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While Nariaki Obukuro’s previous releases often included lyrics with specific references pulled from his own experiences, on “Zatto,” he’s stepping back to explore the joy and pain of the wider world.
CULTURE / Music
Feb 13, 2025

Nariaki Obukuro found his groove — just not on the dance floor

A J-pop insider’s shift to soul, reggae and flamenco reflects his personal growth, time spent in London and current events.
Jesse Lingard, seen with Manchester United in 2021, is preparing for his second season in South Korea.
SOCCER
Feb 14, 2025

Jesse Lingard aiming high in second year since surprise move to South Korea

The new K League campaign kicks off on Saturday.
Toyohara Kunichika experimented with established norms of composition and began spreading a single figure over three full sheets, as seen in this “Kabuki Play 'Kagamiyama Gonichi no Iwafuji'” triptych.
CULTURE / Art
Feb 15, 2025

Kunichika's vibrant ukiyo-e gets a chance to shine at anniversary exhibit

An underappreciated ukiyo-e master is the focus of the largest-ever retrospective of his work in Japan, marking the 190th anniversary of his birth.
“Mornings Without Mii,” Mayumi Inaba’s 1999 memoir, charts the course of the author’s 20-year relationship with her calico cat, Mii.
CULTURE / Books
Feb 16, 2025

'Mornings Without Mii': A cozy cat memoir that gets down in the muck

Mayumi Inaba’s 1999 memoir charts the course of the author’s 20-year relationship with her calico cat, Mii.
Kendrick Lamar performs at the halftime show of Super Bowl LIX in New Orleans, Louisiana.
COMMUNITY / Voices / Black Eye
Feb 17, 2025

Black History Month in 2025: The boundaries between 'us' and 'them'

Our columnist reflects on the fraught ideologies of race from both sides of the Pacific.
Created by a Hokkaido workshop, this Camembert represents the vanguard of Japanese cheeses no longer content with a reputation as low-quality, processed slices.
LIFE / Food & Drink
Feb 16, 2025

Fresh off awards, Japanese cheese seeks a taste ‘unique to this land’

A growing number of Japanese cheesemakers are gaining international recognition, and some are aiming for a new frontier of flavor.
No South American fare is complete without empanadas, one of the traditional recipes in Kiera Wright-Ruiz's cookbook.
LIFE / Food & Drink
Feb 16, 2025

Chewing on race, culture and 'okonomiyaki' quesadillas

Kiera Wright-Ruiz’s debut cookbook serves up deep thoughts on her biracial heritage alongside delicious recipes.
Tokyo Koon stands at the forefront of tackling the so-called 2025 issue, also known as the “Magnetic Tape Alert.”
JAPAN / Society / Longform
Feb 17, 2025

The race to save 20th-century history

Analog recordings are at risk of disappearing as old tech breaks down and spare parts run out.
U.S. President Donald Trump greets drivers prior to the start of the Daytona 500 in Daytona Beach, Florida, on Sunday.
MORE SPORTS / Auto Racing
Feb 17, 2025

U.S. President Donald Trump attends Daytona 500

"This is your favorite president," Trump told the drivers in a radio message before the race. "I'm a big fan.
Co-leader and main candidate of the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) party Alice Weidel is seen on a screen as she takes part in a TV debate in Berlin on Sunday.
WORLD / Politics
Feb 17, 2025

Anger, fear, nostalgia: Why German voters back far-right AfD

All other parties have pledged to isolate it behind a "firewall" of noncooperation.
A tourist gazes out over the sea from the top of a dune near Chabahar in Iran's southern Sistan-Baluchistan province in 2018. Faced with myriad problems including gridlocked traffic and a sinking earth surface in its current capital, Iran is considering a drastic solution: moving it to an altogether different location in Makran on the Gulf of Oman.
WORLD
Feb 18, 2025

Iran mulls moving capital to 'lost paradise' on southern coast

Tehran is experiencing traffic snarls, water shortages, resource mismanagement, extreme air pollution and subsidence.
Netflix reality series “Offline Love” follows five men and five women as they spend 10 days in Nice, France, finding romance.
CULTURE / TV & Streaming
Feb 18, 2025

‘Offline Love’ ditches digital dating and puts old-school romance to the test

Netflix Japan's new reality series whisks its participants to a picturesque seaside city in France and leans into nostalgia for a simpler time.
Director Park Chan-wook (center) and his cast hit commercial gold with “Joint Security Area,” a film about North and South Korean friendship.
CULTURE / Film
Feb 18, 2025

South Korean blockbuster 'Joint Security Area' strikes a chord 25 years on

Park Chan-wook's tale of inter-Korean friendship was a risky undertaking at the time of filming, but it has since become a celebrated cinematic masterpiece.
The rapid advance of artificial intelligence and technology threatens traditional human life and values, but finding a balance between innovation and preserving human connection may offer a path forward for humanity's future.
COMMENTARY / World
Feb 19, 2025

Does humanity have a future in the virtual and AI age?

