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Michiko Aoyama’s “What You are Looking For Is in the Library” centers on a local library where five Tokyoites are gently guided through personal issues by kindly librarian Sayuri Komachi.
CULTURE / Books
Nov 13, 2023

‘What You are Looking For is in the Library’: A tender tale with a touch of whimsy

Five readers discover comfort and direction at their local library in Michiko Aoyama’s novel, which offers a believable take on modern life in Tokyo.
A man, who said he was jailed for two years, speaks on condition of anonymity in temporary housing for former prisoners in Tokyo. Criminal recruits in Japan are being "exploited and disposed of as pawns" by gang leaders, the National Police Agency has said.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Nov 24, 2023

Why Japan's gangs are recruiting online

For Japan's criminal underworld, social media offers an anonymous way to connect with anyone willing to commit crimes to earn money.
CULTURE / Entertainment news
Nov 13, 2023

NHK ditches Johnny's acts for year-end musical bonanza

For the first time in 44 years, performers represented by the beleaguered talent agency will not appear on "Kohaku Uta Gassen."
Nepali security personnel stand guard at Pokhara International Airport in Pokhara, Nepal, ahead of the arrival of the first international flight from China on June 21.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Nov 13, 2023

Nepal is investigating new airport made by China

A few engineers who had worked on the airport said that building quality had been compromised and that the project’s infrastructure was not sound.
A hearse carrying the coffin of England World Cup winner and Manchester United legend Bobby Charlton is driven past Old Trafford stadium ahead of his funeral in Manchester on Monday. Charlton, described by Manchester United as a "giant of the game," died on Oct. 21 at the age of 86.
SOCCER
Nov 14, 2023

Thousands line Manchester streets to bid farewell to Bobby Charlton

The 1966 World Cup winner, widely regarded as one of England's greatest players, died after an accidental fall at his care home on Oct. 21.
JAPAN
Nov 14, 2023

Civil servants face different treatment at Kansai baseball parades

Kobe and Hyogo government workers working at the parades will be treated as being on duty, but those of the Osaka governments will not be.
BUSINESS / ANALYSIS
Nov 14, 2023

How an executive's arrest struck a blow to Japan-China business

The arrest of a Japanese company executive in China has had what some Tokyo officials described as a considerable chilling effect on business.
Rubble left by Israeli air strikes targeting Gaza. The humanitarian crisis there has led U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres to call for an immediate cease-fire.
COMMENTARY / World
Nov 14, 2023

The rules-based international order is collapsing in Gaza

After decades of missed opportunities, the war in Gaza is testing regional and global actors' commitment to an international rules-based order.
Rory McIlroy lines up his putt during the Ryder Cup in Rome on Oct. 1. The popular golfer has made no secret that the PGA Tour's secret talks with Saudi Arabia had blindsided and stung him.
MORE SPORTS / Golf
Nov 15, 2023

Rory McIlroy resigns from PGA Tour board

The decision by one of golf's most popular athletes is a particularly public blow to the tour and its board.
Ichiro Ozawa (third from right) with other members of parliament at a ceremony to launch a new party in Tokyo in July 2012.
JAPAN / Politics
Nov 15, 2023

Ichiro Ozawa is once again looking for a way to defeat the LDP

The octogenarian political veteran is looking to cap his long career with another successful drive to defeat the ruling LDP at the polls.
Kuomintang head Eric Chu, Hou Yu-ih, the party's presidential candidate, former Taiwan President Ma Ying-jeou and the People’s Party chief Ko Wen-je posing for a group photo in Taipei on Wednesday. The two parties have agreed to team up to take on the ruling Democratic Progressive Party in the January election.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Nov 15, 2023

Taiwan opposition unite to challenge presidential front-runner

The island's two main opposition parties have vowed to renew talks with China even as the ruling party decries interference from Beijing.
Economic Security Minister Sanae Takaichi and Prime Minister Fumio Kishida take part in a news conference in September 2021 in the lead-up to the Liberal Democratic Party presidential race.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Nov 15, 2023

Takaichi makes another play to become the next PM

With the creation of a new study group, Cabinet minister Sanae Takaichi aims to build support for her bid for the top political job.
Students engage in group work during a class at Ogawara Elementary School in Ogawara, Miyagi Prefecture, in September.
JAPAN / Society / Regional Voices: Tohoku
Nov 20, 2023

Small Miyagi town excels in national test amid education reforms

This year the average percentage of correct answers by Ogawara's sixth graders in the National Achievement Test was one of the highest.
Yankees pitcher Gerrit Cole went 15-4 and led the league in ERA (2.63) on his way to his first Cy Young Award.
BASEBALL / MLB
Nov 16, 2023

Yankees' Gerrit Cole and Padres' Blake Snell win Cy Young Awards

Cole received all 30 first-place votes to become the 11th unanimous winner in the American League.
Israeli soldiers carry out operations inside Gaza's Shifa hospital on Wednesday.
WORLD / Politics
Nov 16, 2023

