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Children wash their hands with a new public pump installed as part of a climate resilient water system in Inn Chey in Kratie Province.
ENVIRONMENT / Climate change / OUR PLANET
Mar 31, 2024

Japan sits at the forefront of climate resilient infrastructure in Southeast Asia

Japanese businesses and government agencies are pouring billions of yen into various programs across Cambodia and Southeast Asia to reduce climate risks.
Transfers usually take place in March at the end of the Japanese business year, but each family's reasons for living apart are different.
COMMUNITY / Voices / FOREIGN AGENDA
Apr 8, 2024

When your job separates the family

Japan's “tanshin funin” system sees married company employees leaving their families behind when they are transferred to faraway posts.
A recent near-hacking incident underscores the critical role of open-source software in the digital economy and the vulnerabilities inherent in its decentralized development process.
COMMENTARY / World
Apr 9, 2024

The world narrowly escapes a supply chain doomsday scenario

A software engineer last month stumbled on what some say would have been the most widespread and effective backdoor ever planted in any software product.
Paul Kraft
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / The Big Questions
Apr 29, 2024

JapanIQ consultancy eases entry to tough market

Kraft began his career at The Schwan Food Company, then moved to C.H. Robinson Worldwide before starting his consulting firm, JapanIQ, in 2023
People wait for the main act to begin at Summer Sonic, which holds simultaneous music festivals for those in Tokyo and Osaka.
CULTURE / Music / Longform
Jun 9, 2024

Can Japan's summer music festivals adapt to a post-pandemic reality?

Soaring temperatures, the cheap yen and a dearth of headline options may require reshaping the outdoor concert formula.
A child gets a break from the heat thanks to a cooling mist machine at Sensoji temple in Tokyo.
LIFE / Language / BILINGUAL
Jul 24, 2024

Whether it's the pool or the park, teach your kids how to be safe this summer vacation

Your children are likely to sneak out of the house for some fun while school is out. Make sure they know the importance of "squid sushi."
Photographer Gaku Lange says Japan's film photography scene is growing, but it still lags behind overseas communities.
COMMUNITY / Our Lives
Aug 5, 2024

Looking at Japan’s ‘tribal’ photography scene through a new lens

More young people in Tokyo are ditching smartphones for film cameras, but the old guard isn't necessarily pleased about it.
Britain's Keely Hodgkinson crosses the line to win the women's 800-meter final at the Paris Olympics on Monday.
OLYMPICS / Athletics
Aug 6, 2024

In her teens, this British runner struggled to walk. Now she's an Olympic champion.

The 22-year-old buried a reputation for being always the bridesmaid and never the bride as she stormed to victory.
At Suigian, an underground restaurant and bar focused on the traditional Japanese stage, diners can get within an arm's length of authentic Japan.
CULTURE / Stage
Aug 10, 2024

Suigian is everything Robot Restaurant was not

For the tourist willing to do a little homework and pay a slight premium, Suigian offers the possibility of cultural verisimilitude.
Following the Paris Olympics, two swimming pools, the climbing wall and the skateboard parks are set to be dug out and moved — most of them to the poverty-stricken Seine-Saint-Denis suburb northeast of Paris.
OLYMPICS
Aug 14, 2024

Olympics infrastructure and equipment heads for 'second life' post-Games

Over decades, the world's biggest sporting event has forged a reputation for monumental waste, but Paris organizers are hoping to change that.
Naomi Osaka serves during a match in Toronto earlier this month.
TENNIS
Aug 25, 2024

Two-time champion Osaka aims for U.S. Open comeback boost

Osaka is hoping a return to the hard courts of Flushing Meadows will mark a turning point in what has been an erratic tennis comeback.
Jonah Ndeuludila (right) is studying at Tochigi Prefecture's Asian Rural Institute in order to bring skills back to his job at Namibia's Namib Desert Environmental Education Trust.
COMMUNITY / Our Lives
Sep 2, 2024

Over half a century, seeds of change grow at a Tochigi farm

Founded by Toshihiro Takami in 1973, ARI promotes organic, subsistence farming methods and the practice of servant leadership.
Anthony Joshua (left) and Daniel Dubois during a pre-bout news conference in London on Thursday.
MORE SPORTS / Boxing
Sep 20, 2024

Dubois and Joshua primed for Wembley heavyweight showdown

The British boxers left the hype to their promoters as they met in a low-key news conference ahead of Saturday's IBF world heavyweight title fight at Wembley Stadium.
A sculpture representing Satoshi Nakamoto, the pseudonymous creator of Bitcoin, located on the grounds of a park in Budapest
COMMENTARY / World
Oct 22, 2024

Who was Bitcoin’s Satoshi? I need to know and so do you.

