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The Japan headquarters of the Family Federation for World Peace and Unification, known as the Unification Church, in Tokyo on Friday
JAPAN / Explainer
Oct 13, 2023

What’s next in the Unification Church saga?

The government sought a court order on Friday to strip the Unification Church of its religious corporation status. The process is just beginning.
Norman Cook, better known as Fatboy Slim, first came to Japan in 1990 as the bass player in Beats International. He says he shares a similar sense of silliness with Japanese people, and that is part of what keeps drawing him back to the country.
CULTURE / Music
Oct 13, 2023

Fatboy Slim: 'Let's just be stupid for one night'

The DJ shares his love of soccer and silliness with fans during his two-city Japan tour.
The senior leadership of the Taliban government arrives at an inauguration event for a canal project in Hairatan, Afghanistan, on Wednesday.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Oct 15, 2023

Taliban to join China's Belt and Road forum, elevating ties

The Taliban's participation underscores Beijing's growing official ties with the group, despite its lack of recognition by any government.
“The Burden of the Past” is based on the real-life experiences of ex-cons and the editorial team of a magazine that supports former prisoners in finding jobs and reentering society.
CULTURE / Film
Oct 16, 2023

'The Burden of the Past' addresses bleak reality of ex-cons with some hope

Atsushi Funahashi’s film is grounded in the director’s own research about the hurdles former prisoners face when attempting to rejoin society.
U.S. President Joe Biden speaks at the Human Rights Campaign national dinner in Washington on Saturday.
WORLD / Politics
Oct 16, 2023

Biden considers Israel visit, while warning against Gaza occupation

The U.S. leader also acknowledged concerns voiced by Palestinians in Gaza and Arab leaders across the region over Israel's moves.
Elon Musk’s X, the social media platform formerly known as Twitter, is allowing child sexual exploitation material to rampantly proliferate, according to Australian regulators, the latest in a growing list of legal challenges the company is facing.
BUSINESS / Tech
Oct 17, 2023

Australian regulators latest in series of legal woes for Musk's X

X is allowing child sexual exploitation material to rampantly proliferate across the platform, according to Australian regulators.
A young man (Yuki Kura, left) who isn’t well-versed in wooing attempts to strike up a relationship with a convenience store clerk (Haruka Imou) he has a crush on in “How to Find a Lover.”
CULTURE / Film
Oct 19, 2023

‘How to Find a Lover’: Quirky rom-com is deeper than it seems

Koji Maeda keeps the film’s tone fun and offbeat while not shying away from the emotional wounds of its lead characters.
Obtaining dual nationality and having it uniformly recognized by authorities in Japan is no simple matter.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Oct 19, 2023

When Japan's dual nationality ban meets a legal gray zone

Lawyer Yuri Kondo decided to naturalize as an American citizen. What followed was a mix of ambiguity and the feeling of a loss of identity.
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.
JAPAN / Politics
Oct 20, 2023

Former finance minister elected as Lower House speaker

The 79-year-old Fukushiro Nukaga, a 13-term Diet member and former finance minister, was chosen, replacing Hiroyuki Hosoda.
A Chinese warship fires toward the shore during a military drill near the Taiwan-controlled Matsu Islands, which lie off the Chinese coast.
WORLD
Oct 21, 2023

China weighs options to blunt U.S. sanctions in a Taiwan conflict

The sanctions against Russia have prompted Chinese economists and geopolitical analysts to examine how China should mitigate extreme scenarios.
JAPAN / Politics / ANALYSIS
Oct 23, 2023

In blow to Kishida, LDP loses one of two seats in by-elections

An independent candidate backed by the opposition won in the Tokushima-Kochi Lower House race, while the LDP pick won in the Nagasaki Upper House poll.
A view of destroyed houses in the Beit Hanoun district of Gaza Strip as seen from Sderot, Israel, on Saturday.
WORLD / Politics
Oct 23, 2023

Israel strikes Gaza and Lebanon as Netanyahu convenes generals

Israel has amassed tanks and troops near the fenced border around Gaza for a planned ground invasion aiming to annihilate Hamas.
JAPAN / Politics
Oct 24, 2023

Japan taps new U.S. and China envoys as Tokyo looks to balance ties

The appointments of new envoys to the U.S. and China come amid growing rivalry between Washington and Beijing.
JAPAN / Science & Health
Oct 24, 2023

Sawai joins list of drugmakers known for manufacturing misconduct

The company had been fraudulently using capsules with new, replaced outer shells for post-approval quality testing, in place of ones it should have used.
Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi and U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken arrive to speak to the press prior to meetings at the State Department in Washington on Thursday.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Oct 27, 2023

