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U.S. gymnastics team coach Bela Karolyi watches over a training session in Sydney in September 2000.
OLYMPICS
Nov 17, 2024

Famed gymnastics coach Bela Karolyi dies at 82

Known as a strict disciplinarian, Karolyi was a controversial figure at times.
After almost a decade of traveling around the world, a working holiday during the 2019 ski season in Nozawa Onsen was to be Rowie Geraerts’ last hurrah before she settled down in Australia.
COMMUNITY / Our Lives
Nov 25, 2024

How a solo yoga teacher built a wellness community in the Japanese Alps

A budding entrepreneur from Australia, Rowie Geraerts has created Shizen Collective in Nozawa Onsen — a new home for herself, locals and visitors.
Members of the Maori community and their supporters take part in a protest about indigenous rights outside of New Zealand's parliament in Wellington on Nov. 19.
COMMENTARY / World
Nov 26, 2024

Shadow of the British Empire hangs over New Zealand's treaty debate

The controversy over one of the nation’s founding documents touches a raw nerve. The agreement has two versions, one in English and the other in Maori.
In the absence of a long-term revitalization strategy, the historic city of Venice will remain on the path to becoming a cultural mausoleum.
COMMENTARY / World
Dec 1, 2024

Venice’s beauty curse

UNESCO’s World Heritage designation for Venice comprises the city in its entirety, rather than select buildings or neighborhoods.
Students at Hiroshima University’s School of Dentistry offer silent prayers for the donors of bodies before they practice anatomy on the cadavers in late October.
JAPAN / Science & Health / Regional Voices: Chugoku
Dec 16, 2024

In death, body donors become silent teachers for medical students

Practical training on cadavers significantly increases the understanding of the human body, says one professor.
A TikTok creator and advocate wears a button showing support outside of the U.S. Court of Appeals on Sept. 16 in Washington, D.C.
BUSINESS / Tech
Dec 9, 2024

‘It’s for real this time’: TikTok creators react to potential ban

Many of TikTok’s users seemed to have only just begun to grasp that the app could be on its last legs in this country.
A handout photo shows Kosuke Nozaki (right), who was found dead of a drug overdose, and Saki Sudo, who was his wife.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Dec 12, 2024

28-year-old widow of ‘Don Juan of Kishu’ acquitted of his murder

Prosecutors had argued that Saki Sudo, 28, somehow caused her wealthy 77-year-old husband Kosuke Nozaki to ingest drugs, resulting in a fatal overdose.
Tokyo Union Church volunteers prepare food for unhoused individuals. The church helps people regardless of religion, race or sexuality.
COMMUNITY / Issues / The Foreign Element
Dec 16, 2024

From the stage to the streets, make a difference this holiday season

Discover the joy of giving back through a variety of charitable efforts. Helping others helps you, too.
Satoyo Kojika, who has run a barbershop inside the parliament building for more than half a century
JAPAN / Politics / Regional Voices: Fukushima
Dec 23, 2024

Woman who ran a parliament barbershop for half a century retires

The shop has been run by Satoyo Kojika, 85, a native of the village of Kawauchi in Fukushima Prefecture.
Rivers and canals meander through many of the townships in Ningbo, with some homes built close to the water.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Dec 19, 2024

Can China shield the biggest uninsured economy from floods?

Only about 10% of Chinese families have a home insurance policy, compared to nearly 90% in the U.S.
Rescuers work at a site of a residential building heavily damaged by a Russian missile strike in Zaporizhzhia, Ukraine, in October 2022.
WORLD
Dec 24, 2024

How one man became a Ukrainian traitor and Russian spy

Before the full-scale invasion, Ukrainian nationals were mainly recruited during trips to Russia, but approaches are more often made online now using social networks.
Keisuke Oma closes his eyes as he talks about memories with his family, in Kanazawa, Ishikawa Prefecture, on Dec. 7
JAPAN
Dec 28, 2024

One year after Ishikawa quake, a mourning father tries to persevere

As Keisuke Oma tries to cope with losing his wife and three children, he finds comfort in the family motto: "If we try, we can certainly do it."
An undated photo of a poster in a window promoting shows at Lincoln Center by Shen Yun, which in its 2023-2024 season performed more than 800 times on five continents, in New York. Over the past decade, the dance group Shen Yun Performing Arts has made money at a staggering rate in large part by getting followers of the Falun Gong religious movement to work for free and pay its bills.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Dec 31, 2024

How Shen Yun tapped religious fervor to make $266 million

Shen Yun’s success flows in part from its ability to pack venues worldwide — while exploiting young, low-paid performers with little regard for their health or well-being.
Solar panels, which typically last 20 to 30 years, will begin to reach the end of their service life in the next decade.
JAPAN
Jan 5, 2025

Disposal of used solar panels emerging as challenge in Japan

The annual amount of solar panels discarded as waste is seen peaking at some 500,000 tons in the early 2040s, putting a major strain on industrial waste treatment facilities.
NHK’s latest taiga period drama, “Unbound,” centers on Tsutaya Juzaburo (Ryusei Yokohama), a commoner who becomes a successful bookseller and publisher.
CULTURE / TV & Streaming
Jan 10, 2025

‘Unbound’ breaks NHK period drama tradition with a hero of the common folk

Public broadcaster NHK marks its 100th anniversary by flipping the script on its long-running period drama series.
From the mid-2000s onward, Ryuichi Sakamoto created a number of installation works, often in collaboration with Shiro Takatani, of multimedia art collective Dumb Type.
CULTURE / Art
Jan 17, 2025

