and Shoko Okuno talk about the September memorial service they held on New Guinea for their father, who died there amid fighting in 1944, during an Oct. 18 meeting in Yokohama of the nonprofit organization Pacific War History Museum. AKEMI NAKAMURA PHOTO

The divided East Indies island -- the west half Irian, Indonesia, and the east half Papua New Guinea -- saw heavy fighting between Japanese and Allied forces during World War II. Thousands of soldiers died there, and Iwabuchi's father, Keiji, was one of them.

Our Planet

Rice fields in the town of Ozu, Kumamoto Prefecture. The water-filled paddies glistening under the sun is a symbol of a long-running effort to preserve the prefecture’s groundwater.
Japan's chipmaking rush pressures Kumamoto's special water supply

Longform

Construction takes place on the Takanawa Gateway Convention Center in Tokyo, slated to open in 2025.
A boom for business tourism in Japan?