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While there’s no evidence of deliberate manipulation, increasing opacity and inconsistent data have led to doubts about the accuracy of India's official gross domestic product figures.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Dec 10, 2024

India’s statistical challenges mirror China’s past issues

India's once-strong institutional credibility in terms of economic data is weakening, much like China's, though perhaps for different reasons.
A brewer stirs the mix for making sake at a brewery in Tokyo.
BUSINESS / Companies
Jan 3, 2025

Brooklyn brewers take on sake, America's new hip tipple

The ancient Japanese drink, which has been exported to the United States for at least a century, is being increasingly localized.
The influx of foreign tourists in Japan is pushing up hotel room prices, forcing some business travelers to stay at capsule hotels.
BUSINESS / Economy
Jan 15, 2025

Japan's tourism boom prices out local business travelers

The average price of a basic room at a business hotel in Tokyo has nearly doubled between 2019 and last year.
Stefanos Tsitsipas celebrates after winning the Dubai Championships on Saturday.
TENNIS
Mar 3, 2025

Stefanos Tsitsipas finds comfort zone after winning with 'mystery' racket

The 26-year-old's first tour title since Monte Carlo last April ended his long drought in ATP 500 tournaments and vaulted him back into the top 10 of the world rankings.
Professional cleaner Hirofumi Sakurai takes a moment to appreciate some photographs in a Gotanda apartment whose occupant died alone.
LIFE / Lifestyle / Longform
Mar 31, 2025

The last cleanup: Life and death in a lonely Japan

A growing industry quietly erases the final traces of those who die alone, exposing deep societal fractures.
America’s economic exceptionalism has traditionally been driven by its deep capital markets, culture of risk-taking, history of innovation and the dollar’s status as the world’s primary reserve currency.
COMMENTARY / World
Apr 1, 2025

Is this really how American exceptionalism ends?

Uncertainty around trade and the future strength of the dollar has led some big European investors to retreat from American stocks.
U.S. Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth's contradictory statements on U.S. military strategy and alliances with Europe and Asia raise questions about his true stance, reflecting the chameleon-like nature of U.S. foreign policy under the Trump administration.
COMMENTARY / World
Apr 3, 2025

Will the real Pete Hegseth please stand up?

The same fears remain in terms of security. Even if the Trump administration seeks to deter China, it is unlikely to shift its policy of so-called pacifism.
Declan Rice scores Arsenal's first goal from a free kick during the Champions League quarterfinal first leg against Real Madrid at the Emirates Stadium in London on Tuesday.
SOCCER
Apr 9, 2025

Rice gamble pays off in stunning fashion as Arsenal routs Real Madrid

Arsenal has one foot in the semifinals for the first time since 2009 but Rice says nothing is decided yet against the record 15-time winners.
Noriko Shakti has been living in Goa, India, since 2020 and specializes in the tabla, a traditional hand drum from the Indian subcontinent.
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / 20 QUESTIONS
Apr 12, 2025

Noriko Shakti: ‘Music reflects my journey and learnings’

The India-based DJ and producer talks about bridging Indian and Japanese traditions in electronic music and advocating for women’s representation in the industry.
Tiangong Ultra, a humanoid robot, runs across the finish line while securing the first position during the E-Town Humanoid Robot Half Marathon, in Beijing on Saturday.
ASIA PACIFIC / Science & Health
Apr 19, 2025

In China, humanoid robots stride into the future with world's first half-marathon

The 21-kilometer event is billed as a groundbreaking effort to test the limits of bipedal robots.
Vice president of events and exhibitions for Studio Ghibli, Kenichi Yoda (right), and director and Ghibli Park creative development manager, Goro Miyazaki (left), pose at the 77th edition of the Cannes Film Festival before receiving an Honorary Palme d'Or.
CULTURE / Film
Jun 6, 2025

Studio Ghibli marks 40 years, but future looks uncertain

A look into the legacy of the beloved anime studio.
A sign warning for the presence of mines inside a cemetery in Sviatohirsk, Ukraine, in June
WORLD
Jul 29, 2023

In Ukraine, land mines left by Russian forces pose deadly threat

As Ukraine forces push ahead with their offensive after over a year of shifting battle lines, the military and civilians face a deadly problem: mines.
Russian Communist Party supporters attend a ceremony in Red Square on March 5, 2021, marking the 68th anniversary of Soviet leader Josef Stalin’s death.
COMMENTARY / World
Sep 1, 2023

In Russia and Israel, national derangement runs wild

How can a priest bless a statue of Stalin and rabbis praise Nazism? In societies that are coming undone, absurd claims take root.
Self-proclaimed president of the "Free Republic of Liberland" Vit Jedlicka (center) poses with the Liberland flag and future citizens in the village of Backi Monostor, Serbia, in May 2015
WORLD / Society
Sep 25, 2023

