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History recorded the thoughts and actions of rulers and warlords, but what did the average folk think in that time? Were their days filled with angst, passion or poignancy?
JAPAN / History
Sep 17, 2023

Writers find a new muse in the 20th century: the ordinary person

The past at its very best spread its benefits thinly, leaving the masses to make the best of things beyond the reach of civilization’s light.
Fiji's Tevita Ikanivere celebrates after his team's win over Australia at the Rugby World Cup in Saint-Etienne, France, on Sunday.
MORE SPORTS / Rugby
Sep 18, 2023

Fiji beats Australia for first time in 69 years in World Cup upset

Fiji kept its quarterfinal hopes alive with a 22-15 win over Australia
The All Blacks perform the haka before their World Cup match against Uruguay in Lyon, France, on Oct. 5
MORE SPORTS / Rugby
Oct 19, 2023

All Blacks hit reset button ahead of semifinal against Argentina

New Zealand edged Ireland in a pulsating quarterfinal last weekend to reach the semifinal round at the Rugby World Cup.
South Africa players celebrate winning the Rugby World Cup as their trophy tour passes through Soweto on Thursday.
MORE SPORTS / Rugby
Nov 3, 2023

Springboks get roaring welcome in Soweto after winning World Cup

Teenagers dance in their school uniforms, as others, young and old, wave South African flags and yellow signs reading "thank you Bokke (Springboks)."
Yukimasa Ida’s first major museum exhibition showcases a young artist in full command of his craft but still looking for something deeper to say.
CULTURE / Art
Nov 4, 2023

‘Panta Rhei’: Yukimasa Ida is still searching for his own voice

Kyocera Museum of Art's major exhibition finds a young artist sampling great works of the past but looking for something deeper to say.
Workers collect recyclable garbage including plastic bottles on World Environment Day in Tokyo in June 2020.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Dec 6, 2023

New solutions tackle Japan’s waste problem at its core

Issues like the plastics and climate crises seem insurmountable — until we apply "systemic design," as several Japanese initiatives are showing.
The Dvorak Dreams project leveraged AI to retrieve, synthesize and extend the legacy of an earlier cultural pioneer.
COMMENTARY / The Year Ahead
Dec 28, 2023

The AI question we should be asking

Artists working with AI can map out a path for the technology’s role across society more broadly.
Palestine forward Mahmoud Wadi (19) and midfielder Oday Kharoub (6) greet supporters after the team's win over Hong Kong at Abdullah bin Khalifa Stadium in Doha on Tuesday.
SOCCER
Jan 24, 2024

Palestine 'fulfills promise' after historic Asian Cup win

The 3-0 victory over Hong Kong was also their first win in the history of the competition and enough to squeeze into the last 16 as one of the four best third-placed teams.
A woman and children place flags for friends who are in the Ukrainian military at Independence Square in Kyiv on Saturday.
WORLD / Politics
Feb 25, 2024

Ukraine marks second anniversary of Russian invasion, determined despite setbacks

Western leaders gathered in Kyiv to pledge support for Ukraine amid U.S. reluctance, while its troops suffer growing losses on the battlefield.
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.
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.
A typical show for the Derek Toro persona features Ice Elloso as a suave, macho hero straight from a Schwarzenegger film, along with a trademark goatee and tons of props and gadgets.
COMMUNITY / Our Lives
Apr 20, 2024

‘Drag is my superpower’: A night of pride for Filipino kings and queens

Sparkle: Road to Opulence, an April 19 lip-sync and drag performance, kicked off Pride weekend in Tokyo with a bang.
The H5N1 bird flu virus, which has been found in cattle, is a pathogen that has loomed large in the minds of infectious disease experts for its potential to cause a deadly human pandemic.
COMMENTARY / World
May 9, 2024

The bird flu outbreak brings more questions than answers

This is a pathogen that has loomed large in the minds of infectious disease experts for its potential to cause a deadly human pandemic.
Luvsanbaldan Batsukh gets ready to leave his ger, or Mongolian tent, in Khishig-Undur in Bulgan province, Mongolia, on July 5.
ASIA PACIFIC / Society
Jul 30, 2024

Mongolia's urban-rural divide deepens as young women leave the steppe

Many raised in a traditional nomadic lifestyle have rejected a life of physical labor and fighting the elements, seeking education and employment in Ulaanbaatar.
President Masoud Pezeshkian takes questions during his first news conference in Tehran on Monday.
WORLD
Sep 17, 2024

Iran president pledges to stop morality police confronting women

The death in custody of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini in 2022, days after the morality police arrested her for an alleged breach of dress code, triggered monthslong protests.
Rafael Nadal won 22 Grand Slam singles titles and an Olympic gold medal during his career.
TENNIS
Oct 11, 2024

Rafael Nadal leaves behind legacy as role model and inspiration for fellow players

Nadal will hang up his racket after the Davis Cup next month.
The Australian team has connected with the residents of Fuchu during their time in the city.
BASEBALL
Nov 8, 2024

Fuchu becomes home away from home for Australia before Premier12

The Australians have been coming to the Western Tokyo city since 2018.
Members of the Ground Self-Defense Force take part in a joint military drill involving Japan, the United States, Britain and Australia at Narashino exercise field in Funabashi, Chiba Prefecture, in January 2023.
JAPAN
Nov 21, 2024

