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As synonymous with summer as fireworks and sweltering temperatures, mosquitoes are ubiquitous in Japan. However, will rising temperatures lead more dangerous species of the bug to call Japan home?
ENVIRONMENT / Wildlife / Longform
Aug 7, 2023

The mosquito: Summer’s unwelcome little bloodsucker

An outbreak of dengue in Yoyogi Park nine years ago could be a sign of things to come if the wrong mosquito makes it into Japan.
A deceased schoolgirl lures members of pop group Generations into her world with a killer earworm in “Sana.”
CULTURE / Film
Aug 10, 2023

‘Sana’: Boy band horror flick is largely fan service

Takashi Shimizu’s film about a deadly ditty infecting members of J-pop group Generations offers generic scares with real-life concert footage.
Since Waifu began, inclusivity goals have become more common in clubs across Tokyo.
CULTURE / Music
Aug 26, 2023

Queer clubbing moves beyond Ni-chome

Those looking for a safe space to party don't have to stick to one neighborhood in the capital.
Women work in a warehouse in on the outskirts of Chennai, India.
ASIA PACIFIC / Society
Sep 5, 2023

India's women gig workers organize with WhatsApp and secret meetings

Once seen as promising greater autonomy and higher earnings for women in India, the system is now riddled with issues.
An activist in Seoul protests Japan’s plan to release treated wastewater from the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear plant.
PODCAST / deep dive
Sep 7, 2023

Anger at Fukushima’s wastewater; hope in its renewables

Good news and bad news out of Fukushima.
Prime Minster Fumio Kishida talks with his Cambodian counterpart, Hun Manet, as they arrive at the Association of the Southeast Asian Nations Summit in Jakarta on Thursday.
EDITORIALS
Sep 8, 2023

The ASEAN Summit gives us just more of the same

ASEAN needs to address problems internal divisions and maintain its role in the region.
Taiwan is following an increasingly self-reliant, multipronged approach that takes advantage of the island’s geographic characteristics and makes the best use of its limited resources.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Sep 14, 2023

In defense report, Taiwan highlights lessons learned from Ukraine

The biennial report indicated that Taiwan is learning from Kyiv's defensive strategy, including the effectiveness of asymmetric operations.
The refined fusion cuisine at Toki reflects the delicacy of Kyoto’s famous kaiseki (multicourse Japanese haute cuisine).
LIFE / Food & Drink
Sep 17, 2023

Does whisky have a place in Kyoto's fine dining? Hibiki says yes.

My meal opens with a sparkling mix of soda and Hibiki Blossom Harmony, a blend finished with grain spirit aged in cherrywood casks.
The far-right Confederation Liberty and Independence party rally against measures imposed by the Polish government to stem the spread of COVID-19, in Warsaw in October 2020.
WORLD / Politics
Sep 18, 2023

The far right is advancing in a vulnerable Europe again

Disruptors in far-right political parties are taking advantage of resentment born out of COVID-19, a cost-of-living crisis and the war in Ukraine.
What recent reports indicate is that, while abusers are being outed, the institutions that protected them for so long remain in place.
LIFE / Lifestyle
Sep 23, 2023

As #MeToo outs more abusers, is anything changing for good?

After years of assault revelations, the institutional responses that have long enabled abuse must start to change.
Members of the Writers Guild of America picket outside of Universal Studios in Universal City, California, on Friday.
CULTURE / Entertainment news
Sep 25, 2023

Striking Hollywood writers reach tentative deal with studios

The WGA settlement, while a milestone, will not return Hollywood to work. The SAG-AFTRA actors' union remains on strike.
Amgen's office in South San Francisco, California
WORLD / Science & Health
Sep 25, 2023

Big Pharma bets on AI to speed up clinical trials

AI is playing a sizeable and growing role in human drug trials.
United Hindu Front activists protest in New Delhi on Sunday over Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's allegations of Indian involvement in the assassination of a Sikh independence proponent back in Canada.
COMMENTARY / World
Sep 26, 2023

The politics behind Canada and India’s diplomatic tiff

Ottawa's soft-power righteousness over assassination of Sikh leader in British Columbia ruffles feathers in New Delhi
French President Emmanuel Macron arrives at the Palazzo Montecitorio in Rome on Tuesday.
BUSINESS
Sep 27, 2023

Macron is pushing the EU into $900 billion fight with China

The bloc's new approach is being shaped by French concerns that Beijing’s trade practices have started to pose a critical threat to core industries.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (center) leaves after the state commemoration ceremony for fallen soldiers on the 50th anniversary of the 1973 Arab-Israeli war, at the Memorial Hall on Mount Herzl in Jerusalem on Tuesday.
WORLD / Politics
Sep 27, 2023

Amid optimism for Saudi-Israeli pact, lingering obstacles remain

U.S. President Joe Biden, whose aides are driving the push, is said to be seeking a deal before his re-election campaign next year.
A harvest at a palm oil plantation in Khammam, India, in 2022
BUSINESS
Oct 1, 2023

Aging trees show a crisis looms for the world’s everything oil

Malaysia and Indonesia provide 85% the world's most versatile edible oil — but their trees are growing old, and replacing them is expensive.
Australia head coach Eddie Jones speaks at a news conference in Sydney on Tuesday.
MORE SPORTS / Rugby
Oct 17, 2023

