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Japan Times
BUSINESS
Aug 27, 2021

The hybrid work revolution is already transforming economies

Hybrid working exposes city-center businesses to risk, but it also has the potential to encourage a more diverse range of people into the workforce.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Jun 10, 2021

‘Fortune Favors Lady Nikuko’: What it lacks in conflict, it makes up for with heart

Ayumu Watanabe's latest anime feature employs some stereotypes, but the supportive and heartwarming relationship between its central mother-daughter pair forms the backbone of the film.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
May 1, 2021

Extending the right to die

The issue of allowing advance requests for assistance in dying will become more pressing as populations age and more people develop dementia.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC / Science & Health / FOCUS
Apr 29, 2021

Her prophecy of an Australian inferno was proven right

Climate change is a politically charged issue in much of the world. But the debate is especially heated in Australia.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World / Perspectives
Apr 26, 2021

Afghanistan withdrawal: Reconciling the 'Forever War'

A scholar, negotiator and Afghanistan veteran reflects on what the end of the 20-year conflict means.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Books
Apr 5, 2021

'First Person Singular' marks Haruki Murakami's welcome return to his signature style

The writer's new collection of eight short stories is a return to form, with first-person narratives full of cheek and playfulness.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Mar 24, 2021

When vaccination is a 'crime'

It is not difficult to think of something better than throwing away potentially life-saving vaccines.
Japan Times
WORLD / Science & Health
Mar 5, 2021

'Super-Earth' may offer clues about atmospheres on distant worlds

Scientists have spotted a planet orbiting a star relatively near our solar system that may offer a prime opportunity to study the atmosphere of a rocky Earth-like alien world — the type of research that could aid the hunt for extraterrestrial life.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Books
Feb 6, 2021

Literary manga ‘The Man Without Talent’ speaks volumes in hermetic angst

The work of Yoshiharu Tsuge, one of Japan's masters of literary manga, is now available in English thanks to translator Ryan Holmberg.
“Hayao Miyazaki and the Heron" provides an in-depth look into the octogenarian auteur’s creative process and personal reflections.
CULTURE / Film
Dec 11, 2024

‘Hayao Miyazaki and the Heron’ documentary meditates on auteur's creativity and legacy

Filmed with unparalleled access to Studio Ghibli, director Kaku Arakawa captures the vulnerability and genius behind master animator Hayao Miyazaki’s latest feature.
Najem al-Moussa, 36, his wife Bushra al-Bukaai, 30, and their five children at their home in Athens on Tuesday.
WORLD / Society
Dec 12, 2024

Syrian refugees in Europe fear being forced home after Assad's fall

"I consider my life to be here. Not just me, but my children," said one Syrian refugee who is living in Athens.
For the 20 Questions column this year, writers asked their interview subjects about everything from their lives in Japan to their thoughts on news topics.
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / 20 QUESTIONS
Dec 28, 2024

There were plenty of hot topics to opine on in 2024

We take a look back at some of the best answers that our interviewees gave for 20 Questions from throughout the year.
Many Japanese dating apps have ways to detail specific interests that can be as narrow as one particular TV show, game or an artist.
JAPAN / Society
Jan 7, 2025

Swiping in Japan: How Gen Z is changing the dating app game

The once-stigmatized apps are flourishing as a new normal for dating among Gen Z in Japan, albeit with a different approach to before.
Manchester United goalkeeper Altay Bayindir reacts after making a save during a penalty shootout against Arsenal in their FA Cup match in London on Sunday.
SOCCER
Jan 13, 2025

Ruben Amorim sees signs of improvement after FA Cup win over Arsenal

After outperforming expectations with a brilliant display against Liverpool last weekend, United followed that up against Arsenal to keep its FA Cup defense alive.
Orphans and children separated from their parents in Kadugli gather to eat boiled leaves at a camp within the Sudan People's Liberation Movement-North controlled area in Boram County, Sudan, on June 22, 2024.
WORLD / Science & Health
Feb 4, 2025

Millions of malnourished children face lifelong health woes

Famines and other food crises can leave an entire generation with physical and cognitive deficits, experts warn.
A woman queues at Phedisong clinic on April 8, 2013, during the launch of the new single dose anti-AIDs medication in Ga-Rankuwa, 100 kilometers north of Johannesburg.
WORLD / Politics
Feb 5, 2025

'I don't want to die': Trump's aid plans incite fear in Africa

Trump's decision to pause foreign aid, and other orders and declarations relating to LGBTQ+ rights, have forced NGOs to wonder how secure future U.S. funding will be.
The new Nippon TV series “The Hot Spot” follows an alien superhero navigating rural Japanese life but focuses more on dialogue than splashy, action-packed plot points.
CULTURE / TV & Streaming / Wide Angle
Feb 10, 2025

‘The Hot Spot’: Close encounters of the mundane kind

Japanese dramas have been taking bolder risks recently, and Bakarhythm’s new sci-fi series surprises by centering its high-concept ideas on trivial occurrences.
The rapid advance of artificial intelligence and technology threatens traditional human life and values, but finding a balance between innovation and preserving human connection may offer a path forward for humanity's future.
COMMENTARY / World
Feb 19, 2025

Does humanity have a future in the virtual and AI age?

