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Police officers conduct a special inspection of Shinjuku Ward's Kabukicho in Tokyo in December.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Apr 4, 2024

Japan's police crack down on host clubs

More than 200 administrative penalties have been issued against such establishments nationwide for various violations, National Police Agency says.
In 2017, chef Shinsaku Suzuki moved to the Yatsugatake region of Yamanashi Prefecture with his wife, Emi Ishida, after locating the perfect premises: a splendid 170-year-old traditional Japanese house.
LIFE / Food & Drink / Destination Restaurants
Apr 6, 2024

Ai to Ibukuro: Terroir of Yamanashi's uplands

With a name that translates to “Love and Stomach,” this rural restaurant not far from Tokyo delivers with flying colors on both counts.
Palestinians carry aid as others struggle to receive their portion amid widespread hunger in Gaza City on Thursday.
WORLD
Apr 5, 2024

Peace feels further than ever at six months of Israel-Hamas war

Israel's retaliatory campaign has killed over 33,000 people, mostly women and children, according to the health ministry in Hamas-run Gaza.
A Wheeling-Nippon Steel facility in in Follansbee, West Virginia. Four senior Japanese officials speaking on condition of anonymity said it is still premature to declare the deal dead.
BUSINESS / Companies / ANALYSIS
Apr 5, 2024

Why Japan is not giving up on fraught U.S. Steel deal

Four senior Japanese officials speaking on condition of anonymity said it is still premature to declare the deal dead.
A prototype of the Astroscale Holdings ELSA-d in-orbit debris capture and removal craft is displayed at the company's office in Tokyo in December 2018.
BUSINESS / Companies
Apr 5, 2024

Japan space startup Astroscale aims for June listing, sources say

The 11-year-old company spoke to overseas institutional investors in March to gather feedback before making a decision on a listing.
Harakado will open next Wednesday and aims to be a place where creators can gather.
BUSINESS / Companies
Apr 9, 2024

New Harajuku complex aims to become next cultural creators hub

The nine-story building — named Harakado — will open next Wednesday and is designed to be “a commercial complex where creators (can) gather.”
The Nishi no Ma room of the State Guest House Akasaka Palace in Tokyo will be opened to the public from Thursday.
JAPAN
Apr 10, 2024

State guest house room in Tokyo to be opened to public

Sketching events and brass band events are also planned for visitors.
D.B. Weiss, co-creator of the Netflix sci-fi drama series "3 Body Problem," is interviewed in Las Vegas, in January.  Some Chinese viewers have expressed disappointment with the adaptation's departure from the original source material.
COMMENTARY / World
Apr 10, 2024

The ‘3-Body Problem’ of adapting content across borders

From anime to the latest Netflix blockbuster, changing material can be a controversial subject. How much modification is acceptable?
U.S. Steel's Edgar Thomson steel mill in Braddock, Pennsylvania
BUSINESS / Companies
Apr 11, 2024

How the U.S. Steel takeover became about Biden and swing states

The turmoil threatens to strain U.S. relations with Japan while underscoring how the politics of winning swing-state voters influences business.
A Wisconsin resident prepares to vote in the presidential primary election in Superior, Wisconsin, on April 2.
COMMENTARY / World / Geoeconomic Briefing
Apr 16, 2024

Can we trust the polls? How emerging technologies affect democracy

In a global election year, all eyes are on the ties between emerging technologies and democracy.
A portrait of the 13th Ryukyu King Sho Kei, which was returned to the Okinawa Prefectural Government from the United States
JAPAN / History / Regional Voices: Okinawa
Apr 22, 2024

Artifacts missing after Battle of Okinawa returned from U.S.

Items that include portraits of kings from the Ryukyu Kingdom have returned after going missing in 1945.
The Takashimaya department store in Tokyo's Nihonbashi district, where the golden tea bowl was stolen Thursday
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Apr 12, 2024

¥10 million golden tea bowl stolen from Tokyo department store

The 24-carat gold matcha tea bowl was stolen from the Takashimaya department store in Tokyo’s Nihonbashi district.
People pray in Port-au-Prince last month.
WORLD / Society
Apr 12, 2024

Waiting for change, Haitians endure hell on earth

Conditions remain horrific one month after Haiti's prime minister said he would step down.
Dolls of Myaku-Myaku, the 2025 Expo's official mascot, at an official store for the event in Osaka on April 2
JAPAN / Society
Apr 12, 2024

Transport becomes most pressing issue one year out from Osaka Expo

As organizers look ahead to recruiting volunteers and planning events for the six-month expo, another concern has emerged: transportation logistics.
“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.
Ukrainian soldiers take cover during fighting in Kharkiv, Ukraine, on Feb. 25, 2022.
WORLD / Politics / FOCUS
Apr 13, 2024

Kharkiv's civilians under fire as Ukraine faces 'catastrophic' air defense shortage

The city is so near the border that Russian missiles can reach their target in less than a minute.
A protester demands the United Kingdom make reparations for slavery, outside the British High Commission, in Kingston, Jamaica, in March 2022.
WORLD / Crime & Legal / FOCUS
Apr 13, 2024

