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Kumi Takiuchi plays a prostitute talking about her life’s pains and pleasures in detail to a psychiatrist in “Reveal.”
CULTURE / Film
Mar 4, 2025

‘Reveal’: Kumi Takiuchi’s performance stuns in one-woman film

Kazuyoshi Okuyama’s powerful drama about a sex worker baring her soul features its lead actor emoting nearly nonstop with no cuts.
Yarn shortages are a sign that hobbies like knitting and crochet are gaining in popularity.
LIFE / Lifestyle
Mar 4, 2025

‘Granny hobbies’ are the new self-care

Pastimes long associated with Japanese grandparents are booming on social media as young people look for new (old) ways to relax.
Nihon Hidankyo Assistant Secretary-General Jiro Hamasumi delivers a speech at the third meeting of signatories to the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons on Monday at the United Nations headquarters in New York.
JAPAN
Mar 4, 2025

Nihon Hidankyo executive urges abolition of nuclear weapons at U.N. meeting

"Atomic bombs are the 'devil's weapons' that rob people of their future," said Jiro Hamasumi, assistant secretary-general of Nihon Hidankyo.
The iconic ring-shaped roof at the venue of the World Exposition in Osaka on Friday
JAPAN
Mar 4, 2025

Osaka Expo ring roof recognized as world's largest wooden structure

The 60,000-square-meter Grand Ring has the largest building area on record for a wooden structure, according to Guinness World Records.
The Auckland skyline at sunset in 2023. New Zealand's economy was the worst performing in the developed world last year, according to HSBC.
ASIA PACIFIC / Society
Mar 4, 2025

New Zealand's economic missteps hasten exodus to sunnier shores

A total of 128,700 people permanently left the Pacific nation of 5.3 million in 2024, provisionally the largest exodus on record.
Takeshi Hakamada, founder and CEO of Ispace, speaks during a news conference in September 2024.
JAPAN
Mar 4, 2025

Japan startup targets June 6 moon landing

Ispace hopes to have its own moment of glory, after the unsalvageable "hard landing" of its initial attempt in 2023.
Excerpts from Natsume Soseki’s “Ten Nights of Dreams” and footage of dancer Min Tanaka and "shō" player Mayumi Miyata play across three large screens that are reflected in a mirror-like pool of water in the installation “Time Time.”
CULTURE / Art
Mar 4, 2025

Crowds shouldn’t stop you from seeing the hit Ryuichi Sakamoto exhibit

Museum of Contemporary Art Tokyo’s “Seeing Sound, Hearing Time” has far exceeded expected visitor numbers, but there could be an upside to the crowds.
U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio (second from left), Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov (right) and envoys meet in Riyadh on Feb. 18.
WORLD / Politics
Mar 5, 2025

Putin agrees to help Trump broker nuclear talks with Iran

Discussions are in their initial stages and it’s not clear whether any talks between the U.S. and Iran would yield any progress.
U.S. Vice President JD Vance speaks to reporters in Washington on Tuesday morning. Vance’s comments on the Anglo-French proposal to protect Ukraine have sparked criticism in Britain.
WORLD / Politics
Mar 5, 2025

JD Vance denies disrespecting U.K. and France over Ukraine peacekeeping force

Vance's comments caused politicians in both countries to say he was dishonoring troops killed fighting alongside U.S. forces in Afghanistan and Iraq.
Billboard advertisements for host clubs in the Kabukicho area of Tokyo.
JAPAN
Mar 5, 2025

Tokyo police step up crackdown on sex worker scout group

The group is believed to have earned about ¥7 billion over five years by dispatching women to the sexual service businesses that offered the best pay.
Elbridge Colby appears at his confirmation hearing before the Senate Armed Services Committee to be undersecretary of defense for policy at the Capitol in Washington on Tuesday.
JAPAN / Politics
Mar 5, 2025

Trump Pentagon policy pick pushes Japan and Taiwan to boost defense spending

Tokyo should boost its defense budget to 3% of GDP "as soon as possible,” said Elbridge Colby, Trump's pick for the top policy job at the Pentagon.
Members of the media look out across the bay at smoke rising from a mountain in the rain as firefighters continue to battle a wildfire near the city of Ofunato, Iwate Prefecture on Wednesday.
JAPAN
Mar 5, 2025

Iwate wildfire enters second week as rain offers hope of relief

As of Wednesday morning, 4,111 people had been evacuated from Ofunato, or about 13% of the city’s entire population.
The international system led by the United Nations faces challenges such as failing to maintain peace, end corruption and implement reforms, raising concerns of a League of Nations-like collapse.
COMMENTARY / World
Mar 4, 2025

Transitioning to a new global structure without a League of Nations-style collapse

Like many idealistic efforts throughout history, the League of Nations teetered for years before its final collapse as the end of World War II.
Tariffs and trade uncertainty are causing the U.S. economy to lose steam, and companies more vulnerable to slower growth are starting to show the cracks.
BUSINESS / Markets
Mar 6, 2025

Investors spy the dawn of a tectonic shift away from U.S. markets

For most of the last three years, investors had bet on "U.S. exceptionalism," with the country ahead of others in economic growth, stock prices and AI.
Liverpool goalkeeper Alisson catches the ball during his club's first-leg win over Paris Saint-Germain in the Champions League in Paris on Wednesday.
SOCCER
Mar 6, 2025

Liverpool stuns Paris St. Germain late in first leg of Champions League clash

Goalkeeper Alisson, who was named man of the match, said it was the performance of his life.
High school student Mayu Kobayashi (right) speaks as she and other "student peace ambassadors" call for the abolition of nuclear weapons in front of the United Nations headquarters in New York on Wednesday.
JAPAN / Society
Mar 6, 2025

