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Before multiplexes entered the Japanese theatrical market in the early 1990s, moviegoers frequented “roadside theaters” — cinemas located in central urban areas near train lines. The Marunouchi Toei, which will close July 27, is the last of such theaters in Tokyo.
CULTURE / Film
Jul 24, 2025

Marunouchi Toei closes as Japan’s cinema landscape evolves

As audiences gravitate toward the luxury, tech and varied lineups of multiplexes, Tokyo’s last "roadside theater" closes after 65 years, marking the end of an era in moviegoing.
The Virtual Expo app lets users navigate a digital version of the 2025 Osaka Expo site by controlling avatars.
JAPAN / FOCUS
Jul 24, 2025

Virtual access brings Osaka Expo to broader audience

The Japan Association for the 2025 World Expo hopes to bridge the "experience gap" for those who wish to visit but are unable to make the trip to the site.
It is recommended that screen time for children should be kept to under two hours a day.
LIFE / Language / BILINGUAL
Jul 24, 2025

Study first, screens later: Japanese kids have summer projects to do

From book reports to free research, parents are helping kids build good habits — and grammar — over summer break.
In recent years, Fuji Rock has had fewer blockbuster performers and showcased more top-selling Japanese acts and international musicians' first-time performances in Japan.
CULTURE / Music
Jul 24, 2025

Behind the scenes: Inside Fuji Rock’s strategy for staying on top

With younger fans, more diverse acts and rising global interest, Fuji Rock — one of Asia’s biggest music festivals — is seeing its strongest turnout in years.
U.S. President Donald Trump’s trade deal opening Japan to U.S. auto exports sounds big but means little in practice because American carmakers don’t make what Japanese consumers want, such as the Honda N-Box, the nation's best-selling model.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Jul 24, 2025

Japan trade deal offers U.S. automakers relief, not new markets

The peculiar tastes of America’s consumers put its vehicles at a disadvantage overseas that tariffs won’t fix.
U.S. President Donald Trump on Wednesday in Washington, the day after he agreed to an 11th-hour trade deal with Japan.
BUSINESS / Economy
Jul 24, 2025

Big unanswered questions follow Japan's big, beautiful deal with the U.S.

The $550 billion investment plan, in particular, is the subject of doubt and discussion.
A Thai mobile artillery unit fires toward Cambodia on Friday in Surin, Thailand.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Jul 25, 2025

Thailand warns of war with Cambodia as 138,000 flee fighting

The conflict is still considered "an armed clash involving heavy weaponry" currently, acting Thai Prime Minister Phumtham Wechayachai said.
Spain players celebrate after the Women's Euro 2025 semifinal against Germany at Stadion Letzigrund, Zurich, Switzerland on Wednesday.
SOCCER
Jul 25, 2025

Spain sets sights on England to chase elusive European crown

The reigning world and Nations League champions will be looking for a repeat of its defeat of England in the 2023 World Cup final
Boys play football on a lawn on a smoggy morning in New Delhi, India, on Oct. 31, 2024.
SOCCER
Jul 25, 2025

Indian soccer 'hurt, scared' as domestic game hits fresh low

The men's national team is without a coach and the Indian Super League is in danger of collapsing over a dispute between the federation and its commercial partner.
Miyako Yoshida, artistic director of the National Ballet of Japan, speaks during an interview on Tuesday in London.
CULTURE / Stage
Jul 25, 2025

National Ballet of Japan stages first overseas performance in London

Thursday's show was the first of a total of five performances scheduled through Sunday.
“Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba Infinity Castle” is the first installment in a trilogy that's set to wrap the anime adaptation of Koyoharu Gotoke's manga about sword-wielding heroes fighting man-eating demons.
CULTURE / Film
Jul 25, 2025

‘Demon Slayer’ movie slashes its own box office records

“Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba Infinity Castle” kicks off a new trilogy that is set to bring the anime adaptation of Koyoharu Gotoke's manga to a close.
David Oscar Markus, an attorney for Ghislaine Maxwell, talks with the media as he leaves the first meeting his client had with Department of Justice officials at the Federal Courthouse in Tallahassee, Florida, on Thursday.
WORLD / Crime & Legal
Jul 26, 2025

Top U.S. Justice Department official questions Epstein accomplice for second day

Todd Blanche, who is also Trump's former personal attorney, has declined to say what he discussed with Ghislaine Maxwell in the highly unusual meetings.
People vote in a recall election, at a polling station in Taipei on Saturday.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Jul 26, 2025

Taiwan votes in high-stakes recall election

The high-stakes recall election to oust Kuomintang lawmakers could give President Lai Ching-te's Democratic Progressive Party control of parliament.
Indian assistant language teachers pose for a photo with Japanese Ambassador Keiichi Ono (center) at the Japanese Embassy in New Delhi on Friday.
JAPAN
Jul 26, 2025

Japan to regularly accept assistant language teachers from India

This marks the first regular dispatch of assistant language teachers from India under a government initiative to promote exchanges at the regional level.
Personal Information Protection Commission Chairman Satoru Tezuka in Tokyo on July 15
BUSINESS / Tech
Jul 26, 2025

Privacy safeguards needed to help fuel AI growth in Japan, panel chair says

A law revision was postponed during this year's ordinary parliamentary session amid strong opposition from business circles toward a system involving fines.
Cambodian soldiers ride in a truck equipped with a Russian-made BM-21 rocket launcher in the country's northern Oddar Meanchey province, which borders Thailand, on Sunday.
ASIA PACIFIC
Jul 27, 2025

