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Dodgers designated hitter Shohei Ohtani talks with interpreter Ippei Mizuhara during a spring training game in Phoenix on March 12.
BASEBALL / MLB
Mar 21, 2024

For Shohei Ohtani, Ippei Mizuhara was far more than just an interpreter

The 39-year-old has been a ubiquitous presence in Ohtani’s life since his move to the major leagues ahead of the 2018 season.
Kumamoto-based sakura researcher Toshio Katsuki  says Japan's interpretations of the cherry tree have evolved over the course of history.
COMMUNITY / 20 QUESTIONS
Mar 22, 2024

Toshio Katsuki: 'The cherry blossoms have been my vehicle to find new relationships'

A sakura researcher tells us what drew him to the flowering trees, how their significance has changed over time and his tips on the best way to enjoy them.
Jannik Sinner serves against Daniil Medvedev in their semifinal match in the Miami Open in Miami Gardens, Florida, on Friday. Sinner went on to win the tournament by beating Grigor Dimitrov in the final on Sunday.
TENNIS
Apr 1, 2024

Sinner relishing the moment after magnificent Miami Open performance

"This is a special moment," Sinner said after beating Grigor Dimitrov 6-3 6-1 in the final.
Ben Binyamin attends a training session for the Israel amputee soccer team in Ramat Gan, near Tel Aviv, on March 28.
SOCCER
Apr 3, 2024

Oct. 7 survivor is now a star of Israel's amputee soccer team

Six months after the attack, Ben Binyamin is the rock at the heart of the defense for Israel's national amputee soccer team.
Transfers usually take place in March at the end of the Japanese business year, but each family's reasons for living apart are different.
COMMUNITY / Voices / FOREIGN AGENDA
Apr 8, 2024

When your job separates the family

Japan's “tanshin funin” system sees married company employees leaving their families behind when they are transferred to faraway posts.
Dogs are long-lived enough to serve as better models for human aging than mice, but short-lived enough that aging treatments can be tested in just a few years.
COMMENTARY / World
Apr 5, 2024

Your dog will have an anti-aging drug before you do

Dogs are long-lived enough to serve as better models for human aging than mice, but short-lived enough that aging treatments can be tested in a few years.
“Butter” author Asako Yuzuki was inspired by the real-life story of Kanae Kijima, who was nicknamed the “Black Widow” and the “Konkatsu Killer” by the media for killing three men she dated to maintain her luxurious lifestyle of gourmet meals and a high-end cooking school.
CULTURE / Books
Apr 12, 2024

Asako Yuzuki's 'Butter' is a heady serving of food culture and feminism

The author's foodie femme fatale character was inspired by a real-life "black widow" case that caught the public's attention in 2009.
The salvaged Sewol ferry (back) on display at a port in Mokpo, South Jeolla Province on Tuesday, as South Korea marks the 10th anniversary of the country's worst-ever maritime disaster.
ASIA PACIFIC / Society
Apr 16, 2024

South Korea marks 10th anniversary of Sewol ferry disaster

Families called out the names of the deceased and threw flowers into the water, followed by a moment of silence.
Ryoma Shimoseki (90) was playing at Kosei Gakuen High School in Tokyo when he was discovered by NFL Academy coaches.
MORE SPORTS / Football
Apr 17, 2024

Japanese NFL hopeful gets dream chance on football field in U.K.

Ryoma Shimoseki was recently announced as the newest addition to the NFL Academy as he bids to become the first Japanese to make an NFL roster.
Yassine Alaoui Ismaili, who goes by Yoriyas, turned to photography, shooting motion while in motion himself, after an injury forced him to give up his career as a professional breakdancer.
CULTURE / Art
Apr 22, 2024

Kyotographie's strong 12th edition shines light into the margins

This year’s installment of the photography festival highlights underrepresented groups from around the world — while avoiding anything too challenging.
Japanese project Serani Poji, founded and operated by musician Tomoko Sasaki, was a relatively under-the-radar group during the early 2000s. Thanks to short-form video platforms such as TikTok and YouTube Shorts, however, it has suddenly become one of the most successful Shibuya-kei groups in terms of streaming numbers.
CULTURE / Music
Apr 25, 2024

Serani Poji’s retro Shibuya-kei sounds find viral fame

The video game-related pop project gets a second life after online listeners rediscover chipper cuts from a 2002 album.
Birane Mbaye, one of the survivors of a disastrous attempt to reach Spain last year, sits on a wooden fishing boat at the shore of Fass Boye, Senegal.
WORLD / Society
Apr 27, 2024

African migrant disaster survivor haunted by weeks lost at sea

Birane Mbaye's memories of the voyage are hazy, but vivid nightmares about his friend still shock him awake at night, screaming.
Brittney Griner (center) watches from the bench as the Mercury face the Sky on May 21, 2023. Griner was detained in Russia for nine months after being arrested on drug charges in 2022.
BASKETBALL
May 2, 2024

WNBA star Brittney Griner contemplated suicide while detained in Russia

Griner was jailed in Russia after her arrest on drug charges in 2022.
A Kayah woman and children carrying containers from a delivery of drinking water in Myanmar's eastern Kayah state.
ASIA PACIFIC
May 3, 2024

'Fuel for water?' Heat wave piles misery on Myanmar displaced

A heat wave that has sent the mercury in Myanmar to 48 degrees Celsius in some places has added to uncertainties of life in the camps.
Jordan Bardella, President of the French far-right National Rally party, gestures he attends a political rally during the party's campaign for the European elections in Perpignan, France, on May 1.
WORLD / Politics
May 6, 2024

Just how dangerous is Europe’s rising far right?

