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Ayumi Matsuki, a priestess at Yoshiwara Shrine, shows off some "o-mamori" charms. She says visitors to the shrine have increased since the NHK drama “Unbound” began airing this month.
JAPAN / History / Longform
Jan 26, 2025

Tracing Tsutaya Juzaburo, Edo’s media maverick

Discover the hometown of the Yoshiwara publisher who helped shape Japan’s artistic legacy and inspired NHK’s latest period drama.
Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko visits a polling station during the presidential election in Minsk on Sunday.
WORLD / Politics
Jan 26, 2025

Belarusians vote in election to extend Lukashenko's 30-year rule

Lukashenko — a 70-year-old former collective farm boss — has been in power in reclusive, Moscow-allied Belarus since 1994.
Sanjay in front of his home in Texas
WORLD / Politics
Jan 28, 2025

Trump’s birthright citizenship rattles H-1B visa workers expecting a baby

The U.S. is fairly unique in offering unconditional birthright citizenship, creating a special enticement for foreign workers.
A young couple (Ryuya Wakaba and Mai Fukagawa) fulfill a lifelong dream of moving to the countryside, only to find their new community may have sinister intentions toward them in “Welcome to the Village.”
CULTURE / Film
Jan 30, 2025

‘Welcome to the Village’: Tradition takes a twisted turn in the countryside

The ancient tradition of “murahachibu,” ostracizing community members as punishment, gets a contemporary twist in Hideo Jojo’s slow-burn thriller.
Defending the rights of transgender and nonbinary people isn’t only about waging legal battles. It’s about more persuasive arguments.
COMMENTARY / World
Jan 29, 2025

Trump can’t erase trans people with the stroke of his marker

There hasn’t been as much outrage as I had anticipated, but it makes sense. Most Americans, polls show, don’t personally know anyone who identifies as transgender.
Max Verstappen at the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix in December. Ever since Red Bull gambled on a 17-year-old Verstappen in 2015, both sides have reaped the rewards: 63 wins, 40 pole positions, 112 podiums and four world championships.
MORE SPORTS / Auto Racing
Feb 1, 2025

Formula One champion is confronting changes off the track and on

The reigning four-time Formula One champion, who is set to become a father, has his sights set on a fifth straight title, a feat only Michael Schumacher has accomplished.
The USAID building in Washington on Saturday. Senior security staff have been put on leave by the administration of U.S. President Donald Trump after they refused to allow representatives from billionaire Elon Musk's Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) to access restricted parts of the building, people familiar with the matter have said.
WORLD
Feb 3, 2025

More USAID staff ousted after clash with Musk's team as Trump dismantles agency

The fast-moving developments follow an executive order by Trump last month to halt and reevaluate U.S. foreign aid.
Simona Halep waves to the crowd at the end of her final match during the Transylvania Open in Cluj-Napoca, Romania on Tuesday.
TENNIS
Feb 5, 2025

Former world No. 1 Simona Halep announces retirement

Halep lost in three Grand Slam finals before finally clinching her first major at the French Open in 2018 and went on to win Wimbledon the following year.
Kuaishou Technology has attracted tens of millions of younger viewers who habitually scroll screens for new stories and trending videos.
BUSINESS / Companies
Feb 6, 2025

Mini dramas have supplanted movies in China. Is the U.S. next?

Professionally produced series for the web, mini dramas have clear storylines and big cliffhangers, with episodes running just 60 to 90 seconds each.
Naomi Osaka celebrates winning her second round match at the Australian Open over the Czech Republic's Karolina Muchova on Jan. 15.
TENNIS
Feb 6, 2025

Naomi Osaka on tennis, motherhood and being Japanese

Osaka returned to the tour a year ago and has had mixed results overall. But there are early signs in 2025 that she's starting to "get her pink back."
Palestinians collect food handouts from a free kitchen run by volunteers in Khan Younis, in the central Gaza Strip, on Jan. 17.
WORLD / Science & Health
Feb 7, 2025

Halt in U.S. aid cripples global efforts to relieve hunger

The pause impairs programs that aim to prevent mass starvation and, more immediately, hobbles those meant to respond to crises and save lives.
Although she’s unlucky in love, Shigusa (Kirara Inori, left) finds strength in expressing herself through art in “Kisspeptin Chronicles.”
CULTURE / Film
Feb 8, 2025

‘Kisspeptin Chronicles’: Quirky rom-com dances through the pain of heartache

Shiika Okada’s debut feature has an autobiographical feel and a hopeful message about self-discovery despite romantic disappointments.
South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol declares martial law in Seoul on Dec. 3. Yoon is currently facing charges related to his actions over that two-day period.
COMMENTARY / World
Feb 7, 2025

Was there an insurrection in Seoul on Dec. 3, or is that happening now?

