A Zen Buddhist hall in Nara is the oldest wooden structure still in use and a century older than famed Horyuji temple previously thought to hold the crown, according to an expert in tree-ring dating.
Research by Takumi Mitsutani, a visiting professor of dendrochronology at the Research Institute for Humanity and Nature in Kyoto, reveals that Japanese cypress wood in the roof of the Zenshitsu (zen room) building of Gangoji temple was logged around 586.
Mitsutani argues that his findings indicate that the structure of the hall was made 100 years before Horyuji temple in Ikaruga, Nara Prefecture, hitherto thought the world’s oldest, which was built between the late seventh and eighth centuries. (Asahi)

China has gained direct access to the Sea of Japan for the first time in 100 years through a North Korean port, leaving the other two regional players, Japan and South Korea, deeply concerned about the communist state’s ambitions.
China made an agreement to lease a pier at North Korea’s Rajin Port for 10 years. China claims the move is purely economic. The China-North Korea deal, observers believe, complicates the UN sanctions imposed on North Korea. (The National)
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This giant sea-monster was plucked out of the Pacific Ocean and now resides in Britain. With legs long enough to straddle a car, this Japanese Spider Crab is truly a giant sea beast worthy of a Jules Verne novel.
The massive arthropod is 10 feet from claw to claw, and is still growing. The creature can live up to 100 years, though no one is certain how old this crab is. Its body is the size of a basketball.
(Daily Mail)
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Etsuo Asano is Japan’s undisputed rock star of specialty vegetable farming. The 65-year-old Chiba native, who’s been tilling the same land that’s been in his family for over 100 years since he was 17, supplies vegetables to some of Tokyo’s top eateries, such as Ristorante Hiro Centro in Marunouchi and the Michelin 3-star rated Quintessence in Shirokanedai. His chicory radicchio is said to rival the best produced in Europe, and his rucola (or rocket) is now legendary among Tokyo’s gourmet elite. Today, more than 130 restaurants across Japan buy his produce. (Japan Times)
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Taiyaki — literally “baked sea bream” but actually referring to golden fish-shaped cakes that were invented 100 years ago — have lately been all the rage. Fillings are no longer limited to the traditional sweet azuki bean paste, and new flavors like “Italian” as well as “white” fish lacking their trademark baked batter hue have also arrived on the scene.
A tiny taiyaki stall opened on Nov. 3 in Tokyo’s Shibuya district, where youth flock to shop and hang out. (Mainichi)
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