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Commuters take a subway home at Sungsu station in Seoul on July 15.
BUSINESS / Companies
Aug 6, 2024

Declaring ‘crisis,’ South Korean firms tell managers to work more

In South Korea, the five-day workweek is only a generation old, introduced by labor laws in 2004.
A woman checks her phone as she stands amid the rubble of a building destroyed during Israeli bombardment in Gaza City's Sheikh Radwan neighborhood on Sunday.
WORLD
Aug 12, 2024

In Gaza, keeping the internet on can cost lives but also save them

Preserving the war-torn territory's internet connection comes at a price and the risks can be deadly for desperate users.
For centuries, Japanese people have been scaring themselves with horror stories as a way of cooling down during the stifling summer months.
CULTURE / Books
Aug 16, 2024

New tales in translation to give you chills and thrills this summer

Recent fright-filled releases with supernatural creatures, shrewd sleuths and creepy killers provide welcome relief from the sweltering heat.
An artist's impression of a large asteroid impacting at Chicxulub on the Mexican coastline, which caused the end-Cretaceous mass extinction, 66 million years ago, with the planet Mars and asteroid bodies in the background.
WORLD / Science & Health
Aug 16, 2024

Asteroid that doomed the dinosaurs originated beyond Jupiter

After migrating inward to become part of the main asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter, the asteroid was somehow sent hurtling in the direction of Earth.
Only two other class of persons were treated with anything like the merciless ferocity meted out to lovers: subversives and Christians.
JAPAN / History / The Living Past
Aug 17, 2024

Love was a most subversive affair in Edo Japan

As the shogunate required order in society, love was seen as a threat to rational thinking — something that you might die for.
South Africa's 49-year-old skateboarding Olympian, Dallas Oberholzer, competes in the men's prelims during the Paris Games on Aug. 7.
COMMENTARY / World
Aug 16, 2024

The oldest Olympians might hold the key to slowing down aging

As we age, the number of mitochondria in our cells declines, but that happens much more slowly in people who continue to do strenuous exercise.
Masako Egawa forged a successful career in business and academia in the United States and Japan.
BUSINESS / WOMEN AT WORK
Sep 1, 2024

A quiet triumph of excellence in the worlds of banking and academia

Masako Egawa navigated a changing business world with her arms open to any opportunities that came along.
A wall mural depicting Nintendo's Super Mario characters in an underground walkway in Kyoto. The company will open the Nintendo Museum in October.
BUSINESS / Companies
Aug 20, 2024

Nintendo to open museum showcasing video game history this fall

The museum in Uji, Kyoto Prefecture, will feature vintage video games and an interactive shoot-em-up with Super Mario characters.
A satellite image shows Typhoon Shanshan south of Kyushu on Wednesday afternoon
JAPAN
Aug 28, 2024

Typhoon Shanshan batters Kyushu ahead of likely landfall

Shanshan could make landfall later Thursday while still a very strong storm, and its slow movement means it will deliver dangerous impacts over a prolonged period.
Republican presidential nominee and former U.S. President Donald Trump speaks as he attends a town hall event in La Crosse, Wisconsin, on Thursday.
WORLD / Politics
Aug 30, 2024

Trump's high-wire act on abortion angers conservatives

The Republican nominee, who often brags about his role in overturning the constitutional right to abortion in the U.S., now claims to promote "reproductive rights."
Republican presidential nominee and former U.S. President Donald Trump dances during a campaign rally at the Cambria County War Memorial Arena in Johnstown, Pennsylvania,  on Friday.
WORLD / Politics
Aug 31, 2024

Trump moves to contain fallout of abortion and IVF rows

The ex-president has been under fire from conservatives over an announcement that in a second term he would ensure free in vitro fertilization.
Britain's Lucy Shuker says there is more work to be done to make things easier for people with disabilities.
PARALYMPICS / Tennis
Sep 1, 2024

Paralympic great Lucy Shuker says more can be done to aid people with disabilities

The 44-year-old is trying to earn her fourth Paralympic medal.
Jannik Sinner celebrates after defeating Taylor Fritz in the U.S. Open final in New York on Sunday.
TENNIS
Sep 9, 2024

Jannik Sinner rolls past Taylor Fritz in U.S. Open final

For 23-year-old Sinner, it was his 55th match win of the season and sixth title.
U.S. Secret Service and Homeland Security agents check a former home of a Ryan Routh, a suspect in an alleged assassination attempt on former U.S. President Donald Trump, in Greensboro, North Carolina, on Sunday.
WORLD / Politics
Sep 16, 2024

Second assassination attempt on Trump is latest jolt in chaotic campaign

U.S. Secret Service agents spotted and fired on a gunman in some bushes who dropped an assault rifle and was arrested after fleeing the scene.
Sanae Tamura (right), whose guesthouse in Noto, Ishikawa Prefecture, was damaged by the Jan. 1 earthquake, reopened its doors in April.
JAPAN / Society
Sep 17, 2024

Music continues to play for Noto guesthouse after Jan. 1 earthquake

Tsuchi to Disco, which is run by a 35-year-old dance aficionado, began welcoming visitors again in April after three months of repairs.
Candidates for the Liberal Democratic Party presidential election take part in a debate in Tokyo on Saturday. On Monday evening, they took part in an online debate, during which they each made a case for what the top priority should be for Japan's next prime minister.
JAPAN / Politics
Sep 17, 2024

