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Tomoyoshi Taniguchi (left), Ryuko Neya (center) and Taiko Minami with pets at the Misogichiku Community Center in Nanao, Ishikawa Prefecture. Pet owners were told they could not enter the shelter room and had to stay in hallways and the entrance hall.
JAPAN / Society
Jan 4, 2024

In Ishikawa, shelter for people but not four-legged friends

One pet owner's experience in quake-hit Ishikawa highlights the many challenges facing such people in times of disaster, and is a recurring issue.
U.S. President Joe Biden delivers a speech to mark the third anniversary of the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol at a campaign event at Montgomery County Community College, in Blue Bell, near Valley Forge, Pennsylvania, on Friday.
WORLD / Politics
Jan 6, 2024

Biden says democracy on ballot as he makes case against Trump

Biden’s remarks Friday offered some of his sharpest warnings yet about the threat he says Trump poses to the country’s institutions.
Kim Yung-ho
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Jan 6, 2024

South Korean official says U.S. troops likely to stay even if Trump is re-elected

Unification Minister Kim Yung-ho said this was the case because the U.S. Congress had already decided the matter in a defense bill it recently passed.
Spurs center Victor Wembanyama dunks during a game against the Grizzlies on Tuesday.
BASKETBALL / NBA
Jan 6, 2024

Victor Wembanyama sets course to become a basketball billionaire unlike any other

Known to fans as "Wemby,” Victor Wembanyama entered the NBA with a level of buzz unlike any player since LeBron James.
Former U.S. President and Republican presidential hopeful Donald Trump speaks during a rally in Newton, Iowa, on Saturday.
WORLD / Politics
Jan 7, 2024

Trump, in Iowa, skirts Jan. 6 talk on attack's anniversary

The lack of mention reflects the degree to which Republican voters have absolved him of responsibility for that day's events.
Foreign Minister Yoko Kamikawa and her Ukrainian counterpart, Dmytro Kuleba, hold a news conference in a bomb shelter in Kyiv, amid Russia’s attack on Ukraine, on Sunday.
JAPAN / Politics
Jan 7, 2024

Japan foreign minister promises aid for Ukrainian anti-drone system

Foreign Minister Yoko Kamikawa said Tokyo to provide the war-torn country with a drone detection system via a contribution to a NATO fund.
Egypt's Hamdi Fathi chases after Senegal's Sadio Mane during the Africa Cup of Nations final in Cameroon in February 2022.
SOCCER
Jan 7, 2024

Stars of African soccer descend on Ivory Coast for Cup of Nations

Sadio Mane's Senegal team is aiming to retain their title and Mohamed Salah is chasing a first trophy with Egypt at this year's Africa Cup of Nations.
Voters cast ballots for the U.S. presidential election at a polling station in Portland, Maine, on Nov. 3, 2020.
WORLD / Politics
Jan 7, 2024

Trump ballot removals reflect efforts of liberal-funded groups

Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington and Free Speech for People have been catalysts for the yearslong campaign.
Masaki Sato, who owns an 85-year-old property in the Akasaki district of Shika, Ishikawa Prefecture, walks in the district on Saturday after a major earthquake struck the Noto region on New Year's Day.
JAPAN / Society
Jan 8, 2024

Still standing: Unique houses survive quake in Japanese village

Despite a magnitude 7.6 quake only kilometers away, one small fishing village stood strong thanks to decades-old smart architecture.
JAPAN / Politics
Jan 9, 2024

Arrested lawmaker Ikeda allegedly ordered disposal of fundraising data

Tokyo prosecutors suspect that ex-LDP member Yoshitaka Ikeda led the destruction of evidence related to alleged slush funds.
A Japan Airlines aircraft taxis past the wreckage of the company's passenger jet that collided with a Japan Coast Guard plane on Jan. 2, at Haneda Airport in Tokyo on Friday.
JAPAN
Jan 9, 2024

Japan unveils new safety measures following Haneda Airport collision

The plan includes changes to how orders should be sent out from the control tower.
A "presidential alert" message issued by the authorities to all phones across Taiwan is seen Tuesday after the government issued a national emergency alert following China's launch of a satellite.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Jan 9, 2024

China satellite launch triggers Taiwan emergency phone alert

Chinese state media said that Beijing had successfully launched the "Einstein Probe satellite using the Long March-2C carrier rocket at the Xichang Satellite Launch Center."
BASEBALL / MLB
Jan 10, 2024

Japanese lefty Shota Imanaga signing with Cubs

Imanaga, 30, was among the most sought-after international free agents after Japanese pitcher Yoshinobu Yamamoto signed with the Los Angeles Dodgers.
Wakatakakage competes at the Kyushu Grand Sumo Tournament in November. In sumo, early-arriving fans get to see some of the drama unfold in the lower tiers of the sport.
SUMO / Inside Sumo
Jan 10, 2024

For sumo fans, the drama doesn’t end with the top tier of wrestlers

Starting Sunday in Tokyo, myriad storylines are set to play out in sumo's lower ranks.
The New York Times website lists the city of Yamaguchi among its "52 places to go in 2024."
JAPAN
Jan 10, 2024

Yamaguchi among New York Times '52 Places to Go' list for 2024

Noting its moniker as 'the Kyoto of the West,' NYT praised Yamaguchi's traditional charms and smaller crowds
A teenage boy (voiced by Hiroshi Kamiya) discovers he has been changed into a vampire in “Kizumonogatari.”
CULTURE / Film
Jan 11, 2024