A slow dive into ‘a moment and an eternity’ with Ryuichi Sakamoto

New exhibition “Seeing Sound, Hearing Time” is the first comprehensive overview of the musician’s installation work presented in Japan.
Terunofuji won 10 titles in sumo's top division during his career.
SUMO
Jan 17, 2025

Yokozuna Terunofuji retires after injury-plagued career

Terunofuji, who has already acquired Japanese citizenship, will become a stablemaster after his retirement.
Fuji TV is losing more advertisers following allegations about inappropriate behavior by a celebrity host and questions about its handling of the case.
JAPAN
Jan 19, 2025

Fuji TV loses more advertisers amid inquiry into host’s behavior

Insurance firm Dai-ichi Life Insurance and telecommunications company NTT East have decided to suspend ads on the major broadcaster.
People walk in front of billboards in a subway station in Shanghai on Jan. 16.
BUSINESS / Economy
Jan 22, 2025

China's frugal young adults accelerate saving, raising economic risks

Some economists warn entrenched saving could hollow out demand just as policymakers are counting on domestic consumption to bolster China's GDP.
Teruko Nakazawa, a retired unpaid parole officer (back), talks with her former parolee in the smoking room of a cafe in Tokyo. Around 47,000 citizen volunteers  far outnumber the 1,000 salaried probation officers working in Japan.
JAPAN / Society / FOCUS
Jan 23, 2025

Japan's unpaid parole officers are driven by a 'love for humanity'

The around 47,000 citizen volunteers far outnumber the 1,000 salaried probation officers in Japan.
Aside from purely aesthetics, the flowers in Mika Ninagawa’s art carry deep cultural and spiritual meaning.
CULTURE / Art
Jan 25, 2025

Mika Ninagawa transforms the Kyocera Museum into a vibrant dreamworld

The artist’s most expansive exhibition in the Kansai region to date is an experience that straddles the boundaries of photography, film and installation art.
Rodgers (right) was a longtime managing editor of Kyoto Journal and, alongside colleagues like Susan Pavloska (left) and John Einarsen (center), helped make it one of Japan’s leading English-language publications.
COMMUNITY / Our Lives
Jan 27, 2025

Ken Rodgers, a fixture of the Kyoto literary scene, dies at 72

Hailing from Australia, Rodgers made a home and community for himself in Japan’s ancient capital across more than four decades.
The third patient to receive a genetically engineered pig kidney is thriving post-transplant, providing valuable insights into animal-to-human organ replacement and bringing the field closer to clinical trials. 
COMMENTARY / World
Jan 27, 2025

Why a recent pig kidney transplant is a major advance

The 53-year-old woman who received the genetically modified animal organ is the ideal recipient to push science forward.
A woman walks past a mural adorning a family clinic in Nairobi in 2017.
WORLD / Society
Jan 28, 2025

Trump 2.0 instills fear in African abortion activists

Trump has reinstated an anti-abortion pact that cuts off U.S. funds to foreign charities that provide or promote abortions.
Myanmar migrant worker Ma Phyu in her apartment in Samut Sakhon province, Thailand
ASIA PACIFIC
Jan 31, 2025

Misery continues for Myanmar exiles four years on from coup

Those who fled to Thailand scrape by doing hard jobs for little pay — often living in fear of being arrested and sent back to Myanmar.
The rubble of destroyed buildings in Jabalia on Jan. 30
WORLD / Society
Feb 7, 2025

Trump call for Gazan exit echoes in destroyed homes

The war has stopped after 16 months, but the destruction left in its wake leaves Palestinians in a daily battle of trying to decide whether to stay or go.
“Yasuko, Songs of Days Past” centers on a real-life love triangle between poet Chuya Nakahara (Taisei Kido, left), actor Yasuko Hasegawa (Suzu Hirose, center) and literary critic Hideo Kobayashi (Masaki Okada).
CULTURE / Film
Feb 20, 2025

‘Yasuko, Songs of Days Past’ puts overlooked star in the spotlight

Kichitaro Negishi’s drama, based on a real-life love triangle among notable figures of the Japanese literati, captures the flavor of a bygone era.
From left: "Conclave" cast members Sergio Castellitto, John Lithgow, Isabella Rossellini and Ralph Fiennes pose with the awards for Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture at the 31st Screen Actors Guild Awards, in Los Angeles.
CULTURE / Entertainment news
Feb 24, 2025

Vatican thriller 'Conclave' wins top prize in SAG Awards upset

"Conclave" surprises with a SAG Award win for best cast, suggesting it may have a real shot at upsetting the Oscars' Best Picture race.
A scientific officer works in the research lab at the University of Cape Town's Institute of Infectious Disease and Molecular Medicine, in Cape Town, South Africa on Feb. 17.
WORLD / Science & Health
Feb 28, 2025

Services to millions of people collapse as USAID cuts contracts worldwide

Among those to get termination notices were major U.N. health programs, which might have different sources of funding, and smaller groups that relied mostly on U.S. grants.
Director Sean Baker (center) poses with the Oscars for best picture, best director, best film editing and best original screenplay for "Anora" as producers Alex Coco and Samantha Quan pose with the Oscar for best picture for "Anora" in the Oscars photo room at the 97th Academy Awards.
CULTURE / Film
Mar 3, 2025

Small-budget sex worker romp 'Anora' triumphs at Oscars

Sean Baker's dark comedy scooped up five awards including best picture at this year's Academy Awards, which was a relatively staid affair compared to previous editions.

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