LDP presidential hopefuls lay out priorities for PM in online debate

Regional revitalization, work-life balance and the clarification of the Self-Defense Forces' position in the Constitution count among candidates' top policy concerns.
Marina Tsukada got the idea for her anthology “Mitsuki, Sekai” from her acquaintance with the two young lead actors, whom she first met at a video workshop she conducted in Nagano Prefecture.
CULTURE / Film
Sep 20, 2024

Marina Tsukada lets local lives shape her work

The director’s latest, “Mitsuki, Sekai,” is part of an ongoing project that traces the lives of Nagano Prefecture-based children for a decade until they reach adulthood.
The tech platforms contributing to social instability should financially support independent journalism as a way to combat misinformation and promote a healthier society.
COMMENTARY / World
Sep 27, 2024

How independent journalism can save society from the effects of Big Tech

Independent journalism is critical in verifying facts, exposing corruption, addressing societal issues and contrasting it all with the negative impacts of Big Tech.
Bourgeois is perhaps best known among the general public for her giant steel spider sculptures, particularly in Tokyo, where a nearly 10-meter tall bronze cast of the original spider has loomed over the walkway in Roppongi Hills since 2003.
CULTURE / Art
Oct 4, 2024

Japan’s biggest Louise Bourgeois exhibit yet leans into ambivalence

At Tokyo’s Mori Art Museum, a large-scale retrospective of the visionary artist emphasizes her complex feelings toward femininity, memory, parenthood and the human body.
Without Japanese outdoorsman George Masa, America might not have the Great Smoky Mountains National Park — so why do so many people in Japan not know he existed?
COMMUNITY / Issues
Oct 7, 2024

The forgotten Japanese naturalist who created a U.S. national park

George Masa was an enigmatic figure, but his contributions to preserving America's natural beauty are unassailable.
Ayato (Hayato Isomura) and his younger brother do their best to navigate difficult life circumstances in “The Young Strangers.”
CULTURE / Film
Oct 10, 2024

‘The Young Strangers’: A tough watch but thrillingly alive

Takuya Uchiyama’s drama about two brothers trying to make it from one day to the next is audacious and emotionally wrenching.
Two childhood friends (Hayato Kurihara, left, and Yukito Hidaka) living in a near-future Japan see a rise in student protests against oppressive surveillance in “Happyend.”
CULTURE / Film
Oct 10, 2024

‘Happyend’ tests teen friendship with authoritarian dystopia

Neo Sora’s ambitious coming-of-age film follows a group of friends attempting to disrupt a surveillance society with something less than life-or-death urgency.
British cyclist Chris Hoy takes part in a parade during a celebration to mark the Platinum Jubilee of Queen Elizabeth, in London in June 2022.
MORE SPORTS / Cycling
Oct 20, 2024

Six-time Olympic track cycling champion Chris Hoy reveals he has terminal cancer

The announcement comes after the 48-year-old Scot said in February he was feeling "optimistic and positive" as he was undergoing treatment.
Kazuya Shiraishi's "11 Rebels," a period actioner based on a long-forgotten script by Kazuo Kasahara, will open this year's Tokyo International Film Festival.
CULTURE / Film
Oct 24, 2024

Tokyo International Film Festival boasts strong line-up of Japanese fare

An excellent chance to see films from Japan, Asia and around the world, the annual event will kick off with Kazuya Shiraishi's gritty action feature "11 Rebels."
Today's religious thinkers face the challenge of demonstrating that faith offers deeper meaning and understanding in an increasingly secular world.
COMMENTARY / World
Oct 30, 2024

Is the world ready for a religious comeback?

Individuals are seeking meaning through alternative avenues, suggesting a readiness for religious discourse.
Suzumi Suzuki’s “Gifted,” translated by Allison Markin Powell, centers on a hostess working in Kabukicho. Rather than focusing on the protagonist’s occupation, the story plunges the reader into her strained relationship with her dying mother.  
CULTURE / Books
Nov 3, 2024

A nuanced glimpse into the cloistered world of Kabukicho

Drawing on her own experience working in adult entertainment, Suzumi Suzuki crafts a fresh, visceral work for her debut novel, "Gifted"
A cruel twist of fate upends the life of Jin Ai-hsia (Sylvia Chang) in "Daughter's Daughter," director Huang Xi's meditation on maternal grief.
CULTURE / Film
Nov 6, 2024

Chinese ghosts and grief compete at Tokyo International Film Festival

A slate of evocative features at Tokyo's major film event showcased established and upcoming directors from China, Hong Kong and Taiwan.
Shurei Sasai in Nagpur, India, on Oct. 13
JAPAN
Nov 17, 2024

Monk from Japan works to lead people in India to Buddhism

Shurei Sasai has been devoting his life to freeing people from discrimination based on the Indian caste system for more than half a century.
Izumi Suzuki’s autobiographical novel “Set My Heart on Fire” is the first novel by the author and actor to appear in English.
CULTURE / Books
Nov 12, 2024

‘Set My Heart on Fire’: Izumi Suzuki captures the heady cravings of youth

The cult writer’s autobiographical novel follows its unapologetic groupie narrator as she romps through Yokohama’s underground music scene in the 1970s.
Liberty Oilfield Services CEO Chris Wright rings a ceremonial bell to celebrate the company's IPO on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange in January 2018.
WORLD / Politics
Nov 17, 2024

Trump nominates fracking magnate and climate skeptic as energy secretary

A vocal proponent of oil and gas, Chris Wright says the threat of global warming is exaggerated and fossil fuels are crucial for spreading prosperity.

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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