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The "style architect" for Jay-Z since 1994, June Ambrose sees influences of her work across the Japanese fashion landscape.
LIFE / Style & Design
May 1, 2024

June Ambrose: ‘Cultural appropriation is the best form of flattery’

Ambrose has been Jay-Z’s designated “style architect” since the billionaire started Roc-A-Fella Records back in 1994.
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz eats with members of the German Olympic team at the athletes village on Saturday.
OLYMPICS
Jul 30, 2024

Some top Olympic athletes choose cardboard beds over king-size luxury

Star athletes are divided over whether it's better to be in the Olympic Village in Paris or at one of the city's finest hotels.
In a year of anime hits, Kiyotaka Oshiyama’s “Look Back” stood out from the bunch.
CULTURE / Film / 2024 in Review
Dec 13, 2024

Big franchises and bold voices dominated anime in 2024

In a year of major box-office hits such as “Conan” and “Haikyu!!,” smaller animators used nontraditional tools to stand out from the rest.
No. 1 Jannik Sinner poses with the trophy after winning the Australian Open at Melbourne Park on Sunday.
TENNIS
Jan 27, 2025

Jannik Sinner eyes success on other courts after second Australian Open title

Sinner, who has won 37 of his last 38 matches on hard courts, said he would dedicate his time and energy to going far in the other Grand Slams.
Gensho Yasuda’s “Make a Girl” follows an inventor whose relationship with the robot girlfriend he builds becomes increasingly complicated as she develops an unexpected sense of independence.
CULTURE / Film
Jan 30, 2025

Indie animator Gensho Yasuda paves his own way with a DIY spirit

With “Make a Girl,” the young Japanese creator takes the leap from short videos to full-length films.
While Nariaki Obukuro’s previous releases often included lyrics with specific references pulled from his own experiences, on “Zatto,” he’s stepping back to explore the joy and pain of the wider world.
CULTURE / Music
Feb 13, 2025

Nariaki Obukuro found his groove — just not on the dance floor

A J-pop insider’s shift to soul, reggae and flamenco reflects his personal growth, time spent in London and current events.
Mike Sunda at a concert in Haikou, China
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / 20 QUESTIONS
Feb 20, 2025

Mike Sunda: ‘Creative production comes with a bigger responsibility than ever before’

Creative strategist Mike Sunda talks about his influences and the filming of Megan Thee Stallion’s “Mamushi” music video.
Shohei Ohtani greets manager Dave Roberts before the team's game against the Tigers at Tokyo Dome on Sunday.
BASEBALL / MLB
Mar 18, 2025

In Tokyo, Dodgers get taste of the Shohei Ohtani experience

The Dodgers have explored various parts of the Japanese capital, and it's a safe bet that wherever each player went, Ohtani was not far behind in some form.
Arsenal's Kim Little (left) and Victoria Pelova celebrate after winning the Champions League final over Barcelona on Saturday in Lisbon.
SOCCER
May 25, 2025

How 'calm' Arsenal dethroned Barcelona in women's Champions League

Stina Blackstenius' second-half strike on the counterattack was a just reward for Arsenal's superb display in the Champions League final.
A demon prince named Beelzebub (voiced by Mutsumi Tamura) steals much-needed water from an evil ruler for the thirsty citizens of a desert world in “Sand Land.”
CULTURE / Film
Aug 17, 2023

‘Sand Land’: Summer fun with a bad-boy prince

Akira Toriyama's anime adventure is a straightforward romp, but it's also an entertaining ride through a post-apocalyptic future with lovable demons.
If you've ever dined on fresh fish, either within Japan or anywhere else in the world, there's a healthy chance it was processed via ikejime, a Japanese technique for preserving freshness in line-caught fish.
LIFE / Food & Drink
Sep 30, 2023

How the world got hooked on ikejime-caught fish

Roughly rendered in English as “locking in life,” this technique delivers a quick death to ensure freshness.
Russian President Vladimir Putin has publicly said he prefers U.S. President Joe Biden to Donald Trump, but the remark was widely interpreted to mean exactly the opposite.
WORLD / Politics
Mar 11, 2024

Putin hopes a Trump win would change course for Russia

While Putin has said he prefers U.S. President Joe Biden to Donald Trump, the remark was widely interpreted to mean exactly the opposite.
Sogo Fitness believes there's no point in working out if you're not having a good time and making new friends while you're doing it.
COMMUNITY / Our Lives
Apr 1, 2024

Blurring the lines between fitness and social club

Sogo Fitness started with a simple goal — create a community through social events based around keeping fit and healthy.
Japan has entered an era of full-fledged population decline. If current trends remain unchanged, the nation's population is expected to decline by about half from 124 million in 2023 to 63 million by 2100.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Apr 26, 2024

Japan’s shrinking population is a big problem for the nation

An expert panel sounds the alarm on the nation's declining birthrate and population crisis.
Catherine Wallace
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / The Big Questions
May 27, 2024

Hitotsubashi’s Catherine Wallace on business ethics

Active in cross-cultural collaboration, innovation and sustainability, Wallace worked as a diplomat and is now a professor at Hitotsubashi University
Michael Taylor, former U.S. Green Beret and architect of the 2019 Carlos Ghosn escape plot, said that other inmates deported from Fuchu Prison to a detention center in Los Angeles were so traumatized that they ended up with psychological problems.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Jun 18, 2024