Israeli troops scour Gaza hospital for evidence of Hamas HQ

The "beating heart" of the Hamas fighters' operations was headquartered in tunnels beneath the Shifa hospital, Gaza's largest, Israeli forces had said.
The scene after a car crashed into a barricade near the Israeli Embassy in Tokyo on Thursday
JAPAN
Nov 16, 2023

Man arrested after car crashes through barricade near Israel's Tokyo embassy

The driver, a man in his 50s, was arrested for alleged obstruction of official duties. Investigative sources said he is a member of a right-wing group.
Mika and Jesse say their landlady prefers a hands-off style of property management, leaving all matters, including maintenence and repairs, to the renting couple.
LIFE / Lifestyle
Nov 18, 2023

Renting akiya: A backdoor into Japan's abandoned homes

“If the choice is between leaving (an akiya) empty or renting it out, please rent it out.”
U.S. President Joe Biden greets Chinese President Xi Jinping on the sidelines of an Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in Woodside, California, on Nov. 15.
COMMENTARY / World / Geoeconomic Briefing
Nov 21, 2023

'Offensive' and 'defensive' diplomacy: Managing ties with China

Since the 20th National Congress of the CCP, in October last year, Beijing has been seeking to maintain a balance.
Palestinians amongst the rubble of destroyed residential buildings following Israeli airstrikes in the Shejaiya district east of Gaza City, Gaza, on Nov. 9.
WORLD / Politics
Nov 17, 2023

U.S. and EU back U.N. force in postwar Gaza

U.S. and European officials concede big questions remain about such an operation and recognize that Israel remains highly skeptical of such a plan.
U.S. President Richard Nixon in the Oval Office of the White House in June 1972
COMMENTARY / Japan
Nov 19, 2023

Nixon's 1953 trip to Okinawa and its lasting impact

Nixon’s trip to Okinawa 70 years ago this month planted seeds for his agreeing to its reversion when he became the U.S. president.
U.S. President Joe Biden hosts Democratic congressional leaders at the White House in January.
COMMENTARY / World
Nov 19, 2023

Why Democrats are 'ride or die' for Biden

Joe Biden has been unwilling to shift the responsibility for defending democracy to other shoulders. A lot of Democrats are uneasy with that.
BASEBALL
Nov 19, 2023

Japan tops South Korea on sayonara single in 10th to win APBC title

Japan edged South Korea on a walk-off hit by Makoto Kadowaki.
U.S. President Jimmy Carter and first lady Rosalynn Carter dance at a White House Congressional Ball in Washington, on Dec. 13, 1978.
WORLD
Nov 20, 2023

Former U.S. first lady Rosalynn Carter dies at 96

Seen as unassuming and quiet before coming to Washington in 1977, Carter developed into an eloquent speaker, campaigner and activist.
A report by MSCI ESG Research showed that just one-tenth of MSCI Japan Index firms have reached the 30% female board member threshold that the government is seeking for top-listed businesses.
BUSINESS
Nov 20, 2023

Japan boards may struggle amid pressure for diversity, MSCI says

Just one-tenth of MSCI Japan Index firms have reached the 30% female board member threshold that the government is seeking for top-listed businesses.
Children with their parents pray in a temporary church at a camp for internally displaced people in Demoso township in Myanmar's Kayah state.
ASIA PACIFIC / Society
Nov 20, 2023

Myanmar's displaced pray and teach under deadly skies

The junta has battered Kayah with airstrikes from its Russian and Chinese-built jets, and more than 100,000 people are now displaced in the state.
BASEBALL
Nov 20, 2023

Hirokazu Ibata passes first test with Samurai Japan

Japan went through the Asia Professional Baseball Championship with a 4-0 record.
JAPAN / Politics
Nov 22, 2023

LDP and CDP join forces against Nippon Ishin in local elections

While such coordination isn't uncommon, in the past it has generally been aimed at beating candidates from the Japanese Communist Party.
A Komeito delegation, including party leader Natsuo Yamaguchi, is visiting Beijing in a bid to improve China-Japan ties.
JAPAN / Politics
Nov 22, 2023

Komeito delegation visits China to bolster frayed ties

A group led by Natsuo Yamaguchi has met with Cai Qi, head of the powerful Secretariat of the Communist Party of China Central Committee.
PVV leader Geert Wilders' far-right, anti-Islam party has won a stunning victory in the Dutch election, a political bombshell that will resound in Europe and around the world.
WORLD / Politics
Nov 23, 2023

Dutch far-right leader Geert Wilders scores shock election victory

The influx of refugees since the Russia-Ukraine war, and the spiraling cost of food and energy, has fueled support for far-right groups across Europe.
A worker cleans a table in an empty McDonald's restaurant in Cairo on Monday.
BUSINESS / Companies
Nov 23, 2023

Boycott campaigns over Gaza hit Western brands

Companies are feeling the impact in Egypt and Jordan, and there are signs the campaign is spreading in some other Arab countries.

Longform

Rock group The Yellow Monkey played K-Arena Yokohama in June as part of a nationwide tour. Concerts are increasingly popular in the age of social media as users value in-person experiences.
Inside Japan’s arena boom: Sports, sound and city-building