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U.S. Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle enters a House of Representatives Oversight Committee hearing on the security lapses that allowed an attempted assassination of Republican presidential nominee and former U.S. President Donald Trump, on Capitol Hill in Washington on Monday.
WORLD / Politics
Jul 24, 2024

Secret Service director resigns following Trump shooting

Kimberly Cheatle is stepping down after taking responsibility for security failures at a campaign rally where the former president was shot.
Hedwig Schreck is a third-generation Tokyoite whose grandfather first arrived in Japan from Germany in 1920 as a submarine engineer.
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / 20 QUESTIONS
Jul 24, 2024

Hedwig Schreck: ‘Art has always been part of my life’

A third-generation Tokyoite, the former TV producer has pivoted to teaching others about Japanese culture in her retirement.
Experienced festivalgoers know it always rains at Fuji Rock. But don’t let that scare you away from a weekend of fun at one of Japan’s largest annual music events.
CULTURE / Music
Jul 24, 2024

Heading to Fuji Rock? Make sure to bring these essentials.

Before traveling to Niigata Prefecture for a weekend of music, check your bags for these handy items.
A nefarious fraudster (Etsushi Toyokawa, left) and his protege (Go Ayano) engineer a multibillion-yen property scam in Netflix’s “Tokyo Swindlers.”
CULTURE / TV & Streaming
Jul 25, 2024

Netflix’s ‘Tokyo Swindlers’ is this summer’s guiltiest pleasure

The flashy new series about real estate scammers is a ridiculous treat to watch.
Nakazakicho may be just a few minutes outside the major commercial district of Umeda, but it certainly doesn't feel that way.
LIFE / Travel
Jul 27, 2024

The dancer keeping Osaka’s Nakazakicho indie

Nakazakicho’s transformation is more than the success story of a small neighborhood turning the tide against inner-city decay.
More tourists than ever are guided around Japan based on the content they consume online, but can those same creators help direct them to less-populated areas of the country?
COMMUNITY / Issues / The Foreign Element
Jul 29, 2024

Influencers helped cause overtourism. Can they help fix it?

“I don't want to use filters or put out content just for the sake of views and followers,” one content creator says. “I want to show people what the real Japan is.”
A medical technician selects eggs for an in vitro fertilization (IVF) procedure Paris in 2019.
WORLD / Society
Jul 25, 2024

IVF mistakes are opening a new front in the fight over reproductive rights

The $40 billion U.S. industry is expected to triple in size over the next decade as more people delay having babies until later in life.
A substitute teacher (Nagisa Shibuya, center front) at a junior high school finds herself caught up in strange goings-on with violent outcomes in “Who’s That Girl?”
CULTURE / Film
Jul 26, 2024

‘Who’s That Girl?’: Junior high school antics just got scarier

J-horror master Takashi Shimizu’s latest offers familiar genre elements with a practiced hand and fresh twists.
A vengeful spirit threatens the residents of Edo Castle’s maze-like women’s quarters in “Mononoke the Movie: The Phantom in the Rain.”
CULTURE / Film
Jul 26, 2024

‘Mononoke the Movie: The Phantom in the Rain’: A fast and furious visual spectacle

Kenji Nakamura’s cinematic sequel to his “Mononoke” anime series is an overwhelming onslaught of sights and sounds.
Ukrainian artist Nikita Kadan’s “The Objects from Another Place,” erected at a former power station, was created in the likeness of structures that appeared in children’s playgrounds all over the former Soviet Union.
CULTURE / Art
Jul 27, 2024

Echigo-Tsumari Art Triennale's quiet expansion of hyper-local art

The event’s ninth edition doesn’t offer new bangers, but its detailed installations in the verdant mountains of Niigata Prefecture still present a unique experience.
U.S. Sen. J.D. Vance, the Republican vice presidential nominee, addresses a crowd of supporters during a campaign event at Radford University in Radford, Virginia, on Monday.
WORLD / Politics
Jul 27, 2024

J.D. Vance’s ‘cat ladies’ insult sparks criticism of Trump’s VP pick

Comments JD Vance made in 2021 disparaging "childless cat ladies” are drawing criticism from not only Democrats, but also some members of his own party.
Torchbearers Teddy Riner and Marie-Jose Perec light the Olympic cauldron during the opening ceremony of the Paris Games on Friday.
OLYMPICS
Jul 28, 2024

Upset bishops and mixed reviews for Paris Olympics ceremony

The show's artistic director Thomas Jolly, who is gay, had pledged earlier this month that the ceremony would celebrate "diversity" and "otherness."
While traditional hybrid vehicles use gas to turn the wheels, a new crop of cars are burning it exclusively to charge a large onboard battery.
BUSINESS / Tech
Jul 28, 2024

A new wave of electric vehicles are ready to charge at 70 mph

But while fossil fuels may be a curious catalyst for sparking EV sales, the strategy is arguably far greener than it looks.
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.
Samsung has won the long-awaited approval from artificial-intelligence giant Nvidia for a version of its high-bandwidth HBM3 memory chips.
BUSINESS / Companies
Jul 30, 2024

Samsung begins closing gap in making AI memory chips for Nvidia

The advances that include winning approval from artificial-intelligence giant Nvidia come after months of stumbles for Samsung.
The emphasis on lifting earnings is prompting more Japanese companies to boost investments abroad.
BUSINESS / Companies
Jul 30, 2024

