By Elaine Lies

TOKYO, June 30 (Reuters Life!) – A Singapore group that aims
to do for Asia what Grammy organisers have done for the U.S.
recording industry was launched on Thursday to promote regional
musicians and highlight musical achievement.

The Asia Academy of Music Arts & Sciences (AAMAS) will
eventually recognise outstanding artists with honours called the
Encore Awards, to be voted upon by their peers, said co-founder
Senn Moses of MusicDNA Pte Ltd, a Singapore joint-venture
company.

By Elaine Lies

TOKYO (Reuters Life!) – Women around the world feel stressed and pressed for time, but women in emerging markets are more stressed than their sisters in developed nations — and Indian women say they are the most stressed of all, according to a survey published on Tuesday.

But while women in emerging markets may be under more pressure, they are also far more hopeful, with most seeing more financial stability and better chances for education for their daughters, according to the survey of 21 developed and emerging nations by global information and analytics firm Nielsen.

By Elaine Lies

TOKYO, June 28 (Reuters Life!) – Women around the world feel
stressed and pressed for time, but women in emerging markets are
more stressed than their sisters in developed nations — and
Indian women say they are the most stressed of all, according to
a survey published on Tuesday.

But while women in emerging markets may be under more
pressure, they are also far more hopeful, with most seeing more
financial stability and better chances for education for their
daughters, according to the survey of 21 developed and emerging
nations by global information and analytics firm Nielsen.

By Elaine Lies

TOKYO (Reuters Life!) – The high point of life for a group of aimless Japanese men in their 20s is singing pop songs, eating beef jerky and watching a female neighbor undress — until one, for no reason, kills a middle-aged woman.

The woman’s death galvanizes her group of friends –divorced, fiercely independent “obasans,” or aunties, in their late 30s — who plot revenge against the men, violence that escalates hilariously as the two groups pick each other off.

KYOTO, Japan (Reuters) – Kyoto, Japan’s ancient capital, is a laid-back counterpart to Tokyo that was first established more than a thousand years ago. Far to the west, it is a good place to forget the current capital’s woes.

Kyoto’s wide avenues follow a grid pattern that invites easy walking, one of the best ways to explore. Strolls reveal a modern city, but one where traditional touches — a tiny shrine, upswept temple roofs — are never far away.

KYOTO, Japan (Reuters) – Kyoto, Japan’s ancient capital, is a laid-back counterpart to Tokyo that was first established more than a thousand years ago. Far to the west, it is a good place to forget the current capital’s woes.

Kyoto’s wide avenues follow a grid pattern that invites easy walking, one of the best ways to explore. Strolls reveal a modern city, but one where traditional touches — a tiny shrine, upswept temple roofs — are never far away.

By Elaine Lies

TOKYO (Reuters Life!) – After the great Seattle fire of 1889 sweeps through and destroys the city, two women from very different backgrounds form an uneasy alliance and set out on the road to a complicated revenge.

Their story, and the uninhibited world of the burlesque theater that is the backdrop of “City of Ashes,” are all shaped and shadowed by Seattle, a city that author Megan Chance feels has a bit of a dark side — and one that until quite recently had only a relatively small presence in fiction compared to other U.S. cities.

By Elaine Lies

TOKYO (Reuters Life!) – When Amy Finley moved to France to fulfill a long-held dream of traveling through the nation’s venerable culinary regions in pursuit of vanishing traditional cuisine, she expected to learn only about food.

But she also gained valuable lessons about life that helped her recommit to a shaky marriage.

TOKYO (Reuters) – When Amy Finley moved to France to fulfill a long-held dream of traveling through the nation’s venerable culinary regions in pursuit of vanishing traditional cuisine, she expected to learn only about food.

But she also gained valuable lessons about life that helped her recommit to a shaky marriage.

By Elaine Lies

TOKYO (Reuters Life!) – When Keith Dixon’s daughter Gracie arrived five weeks early and about half the size of a normal newborn, it ushered in a long period of learning to cope with the unexpected that faces all new parents.

As Dixon, an enthusiastic life-long cook, adapted to fatherhood, he found that lessons learned in the kitchen came to his aid in dealing with everything from teething to sleepless nights.