Top U.S. and China envoys seek 'in-depth' dialogue to stabilize ties

Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi met U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken for talks that could pave the way for a meeting of the two countries' leaders.
Tokyo now boasts five different Quidditch teams, while universities in Osaka and Kyoto also play host to their own clubs.
COMMUNITY / Issues / The Foreign Element
Nov 4, 2023

'Accio broomstick!' Quidditch is back and open to everyone

From relatively humble beginnings, Quidditch has continued to grow in popularity across Japan.
JAPAN / Politics
Oct 27, 2023

Amid scrutiny, Kishida emphasizes tax cuts to pull out from deflation

The Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan has heavily criticized the government for its belated response to rising inflation.
Smoke rises from a leveled building as people gather amid the destruction in the aftermath of an Israeli strike on Gaza City on Thursday.
WORLD / Politics
Oct 28, 2023

Israel rebuffs allies’ calls to ‘pause’ Gaza assault

The issue has opened the first public split between Israel and its backers, including the U.S., the EU, U.K. and other G7 members such as Japan.
A member of the Chinese military holds a microphone emblazoned with the symbol of the Beijing Xiangshan Forum in Beijing on Sunday.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Oct 29, 2023

China kick-starts Xiangshan Forum in absence of defense minister

China's biggest annual show of military diplomacy started Sunday, as Beijing looks to draw developing countries closer in its rivalry with the U.S.
JAPAN / Politics
Oct 29, 2023

Eyeing China, G7 calls for 'immediate repeal' of bans on Japanese food

The ministers, after meeting in Osaka, did not mention China but denounced what they consider its rising economic coercion through trade.
Smoke rises from northern Gaza after an Israeli airstrike, seen from Sderot, Israel, on Sunday.
WORLD / Politics
Oct 30, 2023

Israel pounds Gaza's north as it steps up ground assault

Palestinians in northern Gaza reported fierce air and artillery strikes early Monday as Israeli troops backed by tanks pressed into the enclave.
Toyota’s gigacast rear component. The company plans to employ the gigacasting technology in making electric vehicles.
BUSINESS / Companies
Oct 30, 2023

Tesla’s latest disruption in carmaking draws followers in Japan

Carmakers in Japan are starting to embrace gigacasting as they seek to make up for lost ground in the shift to EVs.
BASEBALL / Japanese Baseball
Oct 30, 2023

In the Japan Series, it’s a tale of two fanbases

The Tigers and Buffaloes have a lot of similarities, but there's a yawning gap in the support, enthusiasm and attention paid to each Kansai club.
Japan's industrial output increased a smaller-than-expected 0.2% in September.
BUSINESS / Economy
Oct 31, 2023

Japan's September industrial production growth misses consensus

Factory output increased 0.2% from a month earlier, missing economist expectations of a 2.5% gain.
BASEBALL / Japanese Baseball
Nov 1, 2023

How Yuki Udagawa’s steely nerves quieted Koshien’s raucous crowd

Instead of being rattled, Yuki Udagawa fed off the electric energy pulsating through the stadium as he protected a one-run lead in a 5-4 win.
The Hong Kong skyline. The city's sedition law — one of the legacies of British rule — had remained dormant for over half a century but saw a resurgence in use following the 2019 protests and subsequent unrest.
ASIA PACIFIC / Crime & Legal
Nov 3, 2023

H.K. student gets two-month sentence for 'seditious' posts from Japan

The court said she had violated a colonial-era sedition law by expressing support for Hong Kong independence in posts mostly made while studying in Japan.
Palestinian Hamas militants take part in a rally marking the 31st anniversary of Hamas' founding, in Gaza City, in the Gaza Strip, in December 2018.
WORLD / Politics / ANALYSIS
Nov 4, 2023

How Hamas aims to trap Israel in Gaza quagmire

The militant group has prepared for a drawn-out war and believes it can hold up Israel's advance to force its archenemy to agree to a cease-fire.
Members of the international press gather on a hill in Sderot, Israel, with a view of the Gaza Strip, on Oct. 28.
WORLD
Nov 4, 2023

In Israel-Hamas war, recycled images from past conflicts can undercut true toll

Videos and photos of the conflict are competing with misappropriated depictions of unrelated tragedies.
A stock board in Beijing last month. China’s benchmark CSI 300 has slumped 7.4% as a faltering economy dashed optimism over the nation’s reopening from COVID-19 restrictions.
BUSINESS / Markets
Nov 4, 2023

Japan’s fading rally drives some investors to cheap China shares

Japanese stocks have trounced their Chinese peers this year, but some investors are betting the tide is about to turn.

Longform

Dangami House is a 180-year-old former samurai residence of the Kato clan, who ruled over Ozu, Ehime Prefecture, until the Meiji Restoration.
A house, a legacy and the quiet work of restoration in rural Japan