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Tesla Model 3 assembly line at Tesla's factory in Fremont, California, in 2018. Before the Shanghai plant opened, Fremont was Tesla’s principal factory.
BUSINESS / Companies
Mar 27, 2024

A pivot to China saved Elon Musk. It also binds him to Beijing.

Musk is now treading a fine line, sounding the alarm about Chinese rivals, even as he remains reliant on the Chinese market.
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi prepares to address a joint session of parliament in New Delhi in June 2019.
COMMENTARY / World
Mar 27, 2024

Making sense of society

In a world that is becoming fragmented within and across countries, it is easy to lose hope for social and economic progress.
Directed and co-written by Sunao Katabuchi, animated film “In This Corner of the World” depicts the beauty of nature and the horrors of war with equal potency.
CULTURE / Film
Mar 27, 2024

Films that give the Japanese perspective of the atomic bomb

Movies about the nation's darkest days — in genres such as dramas, fantasies and anime — offer another side to Christopher Nolan's 'Oppenheimer' story.
Joel Vaudreuil's "When Adam Changes" won the grand prix at this year's Niigata International Animation Film Festival, the largest festival devoted to feature-length animation in Asia.
CULTURE / Film / CULTURE SMASH
Mar 28, 2024

Niigata film festival showcases cutting-edge overseas talent

The six-day event dedicated to feature-length animation presented a lineup of stories that were psychologically rich and emotionally dark.
A Palestinian boy walks on the site of an Israeli strike in Rafah, in the southern Gaza Strip, on March 27.
COMMENTARY / World / Geoeconomic Briefing
Apr 2, 2024

How the Israel-Hamas war is changing the international security order

The divide within the international community over the conflict is set to become even more serious.
An installation titled "Ukiyo-e" by Atsushi Kaga is displayed at Art Basel in Hong Kong on Tuesday.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Mar 28, 2024

Art Basel Hong Kong’s full-scale return tests city’s events appeal

The art fair will serve as a test of the city’s ability to stage major events, in the wake of several big-name controversies and cancellations.
Daniel Calvert accepted the award for Asia's best eatery on behalf of Sezanne, a French restaurant at the Four Seasons Hotel Tokyo at Marunouchi.
LIFE / Food & Drink
Mar 31, 2024

Tokyo's Sezanne reigns supreme as Asia's best restaurant

Against the best restaurants Asia has to offer, Japan captured nine of the top 50 spots.
Danielle Collins during the Miami Open semifinals. The American won the final on Saturday over Elena Rybakina.
TENNIS
Mar 31, 2024

Collins beats Rybakina to win Miami Open

The 30-year-old Collins, No. 53 in the world, is the lowest-ranked woman ever to win the tournament.
All Blacks forward Ardie Savea wants New Zealand Rugby to reconsider the rule that only allows domestic-based players to be selected for the national team.
MORE SPORTS / Rugby
Apr 1, 2024

Savea calls for change in All Blacks' eligibility regulations

A number of high-profile New Zealanders have moved away from home, with a handful contracted to Japanese clubs.
Daiya Seto in action during the men's 400m medley final at the World Aquatics Championships in Doha on Feb. 18.
OLYMPICS / Swimming
Apr 2, 2024

Japanese swimming veteran ready to make waves at Paris Olympics

Daiya Seto wants to be a voice for meaningful change in the domestic sport.
Japan will provide ¥590 billion in additional subsidies to chip venture Rapidus.
BUSINESS / Companies
Apr 2, 2024

Japan approves extra ¥590 billion in aid to chip startup Rapidus

The additional funding will help Rapidus buy chipmaking equipment and also develop advanced back-end chipmaking processes.
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un looks on as he guides a training of the fire division in this picture released on March 19. Pyongyang has spent decades stockpiling millions of rounds of artillery and thousands of rockets in the terrain north of the demilitarized zone, which sits some 40 kilometers away from Seoul.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Apr 3, 2024

Kim Jong Un faces annihilation in nearly all Korea war scenarios

Although North Korea has a manpower advantage, the bulk of its forces rely on "increasingly obsolete equipment” dating back to Soviet era.
Japan's law-abiding pedestrian culture and norms may help explain its economic performance.
COMMENTARY / World
Apr 3, 2024

The economic consequences of legal behavior

There is a complex relationship between cultural norms, legal systems and economic development.
Yayoi Kusama’s “Pumpkin,” once the victim of high waves that dragged it into the sea, sits at the end of a pier on the south side of Naoshima.
CULTURE / Art / Longform
Apr 6, 2024

Why is the most exciting art in Japan so hard to get to?