Japanese high school students call for nuke abolition in New York

They stress that peace must be continuously protected and is not something to be taken for granted.
Kaoru Hasuike, who was abducted by North Korea before returning to Japan, speaks on Wednesday in Shimada, Shizuoka Prefecture.
JAPAN
Mar 6, 2025

Former abductee urges Japan to work with U.S. to press North Korea

Kaoru Hasuike said that the abduction issue "has not been resolved."
"It is an expanding field. We need more people,” said Kaoru Onishi, head of the global product division at Nissay Asset Management.
BUSINESS / Companies
Mar 6, 2025

Nissay Asset ramps up hiring as alternative investment booms

Japanese asset managers are trying to boost returns at a time when policymakers are encouraging households to shift their savings to investments.
Firefighters battle a wildfire in Ofunato, Iwate Prefecture, on Thursday.
JAPAN
Mar 6, 2025

Wildfire slows in Iwate as government announces relief support

The city saw 26.5 millimeters of rain on Wednesday, far exceeding the 2.5mm total for the entire month of February.
U.S. President Donald Trump is exempting automakers from newly imposed tariffs on Mexico and Canada for one month, the White House said Wednesday, as a temporary reprieve following pleas from industry leaders.
BUSINESS / Economy
Mar 6, 2025

Trump’s tariff pause cheered globally and watched closely in Tokyo

The U.S. president is delaying 25% tariffs on cars from Mexico and Canada and might consider carve-outs for agricultural imports from those countries.
Bar Bota, the 37th-floor watering hole at the Four Seasons Osaka, looks out on a glittering cityscape better known for its cheap eats and drinks.
LIFE / Food & Drink
Mar 9, 2025

Slowly but surely, Osaka emerges from Kyoto’s fine-dining shadow

The majority of tourists go to Osaka with street food on their minds, but the city is rapidly improve its elevated dining options as well.
The Nagasaki Prefectural Police headquarters in the city of Nagasaki. Nagasaki police have arrested a 54-year-old woman for allegedly locking her naked partner out on their balcony for the night three years ago, which led to the man's death from extreme cold.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Mar 7, 2025

Woman held over death of partner after locking him out naked on balcony

The temperature had fallen to a low of 3.7 degrees Celsius on the night of the incident in February 2022.
The illuminated advertising board of a host club in Tokyo's Kabukicho entertainment district. The bill approved by the government on Friday aims to ban hosts from emotionally manipulating customers into making excessive purchases — a common tactic in the industry.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Mar 7, 2025

Japan looks to crack down on host club exploitation with tighter regulations

Police received 2,776 consultations nationwide related to host clubs last year, with many involving women coerced into sex work to cover unpaid bills.
Shoshi Maekawa (center) speaks during a news conference in Kanazawa, Ishikawa Prefecture, on Thursday following the opening of his retrial.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Mar 7, 2025

Retrial ruling set for July 18 over 1986 murder in Fukui

In a hearing at the Kanazawa branch of the Nagoya High Court, Shoshi Maekawa said he was innocent of the junior high school student's murder.
Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba (left) and U.S. President Donald Trump arrive for a joint news conference in the East Room of the White House in Washington, on Feb. 7.
JAPAN / Politics
Mar 7, 2025

Tokyo responds to Trump remarks on 'interesting' Japan-U.S. security pact

Japan's top government spokesperson underlined the agreement's cooperative element after the U.S. president complained the deal was one-sided.
Nintendo shares sank as much as 9.8% in Tokyo Friday, as U.S. President Donald Trump doubling levies on China means game consoles, mostly made in China, could have higher selling prices in the United States due to heftier import costs.
BUSINESS / Companies
Mar 7, 2025

Nintendo shares plunge on tariff fears as foreign investors retreat

Nintendo sank 9.2% in Tokyo, its biggest intraday drop since the stock market rout on Aug. 5.
Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba speaks during a meeting of the Budget Committee of the House of Councilors on Thursday.
JAPAN
Mar 7, 2025

Japan to invite stateless people born to Japanese in Philippines

The government will help people collect information so they can take Japanese nationality and will also arrange meetings for them with Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba.
South Korean impeached President Yoon Suk Yeol reacts outside the Seoul detention center after his release, in Uiwang, South Korea, on Saturday.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Mar 8, 2025

South Korea's impeached President Yoon released from detention

The suspended president walked out of the detention center smiling, before bowing deeply to a small crowd of cheering supporters.
Shigeru Ishiba, the prime minister and president of the Liberal Democratic Party, shakes hands with one of the party's candidates for the upcoming Upper House election during the party's annual convention in Tokyo on Sunday.
JAPAN / Politics
Mar 10, 2025

Ishiba vows all-out election fight at LDP convention

The triennial Upper House election comes after the LDP-Komeito ruling coalition lost its majority in the Lower House in last year's general election.
Italian President Sergio Mattarella lays flowers on Saturday before the cenotaph for the victims of the 1945 atomic bombing at Peace Memorial Park in Hiroshima.
JAPAN
Mar 9, 2025

Italian president lays flowers at Hiroshima Peace Park

The president observed a moment of silent in front of the cenotaph and then toured the park, accompanied by Hiroshima Mayor Kazumi Matsui.

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A small shrine perched atop rocks braves the waves hitting the shoreline during a storm in Shimoda, Shizuoka Prefecture. The area is under threat of a possible 31-meter-high tsunami if an earthquake strikes the nearby Nankai Trough.
If the 'Big One' hits, this city could face a 31-meter-high tsunami