples to have different surnames. The plaintiffs claim that provisions of the Civil Code and the Family Registration Law that bar couples from choosing separate last names violate their constitutional rights. Specifically, they cite Article 24 of the Constitution that prohibits unreasonable restrictions on marriage and Article 13, which guarantees the right to the pursuit of happiness. In two similar court cases in 2015 and 2021, the Grand Bench of the Supreme Court ruled that the current system is constitutional. Nezu said he wants to ask the top court justices, 'Have you ever imagined yourself in the position of suffering?' A proposal from opposition parties to legislate the expansion of the use of maiden names to hold the same legal weight as a shared surname was also discussed at the current Diet session. However, Nezu and Kurokawa believe that 'changing one's family name does not alter the fact that one is abandoning the family name that has been a part of one's life for many years, and the problem of loss of identity will not be solved.' When both were preparing for the lawsuit, they made one attempt to register their marriage in February 2024. However, it was rejected after pair did not choose 'husband's name' or 'wife's name' in the surname section, but instead checked both options. The couple said they hope they will be able to joyfully register their marriage when a system open to different surnames is established.
Japan Today
24-05-2025
- Japan Today
82-year-old woman arrested for strangling husband to death
Police in Kunitachi, Tokyo, have arrested an 82-year-old woman on suspicion of killing her 82-year-old husband by strangling him at their home. According to police, Emiko Kurokawa is accused of strangling her husband Kazuo with a necktie at around 10:25 a.m. on Friday, TV Asahi reported. Kurokawa called 110 and told police what she had done. When police arrived, they found Kazuo lying face up in a Japanese-style room with a necktie wrapped around his neck. He was confirmed dead at the scene. There was also a bruise on the victim's head, which Kurokawa said was the result of her hitting him with a stick. The couple lived with their son, who is in his 40s. He told police he was in another room at the time and was unaware that his mother had strangled his father, Police said they have learned that Kurokawa and her husband had frequent arguments. © Japan Today