Yoon can now be held for up to six months in prison simply at the behest of the prosecutors.
After gaining a record number of Oscar nominations for a foreign-language movie, "Emilia Perez" has become embroiled in scandal linked to past social media posts by star Karla Sofia Gascon.
CULTURE / Film
Feb 7, 2025

Oscars frontrunner 'Emilia Perez' suffers awards season crash

Actor Karla Sofia Gascon has seen her path to glory seriously compromised by her past social media posts about Islam, U.S. anti-racism protests and even the Oscars themselves.
Mitsubishi Tanabe Pharma will be acquired by U.S. private equity firm Bain Capital for ¥510 billion.
BUSINESS / Companies
Feb 9, 2025

Bain to acquire Mitsubishi Tanabe Pharma in $3.3 billion deal

Tanabe Pharma focuses on therapeutic areas such as immunology and inflammation, vaccines, diabetes, and central nervous system and metabolic disease.
An Afghan woman sits with her children along the roadside in Kandahar on Sunday.
WORLD / Politics
Feb 10, 2025

Pakistan to force tens of thousands of Afghan refugees out of the capital

Pakistan has ordered Afghan refugees in Islamabad to leave by March 31, as Trump’s refugee ban leaves thousands in limbo.
"I hope skaters who train here will go on to shine on the world stage," Olympic silver medalist Mao Asada told the Japan Times at Mao Rink Tachikawa Tachihi, a skating rink in Tachikawa, Tokyo, whose establishment she was involved in, on Jan. 28.
MORE SPORTS / Figure skating
Feb 11, 2025

Mao Asada sets out to safeguard the future of Japanese skating

Mao Rink Tachikawa Tachihi, a project that involved the three-time world champion, has become a dream destination for skaters.
Volunteer Nhoun Niyok shows villagers how to use a mosquito net to prevent malaria in Cambodia's northeastern Mondulkiri province on Jan. 16.
ASIA PACIFIC / Science & Health
Feb 14, 2025

Cambodia nears Khmer Rouge survivor's dream of eradicating malaria

The hope is for zero cases this year — a remarkable turnaround for a country that was formerly an epicenter of multi-drug resistant strains.
Leaders of patients' groups submit signatures opposing the move by the government to raise the medical copayment ceiling on Wednesday.
JAPAN / Science & Health / EXPLAINER
Feb 14, 2025

Japan to rethink medical copayment hike amid patient outcry

Many patients, especially those undergoing costly but effective cancer therapy, say a hike might force them to abandon their treatments.
U.S. President Donald Trump's Gaza proposal is a reckless plan that would forcibly displace Palestinians, destabilize neighboring countries, empower Iran and and hinder any long-term peace efforts.
COMMENTARY / World
Feb 18, 2025

Trump’s Gaza plan is a crazy answer to a valid question

It is a propsal that will love Israel to death, revive Iran to life and destabilize every American friend.
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.
People protest against the decision to virtually shut down the United States Agency for International Development, in Washington on Feb. 5. U.S. President Donald Trump's foreign aid freeze has halted vital projects in the South Pacific, aid workers and analysts say, risking lives and hurting U.S. efforts to woo the region.
BUSINESS
Feb 19, 2025

U.S. aid freeze stops crucial South Pacific projects

For years the U.S. has helped to buy life-saving medicine, combat illegal fishing and better prepare coastal hamlets for earthquakes and typhoons.
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.
Co-leader of Germany's far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) party Alice Weidel reacts during the electoral evening in Berlin on Sunday after the first exit polls in the German general elections.
WORLD / Politics
Feb 24, 2025

Alice Weidel, the unlikely queen of German's far-right AfD

Alice Weidel led the Moscow-friendly AfD to a record result of around 20% in Germany.
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.
While Osaka’s 2025 World Expo may strengthen Japan’s global ties through diplomatic engagements, its success will depend on fostering long-term innovation, economic cooperation and international collaboration beyond visitor numbers.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Feb 25, 2025

Will Expo 2025 in Osaka be a success?

Osaka has hosted the Expo twice before, in 1970 and 1990, with the 1970 affair in particular occupying a special place in many local residents’ hearts.
Impeached South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol attends the hearing of his impeachment trial over his short-lived imposition of martial law, at the Constitutional Court in Seoul on Thursday.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics / FOCUS
Feb 25, 2025

What happens next in South Korea as Yoon's impeachment trial wraps up?

Ousted South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol's impeachment trial is set to wrap up Tuesday.
Taiwanese comic artist Rishiazao and interpreter Yun-wen Huang greet an attendee at the 2025 Angouleme International Comics Festival in France.
CULTURE / Books
Mar 1, 2025

Taiwan comics on the rise: Local storytellers, global aspirations

A supportive ecosystem and eager audiences — both domestic and global — are boosting the soft power of illustrated narratives from Taiwan.
Blackstone said it agreed to purchase 60% of Tokyo-based CMIC, a contract research organization, in a deal that values the company in the hundreds of millions of dollars.
BUSINESS / Companies
Mar 3, 2025

Blackstone buys Japan drug trial firm, adding to private equity health deals

Blackstone has been increasingly active in Japan’s life science sector amid a wider buyout boom in the country.

Longform

A sinkhole in Yashio, which emerged in January, was triggered by a ruptured, aging sewer pipe. Authorities worry that similar sections of infrastructure across the country are also at risk of corrosion.
That sinking feeling: Japan’s aging sewers are an infrastructure time bomb