Thai-Cambodia border shelling continues despite Trump's ceasefire call

Cambodia and Thailand each said the other had launched artillery attacks across contested border areas early Sunday, hours after U.S. President Donald Trump said the leaders of both countries had agreed to work on a ceasefire.
McLaren's Lando Norris drives during the qualifying session for the Belgian Grand Prix on Saturday.
MORE SPORTS / Auto Racing
Jul 27, 2025

Norris takes pole for all-McLaren front row in Belgium

The Briton blasted around the long Spa-Francorchamps circuit in a best time of one minute, 40.562 seconds on Saturday, just ahead of his teammate.
A woman casts her vote during parliamentary elections in Qom, Iran, in March 2012. Regime change in the Islamic country is harder than many think, but it has the institutions needed for democracy if it happens.
COMMENTARY / World
Jul 28, 2025

Iran is more prepared for democracy than many realize

Some commentators, like the economist Nouriel Roubini and the Stanford political scientist Abbas Milani, see regime change as plausible or imminent.
Protesters gather near Merdeka Square during a protest against Malaysia's Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim in Kuala Lumpur on Saturday.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Jul 28, 2025

Thousands rally in Malaysia demanding Anwar’s resignation

Saturday event was the first major rally targeting Anwar since he took office in 2022, and the only mass protest since 2018.
A video display regarding the Jeffrey Epstein files in Times Square in New York
WORLD / Politics
Jul 28, 2025

Epstein furor undermines public trust and Republican election hopes: lawmakers

The lack of transparency is reinforcing public perceptions that the rich and powerful live beyond the reach of the judicial system, the lawmakers said.
Afghans expelled from Iran arrive at a processing center in the border town of Islam Qala, Afghanistan, on July 10.
WORLD / Politics
Jul 28, 2025

Iran forcing out Afghans en masse after Israel spying claims

Iran is rounding up Afghan nationals due to accusations that non-documented migrants from the country spied for Israel and helped it launch missiles.
Mutsuko Sano shows a booklet containing her wartime experiences during an interview in Kamaishi, Iwate Prefecture, in May.
JAPAN / History
Jul 28, 2025

80 years on, Iwate woman recalls naval bombardment

More than 5,000 shells were fired into Kamaishi, which had a large iron mill, on July 17 and Aug. 9, 1945, killing a total of 782 people, mostly civilians.
Prime Minister and Liberal Democratic Party President Shigeru Ishiba, flanked by LDP Secretary-General Hiroshi Moriyama (left) and LDP Vice President Yoshihide Suga, speaks at a meeting of party lawmakers and executives at the party's headquarters in Tokyo on Monday.
JAPAN / Politics
Jul 28, 2025

At LDP’s post-election meeting, calls intensify for Ishiba’s resignation

The prime minister apologized to his fellow party members over the loss of its majority in the Upper House, but remains determined to stay on.
Cubs Hall of Famer Ryne Sandberg throws out a ceremonial first pitch before the game between the Cubs and the Mets at Wrigley Field on June 23, 2024.
BASEBALL / MLB
Jul 29, 2025

Legendary Cubs second baseman Ryne Sandberg dies at 65

Longtime Cubs teammate Mark Grace said "When you examine the offense and defense, you'll find some years where he was the best player you've ever seen in your life."
Hideyuki Okamoto, ice pop maker Akagi Nyugyo's marketing team leader, says the public is more accepting of price hikes as he holds the company's flagship Garigari-kun ice pop.
BUSINESS / Economy / ANALYSIS
Jul 29, 2025

Enough apologies: How Japan is shaking off its price hike phobia

A shift in consumer mindset about such increases is driven by the biggest pay hikes in three decades and has given companies more confidence to pass on rising costs.
A month-old lion cub (center) is seen in front of two 8-day-olds at a breeding facility in Chachoengsao province, Thailand, on July 7.
ASIA PACIFIC / Society
Jul 29, 2025

'Absolute madness': Thailand's pet lion problem

Thailand's captive lion population has exploded in recent years, with nearly 500 registered in zoos, breeding farms, petting cafes and homes.
Bank of Japan Gov. Kazuo Ueda. The central bank is expected to remain cautious until the fall.
BUSINESS / Economy
Jul 29, 2025

Bank of Japan likely to hold key rate at 0.5% as tariff breakthrough evaluated

Political uncertainty may also weigh on the policy board's decision this week.
Workers remove copper from industrial wiring inside a recycling shop in Manila on June 26.
ENVIRONMENT / Sustainability
Jul 29, 2025

In the Philippines, informal e-waste dismantling poses health risks

Scavenging electronic waste for the nickel, aluminum and copper inside releases a toxic brew of chemicals, including lead, mercury and cadmium, into the air.
Sanseito leader Sohei Kamiya speaks at a rally in Tokyo on July 21, a day after the Upper House election.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Jul 29, 2025

A fringe party or political force: Will the real Sanseito stand up?

There were a few things that might raise eyebrows, but nothing especially scary. Sanseito's published policy platform is relatively benign.
China has strict obscenity laws and regularly scrubs content deemed pornographic from its heavily-controlled domestic internet, so the scale of the image sharing on Telegram has shocked many in China.
ASIA PACIFIC / Crime & Legal
Jul 29, 2025

Outrage in China after reports exploitative images of Chinese women shared in Telegram groups

Sexually exploitative images of women were shared with hundreds of thousands of users on Telegram, with the scale of the sharing shocking many in China.

Longform

Ichiro Suzuki, one of the most iconic players in NPB and MLB history, was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame with 99.7% of the vote.
With Hall of Fame induction, Ichiro makes himself heard loud and clear