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A young boy (Shion Matsufuji, left) who travels a lot with his father’s theater troupe stays in one place long enough to make a new friend (Jun Saito) in “Confetti.”
CULTURE / Film
Mar 14, 2024

‘Confetti’ spotlights the transformative power of theater

Naoya Fujita’s feature debut is a sweet coming-of-age drama and a celebration of "taishū engeki," an art form that doesn’t get a lot of critical respect.
Wakana Nukui has been described as having a knack for storytelling and vividly sharing her vision with those around her.
BUSINESS / WOMEN AT WORK
Mar 24, 2024

A social entrepreneur who is determined to lift Cambodian women's status

Wakana Nukui has fostered new talent in design while opening shops dedicated to local products.
JAPAN / Politics
Mar 14, 2024

Upper House Abe faction members deny involvement in slush fund scandal

Opposition lawmakers targeted the lack of clarity over the decision to continue a kickback scheme after Abe’s death in 2022.
Pickleball courts in New York's famed Central Park
MORE SPORTS
Mar 15, 2024

Amid boom overseas, when will pickleball land in Japan?

Over the past few years, pickleball has emerged as the fastest-growing sport in the U.S., but it has yet to take off in Japan.
EDITORIALS
Mar 15, 2024

The night Godzilla trampled Hollywood

The humanity behind visual effects and animation won in the end, and Japan should be proud.
The massive Gemini fiasco unveils critical questions about artificial intelligence's role and accountability in decision-making.
COMMENTARY / World
Mar 15, 2024

Google’s bad Gemini rollout did the world a favor

Part of the difficulty in grappling with AI’s full implications is the huge effort that has gone into devising models that express themselves like humans.
Women attend a protest in 2018 against the rape of three girls, an 8-year-old, an 11-year-old and a teenager, in different parts of India. The country experiences alarming rates of sexual violence against women.
COMMENTARY / World
Mar 15, 2024

Why is India failing to protect its women?

India is plagued by sexual violence, with many horrific cases in the spotlight over the years. Despite reforms, cultural norms are hindering progress.
There are growing calls within the LDP to query former Prime Minister Yoshiro Mori (left) over his possible involvement in the scandal. While Prime Minister Fumio Kishida has said that the party would discuss hearing directly from those involved, he did not offer specific examples of who he had in mind.
JAPAN / Politics
Mar 15, 2024

Shimomura to testify amid growing calls to query Mori over funds scandal

The former LDP policy chief's testimony before an ethics committee could pressure the ex-PM to disclose what he knows about the kickback scheme.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office said Friday that he had OK'd a plan to attack the Gaza city of Rafah on the southern edge of the shattered Palestinian enclave.
WORLD / Politics
Mar 16, 2024

Israel approves plan to attack Rafah but keeps truce hopes alive

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office said he had OK'd a plan to attack the city on the southern edge of the shattered Palestinian enclave.
Rock quartet Chai gained attention from fans and media in the late 2010s for its “neo kawaii” concept, which focused on self-confidence and celebrated individuality.
CULTURE
Mar 17, 2024

Champion of 'neo kawaii' Chai takes a final bow

The upbeat and eclectic rock quartet, which announced it would disband after its Japan tour, redefined what it meant to be cute.
Supporters of South Korean plaintiffs in wartime labor lawsuits hold a rally in Seoul on March 6.
JAPAN
Mar 17, 2024

Wartime labor issue still overshadowing Japan-South Korea ties

Last month, a South Korean plaintiff received compensation deposited by Hitachi Zosen with a South Korean court handling the wartime labor suit.
Members of the U.S. Special Operations Command train with their South Korean counterparts during the annual Freedom Shield joint military exercise at Seoul Air Base in Seongnam, South Korea, on Thursday.
ASIA PACIFIC
Mar 17, 2024

U.S. commandos laud training for the 'unexpected' in North Korea's shadow

The Korean Peninsula joins the South China Sea and Taiwan as military flashpoints with the potential to involve the region and the world.
Russian President Vladimir Putin is extending his nearly quarter-century rule into a fifth term at a time when his troops are on the offensive in Ukraine.
WORLD / Politics
Mar 18, 2024

Putin warns Russia won’t be stopped after record election win

Putin is extending his nearly quarter-century rule into a fifth term at a time when his troops are on the offensive in Ukraine.
Fans cheer during a friendly match between the Los Angeles Dodgers and the Kiwoon Heroes ahead of the Major League Baseball Seoul Series in Seoul on Sunday.
BASEBALL / MLB
Mar 18, 2024

MLB brings Shohei Ohtani, season openers and big dreams to Seoul

With a set of stars from the region, 2024 is turning out to be baseball’s moment in Asia.
U.S. President Joe Biden (right) is welcomed to Israel by the country’s prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, in the aftermath of Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack. The relationship between the two leaders has since soured.
COMMENTARY / World
Mar 18, 2024

Biden and Netanyahu are going from frenemies to enemies

President Biden has warned the Israeli prime minister about crossing a red line, but that may cause more trouble than good, as history teaches us.
A container ship passes at Keelung port in northern Taiwan in July 2010.
ENVIRONMENT / Sustainability
Mar 18, 2024

