Search - media

 
 
Paige Bueckers led to UConn to the NCAA women's basketball national title this season.
BASKETBALL
Apr 14, 2025

Paige Bueckers: A basketball star Is born

Bueckers’ profile has risen amid a significant era for women’s basketball.
Mori Calliope fan Taylor Jones holds a penstick as fans await entry to the historic venue Hollywood Palladium for a sold-out concert by Virtual YouTuber Mori Calliope.
CULTURE / Music
Apr 14, 2025

Digital divas: Can Japan's virtual YouTuber craze crack America?

VTuber agency Cover Corp. recently opened a U.S. office to accelerate business in North America.
Chinese leader Xi Jinping shakes hands with Vietnam's National Assembly Chairman Tran Thanh Man, in Hanoi on Monday.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Apr 15, 2025

Xi urges Vietnam to join China in opposing ‘unilateral bullying’

The two countries signed a total of 45 deals covering areas including connectivity, AI, customs inspection, agricultural trade, culture and sports, among others.
U.S. President Donald Trump, right, and Nayib Bukele, El Salvador's president, during a meeting in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington on Monday
WORLD / Politics
Apr 15, 2025

El Salvador's Bukele won't return man the U.S. mistakenly deported

The Trump administration has deported hundreds of people to El Salvador, which is receiving $6 million to house the migrants in a high-security mega-prison.
Kimitaka Sakurai displays a sharpening stone for working on skate blades, in Yokohama on March 28. Regular sharpening is crucial for maintaining optimal performance and reducing skaters’ risk of injury on the ice.
MORE SPORTS
Apr 15, 2025

The man who helps Japanese figure skaters stay sharp

Skate sharpening is not a lucrative endeavor, but Kimitaka Sakurai has been doing it full time for 14 years, and he is a master at his craft.
New Zealand's Mark Tele'a in action in October 2023
MORE SPORTS / Rugby
Apr 15, 2025

All Black wing Tele'a announces Japan switch

Media reports have suggested that the 28-year-old will join Toyota Verblitz.
Former U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage, well regarded in Tokyo as a leading voice in the promotion of U.S.-Japan ties, has died at the age of 79.
JAPAN / Politics
Apr 15, 2025

Richard Armitage, ex-U.S. diplomat known for boosting Japan ties, dies at 79

He was a leading voice in the promotion of U.S.-Japan relations even after leaving government service.
The suspects used free AI software to create images of naked adult women, who do not exist in the real world, using prompts that included terms such as "legs open," according to NHK.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Apr 16, 2025

Four arrested over obscene AI images in Japan first

Concern is growing worldwide over the use of AI for malicious purposes including through deepfakes, which turn genuine photos, video or audio of people into false likenesses.
Chinese President Xi Jinping (left) speaks to Communist Party of Vietnam chief To Lam in Hanoi on Monday.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Apr 16, 2025

Xi’s visit shows Vietnam’s balancing act amid looming U.S. tariffs

Hanoi’s initial silence on the Chinese president's request to jointly oppose "unilateral bullying” shows its attempt to walk a tightrope between the two powers.
Iranian missiles are displayed at the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Aerospace Force Museum in Tehran on Nov. 15, 2024
WORLD / Politics
Apr 16, 2025

Would military strikes kill Iran's nuclear program? Probably not

Rather than destroying the nuclear program, an attack could prompt Iran to kick out United Nations nuclear inspectors and drive their program fully underground.
U.S. Special Envoy to the Middle East Steve Witkoff told Fox News the U.S. will focus on restricting Iran’s uranium enrichment and missile capability rather than dismantling its entire nuclear program. He later took a different tone on social media.
WORLD / Politics
Apr 16, 2025

U.S. backs away from envoy saying Iran can keep enriching uranium

Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff later posted on social media "that Iran must stop and eliminate its nuclear enrichment and weaponization program."
Chinese President Xi Jinping inspects an honour guard during an official welcoming ceremony at the national palace in Kuala Lumpur on Wednesday.
ASIA PACIFIC
Apr 16, 2025

China's Xi meets Malaysian leaders in diplomatic charm offensive

Xi was welcomed by Malaysia's king, Sultan Ibrahim, in a colorful ceremony at the golden-domed Istana palace.
U.S. President Donald Trump speaks during a Cabinet meeting at the White House on Thursday in Washington.
JAPAN / Politics / ANALYSIS
Apr 16, 2025

Trump calls the U.S.-Japan alliance ‘one-sided.’ Tokyo says otherwise.

Some observers believe the U.S. president’s worldview is stuck in the 1980s, a time when trade deficits with Japan captured the attention of U.S. policymakers.
American rapper Post Malone performs at the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival on April 13.
CULTURE / Entertainment news
Apr 17, 2025

Music, revolution and Y2K: Coachella 2025 takeaways

Highlights from the California music festival included an appearance from U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders and an increase in leather pants.
Ryosei Akazawa, Japan's chief tariff negotiator, speaks to reporters in Washington on Wednesday.
BUSINESS / Economy
Apr 17, 2025

Japan and the U.S. begin tariff talks on good terms, but without breakthroughs

Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba said there are still gaps between the respective stances of Japan and the U.S.
An Israeli tank maneuvers in the Gaza Strip, as seen from the Israeli side of the Gaza border, on April 7.
WORLD / Politics
Apr 17, 2025