‘Kizumonogatari’: The weirdness is back and better than ever

Tatsuya Oishi combines three anime adaptations of Nisioisin’s book into one edit that retains the gore and humor of the original.
A yakuza member (Go Ayano, right) enlists a teenage choir leader (Jun Saito) to teach him how to sing in "Let's Go Karaoke!"
CULTURE / Film
Jan 11, 2024

‘Let's Go Karaoke!’: Unlikely duo's friendship hits a comic sweet spot

The chemistry between Go Ayano as a gangster and newcomer Jun Saito as a young choir leader makes their characters’ relationship shine.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Jan 10, 2024

Authorities challenge ruling over machinery export probe

A Dec. 27 Tokyo District Court ruling determined that the arrests of three people in the case lacked reasonable grounds.
Fiction such as Asako Yuzuki’s “Butter: A Novel of Food and Murder” and nonfiction like Robert Whiting’s "Gamblers, Fraudsters, Dreamers & Spies: The Outsiders who Shaped Modern Japan” are just a taste of 2024's exciting releases.
CULTURE / Books
Jan 11, 2024

Anticipated translations and books about Japan to brighten your 2024

From debut novels to classic crime thrillers, the year ahead promises a wealth of must-read titles to add to your reading list.
A little artful application of your pizza toppings can leave you feeling like you've just put together an equally aesthetic bowl of sushi and rice.
LIFE / Food & Drink / The Recipe Box
Jan 14, 2024

Recipe: ‘Chirashi’ pizza

In traditional 'washoku' cuisine, five flavors and five ways of cooking ensure balance of flavor and nutrition.
The natural attractions and the friendly locals convinced Norihiro Kanzawa and his wife, Zoe, to set up a business, Niyodo Adventure, in Kochi Prefecture.
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / 20 QUESTIONS
Jan 13, 2024

Norihiro Kanzawa: 'Smiles are always a great source of inspiration'

An adventure tourism professional and soon-to-be father shares his journey into making canyoning and packrafting his full-time job.
Clara Kumagai’s young adult debut, “Catfish Rolling,” follows a teenager who lost her mother during a major earthquake caused by the movements of a powerful catfish, which fractured Japan into different “time zones.”
CULTURE / Books
Jan 13, 2024

Genre-defying novel 'Catfish Rolling' navigates grief in a fractured land

Mixing folklore, science and philosophy with magical realism, Clara Kumagai’s impressive young adult debut explores the emotional aftermath of a powerful earthquake.
The recent surge in the 225-issue Nikkei average has some strategists believing it could rewrite a new all-time high later this year.
BUSINESS / Markets
Jan 13, 2024

Surging Nikkei may top 40,000 this year, strategists say

The recent surge in the 225-issue Nikkei average has some strategists believing it could rewrite a new all-time high later this year and breach the 40,000 mark.
Supporters of the Houthi movement hold a rally to denounce air strikes launched by the U.S. and the U.K. on Houthi targets, in Sanaa, Yemen, on Friday.
WORLD
Jan 13, 2024

The regional war no one wanted is here. How wide will it get?

Following the U.S.-led strikes on nearly 30 sites in Yemen on Thursday, there is no longer a question of whether there will be a regional conflict. It has already begun.
JAPAN
Jan 13, 2024

Spy satellite race in Asia heats up with Japan rocket launch

The probe will monitor North Korean missile sites, according to Mitsubishi Heavy, and the launch comes amid a busy period for spy satellite launches in Asia.
A satellite picture shows the aftermath of an airstrike on a radar site near Sanaa International Airport in Yemen on Friday.
WORLD
Jan 13, 2024

U.S. launches fresh Yemen strike a day after broader attack

Unlike the previous operation, in which the U.K. took part with support from several other nations, this one was conducted solely by the U.S.
“Transfer to my Account” shows dozens of "furikomi" stubs from deposits that Yasuko Toyoshima made to her own bank accounts
CULTURE / Art
Jan 14, 2024

Yasuko Toyoshima creates delight from the quotidian

A new Tokyo exhibit of the conceptual artist’s works presents a cohesive worldview about the interaction between a life of rules and deviation.
A picture of Lai Ching-te, Taiwan's vice president and the the ruling Democratic Progressive Party's then-presidential candidate, is seen on a large screen as he attends a rally ahead of the elections, in New Taipei City on Friday.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics / FOCUS
Jan 14, 2024

The coal miner's son wins power in Taiwan

Pugnacious, stubborn and a "pragmatic worker for Taiwan's independence," the island's new president-elect, Lai Ching-te, will have his work cut out for him.
An old growth forest near Fort St. James, British Columbia, Canada, in an area where pellet producer Drax is permitted to cut.
ENVIRONMENT / Energy / OUR PLANET
Jan 14, 2024

Japan's thirst for biomass is having a harmful impact on Canada's forests

Experts and activists say biomass is not the climate solution it might appear to be on the surface and is far from being sustainable.
Shipping containers at a port in Lianyungang, eastern China's Jiangsu province, on Friday
BUSINESS
Jan 15, 2024

Most Japanese firms don’t see China’s economy improving in 2024

More than 400 companies said they cut investment in China last year, according to a survey of 1,713 firms by the Japanese Chamber of Commerce and Industry in China.

Longform

Dangami House is a 180-year-old former samurai residence of the Kato clan, who ruled over Ozu, Ehime Prefecture, until the Meiji Restoration.
A house, a legacy and the quiet work of restoration in rural Japan