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Author Kazuo Ishiguro (left) and director Kei Ishikawa pose during a photocall for the film “Toi Yamanamino Hikari” ("A Pale View of Hills") at the 78th edition of the Cannes Film Festival in Cannes, France.
CULTURE / Film
May 21, 2025

Adaptation of Kazuo Ishiguro's first novel premieres at Cannes

The author says that adapting the novel — which he wrote when he was 25 — was different from bringing his other books to the big screen.
The focus of the election in Tokyo next month will be whether the Liberal Democratic Party can remain the biggest force in the 127-seat assembly.
JAPAN
May 21, 2025

More than 270 candidates to run in Tokyo assembly election

The focus of the election will be whether the Liberal Democratic Party can remain the biggest force in the 127-seat assembly.
Drawn to tea ceremony while volunteering at a Japanese garden in Phoenix, Arizona, Michele Laudig (right) came to learn a “common language of movement and ritual” that brought her into new communities in New York City and Tokyo.
COMMUNITY / Voices / FOREIGN AGENDA
May 26, 2025

A moving meditation: Finding serenity in tea ceremony across space and time

After an American writer ventured into the world of tea ceremony, its lessons transformed her relationship to Japan and brought her into communities bonded by movement and ritual.
Democratic Party for the People head Yuichiro Tamaki speaks to reporters in Tokyo on April 22.
JAPAN / Politics / FOCUS
May 23, 2025

Three Upper House candidates are creating headaches for DPP

The DPP hopes to win more seats this summer, but keeping every candidate on-message could be a challenge for leader Yuichiro Tamaki.
Onosato after defeating Kotozakura at Ryogoku Kokugikan in Tokyo on Friday. The win gave him a 13-0 record and clinched the Emperor's Cup, assuring him of promotion to yokozuna next week.
SUMO / Basho reports
May 25, 2025

Onosato set for yokozuna promotion after clinching Emperor’s Cup

The title marks the second in a row for the Nishonoseki stable wrestler and the fourth overall, completing his meteoric rise to the top of the sport.
U.S. President Donald Trump holds an executive order in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington on Friday. Trump signed orders meant to accelerate the construction of nuclear power plants, including small, untested designs that offer the promise of rapid deployment but have yet to be built in the U.S.
WORLD
May 24, 2025

Trump signs orders to revive U.S. leadership in nuclear power

The order includes accelerating construction of small, untested designs that offer the promise of rapid deployment but haven’t yet been built in the U.S.
Japanese license plate samples — the top two are examples of nationwide license plates, while the bottom two are examples of "gotochi" license plates.
JAPAN
May 25, 2025

Japan to scrap monochrome special license plates

The ministry will soon allow only multicolor versions in an effort to ease the burden on license plate makers amid an expected increase in demand.
Liverpool's Mohamed Salah after a match against Brighton on May 19.
SOCCER
May 25, 2025

Liverpool's Salah named Premier League player of the season

Salah scored 28 goals and provided 18 assists to guide the Anfield club to the title.
A broker in the city of Osaka displays a sign for religious corporation deals.
JAPAN / Regional voices: Chubu
Jun 9, 2025

Religious corporation sales rising in Japan amid tax evasion concerns

There are increasing concerns that buyers may exploit the tax privileges granted to religious corporations.
Onosato speaks to reporters after receiving a report from the Yokozuna Deliberation Council, on Monday in Ami, Ibaraki Prefecture.
SUMO
May 27, 2025

Onosato locks in promotion to yokozuna

Onosato will reach the rank of yokozuna in only 13 tournaments after his debut, the fastest among those who debuted in or after 1958.
Israelis gather with flags by Damascus Gate, which leads to Jerusalem's Old City, as they mark Jerusalem Day on Monday.
WORLD / Politics
May 27, 2025

Far-right Israelis confront Palestinians and other Israelis in chaotic march

The large rally in Jerusalem marked Israel's capture of the city's east in the 1967 war.
Onosato (top) poses with his stablemates after his yokozuna promotion ceremony at Nishonoseki stable in Ibaraki Prefecture on Wednesday.
SUMO
May 28, 2025

Onosato, 24, promoted to sumo grand champion in record time

Onosato also became the first Japan-born wrestler to reach the rank since 2017.
Carlos Alcaraz advanced to the third round of the French Open by defeating Fabian Marozsan 6-1, 4-6, 6-1, 6-2 in Paris on Wednesday.
TENNIS
May 29, 2025

Reigning champions Carlos Alcaraz and Iga Swiatek advance at French Open

Alcaraz defeated Fabian Marozsan 6-1, 4-6, 6-1, 6-2.
Lee Jae-myung, the presidential candidate for South Korea's Democratic Party, speaks during a news conference after casting his early vote for the upcoming presidential election in Seoul on Thursday.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
May 29, 2025

Martial law put Lee Jae-myung back on track for South Korean presidency

The liberal politician favored to become the country's next leader has overcome a knife attack and criminal charges on his unexpected path back toward the top post.
Anime director Shunsuke Nakashige accepts the anime of the year award for “Solo Leveling” at the Crunchyroll Anime Awards.
CULTURE / Film
May 30, 2025

Anime's big night out is getting bigger — and more surreal

The soft-power spectacle at Crunchyroll's awards ceremony in Tokyo underscores anime's expanding global influence.
Nomura aims to reduce the smoking rate among its more than 14,000 employees in Japan to 12% by March 2026.
JAPAN
May 30, 2025