Japan hosts Five Eyes group meeting for first time

The move highlights the growing cooperation between Tokyo and its allies amid shared concerns about a rapidly deteriorating security environment.
Orthopedic surgeon Mohammed al-Hanash sits at his clinic in Douma, east of the Syrian capital Damascus, on Saturday.
WORLD / Crime & Legal
Dec 24, 2024

Syrian medics say were coerced into false chemical attack testimony

The medics, who treated the wounded at a field hospital near Damascus after the April 7, 2018, attack, said they were coerced into giving false testimony.
After a long wait, Beyonce proudly holds the one prize that has alluded her for many years: the Album of the Year award. "Cowboy Carter" also garnered the Best Country Album award.
CULTURE / Entertainment news
Feb 3, 2025

Beyonce finally wins top album, as Kendrick Lamar sweeps Grammys' rap category

Beyonce made history at the Grammys as she became the annual event's most decorated artist while the night paid tribute to the community of fire-ravaged Los Angeles.
Dodgers superstar Shohei Ohtani arrives for practice on Friday at Tokyo Dome.
BASEBALL / MLB
Mar 14, 2025

Hype reaches fever pitch as Ohtani and the Dodgers get set for games in Tokyo

Shohei Ohtani talked about getting over jet lag and his excitement for the Tokyo Series as the Dodgers prepare to put on a show for Japanese fans.
Al-Ahli's Edouard Mendy (left) and Abdullah Abdo celebrate after defeating Al-Hilal in the semifinals of the Asian Champions League on Tuesday in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.
SOCCER
Apr 30, 2025

Al-Ahli's Ibanez heaps praise on coach Jaissle after reaching Asian final

The 37-year-old was believed to be on his way out of the club in January after a string of disappointing results in the Saudi Pro League.
American Robert Jefferson runs a YouTube channel called The Kamakura Gardener that invites viewers to enjoy the pleasures of gardening, cooking and slow living.
COMMUNITY / Our Lives
Jun 2, 2025

‘A garden is a grand teacher’: The Kamakura Gardener nurtures via YouTube

Veteran broadcaster Robert Jefferson has built up a following through his comforting video content about gardening, cooking and living in Kamakura.
In a statement on their official website, Tokio said it had decided to disband following a compliance violation by Taichi Kokubun, without providing details as to what the violation entailed.
CULTURE / Entertainment news
Jun 26, 2025

Japanese pop-rock band Tokio announces disbandment after 31 years

The group said it will bring an end to its activities as Tokio following a compliance violation by member Taichi Kokubun but did not disclose details.
Venus Williams hits a forehand during her women's singles match against Payton Stearns at the DC Open on Tuesday.
TENNIS
Jul 23, 2025

Venus Williams wins in singles return as Osaka lines up Raducanu match

Williams became the oldest player to compete in a WTA tour-level match since Japan's Kimiko Date at 46 in Tokyo in 2017.
McLaren's Lando Norris (right) and Oscar Piastri (left) stand on the podium with Mark Ingham, the team's head of design, after the Hungarian Grand Prix in Budapest on Sunday. Norris led a 1-2 finish in the race.
MORE SPORTS / Auto Racing
Aug 4, 2025

Lando Norris enjoying battle with Oscar Piastri after winning Hungarian GP

The outcome was McLaren's fourth consecutive 1-2 finish and Norris's fifth win this year and ninth of his career.
Houda Ali Mohammed, 32, a displaced Sudanese mother of four, prepares food at a camp shelter amid the ongoing conflict between the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) and the Sudanese army, in Tawila, North Darfur, Sudan, on July 30.
WORLD
Aug 5, 2025

Hunger mounts and cemeteries grow in Sudan's besieged al-Fashir

The capital of North Darfur state is the biggest remaining frontline in the region and is under fire at a pivotal point in a civil war now well into its third year.
The author’s photo of his son, Max, at the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum on Aug. 6, 2022, standing before a photo of 10-year-old Yukiko Fujii taken by Mainichi Shimbun photographer Yukio Kunihira in Hiroshima on Aug. 9, 1945, three days after the U.S. atomic bombing of her city and the day of the U.S. atomic bombing of Nagasaki.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Aug 5, 2025

Nuclear destruction through the eyes of a 10-year-old

Still, I wasn’t sure how Max would react to the enormity of the human suffering that took place in Hiroshima.
Siya Kolisi holds the Rugby Championship trophy after South Africa's victory over Argentina in London on Saturday.
MORE SPORTS / Rugby
Oct 5, 2025

Springboks captain Siya Kolisi hopes Rugby Championship title can inspire nation

One of the closest-fought editions of the tournament ended in dramatic style with the Springboks winning successive Rugby Championship titles for the first time.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy attends a NATO leaders summit in Vilnius, Lithuania, on July 12. The leader's efforts to conduct diplomacy in the face of conflict have drawn comparisons with British wartime leader Winston Churchill.
COMMENTARY / World / Geoeconomic Briefing
Jul 20, 2023

Why Zelenskyy's diplomacy is a key factor in Ukraine's efforts to win war

The leader's counteroffensive came at a critical time, sandwiched between two summits — the Group of Seven summit in May and a NATO summit earlier this month.

Longform

Once smoky, male-dominated spaces, today's net cafes, like Kaikatsu Club, are working to make their operations more attractive to women customers.
The second life of Japan's net cafes