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The earth tones and suave furnishings of Sezanne's dining room come courtesy of Hong Kong designer Andre Fu.
LIFE / Food & Drink
Oct 17, 2024

Michelin stars awarded to 170 Tokyo restaurants

A glimmering constellation of coveted accolades lights the way for foodies and fine diners in the Japanese capital.
NHK President Nobuo Inaba speaks during a news conference in Tokyo in September.
CULTURE / Entertainment news
Oct 17, 2024

NHK to resume contracting former Johnny's performers

The broadcaster's president said the decision was based on the agency’s clear efforts to compensate Johnny Kitagawa's sexual abuse victims.
Born in Sapporo in 1935, author Rieko Nakagawa ventured into writing while working as a nursery teacher. Her first book, “Iya Iya En” (No-No Nursery School), was published in 1962.
CULTURE / Entertainment news
Oct 17, 2024

Rieko Nakagawa, author of 'Guri and Gura,' dies at 89

The celebrated author behind some of Japan’s most beloved picture books died Monday of natural causes.
Members of the rock band Bright Eyes Super-Duper perform a song using sign language at a venue in Nagoya on Sept. 15.
CULTURE / Music
Oct 27, 2024

Sign-language rock band marks 35 years in Japan

To keep rhythm for their performances, the members of Bright Eyes Super-Duper with impaired hearing feel the vibrations of the music.
One Direction members (from left) Liam Payne, Niall Horan, Louis Tomlinson, Zayn Malik and Harry Styles arrive at the 42nd American Music Awards in Los Angeles in November 2014.
CULTURE / Entertainment news
Oct 18, 2024

One Direction members 'devastated' by Liam Payne's death

Singer's bandmates say they will speak more on the incident when they are able to.
Washing stations at a hot spring bath at Hoshinoya Tokyo, operated by Hoshino Resorts, in Tokyo
BUSINESS / Companies
Oct 18, 2024

Luxury Japan hot springs brand to open first U.S. location in New York state

The president of Hoshino Resorts had made it his personal goal to bring Japanese hot spring resorts to North America.
China has shifted the economic narrative. The country's rapid growth and production under a repressive regime challenges the idea that good institutions are necessary for wealth.
COMMENTARY / World
Oct 18, 2024

Beijing’s success is a conundrum for Nobel winners

China has shifted the economic narrative. The country's rapid growth under a repressive regime challenges the idea that good institutions are necessary for wealth.
Sanzo K. Matsunaga’s Akutagawa Prize-winning novel “Bari Sanko” centers on two men involved in an office hiking club. One is into dangerous off-path trekking, the other is more of a by-the-book conformist.
CULTURE / Books
Oct 19, 2024

Akutagawa winner ‘Bari Sanko’ takes office politics to the mountains

Though the plot takes time to get going, Sanzo K. Matsunaga’s novel takes a nuanced look at the implications of being an independent thinker in Japan’s corporate culture.
Empress Emerita Michiko and her husband, Emperor Emeritus Akihito, stroll around the Akasaka Imperial Palace grounds in Tokyo this month.
JAPAN
Oct 20, 2024

Japan's Empress Emerita Michiko turns 90

The former empress sustained a fractured right femur after a fall at the palace on Oct. 6 and later underwent surgery at the University of Tokyo Hospital.
A collage made of undated handout pictures released by the Yamagata University Institute of Nasca shows 10 of 303 new geoglyphs discovered by scientists at the university in Japan.
JAPAN / Science & Health / Longform
Oct 21, 2024

The Japanese researcher uncovering the mystery of Peru’s Nazca Lines

Masato Sakai has dedicated his career to the collection of desert etchings. AI is starting to make his work much easier.
Peeco, the elder twin brother of the TV personality duo Osugi and Peeco, died of multiple organ failure due to sepsis on Sept. 3.
CULTURE / Entertainment news
Oct 21, 2024

TV personality and fashion critic Peeco dies at 79

The elder twin brother of the duo Osugi and Peeco died of multiple organ failure due to sepsis on Sept. 3.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has said his government has intelligence that 10,000 troops from North Korea are being prepared to link up with Russian forces fighting Ukraine, warning that such a move would be “the first step to a world war.”
ASIA PACIFIC
Oct 21, 2024

Zelenskyy seeks 'strong reaction' to North Korean involvement in Ukraine war

The Ukrainian leader has urged partners to take measures in response to claims Pyongyang is sending thousands of troops to fight beside Russia on the front lines.
The emotional impact of constant news about wars and disasters is weighing heavily on many in the younger generations, causing them to seek ways to cope with their distress and anxiety.
COMMENTARY / World
Oct 21, 2024

Is the apocalypse making you too anxious to work?

