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"Doctor Yellow" inspection trains are set to be retired by 2027 due to their aging.
JAPAN
Jun 13, 2024

'Doctor Yellow' test shinkansen trains set for retirement

JR Central and JR West currently own one Doctor Yellow train each.
A typhoon hits Hong Kong. Scientists warn that the danger ahead isn’t just from supercharged weather catastrophes. A warmer planet increases the chances of "compound events,” where multiple disasters — natural and manmade — occur at the same time or place.
ENVIRONMENT / Climate change
Jun 19, 2024

The era of super-wild weather is already here

Floods, wildfires, droughts and heat waves have become more widespread and volatile than before.
Hjelmer Hammeken, Greenland's greatest polar bear hunter, rides his dog sled to look for seals on the sea ice outside Ittoqqortoormiit, on the frozen Scoresbysund Fjord.
ENVIRONMENT / Climate change
Jun 19, 2024

On thin ice: Greenland's last Inuit polar bear hunters

Climate change and hunting quotas have been threatening the livelihood on which Inuit families have long survived.
Naomi Osaka in action during her second-round match against Iga Swiatek at the French Open in Paris on May 29
TENNIS
Jun 19, 2024

Osaka among four Grand Slam winners granted Wimbledon wildcard

The 26-year-old will be playing in the main draw of Wimbledon for the first time in five years.
The Mioya Shuzo brewery was damaged by the 2024 New Year's Day earthquake — but not to the extent that it couldn't serve as a shelter of sorts for the region's many sake breweries.
LIFE / Food & Drink / Kanpai Culture
Jun 22, 2024

To Miho Fujita, ‘rules are meant to be broken in the sake world’

Miho Fujita knows the old songs sung by sake brewers by heart, but she's updated the tradition in her own way, infusing the age-old craft with a modern twist.
A Taiwanese sailor aboard a Taiwan Navy vessel looks toward a Chinese warship while navigating on waters off Taiwan's western coast, in this handout image released last month.
ASIA PACIFIC / Crime & Legal
Jun 22, 2024

China threatens death penalty for 'diehard' Taiwan separatists

Even though Chinese courts have no jurisdiction on the island, the threat is a ratcheting up of pressure.
Digital crime in Sweden has doubled since 2021 and become a growing risk for the Nordic economy.
BUSINESS / Tech
Jun 22, 2024

Ditching paper money makes Sweden a haven for digital criminals

Digital crime in Sweden has doubled since 2021 and become a growing risk for the Nordic economy.
For Japan, carbon credits are seen as important as the nation waits for its climate technology bets to pay off.
BUSINESS / FOCUS
Jun 24, 2024

Japan makes a late play on under-fire carbon credit trading

The government and Japanese companies see carbon offsets as important as they wait for their climate tech bets to pay off.
Shareholders queue to enter a venue for SoftBank Group's annual general meeting in Tokyo's Koto Ward on Friday.
BUSINESS / Companies
Jun 26, 2024

Activist investing booms in Japan amid corporate governance reforms

International hedge funds and home-grown investors have turned the country into the world’s second-largest market for activists.
A campaign event of reformist candidate Masoud Pezeshkian less than a week ahead of a presidential election called after Ebrahim Raisi’s death
COMMENTARY / World
Jun 27, 2024

Iran’s election could bring lasting peace

The upcoming election in Iran is more consequential than it's being given credit for. A triumph of the only reformist candidate, Masoud Pezeshkian, would be momentous.
Iranian presidential candidate Masoud Pezeshkian, a reformist, waves at supporters during a campaign event at a stadium in Tehran on June 23.
WORLD / Politics
Jun 30, 2024

Reformist to face ultraconservative in Iran presidency runoff

The poll had been scheduled to take place in 2025 but was brought forward by the death of ultraconservative president Ebrahim Raisi in a helicopter crash last month.
A boy injured in a stampede at a religious gathering reacts as he is brought to a hospital in the northern state of Uttar Pradesh, India, on Tuesday.
ASIA PACIFIC
Jul 3, 2024

At least 116 people killed in stampede at Hindu religious event in India

The stampede happened in a village in Hathras district in Uttar Pradesh, about 200 kilometers southeast of the national capital New Delhi.
Chef Hiroyuki Kosugi’s seasonal salad brings together 10 different local Okinawan vegetables, such as 'goya' (bitter melon), star fruit and 'urizun' (square beans).
LIFE / Food & Drink / Destination Restaurants
Jul 7, 2024

6 Six: Innovative French fare from an Okinawan paradise

"My aim is to create dishes that will not be outshone by the view outside my windows," says chef Hiroyuki Kosugi.
British Prime Minister Keir Starmer delivers the first speech of his premiership outside No. 10 Downing St. in London on Friday, following his Labour Party's win in the general election.
WORLD
Jul 6, 2024

New U.K. PM Keir Starmer speaks to world leaders and names top team

Starmer named Rachel Reeves the U.K.'s first female finance minister and appointed David Lammy as foreign secretary, among other Cabinet choices.
Asami Yoshida (center) practices with Japan at the National Training Center in Tokyo in January.
OLYMPICS / Basketball
Jul 8, 2024

Asami Yoshida bringing experience and swagger to Akatsuki Japan for Paris Olympics

The veteran point guard was Japan's captain at the 2016 Olympics.
German referee Felix Zwayer during the UEFA Euro 2024 match between Romania and the Netherlands in Munich on July 2. Zwayer will referee the semifinal clash between England and the Netherlands on Wednesday.
SOCCER
Jul 9, 2024