The virtual age and artificial intelligence are making traditional ways of life seem increasingly obsolete, and this will only grow with AI's spread.
Ukrainian servicewomen Natalia (right), 53, and her daughter Veronika, 26, from the 100th mechanized brigade, pose for a photo at an undisclosed location in the Donetsk region in Ukraine on Feb. 15.
WORLD / Society
Mar 3, 2025

'Under my wing': Mothers and daughters serving together in Ukraine

Ukrainian servicewomen Natalia, 53, and her daughter Veronika, 26, serve in the 100th mechanized brigade.
Tadanobu Asano plays real-life photographer Masahisa Fukase in “Ravens,” which follows the artist’s life from his professional beginnings to the accident that ended his career.
CULTURE / Film
Mar 27, 2025

‘Ravens’: Tadanobu Asano plays troubled photographer with scapegrace charm

Mark Gill’s visually lush film subverts the realism of Masahisa Fukase’s life story by introducing a human-sized raven as an imagined antagonist.
A woman cries while offering morning prayers to start the Eid al-Fitr festival in Mandalay, Myanmar, on Monday, three days after a powerful quake hit the Southeast Asian nation.
ASIA PACIFIC
Mar 31, 2025

Rescue hopes fading three days after deadly Myanmar quake

Intense heat, with temperatures reaching as high as 40 C, has exhausted rescue workers and accelerated body decomposition, which could complicate identification.
People queue for food and relief supplies after a strong earthquake in Amarapura, Myanmar, on Tuesday.
ASIA PACIFIC
Apr 2, 2025

U.N. urges aid to Myanmar quake survivors before monsoons hit as death toll nears 3,000

A civil war in Myanmar had already displaced more than 3 million people long before the quake struck.
The flags of participating countries are displayed near the entrance during a media preview day for the 2025 Osaka Expo on Wednesday.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Apr 11, 2025

Japan’s second city is hosting a $66 billion coming-out party

First held in London in 1851, world expos have been promoted as venues to bring nations together and foster global coordination.
Palestinian American photographer Adam Rouhana’s exhibition at this year’s Kyotographie festival shows Palestinian life, not death and rubble.
CULTURE / Art
Apr 18, 2025

Kyotographie 2025 opts for laughter and levity in the face of global strife

Artists at the 13th edition of the international photography festival find humor and heart in their portrayals of humanity.
Trumpism is attacking America's core institutions to gain unchecked power, and only a united civic uprising that defends and reforms these institutions can stop it and build a better future.
COMMENTARY / World
Apr 27, 2025

Time for a civic uprising

What’s happening is not normal. America needs an uprising that is not normal.
Defense attorney Mark Geragos speaks outside the Van Nuys Courthouse West, after a judge ruled that Erik and Lyle Menendez are eligible for re-sentencing, in Los Angeles on Tuesday.
WORLD / Crime & Legal
May 14, 2025

Menendez brothers resentenced after 35 years, allowing parole

The time the brothers have already spent behind bars means they are already eligible to apply for parole, with a hearing scheduled for next month.
Former Uruguayan President Jose Mujica reacts after receiving a tribute in Montevideo on March 26. Mujica, a former guerrilla fighter and icon of the left in Latin America, died at the age of 89 on Tuesday.
WORLD / Politics
May 14, 2025

Latin America mourns world's 'poorest president' Mujica, dead at 89

The iconic 89-year-old died of cancer after announcing in January that the disease had spread and he would stop treatment.
A man talks of his experience of being hit by a spread of fake information about him online after appearing in a reality show.
JAPAN / Society / FOCUS
May 23, 2025

Online defamation still pesters reality show participants

Television broadcasters and online streaming services have taken steps to support and protect cast members, but defamation has not stopped.
Atsuko Okatsuka tries out some of the jokes from her new special, “Father,”  at the Tokyo Comedy Bar in Shibuya in January.
CULTURE / Stage
May 30, 2025

Atsuko Okatsuka brings big 'dad' energy to new special

The comedian’s upcoming special, titled “Father,” blends whimsical comedy and family drama — just in time for Father's Day.
Tokyo police declared that Japanese young men and women were simply "not accustomed to one another’s society" due to their cultural upbringing — and thus freewheeling dance venues and foreign customs needed to be reined in.
JAPAN / History / Japan Times Gone By
Jun 4, 2025

Japan Times 1925: Tokyo police impose curfew on ‘social dances’

In June 1925, concern over “the moral effects of the Western dancing” on Japanese youth led to restrictions on social venues.

Longform

Bear attacks have dominated Japanese news headlines in recent months, with 13 people so far having been killed by the animals.
Japan’s bears have been on their killing spree for more than 100 years