Tokyo / AFP Okinawa, the Japanese archipelago home to thousands of US troops and popular with scuba divers, is looking beyond its beach resorts and World War II battle sites to bag a spot in high fashion. A two and a half hour flight from Tokyo and closer to Taiwan, Okinawa couldn’t be more different from the Japanese capital, …

  Tokyo / AFP French label Koche made its Japan Fashion Week debut recently, transforming part of Tokyo’s famed Harajuku district into a catwalk — stopping traffic to unveil street cool with a French twist. Paris-based designer Christelle Kocher brought her two-year old fashion house to the heart of Japanese youth culture, taking over a street lined with boutiques, which …

  Port Louis / AFP As the horses round the last bend, the crowd starts shouting, their cries crescendoing into deafening cheers as the jockeys bear down on the finish line. “The Deacon” noses across the line in first place and a man leaps in the air, frantically waving his arms, clutching in his hand the winning betting slip. Horse …