Nomura’s smoking ban leads to less staff lighting up

Close to 15% of staff at Japan’s largest brokerage were smokers in the fiscal year ended March 2024, down from 21.4% as of March 2018.
Wataru Hisasue (L) and Masaya Kamei (R)
JAPAN
Jun 1, 2025

Japanese pianists win 2nd and 5th prizes in Brussels contest

Of the 12 finalists in Belgium's Queen Elisabeth Competition, four were Japanese.
U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, Singapore's Minister of Defense Chan Chun Sing and EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy and Vice-President of the European Commission Kaja Kallas attend a ministerial lunch on the sidelines of the Shangri-La Dialogue security summit in Singapore on Saturday.
WORLD / Politics
Jun 2, 2025

Asia defense summit reveals gaps between U.S. and European perspectives

U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth made clear he wanted Europeans to concentrate on European security while the U.S. focuses on the Indo-Pacific.
Toshiba's Richie Mo'unga runs with the ball at Chichibunomiya Rugby Stadium on May 24.
MORE SPORTS / Rugby
Jun 2, 2025

Mo'unga shrugs off broken hand to win Japanese title

The fly-half has finished every season in top-level domestic rugby since 2017 with a winner's medal, and he picked up another with Toshiba.
World Health Organization Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus delivers his report to delegates at the World Health Assembly in Geneva on May 19.
COMMENTARY / World
Jun 2, 2025

Trump’s WHO withdrawal could cost the U.S. dearly

Despite progress since COVID-19, the U.S. remains vulnerable to pandemics like H5N1, and withdrawing from the WHO would weaken its ability to respond to global health threats.
Lee Jae-myung, the Democratic Party's  candidate in South Korea's presidential election, speaks during his final campaign event in Seoul on Monday night ahead of Tuesday's vote.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Jun 3, 2025

Lee Jae-myung projected to win South Korean presidential election

Lee, the front-runner in the race since campaigning began, secured 51.7% of the vote — a 12.4 percentage point lead over conservative rival Kim Moon-soo — according to exit polls.
Laleli's informal shipping scene, once a bustling hub of cross-continental trade, is now facing growing pressure from rising costs and tougher residency rules imposed by Turkish authorities.
BUSINESS
Jun 3, 2025

Tough residency rules and Chinese competition squeeze Istanbul's 'suitcase trade'

Shipments have dropped, even as Turkish exports to Africa have generally soared — from $11.5 billion in 2017 to $19.4 billion last year.
A Japanese team has started a final-stage clinical trial to administer to patients with familial Alzheimer's disease a drug discovered using iPS cells.
JAPAN / Science & Health
Jun 4, 2025

Japanese team starts final-stage trial for iPS drug to treat Alzheimer's

Through the trial, which began in May, the team aims to confirm the safety and efficacy of the treatment, with hopes of obtaining regulatory approval.
Elon Musk looks on during a news conference with U.S. President Donald Trump in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington on Saturday. Musk has dubbed Trump's sweeping tax and spending bill as a "disgusting abomination."
WORLD / Politics
Jun 4, 2025

Trump's 'big, beautiful bill?' Musk calls it a 'disgusting abomination.'

The Tesla and SpaceX CEO says the U.S. president's sweeping tax and spending bill will increase the federal deficit.
The Switch 2 is Nintendo's first new gaming console in eight years.
BUSINESS / Companies
Jun 4, 2025

Nintendo’s Switch 2 console is finally here

The long-awaited gaming console hits shelves Thursday, with booming orders and tariffs making for a complicated debut.
French President Emmanuel Macron gives the keynote address at the Shangri-La Dialogue summit in Singapore on Friday.
COMMENTARY / World
Jun 4, 2025

The 'Macron Doctrine' goes to Asia: Autonomy with partners, steady on China

Macron affirmed that "France is a friend and ally of the United States, and a friend that cooperates — even if we sometimes disagree and compete — with China”.
Afghan refugees queue outside a distribution and donation center in New Jersey in December 2021. U.S. President Donald Trump's second-term travel ban covers 12 countries, including Afghanistan.
WORLD / Politics
Jun 5, 2025

Trump signs travel ban for 12 countries including Afghanistan

The move is the latest step in what has been a sweeping immigration agenda aimed at cracking down on undocumented migration.
U.S. President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping
WORLD / Politics
Jun 5, 2025

Trump’s late-night lament over Xi deepens impasse in trade fight

Exactly what the Chinese are asking the White House to relinquish in order to secure a phone call with their leader remains unclear.
Harvey Weinstein, accused of three sex crimes, appears for his retrial at the State Supreme Court in Manhattan on May 9.
WORLD / Crime & Legal
Jun 5, 2025

'No means no,' prosecutor tells jurors as Harvey Weinstein trial wraps

The cinema magnate's retrial follows the overturning of his 2020 convictions on rape and sexual assault charges by an appeals court.
The highly anticipated call between U.S. President Donald Trump and Chinese leader Xi Jinping came in the middle of a dispute over "rare earths" minerals that threatened to tear up a fragile truce in the trade war.
WORLD
Jun 6, 2025

Trump and Xi pledge more talks as trade disputes brew

In a rare call, Trump and Xi pledged to resume trade talks, but tensions over rare earth minerals and Taiwan remained unresolved.

Longform

Koichi Tagawa’s diary entry from Aug. 9, 1945, describes the day of the atomic bombing of Nagasaki.
The horrors of Nagasaki, in first person