A poll reveals that a significant portion of the Gen Z and millennial generations feel unable to function at work due to distress over current events.
Imports of Japanese koi were suspended in November 2023, when Chinese authorities stopped renewing import permits to fish farms once they expired from the end of October 2023.
JAPAN
Oct 22, 2024

China resumes imports of Japanese koi fish

Imports were suspended in November 2023, when Chinese authorities stopped renewing import permits to fish farms once they expired.
Asako Osaki attends the 68th session of the Commission on the Status of Women, in New York in March.
BUSINESS / WOMEN AT WORK
Nov 3, 2024

How global lessons can improve prospects for women in rural Japan

Through motherhood, education and work, Asako Osaki worked to bring global standards to the front lines of gender issues.
Apple CEO Tim Cook
BUSINESS / Companies
Oct 22, 2024

Apple CEO Tim Cook’s other job: Helping Nike turn things around

Cook has carved out a role as one of Nike’s closest outside advisers over the last 19 years and is the company’s lead independent director.
Dodgers designated hitter Shohei Ohtani scores ahead of the tag by Yankees catcher Jose Trevino during a game at Yankee stadium in New York in June.
BASEBALL / MLB
Oct 23, 2024

Dodgers and Yankees set for World Series steeped in history

The two teams from the biggest media markets in the U.S. will meet in the Fall Classic beginning on Friday for the first time since 1981.
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."
Naoko (Ayaka Onishi, right) starts moonlighting as a paid companion for older men under her missing colleague’s identity in “Strangers.”
CULTURE / Film
Oct 24, 2024

‘Strangers’: A satisfyingly unnerving stolen identity drama

Kenta Ikeda and his cinematographer imbue the thriller about a woman who takes on the identity of her more carefree and flirtatious colleague with a sense of paranoia.
Participants in a protest call for the release of Paul Watson, founder of anti-whaling group Sea Shepherd, in Paris on Wednesday.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Oct 24, 2024

Protesters in Paris demand release of Sea Shepherd founder

Japan has placed founder Paul Watson on an international wanted list on suspicion of obstructing the country's research whaling, demanding his extradition.
Ryoma Takeuchi (right) is perfectly cast as Kazuma Kiryu, a Jack Reacher-esque character of impermeable physicality in Amazon Prime’s new series “Like a Dragon: Yakuza.”
CULTURE / TV & Streaming
Oct 25, 2024

Amazon’s ‘Like a Dragon: Yakuza’ pulls its biggest punch

Amazon’s new series based on the long-running Ryu Ga Gotoku games flattens the quirkiest elements of the Kamurocho red-light district for a run-of-the-mill crime drama.
New York Yankees outfielder Juan Soto bats during the fifth inning against the Kansas City Royals in game four of the AL Division Series for the 2024 MLB Playoffs at Kauffman Stadium on Oct. 10.
BASEBALL / MLB
Oct 25, 2024

‘That’s for another day’: Yankees not talking Juan Soto’s future

Juan Soto has helped the New York Yankees reach their first World Series in 15 years.
Amit Chhetri opened Yeti Roastery Coffee in Tokyo's Todoroki neighborhood in 2020 as a way to promote Nepalese coffee in Japan.
LIFE / Food & Drink
Oct 27, 2024

Yeti Roastery Coffee is elevating Nepalese java in Japan

“Nepal has rich soil and a huge potential for growing coffee in its mountains, which are also unbelievably gorgeous,” says Yeti Coffee Roastery's Amit Chhetri.
Protesters take part in a demonstration in support of anti-whaling activist Paul Watson in Paris on Thursday.
JAPAN / Society
Oct 25, 2024

Anti-whaling activist Paul Watson requests French nationality

France is pushing for Watson's release from a Greenland jail where he is being held pending possible extradition to Japan.
Kazuhiro Soda’s “The Cats of Gokogu Shrine” follows not only the felines that live on the grounds of the title shrine in Ushimado, Okayama Prefecture, but also the local community members, many of whom are of retirement age.
CULTURE / Film
Oct 25, 2024

‘The Cats of Gokogu Shrine’: Documentary paints intimate portrait of a community in decline

While stray cats that inhabit the grounds of a local shrine take center stage, the film also celebrates the aging humans doing their best to preserve their neighborhood.
Wang Huning, Chairman of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, attends a high-level meeting on industrialization and agricultural modernization with African leaders at the National Convention Center in Beijing on Sept. 5.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Oct 26, 2024

The man who shaped China’s strongman rule has a new job: winning Taiwan

Xi Jinping’s top adviser, Wang Huning, is credited with shaping the authoritarianism that steered China’s rise. But can he influence Taiwan?
Olympus CEO Stefan Kaufmann has resigned over an allegation he bought illegal drugs, the company announced Monday.
BUSINESS
Oct 28, 2024

Olympus CEO exits after probe into drug-buying allegation

Stefan Kaufmann has resigned all positions effective immediately, the company said in a statement.
"Nenaiko Dareda," a picture book written by author Keiko Sena, in which a night-owl child is spirited away to a world of ghosts, became a bestseller, with cumulative sales exceeding 3 million copies.
CULTURE / Entertainment news
Oct 28, 2024

Japanese picture book author Keiko Sena dies at 92

Sena, creator of works such as "Nenaiko Dareda," was popular for her collages that portray characters in an expressive way.
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.
North Korean Foreign Minister Choe Son Hui attends a meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow on Jan. 16.
WORLD / Politics
Oct 30, 2024

North Korea's top diplomat heads to Moscow as troops gear up for fight

The Pentagon has said there are indications troops deployed to Russia by Pyongyang could be used in an infantry role in the Ukraine war.

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