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Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Oct 21, 2020

10 days of J-horror: From funny frights to shock and gore

Halloween is only 10 days away, so here's a list of J-horror films to watch each day to settle into the spooky season.
Japan Times
PODCAST / deep dive
Oct 21, 2020

Episode 69: Why we should be celebrating Japan's tattoo culture

Japan has an uncomfortable relationship with tattoos, which are associated with the yakuza and the criminal underworld.
SUMO / INSIDE SUMO
Oct 21, 2020

Venerable Ryogoku Kokugikan has allowed sumo to successfully cope with pandemic

Possessing its own full-size arena has allowed the Japan Sumo Association to easily switch tournaments scheduled for other cities to its home base in Tokyo.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Oct 21, 2020

‘True Mothers’: An intimate look at two sides of adoption

Naomi Kawase's drama tackles child adoption and teenage pregnancy with seriousness and compassion, while drawing a stand-out performance from Aju Makita.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Oct 21, 2020

‘Ainu Mosir’: A coming-of-age tale, respectfully told

Takeshi Fukunaga's film centered on the indigenous people of northern Japan tells the story of a 14-year-old boy learning to appreciate his heritage.
BUSINESS / Economy
Oct 21, 2020

Board member flags BOJ concern over risks of prolonged pandemic

A slower-than-expected recovery could lead to an increase in unpayable debt, job losses and bankruptcies that would lower the country's growth potential.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Oct 21, 2020

Japan plans hub for foreign brokers to file paperwork in English

The one-stop venue could start operating as soon as next spring, with English-language filing to begin before that in early 2021 via the Financial Services Agency.
JAPAN / Society / EXPLAINER
Oct 21, 2020

Japan looks to clamp down on illicit outflow of famous food products

Seeds being sold abroad without permission represents threat to intellectual property rights, but opposition says LDP's bill would simply hurt Japan's farmers.
Japan Times
WORLD / Science & Health
Oct 21, 2020

Doctors probe whether COVID-19 is causing diabetes

Many experts are convinced that COVID-19 can trigger the onset of diabetes — even in some adults and children who do not have the traditional risk factors.
Artistically talented 14-year-old Sosuke (Konosuke Harada) finds himself pulled into deeper currents in his coastal town in “Seaside Serendipity.”
CULTURE / Film
Aug 22, 2025

‘Seaside Serendipity’: A pastel-soaked reverie on youthful creativity

Satoko Yokohama’s film blends watercolor whimsy, bohemian houseguests and a school newspaper scoop gone too far into a youth-skewed summer tale.
A Ukrainian service member throws a grenade during training in the Donbas region, Ukraine, in April. Russia controls about 88% of the Donbas region, according to U.S. estimates and open-source data.
WORLD / Politics
Aug 22, 2025

Putin demands Ukraine give up Donbas, not join NATO and no Western troops: sources

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has repeatedly dismissed the idea of withdrawing from internationally recognized Ukrainian land as part of a deal.
A catch-all term for tendonitis and arthritis caused by excessive smartphone use, 'sumaho yubi' may be difficult to treat for gadget-crazy Japan.
LIFE / Lifestyle
Aug 22, 2025

Fingers sore from too much phone time? You might have ‘sumaho yubi.’

One doctor says the symptoms of smartphone-induced tendonitis and arthritis are on the rise for those in the 20s, 30s and 40s.
A pop-up advertisement for the newly opened Chiikawa Park in Tokyo's Ikebukuro neighborhood demonstrates how the country is chockful of cute characters — to the detriment of trends like Labubu.
LIFE / Lifestyle
Aug 23, 2025

Character-crazed Japan has little appetite for Labubu

The monster dolls may be driving fans wild elsewhere, but Japan has long had plenty of its own domestically produced characters that know exactly what consumers want.
A middle school student (Chiyuri Nishiguchi) tries to keep her family afloat following the sudden death of her mother in Yoshihiko Taniguchi’s “Happy Life.”
CULTURE / Film
Aug 22, 2025