The virtual age and artificial intelligence are making traditional ways of life seem increasingly obsolete, and this will only grow with AI's spread.
“Hypnosismic — Division Rap Battle — Movie” centers on groups of male rappers from neighborhoods around Tokyo and Japan at large.
CULTURE / Film
Feb 20, 2025

‘Hypnosismic — Division Rap Battle — Movie' lets viewers remix the narrative

Armed with LED-lined gloves and their smartphones, audiences take control of the action for Japan’s first interactive movie.
Polish military vehicles are transported during NATO exercises in Klusy, Poland, in November 2022.
WORLD
Feb 20, 2025

On NATO's eastern flank, U.S. policy shift stokes security fears

Some in Poland fear that Russian President Vladimir Putin will feel emboldened to invade more countries.
“Yasuko, Songs of Days Past” centers on a real-life love triangle between poet Chuya Nakahara (Taisei Kido, left), actor Yasuko Hasegawa (Suzu Hirose, center) and literary critic Hideo Kobayashi (Masaki Okada).
CULTURE / Film
Feb 20, 2025

‘Yasuko, Songs of Days Past’ puts overlooked star in the spotlight

Kichitaro Negishi’s drama, based on a real-life love triangle among notable figures of the Japanese literati, captures the flavor of a bygone era.
Shiori Ito, who won a civil suit over a rape case against a TV reporter, in 2018. Her former lawyers claim her documentary includes footage used without the consent of sources.
CULTURE / Film
Feb 20, 2025

Japan release of Shiori Ito's documentary in limbo

Lawyers including an attorney who fought alongside the journalist in a civil suit against her attacker have raised legal and ethical concerns over the film.
Yamanote Jijosha has a long history of staging Shakespeare plays, and in celebration of its 40th anniversary, the company will present “Othello” and “Macbeth.” Previously, it toured productions like “Titus Andronicus,” which premiered in Tokyo in 1999, saw multiple revivals and had a homecoming in 2015.
CULTURE / Stage
Feb 21, 2025

Directing is never a monologue at the experimental Yamanote Jijosha theater company

To mark its four decades of existence, the company stages two Shakespearean tragedies for a triumph.
In Sakaiminato, Tottori Prefecture, an entire street is dedicated to Japanese spirits, monsters and ghouls — a sign that the overall region is rich in spine-tingling tourist draws.
LIFE / Travel
Feb 22, 2025

Shimane and Tottori to bewitch tourists with supernatural charms

The two prefectures are leaning on spooky folklore to draw more travelers.
Students make speeches in Japanese at Linguist, a school in Irpin, near Kyiv, earlier this month.
JAPAN
Feb 21, 2025

Kyiv school seeks peace through language education

In 2024, the Japanese government provided about 1 million textbooks to Ukraine as grant aid through the Japan International Cooperation Agency.
Festival organizers Smash revealed that local legend Tatsuro Yamashita is set to play Fuji Rock for the first time ever.
CULTURE / Music
Feb 21, 2025

Fuji Rock’s biggest lineup surprise? The debut of Tatsuro Yamashita.

The summer music festival also promises Vampire Weekend, Vulfpeck and Fred Again.. among the 60 acts named for its 2025 edition.
In Tomoka Shibasaki's short story collection "A Hundred Years and a Day," time flows architecturally, through the life of structures such as a ramen shop or a cinema.
CULTURE / Books
Feb 22, 2025

'A Hundred Years and a Day': Short stories unfold through the lives of structures and spaces

In Tomoka Shibasaki’s curious collection, time flows architecturally, plots meander by design and humans are unnamed, ephemeral and often disappear.
A campaign poster for Friedrich Merz, the Christian Democratic Union candidate for chancellor, in Potsdam, Germany, on Saturday
WORLD / Politics
Feb 23, 2025

Gloomy Germans vote in election which conservatives are set to win

The election campaign has been dominated by fierce exchanges over the perception that irregular immigration is out of control.
A scene from Satoko Yokohama's "Umibe e Iku Michi" ("Seaside Serendipity")
CULTURE / Film
Feb 23, 2025

Japanese movies win accolades at Berlin International Film Festival

"Futsu no Seikatsu," an animated movie directed by Yoriko Mizushiri, was awarded the Silver Bear Jury Prize for a short film at this year's Berlin International Film Festival.
Max Verstappen waves during the F1 Season Launch event in London on Tuesday.
MORE SPORTS / Auto Racing
Feb 23, 2025

FIA denounces booing of Red Bull's Christian Horner and Max Verstappen

The FIA was also booed by the crowd, whose biggest cheer was reserved for Britain's seven-time world champion Lewis Hamilton.
People ride in cable cars over the Chandragiri hilltop on the outskirts of Kathmandu on Feb. 3.
ASIA PACIFIC
Feb 24, 2025

Nepal community fights to save sacred forests from cable cars

Five cable car projects have opened in the past two years — and 10 more are under development, according to government figures.
From left: "Conclave" cast members Sergio Castellitto, John Lithgow, Isabella Rossellini and Ralph Fiennes pose with the awards for Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture at the 31st Screen Actors Guild Awards, in Los Angeles.
CULTURE / Entertainment news
Feb 24, 2025

Vatican thriller 'Conclave' wins top prize in SAG Awards upset

"Conclave" surprises with a SAG Award win for best cast, suggesting it may have a real shot at upsetting the Oscars' Best Picture race.
Ferrari's Lewis Hamilton at a Formula One launch event in London on Feb. 18
MORE SPORTS / Auto Racing
Feb 25, 2025

Hamilton’s move to Ferrari opens new possibilities

The driver is hopeful that an eighth world championship will be within his sights once again.
Qatar's Moustafa Tarek celebrates with the trophy after his team defeated Jordan to win the AFC Asian Cup in Lusail, Qatar, on Feb. 10, 2024.
SOCCER
Feb 25, 2025

Australia mulls Asian Cup as Central Asian nations launch joint bid

United Arab Emirates, South Korea and Indonesia have also expressed interest in holding the 2031 event.

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