Slavery tribunal? Africa and Caribbean unite on reparations

A tribunal was proposed last year, and it has now gained traction within a broader slavery reparations movement.
A mob of supporters of President Donald Trump outside the Capitol building in Washington, Jan. 6, 2021. Former President Donald Trump has recently taken to publicly celebrating the riot and those who took part in it, putting a revisionist history of the attack at the heart of his campaign.
WORLD
Apr 14, 2024

Inside Donald Trump’s embrace of the Jan. 6 rioters

The former president initially disavowed the attack on the Capitol, but he is now making it a centerpiece of his general election campaign.
Lee Hsien Loong might not stray far from politics, having said previously that he will remain at the "new PM’s disposal” after the handover.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Apr 16, 2024

Singapore charts new path after half-century of Lee family rule

Lee Hsien Loong announced that he will step aside next month after 20 years as prime minister and hand the reins over to Lawrence Wong.
Former President Donald Trump speaks during a rally at a fairgrounds in Schnecksville, Pennsylvania, on Saturday.
WORLD / Politics
Apr 16, 2024

Inside Donald Trump’s embrace of the Jan. 6 rioters

Former President Donald Trump's words and actions regarding the Jan. 6, 2021, rioters suggest he is trying to normalize violence in politics.
Prime Minister Fumio Kishida addresses a joint session of Congress in Washington on Thursday. Kishida’s recent summit with U.S. President Joe Biden is being lauded as a success.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Apr 16, 2024

Give credit where credit’s due after prime minister's outstanding U.S. summit

The Japan-U.S. summit has been rightly called historic and a big deal for Tokyo and the alliance — if its long list of deliverables is realized.
The titular city in Haruki Murakami's most recent novel, "The City and Its Uncertain Walls," appears to exist in the protagonist's dream world.
LIFE / Language / BILINGUAL
Apr 19, 2024

Before Murakami’s English release, try him in Japanese one more time

An English version of "The City and Its Uncertain Walls" won't come out till fall, so practice reading it in Japanese before checking the translation.
A body disposal expert for criminals (Yuya Endo, right) tries to protect a defiant teen (Kokoro Morita) from a ruthless gangster in “Tatsumi.”
CULTURE / Film
Apr 18, 2024

'Tatsumi’: Gang life drama goes for violence overkill

Hiroshi Shoji’s blood-soaked feature presents a sympathetic and layered protagonist fighting to make amends.
“Beyond the Fog” depicts the struggles of a family-run inn through the eyes of the proprietor’s 12-year-old daughter (Shuri Miyake, right, with Asami Mizukawa).
CULTURE / Film
Apr 18, 2024

‘Beyond the Fog’: Evocative mood piece leaves a dreamy impression

Daichi Murase’s understated drama about a dying community in rural Nara Prefecture benefits from Takeshi Dodo’s beautiful cinematography.
Palestinians gather to receive aid outside a UNRWA warehouse on March 18 as Gaza residents face crisis levels of hunger.
WORLD
Apr 18, 2024

UNRWA chief warns human-caused famine 'tightening its grip' across Gaza

The head of the U.N. agency for Palestinian refugees accused Israel of blocking their ability to deliver aid to Gaza, where many are starving.
Machida supporters wave giant flags during the team's game against Vissel Kobe at National Stadium in Tokyo on Sunday.
SOCCER / J. League
Apr 18, 2024

Upstart Zelvia shows that, in the J. League, it’s anyone’s game

The fast start by Go Kuroda’s men has highlighted the remarkable parity in the Japanese game when compared with top competitions in Europe.
U.S. Indo-Pacific Command chief Adm. John Aquilino speaks at the IISS Special Lecture in Singapore in March last year.
JAPAN / Politics
Apr 18, 2024

U.S. Indo-Pacific Command chief Aquilino to visit Japan as term set to expire

Adm. John Aqulino is expected to discuss a planned revamp to the command and control framework for U.S. forces in Japan with the SDF chief of staff.
Ideal or not, the reality of the world is that one currency, the U.S. dollar, is first among equals.
COMMENTARY / World
Apr 18, 2024

Asian currencies can't fight the dollar on a rampage

Markets tend to reflect economic performance. And ideal or not, the reality of a world is one currency, the U.S. dollar, is truly first among equals.
In “Evil Does Not Exist,” Hitoshi Omika plays a single father and village handyman who a Tokyo company tries to recruit as the caretaker of a new glamping site that threatens the area’s natural environment.
CULTURE / Film
Apr 19, 2024

Ryusuke Hamaguchi ponders the dangers of disrupting the rural idyll

"Evil Does Not Exist," which delves into humanity's relationship with nature, was directly inspired by a collaboration with musician Eiko Ishibashi.
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi during an election campaign rally in Agartala, India, on Wednesday
ASIA PACIFIC / Society
Apr 19, 2024

As India's election kicks off, extreme heat poses threat to voters

Polling stations are bracing for blazing temperatures following warnings from the nation's meteorological service.

Longform

Japan's growing ranks of centenarians are redefining what it means to live in a super-aging society.
What comes after 100?