Eddie Jones says he's committed to Australia, stands by youth push

The 63-year-old Australian, whose mother and wife are Japanese, has been linked with the vacant Japan head coaching job.
Without the World Games, the Sumo World Championships remain amateur sumo's top-level international competition.
SUMO / INSIDE SUMO
Oct 18, 2023

Sumo's Olympic dream requires fresh approach

A new variant of the sport wouldn't replace the professional or amateur versions, but would instead create a new path to participation and fandom.
Various aspects of Japan’s Sado Island — noh, taiko drumming, business investment and cultural regeneration projects — weave their way into “L’ile d’Or Kanemu-Jima,” with characters and cultures coming together in a melting pot of real-world political problems, theater styles and dark humor.
CULTURE / Stage
Oct 20, 2023

Cultures collide in Ariane Mnouchkine's Sado Island-inspired play

The Kyoto Prize-winning French theater director's latest production, "L’ile d’Or Kanemu-Jima," draws from her experiences in Japan, both old and new.
Labyrinth organizer Russell Moench sparked controversy with transphobic tweets, leading booked artists to pull out of the highly regarded electronic music festival’s 2023 edition.
CULTURE / Music
Oct 20, 2023

Art and politics clash at Labyrinth 2023

A controversy surrounding the prestige electronic music festival sparks an old debate over separating art and the artist.
Japan’s crime thriller genre owes a lot to Kido Okamoto and Taro Hirai, who is better known by his pen name of Edogawa Ranpo
CULTURE / Books
Oct 22, 2023

Japanese thrillers and crime mysteries to curl up with this fall

As the nights grow colder, pick up a recommended read in crime fiction and dive deep into this unique intersection of art and entertainment.
Prime Minister Fumio Kishida chats with Finance Minister Shunichi Suzuki (left) in a parliamentary session in October.
BUSINESS / Economy / FOCUS
Nov 2, 2023

Kishida distances himself from panel report backing tax overhaul

The advisory panel's medium-term reform proposal could mean higher taxes for salaried workers.
The Chairman's steamed flower crab with aged Shaoxing wine and chicken oil
LIFE / Food & Drink
Nov 5, 2023

Seeking 'the perfect combination of Chinese and French cuisine'

Chefs Daniel Calvert and Danny Yip are old friends, but for the first time this month, they're collaborators.
SUMO
Nov 10, 2023

Young ozeki duo may be ready to step into spotlight at Kyushu Basho

Kirishima and Hoshoryu have generated much of the excitement in Japan’s national sport over the past 12 months.
Rassemblement National member of Parliament Marine Le Pen (left), and the president of the far-right party Jordan Bardella (right) march during a demonstration against antisemitism in Paris on Sunday
WORLD / Politics
Nov 16, 2023

EU's far right joins rally against antisemitism, unsettling some Jews

The strategy is to normalize the party's image, helping politicians bolster their anti-migration agenda while rebutting suggestions they are racist.
Visitors stroll through a tunnel of autumn maple leaves at Mount Koya in Wakayama Prefecture on Nov. 4.
ENVIRONMENT / Climate change / OUR PLANET
Nov 19, 2023

Fall is the new summer: Warming threatens Japan’s cultural calendar

Climate change is disrupting Japan’s autumn and seasonal experiences, and with it the rhythm of people’s lives.
Portraits of Israeli hostages held in Gaza since the Oct. 7 attack by Hamas militants, in Tel Aviv on Tuesday.
WORLD / Politics
Nov 22, 2023

The secret negotiations that led to the Gaza hostages deal

After weeks of tense diplomatic talks and painstaking negotiations, the work to free hostages taken by Hamas militants on Oct. 7 finally bore fruit.
Vietnamese President Vo Van Thuong and Prime Minister Fumio Kishida arrive for a document exchange ceremony and joint news conference after their meeting in Tokyo on Monday.
JAPAN / Politics / ANALYSIS
Nov 28, 2023

With eye on China, Japan and Vietnam take ties to ‘new heights’

Prime Minister Fumio Kishida and Vietnamese President Vo Van Thuong agreed to elevate the relationship to a “comprehensive strategic partnership.”
Gen Nakatani, then-special adviser to the prime minister for international human rights, speaks at the United Nations Human Rights Council in Geneva in March 2022
COMMENTARY / Japan
Dec 1, 2023

Kishida’s puzzling decision to ax his human rights adviser

Why did the prime minister eliminate the post of special adviser on human rights from the Cabinet and what does this mean for Tokyo's foreign policy?
A pharmacist holds a box of Novo Nordisk A/S Wegovy brand semaglutide medication.
BUSINESS / Companies
Dec 7, 2023

Can Wegovy fight alcoholism? For Big Pharma, this isn’t a priority

Reluctance underscores reasons why no new treatment has been approved for alcoholism in nearly 20 years.

Longform

A small shrine perched atop rocks braves the waves hitting the shoreline during a storm in Shimoda, Shizuoka Prefecture. The area is under threat of a possible 31-meter-high tsunami if an earthquake strikes the nearby Nankai Trough.
If the 'Big One' hits, this city could face a 31-meter-high tsunami