‘Happy Life’ brings dignity to family’s struggle with grief and poverty

Yoshihiko Taniguchi’s film balances realism and compassion in its depiction of a family adrift after a sudden death.
Musical act Petalhead, comprised of Jaime Alise (left) and Riku Ogura, performs at More Than Music’s beachside event in Zushi, Kanagawa Prefecture.
COMMUNITY / Issues / The Foreign Element
Aug 25, 2025

More Than Music makes space for creative communion

Since 2018, Tokyo-based duo Justin Sachs and Atsuko Sunaga have been organizing live shows and curating a community with shared passions.
Consumer prices in Japan rose 3.1% from a year earlier in July, slowing from a 3.3% gain in the previous month but still suggesting that inflation remains relatively sticky.
BUSINESS / Economy
Aug 22, 2025

Japan’s inflation hovers well above BOJ’s goal even as it slows

Consumer prices excluding fresh food rose 3.1% from a year earlier in July, slowing from a 3.3% gain a month earlier.
Russian President Vladimir Putin (left) and U.S. President Donald Trump shake hands during a news conference following their meeting to negotiate an end to the war in Ukraine, at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson, in Anchorage, Alaska, last week.
WORLD / Politics
Aug 22, 2025

Doubts grow on Ukraine security plan as Russia demands role

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov says Moscow should have a say in security arrangements for Ukraine, which could also involve Beijing.
Displaced Palestinian women fleeing the northern Gaza Strip ride with their belongings as they head south, in Gaza City, on Thursday.
WORLD / Politics
Aug 22, 2025

Netanyahu says Israel to resume Gaza negotiations to end war and free hostages

The statement is the Israeli prime minister's first response to a temporary ceasefire proposal put forward by Egypt and Qatar that Hamas has accepted.
Democratic Texas Rep. Gene Wu speaks at the Texas State Capitol in Austin, Texas, on Wednesday. State officials are redrawing congressional maps to benefit Republicans.
WORLD / Politics
Aug 22, 2025

Americans worry democracy is in danger amid gerrymandering fights, poll finds

As Texas Republicans redraw the state's congressional maps to benefit their party, California Democrats threaten to respond in kind.
Tetsuzo Shiraishi, speaking at The Center of the Tokyo Raids and War Damage, uses a thermos to explain how he experienced the U.S. firebombing of March 1945, when he was just 7 years old.
JAPAN / History / Longform
Aug 22, 2025

From ashes to high-rises: A survivor’s account of Tokyo’s postwar past

One man’s experience traces the capital's arc from wartime devastation to modern megacity in a story of resilience and reinvention.
Rohingya refugees fleeing from Myanmar into Palang Khali, near Cox's Bazar, Bangladesh, in November 2017
ASIA PACIFIC
Aug 22, 2025

U.N. investigation seeking justice for Rohingya hit by cost-cutting

A million Rohingya, a Muslim minority group, fled a Myanmar military offensive in August 2017 — a campaign seen by prosecutors as a textbook example of ethnic cleansing.
The World Health Organization's funding squeeze was sparked by the U.S. decision to leave the agency, announced on day one of Donald Trump’s presidency in January this year.
WORLD / Science & Health
Aug 22, 2025

WHO plans to relocate units and cease some work in wake of U.S. withdrawal

The organization cut its 2026-27 budget by 21% in May, has already halved its management team, and has seen over 400 staff depart since January.
A military drill in Taiwan. Taipei has ramped up investment in military equipment and weapons over the past decade in response to intensifying pressure from China.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Aug 22, 2025

Taiwan president ups defense spending target to 5% of GDP

The move comes as China has ramped up military and political pressure over the past five years to assert its claims, which Taipei strongly rejects.

Longform

"Shake hands with Lima-chan," a statue that shares the name of the Peruvian capital looks in the direction of Peru, where a sister statue, "Sakura-chan," is located. Erected in Yokohama's Rinko Park in 1999, it commemorates Peruvian-Japanese friendship.
The journey of Peru’s Nikkei: Finding identity in Japan