Anti-immigration parties with fascist roots — and an uncertain commitment to democracy — are now mainstream.
Exiled Russian historian Tamara Eidelman delivers a lecture titled “The Judgment of History” at the Bender JCC of Greater Washington community center in Rockville, Maryland, on April 25.
WORLD / Politics
May 6, 2024

Exiled Russian historian rallies fellow emigrants in dark times

Tamara Eidelman, who was declared a "foreign agent" by the government in Moscow, is one of many who are rebuilding their careers abroad.
Photographer Toko Jinno is passionate about documenting the lives of Japan’s fishermen.
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / 20 QUESTIONS
May 11, 2024

Toko Jinno: 'Eating fish is common in Japan, but the lives of fishers are not so well-known'

Photographer goes behind-the-scenes of the fishing industry in hopes to inspire and educate people to support its workers.
Things may look perfect to the outside world, but today's mom is fine with some imperfection at home.
JAPAN / Society / Longform
May 11, 2024

How 'Reiwa moms' are reshaping motherhood in Japan

Five years into the Reiwa Era and the challenges Japan's moms face are unique, though the qualities that help them persevere haven't changed a bit.
A view of Matazo Kayama’s folding screen paintings reproduced on ceramic panels by Otsuka Ohmi Ceramics, displayed at Simose Art Museum.
CULTURE / Art
May 11, 2024

Art and architecture come together at Simose Art Museum

Tradition and innovation converge at Shimose Art Museum. For it first anniversary, the venue is spotlighting trailblazer nihonga artist Matazo Kayama.
Boxer Mike Tyson calls out his opponent Jake Paul ahead of a bout, set to take place in Texas in July, at a news conference in New York City on Monday.
MORE SPORTS
May 14, 2024

Mike Tyson gives warning to Jake Paul ahead of July fight

The 57-year-old Tyson says he wants to show the world he is still a great fighter.
Toshihiro Kinjo (center), a research support technician at the Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology, inspects an audio recording device in Ginowan, Okinawa Prefecture, on April 3 as Masako Ogasawara, a research support specialist at OIST, looks on.
PODCAST / deep dive
May 23, 2024

What does climate change sound like in Okinawa?

This week, Japan Times climate editor Chris Russell joins us to discuss what researchers at the Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology are listening to.
Aliou Diack’s “Anastomosis” paintings were created at Yoshino Cedar House, Space Un’s residency in Yoshino, Nara Prefecture.
CULTURE / Art
May 24, 2024

Contemporary Afro-Japanese shows broaden Tokyo's art scene

Three ongoing exhibitions showcasing work by Theaster Gates, Aliou Diack and Serge Mouangue highlight commonality between Japanese, African American and African aesthetics.
Bill Walton, NBA Hall of Famer and broadcasting star, in New York in March 2011. Walton died on Monday at his home in San Diego at the age of 71.
BASKETBALL
May 28, 2024

Bill Walton, NBA Hall of Famer and free spirit, dies at 71

In the years following his NBA career, Walton turned to sports broadcasting.
This untitled work was completed and installed in 1994 by a prominent Nigerian artist named Sunday Jack Akpan.
COMMUNITY / Voices / Black Eye
Jun 3, 2024

How a cache of African art found a home in western Tokyo

When I first encountered these statues, I was just minding my business headed for Tachikawa Station. I was struck dumb, paralyzed damn near mid-step.
Yumi Kawai delivers an impressive lead performance as a young drug addict trying to get her life back on track in Yu Irie’s “A Girl Named Ann.”
CULTURE / Film
Jun 6, 2024

‘A Girl Named Ann’: A powerful drama loses its way

The lead actor sinks deep into her role, performing without a hint of vanity or the actorly tics.
Myo Kyaw Kyaw, 38, a member of Myanmar's persecuted Rohingya Muslim minority who is seeking refugee status in Japan, speaks during an interview on May 29.
JAPAN / Society
Jun 9, 2024

Japan's revised immigration law sparks deportation worries

The revised immigration law allows the deportation of individuals who have applied for refugee status three times even while their applications are being processed.
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."
Soldiers training at the Special Forces University in Gudermes, Chechen Republic, Russia, in December.
WORLD / Crime & Legal
Jun 23, 2024

Russia is storing up a crime wave when its war in Ukraine ends

Crimes committed by servicemen that aren’t linked to the war increased by more than 20% last year, according to data from Russia’s Supreme Court.
Lakers second round draft pick Bronny James is introduced at a news conference in El Segundo, California, on Tuesday.
BASKETBALL
Jul 3, 2024

Bronny James ready for pressure after 'surreal' Lakers move

The 19-year-old former University of Southern California player was chosen by the Lakers last week with the 55th pick in the NBA draft.
Volodymyr Zelenskyy, Ukraine's president, during an interview in Kyiv on Wednesday
WORLD / Politics
Jul 4, 2024

Zelenskyy challenges Trump to reveal plans for ending war

Former U.S. President Donald Trump has boasted that if he wins the election, he’ll end the Ukraine-Russia war by the time he’s inaugurated in January.

Longform

Members of the nonprofit group Japan Youth Memorial Association search for the remains of dead soldiers in a cave in Okinawa Prefecture in February.
The long search for Japan’s lost soldiers