Breakaway Balkans micronation dreams of a crypto future

"Liberland" has attracted libertarian supporters across the globe who see a natural harmony between libertarianism and crypto.
The Palais de Rumine, one of the former buildings of the University of Lausanne in Switzerland where famed-Italian sociologist, economist, political scientist and philosopher Vilfredo Pareto taught and penned many of his major works.
COMMENTARY / World
Sep 13, 2023

Italian intellectual Vilfredo Pareto and the roots of politics

The great Italian public intellectual Vilfredo Pareto saw free trade as beneficial to all and military spending as detrimental to many.
JAPAN / Society
Oct 5, 2023

The Big Issue Japan marks 20 years of tackling homelessness

The publication has survived many challenges during its 20-year journey, including the global financial crisis of 2008 and the COVID-19 pandemic.
Dendrobium orchids — highly sought after due to their use in traditional Chinese medicine — growing in the wild in Nepal.
ENVIRONMENT / Sustainability / OUR PLANET
Oct 8, 2023

The orchid obsession: How science and smuggling meet in a global trade

Love of the flowers has a dark side, with the desire for rare varieties underpinning a robust illegal trade believed to have wiped out entire species.
U.S. President Joe Biden joins members of the United Auto Workers union as they strike in Belleville, Michigan, on Sept. 26 to demand higher wages.
COMMENTARY / World
Oct 8, 2023

Down on the Biden economy: Why Americans aren't happy

The U.S. economy is doing well. Why, then, are people not satisfied? The answer lies in their pockets.
Kiva robots move inventory at an Amazon fulfilment center in Tracy, California.
BUSINESS / Companies
Oct 13, 2023

Amazon strategy could unlock $100 billion in revenue

Supply Chain by Amazon is the latest part of its drive to become a leading logistics company.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Oct 18, 2023

Defense minister’s miscue is an opening for the opposition

Can a single statement by the defense minister really disrupt the Japanese political landscape? For better or worse, it can.
A poster for Uber displayed at a Tokyo subway station reads: "Meeting inbound demand together with Japan's taxis." It also notes that its service is used in 71 countries.
JAPAN / Society
Oct 26, 2023

Japan weighs allowing ride-hailing amid taxi industry opposition

The taxi industry is opposed to any change, arguing that allowing ride-hailing is just a temporary fix that will take jobs from taxi drivers.
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.
After years of pining, gamers are finally getting the live-action Zelda movie they've always wanted.
LIFE / Digital / ON: GAMES
Nov 8, 2023

A live-action Legend of Zelda movie is in development

A live-action Zelda movie has been a holy grail of video game adaptations for decades, and now that day has come.
The world’s carbon footprint is split into three roughly equal portions: China, all developed nations and the rest of the world.
COMMENTARY / World
Nov 10, 2023

How China’s downturn could save the world

The world’s carbon footprint is split into three roughly equal portions: China, all developed nations and the rest of the world.
Sultan Ahmed Al Jaber, chief executive officer of Abu Dhabi National Oil Co. and president of COP28, speaks on the opening day of the U.N. climate conference in Dubai on Thursday.
ENVIRONMENT / Climate change
Dec 1, 2023

COP28 opens with 'historic' launch of loss and damage fund

More monetary pledges are expected in the coming days
Split over the leadership of Sam Altman, board members and executives at OpenAI turned on one another. Their brawl exposed the cracks at the heart of the artificial intelligence movement.
BUSINESS / Tech
Dec 11, 2023

Inside OpenAI’s crisis over the future of artificial intelligence

From the moment it was created in 2015, OpenAI was primed to combust.
The problems afflicting Afghan society today, such as the repression of women’s rights and conflict, are also global issues.
COMMENTARY / World
Dec 13, 2023

Neglecting Afghanistan could have global repercussions

The problems afflicting Afghan society today, such as the repression of women's rights and conflict, are a reflection of those facing the wider world.
Opposition leader Lee Jae-myung falls after being stabbed in the neck with a knife during his visit to Busan, South Korea, on Tuesday.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Jan 4, 2024

Knife attack on opposition leader raises alarms in polarized South Korea

Politics of hatred is said to have become a norm, and tensions are unlikely to ease anytime soon as rival parties gear up for parliamentary elections in April.
SUMO / Inside Sumo
Jan 31, 2024

Ninth title puts Terunofuji on cusp of joining all-time greats

His most recent victory puts him ahead — in terms of silverware won — of all but eight wrestlers to have made their debut in the past 65 years.
JAPAN
Feb 15, 2024

How dogs have helped Tokyo police for over a century

The role of police dogs has changed due to the spread of DNA testing, security cameras and other tools of technology.

Longform

Mount Fuji is considered one of Japan's most iconic symbols and is a major draw for tourists. It's still a mountain, though, and potential hikers need to properly prepare for any climb.
What it takes to save lives on Mount Fuji