Japan has a unique movement of public art projects and festivals that are a slog to get to — by design. A writer examines the country's “inconvenient art."
Hamas traffics in outrage and one of its primary objectives with the Oct. 7 atrocities was to goad the Jewish state into indiscriminate attacks — and that is what Israel gave it. 
EDITORIALS
Apr 5, 2024

Israel needs to stop killing civilians immediately

Israel must wake up to the suffering it is inflicting on innocent people and the damage it is doing to its image and reputation.
United States defender Casey Short (20) and Japan midfielder Aoba Fujino (15) run for the ball during the second half at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta, Georgia, on Saturday.
SOCCER
Apr 7, 2024

Horan penalty gives USA comeback win over Japan

The Americans will now face regional rivals Canada in Tuesday's final.
A Paris 2024 Olympic and Paralympic Games' athletics track in two shades of purple is installed next to the Stade de France stadium in Saint-Denis, near Paris, on March 24.
OLYMPICS / Athletics
Apr 8, 2024

Athletics track for Paris Olympics is made in Italy — in purple

The track delivers better performance than the one used at the COVID-delayed Tokyo Olympics, it is claimed.
Taiwan Air Force members at the Pingtung air base in Pingtung, Taiwan, on Jan. 30. Taiwan's president has promised to stick to the status quo concerning the island’s relations with China.
COMMENTARY / World / Geoeconomic Briefing
Apr 9, 2024

How to stop the dominoes of war from falling in East Asia

Conflicts elsewhere have implications for East Asia's powder kegs — the Taiwan Strait and the Korean Peninsula.
With the resignation of Shizuoka Gov. Heita Kawakatsu, a major hurdle may have been removed in the construction of the maglev high-speed train, which is expected to connect Tokyo to Osaka in just over 60 minutes.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Apr 5, 2024

Maglev train is back on track after Shizuoka governor's derailing

Shizuoka's governor was blocking the construction of Japan's maglev bullet train. Now that he has resigned, the project can finally move at full speed.
Serbia's Novak Djokovic plays a backhand return during his win over Russian Roman Safiullin on Tuesday at the Monte Carlo Masters in Monaco.
TENNIS
Apr 10, 2024

Djokovic 'feeling great' in Monte Carlo as Alcaraz withdraws injured

The Serb needed just one hour and 10 minutes to make a return to winning ways in his first match since a shock exit at Indian Wells.
Given Pakistan's internal security challenges and changing geopolitical dynamics, India may opt for a policy of minimal engagement with its neighbor.
COMMENTARY / World
Apr 10, 2024

Does Pakistan still matter to India?

New Delhi's approach toward Islamabad is likely to remain unchanged in the foreseeable future.
Although intelligence agencies are engaging more with the public than they used to, spy-themed entertainment is still the primary source of education about espionage.
COMMENTARY / World
Apr 10, 2024

James Bond and Jason Bourne ruined spies for all of us

The average person knows deep down that what they see in the movies and on TV isn’t the same as reality, but they don’t know how or how much.
A man walks on a road in the Sugamo district of Tokyo. The recent death of a 112-year-old in Chiba Prefecture means no man who was born in the Meiji Era (1868-1912) is still alive in the nation.
JAPAN / Society
Apr 10, 2024

Kanagawa 110-year-old becomes Japan's oldest man

Tomisaburo Wakui was born in November 1913 during the Taisho Era (1912-1926).
U.S. President Joe Biden welcomes Prime Minister Fumio Kishida during an arrival ceremony at the White House on Wednesday. The two leaders are also meeting with Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos, where defense ties between the three nations were set to be high on the agenda. 
COMMENTARY / Japan
Apr 11, 2024

Hail to the minilateral chiefs: Biden, Kishida and Marcos

This week the U.S. keeps building NATO 2.0 in the Indo-Pacific, even as it prepares to improve NATO 1.0 in July.
Yoasobi member Ayase (far left) joins U.S. President Joe Biden and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida in a toast during a state dinner at the White House on Wednesday.
CULTURE / Music
Apr 12, 2024

A brief history of J-pop stars meeting U.S. presidents

Yoasobi's presence at the White House state dinner catapults the duo to a new strata. It also says a lot about what sound currently rules Japanese music.
An evening launch of a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket carrying 22 Starlink satellites to low-Earth orbit as seen from Encinitas, California, on April 1.
BUSINESS / Companies
Apr 12, 2024

Musk's undisclosed Starlink costs undercut profitability claims

Despite Elon Musk's claims of profitability, Starlink is spending more than it earns, those familiar with the company's finances say.
Dolls of Myaku-Myaku, the 2025 Expo's official mascot, at an official store for the event in Osaka on April 2
JAPAN / Society
Apr 12, 2024

Transport becomes most pressing issue one year out from Osaka Expo

As organizers look ahead to recruiting volunteers and planning events for the six-month expo, another concern has emerged: transportation logistics.
Nao Hibino hits a return to Kazakhstan's Yulia Putintseva during their women's singles match of the Billie Jean Cup tennis qualifying tie between Japan and Kazakhstan in Tokyo on Saturday.
TENNIS
Apr 13, 2024

Osaka not needed as Japan reaches BJK Cup finals for first time

The former world No. 1 was appearing at the competition for the first time since 2020 and won her opening singles game on Friday.
Prime Minister Fumio Kishida's summit in Washington showed that Japan's evolving defense policy reflects a changing security landscape. It will also require increased defense spending and commitments to international engagement.
EDITORIALS
Apr 12, 2024

Japan steps up to become a 'full global partner'

One U.S. official described the results of the Japan-U.S. talks as probably the largest set of substantial, significant deliverables ever seen.
Construction at Yumeshima island, the venue for the Osaka Expo
JAPAN
Apr 14, 2024

Worries remain one year to go before Osaka Expo

The Osaka Expo will be held for six months from April 13, 2025, on Yumeshima, an artificial island in Osaka Bay.

Longform

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