It’s only natural, and even healthy, to be curious about who could have created more than $1 trillion in market capitalization.
Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola gestures toward Liverpool fans at Anfield in Liverpool, England, on Sunday.
SOCCER
Dec 2, 2024

Man City boss Pep Guardiola laughs off taunts from Liverpool fans

Guardiola, the Spaniard who has ripped up the record books since arriving at City, is now reaching unwanted milestones.
Director Ema Ryan Yamazaki wanted to show situations that everyone, non-Japanese included, could relate to in “The Making of a Japanese,” her documentary about Japan’s schoolchildren. 
CULTURE / Film
Dec 9, 2024

Documentarian praises the positives of stricter schooling

"The Making of a Japanese" director Ema Ryan Yamazaki reflects on the role of the Japanese educational system in creating empathetic children.
Elon Musk has waded into German politics twice in recent days on X.
WORLD / Politics
Dec 23, 2024

Germany’s SPD calls for antitrust act to clip Elon Musk’s power

While Wiese's comments will likely intensify the war of words with the world’s richest person, it’s unclear whether regulators in the U.S. will agree with his proposal.
Madison Keys celebrates with the trophy after winning the Australian Open on Saturday in Melbourne.
TENNIS
Jan 26, 2025

Madison Keys fulfills Grand Slam ambition after banishing doubts with therapy

Good things come to those who wait as the saying goes — but Keys' wait may have seemed interminable.
Travis Kelce (87) leaves the field after the first half of Super Bowl LIX in New Orleans on Sunday.
MORE SPORTS / Football
Feb 13, 2025

Chiefs star Travis Kelce to take time before making decision on future

The 35-year-old Kelce, who is dating Taylor Swift, has made five Super Bowl appearances with the Chiefs in six seasons
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov (C) arrives in Saudi Arabia on Monday prior to a meeting with U.S. Secretary of State Marco. Top U.S. and Russian diplomats will meet in Riyadh on Tuesday for talks on resetting the countries' fractured relations and making a tentative start on trying to end the conflict in Ukraine.
WORLD / Politics
Feb 18, 2025

Top Russia and U.S. officials to meet in Saudi Arabia on Tuesday

Meanwhile, European leaders were gathering for emergency talks on how to respond to the radical pivot by the new U.S. administration.
Shoko Kanazawa, a renowned Japanese calligrapher with Down syndrome, serving a customer at Atelier Shoko Cafe in Tokyo's Ota Ward on Feb. 28. The artist aims to “bring energy and happiness to the community” in her new role as a waitress at the cafe.
JAPAN / Society
Mar 24, 2025

From brush to barista: Artist with Down syndrome shares warmth through cafe

Renowned calligrapher Shoko Kanazawa hopes to "bring energy and happiness to the community" through her new cafe in Tokyo.
A man stands near the remains of a building destroyed in a strong earthquake, in Amarapura, Myanmar, on Monday.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Apr 1, 2025

U.S. aid response in Myanmar faces hurdles after staff cuts

Response hobbled by the huge fund cuts, contractor terminations and plans to fire nearly all USAID staff, source says.
Goro Miyazaki joined Studio Ghibli in 1998 and directed films including 2006's "Tales from Earthsea" and 2011's "From Up on Poppy Hill."
CULTURE / Film
Apr 2, 2025

AI may be coming for anime, but Hayao Miyazaki is irreplaceable, son says

Goro Miyazaki says that though nothing can replicate the depth of his father's work, new technology brings "great potential for unexpected talent to emerge."
Anti-Yoon protesters hold up placards reading "Let's build a democratic government!" during a rally in Seoul on Friday after South Korea's Constitutional Court upheld the impeachment of President Yoon Suk Yeol.
JAPAN / Politics
Apr 5, 2025

Yoon's ouster prompts Japanese concerns about ties with South Korea

Japan is worried that Yoon's removal from power will undo the improvements in bilateral relations made under his administration.
Marriage proposals in Japan look a lot like those in other countries, but there are traditions that are specific to the country that some people still adhere to.
LIFE / Language / BILINGUAL
Apr 18, 2025

Voicing intentions and a peek into a traditional Japanese engagement ceremony

While the basics of a marriage proposal are similar to what happens in most countries, an extra ceremony requires specific gifts.
Capitals defenseman Jakob Chychrun (left) congratulates Alex Ovechkin after his goal against the Penguins on in Pittsburgh on Thursday.
MORE SPORTS / Ice hockey
Apr 18, 2025

Capitals great Alex Ovechkin seeks ultimate prize to cap historic season

The race for the history books captivated fans and propelled the Capitals to the top of their division for the first time in five years.
An electric vehicle factory in Ningbo, China, on April 9, 2024. For years, Xi Jinping, the leader of China, has planned to make the world dependent on its exports and know-how, but the strategy has costs for his own country.
BUSINESS / Economy
May 12, 2025

This is the trade conflict Xi Jinping has been waiting for

A willingness to weaponize the supply chain may be one of the starkest examples of how Xi is redefining China’s relationship with the world.
After last year’s controversy over using AI to write about 5% of her novel, Rie Qudan was asked by an advertising magazine to write a short story where she uses AI for 95% of it. The resulting short story, “Kage no ame” (“Rain Shadow”), was published March 25.  
CULTURE / Books
May 24, 2025

AI fiction is already here. Are humans ready?

Last year, Rie Qudan faced controversy after admitting that chatGPT wrote 5% of her novel. Now she’s published a story she only wrote 5% herself, leaving 95% to AI.
Shinjiro Koizumi, Japan's newly appointed agriculture minister, arrives at the ministry building in Tokyo on Wednesday. He replaced Taku Eto, who quit after saying he’s never needed to buy rice, a comment that angered many people.
EDITORIALS
May 23, 2025

Rice price uproar intensifies ruling party's election fears

When the remarks triggered a predictable and understandable backlash, Eto explained that he was trying to make a joke.
U.S. President Donald Trump speaks to reporters aboard Air Force One on Tuesday.
BUSINESS / Economy
Jul 2, 2025

Trump doubles down on Japan again by threatening 35% tariff

Japan is currently subject to 25% auto tariffs and a 50% tariff on steel and aluminum, as well as a 10% reciprocal tariff that could return to 24% if no deal is struck by July 9.

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