Japan corporate cleanup fuels appetite for record debt sales

Japanese corporate dollar bonds have been outperforming U.S. peers, and borrowers have piled into the market with record issuance in recent months.
Two people in Tokyo walk past a poster meant to evoke a cooling feeling the summer heat.
LIFE / Language / BILINGUAL
Jul 31, 2024

Sunscreen bans, UV-cuts and the language of summer skincare in Japan

Get to know Japanese terms for products that will help you protect your skin in the scorching sun.
Hungary, which has increased its birth rate since 2010, has adopted policies that support those who want or have children, including financial incentives, housing subsidies and better work-life balance.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Jul 31, 2024

Why do young people in Hungary want kids more than in Japan?

Marriage and birth rates are plummeting in Japan, while many young people in Hungary want families thanks to measures that support their choices in life and at work.
Takashi Yuki (left) directs and stars in “Dito” as an aging boxer living in Manila who is reunited with his 17-year-old daughter (Momoko Tanabe, right).
CULTURE / Film
Aug 1, 2024

‘Dito’ aims for authenticity rather than originality

Takashi Yuki’s Philippines-set boxing drama can be corny and it tends to telegraph its punches, but there’s also no denying its charms.
Hakushi Hasegawa places their emotive vocals and dexterous keyboard work at the center of the music on their latest album, “Mahogakko” – reminding listeners that there’s a very human presence at the controls.
CULTURE / Music
Aug 2, 2024

Electronic wiz Hakushi Hasegawa pulls back the curtain

The musician's latest album, “Mahogakko,” strikes a delicate balance between the dazzling and the downright baffling.
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.
What would the Fuji Rock Festival have looked like if it had been an urban festival? Not like this, that's for sure.
CULTURE / Music / Sound Off
Aug 2, 2024

The Fuji Rock experience is as much about its natural setting as it is about music

Having attended every edition of Fuji Rock except one, Philip Brasor believes the concert's natural setting is one of its best draws.
Okinawan rapper Awich’s dynamic and emotional set proved her ability to headline any festival moving forward.
CULTURE
Aug 2, 2024

Why Fuji Rock is still the best party in Japan, no matter who headlines

Kraftwerk paid tribute to Ryuichi Sakamoto in a sentimental set, while Awich, Man with a Mission and Turnstile provided some of the weekend's most thrilling moments.
The judge and last year's winner, Lettie Shiels, sits in the dressing room during the World Cosplay Summit in Nagoya on Saturday.
CULTURE / Entertainment news
Aug 4, 2024

Transformative hobby: Going for gold at Japan's World Cosplay Summit

The three-day event in Nagoya drew thousands of fans — many keen to show off their own costumes.
A crowd gathers at the main Green Stage on Saturday to watch headline act Kraftwerk. It looked to be the pioneering electronic band's last performance in Japan, and included a tribute to Japanese musician Ryuichi Sakamoto.
CULTURE / Music / Photo essay
Aug 5, 2024

A weekend in Naeba: What went on offstage at Fuji Rock '24

The summer music festival has both its size and location going for it in building a communal experience off the stages.
Ngun Nei Par, the general manager at Ginshotei Awashima in Numata, Gunma Prefecture, graduated from a university in Myanmar with a degree in geography.
JAPAN / Society
Aug 6, 2024

Japan needs foreign workers, but it might not want them to stay long

Japanese politicians remain reluctant to create pathways for foreign workers, especially those in low-skill jobs, to stay indefinitely.
Kauli Vaast of France competes in the Olympic men's gold-medal match in Teahupo'o, Tahiti, on Monday.
OLYMPICS / Surfing
Aug 6, 2024

Vaast takes men's surfing gold for France and Tahiti

Caroline Marks of the United States added Olympic gold to her 2023 world title with a tight victory over Brazil's Tatiana Weston-Webb in the women's final.
Defense Minister Minoru Kihara speaks on July 30 during a parliamentary inquiry into a series of scandals involving the ministry and the Self-Defense Forces.
JAPAN / Politics / ANALYSIS
Aug 6, 2024

The wider international and domestic implications of the SDF scandals

The problems have put the spotlight on Japan’s ability to convince its partners that it’s ready to shoulder a larger security role.
Athletes who are part of the Refugee Olympic Team participate in the Parade of Nations on the River Seine during the opening ceremony for the Paris Olympics on July 26.
OLYMPICS
Aug 6, 2024

Refugee Olympic Team representing displaced people and making its mark in Paris

The refugee team, which first competed at the 2016 Games, will walk away from the Paris Olympics with one medal and potentially more.
English actress Daisy Ridley is seen arriving for the world premiere of "Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker" in Hollywood on Dec. 16, 2019.
CULTURE / Entertainment news
Aug 8, 2024

'Star Wars' star Daisy Ridley diagnosed with Graves' disease

The actress said she initially dismissed her symptoms, attributing them to residual stress from a role in the 2023 thriller "Magpie."

Longform

Koichi Tagawa’s diary entry from Aug. 9, 1945, describes the day of the atomic bombing of Nagasaki.
The horrors of Nagasaki, in first person