Israel will keep Gaza buffer zone, minister says, as truce bid stalls

Israeli forces have carved out a broad "security zone" extending deep into Gaza, squeezing Palestinians into smaller areas in the south and along the coastline.
Chinese President Xi Jinping during his visit to Hanoi on Tuesday. Xi is also visiting Malaysia and Cambodia as part of a charm offensive related to recent U.S. tariffs.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Apr 17, 2025

Cambodia seeking China's financial support as Xi visits amid U.S. tariffs

Phnom Penh is a close partner of China, which has invested billions of dollars in projects including roads and airports and is the country's largest creditor.
Workers iron items of clothing at a Thai Son S.P. Co. garment factory in Binh Thuan province, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, on April 10.
BUSINESS / Markets
Apr 17, 2025

Vietnam’s factory-based growth model at risk in global trade war

For factory owners, what happens beyond a 90-day pause in tariffs announced by U.S. President Donald Trump is a big question mark.
Chinese President Xi Jinping meets with Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Manet at the Peace Palace in Phnom Penh on Thursday.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Apr 18, 2025

Xi meets Cambodian leader on final stop of regional diplomatic blitz

Xi wrapped up his Southeast Asia tour in Cambodia, where he signed new trade deals and pushed back against U.S. tariffs imposed under Trump’s latest “Liberation Day” policy.
U.S. soldiers take part in a live-fire exercise as part of the Balikatan drills with Philippine troops, at Laoag, Ilocos Norte, Philippines, in May 2024.
JAPAN
Apr 18, 2025

In a first, Japan will join major Philippine-U.S. drills as participant

The Self-Defense Forces will dispatch about 150 personnel and a warship to the multidomain Balikatan exercises, which begin next week.
An anti-U.S. mural on a building in Tehran earlier this month
WORLD / Crime & Legal
Apr 18, 2025

With his promises of peace unmet in Gaza and Ukraine, Trump may find Iran just as tough

Adding to regional tensions is Trump's repeated threat to bomb Iran's nuclear sites if a deal cannot be reached.
Ado opened her Sunday night concert at the 2025 Osaka Expo with “Shin Jidai” (New Genesis)” after a rain-soaked lead-up to the show’s 7:45 p.m. start.
CULTURE / Music
Apr 18, 2025

Japan wanted a cultural do-over. Ado gave it one.

The 22-year-old J-pop singer cast a spell on the first weekend of the Osaka Expo
Canada is standing up to American tariffs and territorial threats. The “Buy Canadian” movement has erupted and the country is brimming with expressions of patriotic zeal that are reshuffling the deck in an upcoming election for the next prime minister.
COMMENTARY / World
Apr 18, 2025

Is this Canada’s moment?

Washington's tariffs and territorial threats have ignited Canadian unity and resolve, reshaping the upcoming vote to choose who will lead Ottawa through the geopolitical storm.
Ryosei Akazawa (third from right), Japan's tariffs negotiator, in a meeting with U.S. Secretary of the Treasury Scott Bessent (second from right) and other senior government officials on Wednesday in Washington
BUSINESS
Apr 18, 2025

Trump reiterates opposition to Nippon Steel’s purchase of U.S. Steel

Whether there is interplay between the tariff negotiations and the Nippon Steel-U.S. Steel deal has never been made clear.
The Tokyo version of the globe-trotting exhibition features a Ministry of Magic set, which includes an imposing replica of the Magic Is Might monument representing magical fascism.
LIFE / Lifestyle
Apr 18, 2025

Calling all Potterheads: ‘The Goblet of Fire’ comes to Tokyo

The grand scale and attention to detail is likely to impress — just make sure to withdraw some galleons at Gringotts before coming.
Singer Aki Yashiro in Tokyo in 2012
JAPAN
Apr 18, 2025

Nude photos of deceased singer Aki Yashiro spark row in Japan

A record company is facing a backlash after announcing it would release a CD by the enka legend, who died in 2023, that will include nude photographs of her taken privately.
Tennis' anti-doping authorities have had to fend off a fresh round of criticism after it reminded players that if they choose to shower before giving a urine sample, they must be supervised by a chaperone.
TENNIS
Apr 19, 2025

Tennis doping watchdog defends supervised shower rule amid fan backlash

The agency said players chosen to give samples must remain in full view of chaperones if they choose to take a shower first.
Russian service members carry traditional cakes to distribute to local residents ahead of Orthodox Easter celebrations, in the course of Russia-Ukraine conflict in Avdiivka in the Donetsk region, a Russian-controlled area of Ukraine, on Saturday.
WORLD / Politics
Apr 20, 2025

Putin is accused of violating the Easter Sunday truce he ordered

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy cited 59 cases of shelling and five assault actions by Russian units in various front-line areas on Sunday morning.
Tariffs, and the risk they pose to both the economy and inflation, have been the focus of global attention.
BUSINESS / Economy
Apr 20, 2025

First shock waves of Trump’s tariffs are about to hit the world economy

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) is set to lower its outlook for economic growth in new projections released on Tuesday.
The Bluebonnet Detention Facility is seen after the U.S. Supreme Court on Saturday temporarily barred U.S. President Donald Trump's administration from deporting Venezuelan men in immigration custody, in Anson, Texas, on Saturday.
WORLD / Politics
Apr 20, 2025

U.S. Supreme Court temporarily blocks deportations of Venezuelan migrants under wartime law

Many of the migrants' lawyers and family members say they were not gang members and had no chance to dispute the government's assertion that they were.

Longform

After the asset-price bubble crash of the early 1990s, employment at a Japanese company was no longer necessarily for life. As a result, a new generation is less willing to endure a toxic work culture —life’s too short, after all.
How Japan's youth are slowly changing the country's work ethic