Pressure builds for charge on shipping sector's CO2 emissions

At an International Maritime Organization meeting, 47 countries are supporting the imposition of a fee on each ton of greenhouse gas the industry produces.
An illustration of the planned Paris Games opening ceremony on the River Seine
OLYMPICS
Mar 20, 2024

Russians and Belarusians will not take part in Paris Games opening parade

The athletes from the two countries will be competing as independents without their flags and anthems following Russia's invasion of Ukraine in 2022.
Police officers monitor traffic on the streets from surveillance cameras in Buenos Aires in April 2020.
WORLD / Society
Mar 20, 2024

Reboot of Buenos Aires facial recognition plan fuels privacy fears

The system of 300 cameras linked to a national crime database was suspended two years ago after a court ruled it unconstitutional.
Mustafa Suleyman, the co-founder & CEO of Inflection AI, at the Greylock Partners office in Menlo Park, California in May 2023. Suleyman, a co-founder of Google’s DeepMind artificial intelligence lab, is leaving the startup he was running to lead Microsoft’s consumer AI business, in another sign of Microsoft’s aggressive plans for the technology.
BUSINESS / Companies
Mar 20, 2024

Microsoft deepens AI focus, hiring DeepMind co-founder for consumer tools

Over a year after unveiling an AI-enhanced Bing search, the company has made few gains in the search market, still dominated by Google.
Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump arrives to vote in Florida's primary election at a polling station at the Morton and Barbara Mandel Recreation Center in Palm Beach, Florida, on Tuesday.
WORLD / Politics
Mar 20, 2024

Trump again conditions U.S. help to NATO allies on paying their 'fair share'

The Republican presidential candidate reiterated his stance, saying that his harsh words are "a form of negotiation."
Republican presidential candidate and former U.S. President Donald Trump speaks at a rally in Vandalia, Ohio, earlier this month.
COMMENTARY / World
Mar 20, 2024

The zombification of American politics

Turning a party into an autocracy is a logical first step toward turning the country into one.
BASEBALL / MLB
Mar 21, 2024

Ohtani’s longtime interpreter fired amid illegal gambling allegations

ESPN reported that at least $4.5 million in wire transfers were sent to a bookmaking operation, which is under federal investigation.
Known in Hokkaido business circles as an internationalist due to his close ties with the United States and the International Olympics Committee, Yoshiro Ito headed dozens of Hokkaido and national organizations during his decadeslong career.
JAPAN / Society / Regional Voices: Hokkaido
Mar 25, 2024

Hokkaido mourns Yoshiro Ito, promoter of Japan-U.S. ties

Ito was known in Hokkaido business circles as an internationalist due to his close ties with the United States.
Shizue Takahashi, a bereaved family member of the 1995 sarin attack on the Tokyo subway system, offers a prayer at Kasumigaseki Station on Wednesday, the 29th anniversary of the attack.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Mar 20, 2024

Japan marks 29th anniversary of Tokyo subway sarin attack

The Aum Shinrikyo doomsday cult's sarin nerve gas attack on the Tokyo subway system killed 14 people and injured more than 6,000.
Giant cut-outs of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and other party leaders are positioned beside a road in the Indian state of Madhya Pradesh on Feb. 25.
ASIA PACIFIC
Mar 21, 2024

Hardships and broken promises no hindrance for Modi in India's rural north

If India's prime minister earns a third term in office, it will be in spite of the state of the rural and farming economy — not because of it.
The Bank of Japan's recent decision to abandon negative interest rates is seen more as a symbolic shift.
COMMENTARY
Mar 21, 2024

BOJ finally ditches negative rates, but this is no liftoff

It's the end of an era for the Bank of Japan as negative interest rates are phased out.
Ukrainian rescuers gather outside of a residential building after a missile attack in Kyiv on Thursday.
WORLD / Politics
Mar 22, 2024

In Putin's growing shadow, EU faces lack of consensus on arming Ukraine

Over two years into Moscow's war against its neighbor, Kyiv's troops are struggling to hold ground as Western deliveries of ammunition have faltered.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Mar 22, 2024

ASDF lieutenant general suspended over workplace bullying

It is the first punitive action against an ASDF lieutenant general for harassment.
Mobile phones seized from an apartment room in Phnom Penh in relation to a special fraud case are shown at a police station in Saitama Prefecture in November.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Mar 22, 2024

Arrests of 'tokuryū' gang members estimated to have topped 10,000

More than 10,000 members of so-called tokuryū criminal groups are believed to have been arrested in Japan in the three years through 2023, a National Police Agency (NPA) survey showed Thursday.
Smoke rises from Gaza, amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas, on March 17. Ending the wars in Gaza and Ukraine and deterring conflicts in the Indo-Pacific region is a key global goal.
COMMENTARY / Japan / Geoeconomic Briefing
Mar 31, 2024

How should Japan deal with Ukraine, Gaza and the Indo-Pacific region?

The power, institutions and values that underpin the international security order are being compromised worldwide.

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