Man who sprung Ghosn challenges depiction of Fuchu Prison

Michael Taylor, who served part of his sentence at the facility, said he felt the depiction had missed key elements of the "Fuchu experience."
Giant figures depicting Russian authors Anton Chekhov, Alexander Pushkin, Daniil Kharms and Fyodor Dostoyevsky are paraded through a carnival in central Moscow in September 2015.
COMMENTARY / World
Aug 27, 2024

When art is all that remains

Looking at the Kremlin today, one wonders, “Do they really now know how this story ends?” Art will always have the last word.
A Palestinian girl walks near a puddle of wastewater and piles of garbage and debris amid the spread of skin infections in the northern Gaza Strip on Aug. 5.
WORLD
Sep 11, 2024

Sickness a 'death sentence' in Gaza with a health care system in ruins

"We have no medical system," a general practitioner with the Palestine Red Crescent Society in Gaza said.
A farmer harvests rice in a paddy field in Tamba-Sasayama, Hyogo Prefecture, last month.
LIFE / Language / BILINGUAL
Sep 25, 2024

In need of rice and some Japanese words that describe necessity

When does something go from being a "want" to a "need"? A few grammar structures can give the listener a sense of how urgent a situation is becoming.
U.S. voters are increasingly concerned about misinformation spreading the good-old-fashioned way — through politicians sowing falsehoods.
WORLD / Politics
Oct 4, 2024

More than AI misinformation, U.S. voters worry about lying politicians

Politicians face almost no legal consequences for distorting the truth, researchers say.
A police officer stands guard on Oct. 16 near a home in Yokohama where an elderly man was found dead in a robbery-murder case.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Oct 24, 2024

'Dark lists' shed light on how Japan's robbers narrow down targets

Since August, at least seven residents have been robbed across Tokyo, Saitama, Chiba and Kanagawa prefectures with a similar modus operandi.
Kumiko Shichijo provides tips on Japanese etiquette and manners on Instagram and says videos on gift-giving and hand towels have done particularly well.
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / 20 QUESTIONS
Nov 29, 2024

Kumiko Shichijo: ‘Living abroad helped me appreciate Japanese etiquette’

Worried about committing a social faux pas while in Japan? This manners expert hopes to help you be your most polite while out and about.
Frustrated by policy uncertainty and modest stimulus, investors are shifting from long-term bets to short-term trades in China.
BUSINESS / Markets
Jan 29, 2025

Growth engine or casino? Global investors rethink China playbook

Investor uncertainty and policy shifts have fundamentally changed how analysts and money managers view China’s markets.
The monkish aristocrat Yoshida no Kenko extolled the virtues of asymmetry, imperfection and ephemerality in his famed essay collection “Tsurezuregusa.”
JAPAN / History / The Living Past
Feb 15, 2025

‘The most precious thing in life is its uncertainty’

A man of leisure from 700 years ago extols the virtues of asymmetry, imperfection and ephemerality.
Tottenham manager Ange Postecoglou celebrates after his team win over Manchester United on Sunday.
SOCCER
Feb 17, 2025

Pressure on Postecoglou eases as Tottenham avoids 'car crash' against United

The Australian has been under intense pressure with his injury-hit team languishing in the lower reaches of the league table and bowing out of both domestic cups last week.
A monument stands in Fujigane Park at the former site of an Aum Shinrikyo facility in Fujikawaguchiko, Yamanashi Prefecture.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Mar 19, 2025

Former member of Aum Shinrikyo expresses regret 30 years on

The 59-year-old man who has served time in prison admitted to following the doomsday cult's leader despite thinking it wasn't right.
Al-Nassr's Cristiano Ronaldo leads his team out onto the field prior to a match against Al-Riyadh on April 12.
SOCCER
Apr 23, 2025

Ronaldo hunts Asian Champions League glory in Saudi-hosted finals

First, Ronaldo's side must overcome last year's finalists, Yokohama F. Marinos, a club that is in a crisis after firing manager Steve Holland last week.
Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce during a preseason NFL game against the Arizona Cardinals on Saturday
MORE SPORTS / Football
Aug 13, 2025

Travis Kelce admits he 'slipped a little bit' given off-field pursuits

The certain future Pro Football Hall of Fame member says some of his celebrity activities have impacted his play.
U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen speaks at an event in Las Vegas on Monday.
WORLD / Politics
Aug 16, 2023

Yellen's Las Vegas stop shows Bidenomics can be a tough sell

Even as Americans feel the benefits, it's not clear this approach will deliver Biden the votes he needs in 2024.
More than 75,000 Kaiser Permanente health care workers went on strike from Oct. 4 to 7 across the U.S.
BUSINESS / Companies
Nov 1, 2023

Unions in the U.S. are winning big for the first time in decades

Recent victories mark a potential turning point for the country’s labor movement, which has seen union ranks and power dwindle for decades.

Longform

Figure skater Akiko Suzuki was once told her ideal weight should be 47 kilograms, a number she now admits she “naively believed.” This led to her have a relationship with food that resulted in her suffering from anorexia.
The silent battle Japanese athletes fight with weight