England's Euro semifinal referee has history with Bellingham

In 2021, the midfielder received a fine of €40,000 for comments he made regarding Felix Zwayer.
In order to emphasize its grandeur, architect Gonkuro Kume designed the entrance hall of Nikko Kanaya Hotel's Annex Building with "karahafu" curved gables.
CULTURE / Art
Jul 10, 2024

Nikko Kanaya Hotel: A gateway to the art of Meiji Japan in the hills of Tochigi

Over 150 years on, the structure stands as a remarkable example of Japanese art and architecture in an era known for rapid modernization.
The members of Glay — (from left) Jiro, Teru, Takuro and Hisashi — are celebrating 30 years of rocking out as a band.
CULTURE / Music
Jul 12, 2024

Glay celebrates three decades of rock greatness

The band's 12-month-long Glay Expo takes the idea of a concert tour to the next level for the anniversary of its major label debut.
Beds that once were used by children to take naps at a kindergarten-turned-elderly center in Taiyuan, in China's northern Shanxi province, on July 2
ASIA PACIFIC / Society / FOCUS
Jul 13, 2024

Chinese kindergartens pivot to senior care as population ages

Some educational facilities are remaking themselves as a recreational center for people of retirement age and above.
The Torchin series of table lamps, made by Yame 'chōchin' (paper lantern) artisans Shiraki Kougei and produced in collaboration with Nakagawa Masashichi Shoten and design unit Tent, combine contemporary design with traditional lantern-making techniques.
LIFE / Style & Design
Jul 20, 2024

Celebrate o-Bon in style with these elegant crafts

As o-Bon approaches, On: Design looks at industry mainstay Nakagawa Masashichi Shoten’s latest initiatives to honor the dearly departed.
A lone tree stands near a water trough on the outskirts of Walgett, in New South Wales, Australia, in 2018. Energy analysts said high construction costs, plus Australia's lack of nuclear expertise and abundant land and sunshine, make nuclear a less logical choice in the country.
WORLD / Politics
Jul 23, 2024

Nuclear wildcard reignites Australia's climate wars

Ahead of expected polls, the country's federal opposition has unveiled plans to slow the roll-out of renewable energy and build a network for nuclear reactors.
Paris must complete its gold-medal transformation into something greater once the athletes have packed up and gone home.
COMMENTARY / World
Jul 24, 2024

Paris Olympics can help unify a fractured city

As Paris prepares for the Olympics, it must also work towards a more cohesive and equitable regional future, striving to balance progress with social harmony.
Iran's supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, gives a presidential decree to Iran's new president, Masoud Pezeshkian, during an endorsement ceremony in Tehran on Sunday.
WORLD
Jul 28, 2024

Iran's Khamenei formally grants Pezeshkian presidential powers

Pezeshkian, 69, won a runoff race on July 5 against the ultraconservative Saeed Jalili to replace president Ebrahim Raisi who died in a helicopter crash in May.
Actors Kento Kaku (left) and Ryoma Takeuchi star in Amazon Prime Video's new show "Like A Dragon: Yakuza," which is based on a hugely popular Sega video game series about Tokyo crime gangs.
CULTURE / TV & Streaming
Jul 29, 2024

Japan TV can catch 'Shogun' wave, says 'Like A Dragon' star

Kento Kaku says it is important for Japan to seize the opportunity to create more shows that are recognized internationally.
Israel is engaged not only in fighting real wars but also in ideological conflicts that shape its security, existence and global legitimacy.
COMMENTARY / World
Aug 1, 2024

Challenged on all fronts: Israel’s five wars

What do those who support Israel's right to self-defense suggest it do to combat an enemy that entrenches itself in hundreds of miles of tunnels beneath civilians?
Founded in the early 2000s, Ichiro's Malt has since become a third pole in Japan's whisky world dominated by beverage giants.
LIFE / Food & Drink
Aug 4, 2024

In sleepy Chichibu, Japan's whisky landscape is quietly shifting

Ichiro’s signature flavor profile of rich, woodsy flavors complemented by a clear fruitiness owes in large part to the tempermental 'mizunara' Japanese oak.
Photographer Gaku Lange says Japan's film photography scene is growing, but it still lags behind overseas communities.
COMMUNITY / Our Lives
Aug 5, 2024

Looking at Japan’s ‘tribal’ photography scene through a new lens

More young people in Tokyo are ditching smartphones for film cameras, but the old guard isn't necessarily pleased about it.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu speaks to a joint meeting of Congress at the Capitol in Washington on July 24.
WORLD / Politics / ANALYSIS
Aug 3, 2024

Netanyahu, defiant, appears to have gone rogue, risking a regional war

Absent a clear goal in the war, the prime minister's defiance is dividing Israel from its allies and the country itself.
Moved by an experience with a local hunter, Shota Sasaki has since focused on elevating the image of game meat in Japan.
LIFE / Food & Drink / Destination Restaurants
Aug 11, 2024

Elezo Esprit: A visceral celebration of Hokkaido’s wild game

Game meat specialist Elezo Esprit has hunters on staff who are directed to ensure the animals they supply arrive at the butchery within an hour of being killed.
Designed by Bob Foundation in collaboration with Sugita Ace, the Sonaete series of disaster preparedness kits are packaged in bags, boxes and pouches that look attractive in homes.
LIFE / Style & Design / ON: DESIGN
Aug 13, 2024

Stylish emergency goods can save precious seconds when disaster strikes

Eye-catching go bags, canary-inspired whistles and more aesthetically pleasing emergency preparedness items you'll want to keep within arm's reach.

Longform

Tetsuzo Shiraishi, speaking at The Center of the Tokyo Raids and War Damage, uses a thermos to explain how he experienced the U.S. firebombing of March 1945, when he was just 7 years old.
From ashes to high-rises: A survivor’s account of Tokyo’s postwar past