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People stand outside the Guangzhou Intermediate People's Court, where #MeToo activist Huang Xueqin and labor activist Wang Jianbing were sentenced, in Guangzhou, Guangdong province, China, on Friday.
ASIA PACIFIC / Crime & Legal
Jun 14, 2024

Chinese #MeToo activist sentenced to five years in prison, supporters say

Sophia Huang Xueqin wrote on social media about her experience of workplace sexual harassment as a young journalist.
A man holds new 10,000 yen bills at a Saitama Resona Bank branch in Saitama Prefecture on Wednesday.
JAPAN
Jul 4, 2024

People flock to get new banknotes in areas linked to new bills

The ¥10,000, ¥5,000 and ¥1,000 notes have been redesigned for the first time in 20 years.
A daughter of Palestinian man Ali Daba shows her bracelet at their shelter in Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip, on Tuesday
WORLD / Society
Oct 26, 2023

Gaza families wear ID bracelets to avoid burial in mass graves

With so many bodies, Palestinians in Gaza are burying the unidentified dead with a number instead of a name, residents say.
Taishi Fuwa (left), the general manager at World Woman Pro-wrestling Diana, and his lawyer Kazuhito Ozawa at a news conference in Tokyo on Thursday
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Feb 27, 2025

Settlement reached in female pro-wrestler sexual harassment case

The lawsuit was filed "to raise awareness and prevent similar incidents from happening," said the general manager of the pro-wrestling agency involved.
Director Christopher Nolan (right) poses with "Oppenheimer" cast members (from left) Matt Damon, Robert Downey Jr., Cillian Murphy and Emily Blunt at the film's premiere in Paris earlier this month.
CULTURE / Film / Wide Angle
Jul 27, 2023

Summer film releases in Japan and the 'Oppenheimer' problem

Moviegoers may not get their "Barbenheimer" moment, as Japan likes to keep things family friendly in summer.
JAPAN
Oct 22, 2023

Pianist Yukie Nishimura performs in former no-go zone in Fukushima

The event took place in the Tsushima district in the Fukushima town of Namie after the government's evacuation order was lifted in March this year.
Valentine's Day in Japan is one way when it comes to chocolate, but the sweets are reciprocated on White Day in March.
LIFE / Language / BILINGUAL
Feb 2, 2024

Prepare for date night by practicing reservations in Japanese

Whether its chocolates or a full-course meal, food is the language for Valentine's Day.
U.S. President-elect Donald Trump speaks during a meeting with House Republicans at the Hyatt Regency hotel in Washington in November. The president-elect is rewarding his staunchest allies with plum roles.
WORLD / Politics / ANALYSIS
Nov 15, 2024

In choosing his team, Trump opts for personal ties and TV chops

It contrasts with his first presidency when he ended up with members on his team with whom he had no prior working relationship and no level of trust.
Sebastian Coe speaks at a news conference during an International Olympic Committee session in Mumbai on Saturday.
OLYMPICS
Oct 15, 2023

Sebastian Coe says IOC made 'only decision' in banning Russia

The IOC's move came after the Russian Olympic Committee recognized regional organizations from four annexed Ukrainian territories.
Palestinian fans cheer during their team's World Cup qualifying match against Australia in Kuwait City on Tuesday.
SOCCER
Nov 22, 2023

Palestinians fly flags in emotional World Cup qualifier in Kuwait

Thousands of Palestinians turned out for the game against Australia, the territory's first in front of fans since the start of the Israel-Hamas war.
A host promotes lipstick on TikTok Shop
BUSINESS / Tech / FOCUS
May 10, 2024

Livestream shopping foils high-tech tools from stopping counterfeits

The sheer volume of violations means e-commerce infringement enforcement can feel like a game of "whack-a-mole" for those who monitor the internet.
A <i>shunga</i> work by Utagawa Toyokuni (1769-1825) is on display at an exhibition of erotic Japanese art in the Kabukicho red-light entertainment area in the Shinjuku district of central Tokyo.
CULTURE / Art
Sep 8, 2025

Traditional Japanese erotic art exhibition puts female pleasure in focus

An erotic form of ukiyo-e, shunga is often dismissed as mere pornography. An exhibition in Kabukicho aims to highlight its artistry.
Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip on Oct. 12. Potentially as many as 10,000 Palestinians are unaccounted for and presumed dead, but in the devastation left by two years of war, with entire districts bombed or bulldozed into rubble, no one knows for sure.
WORLD
Oct 28, 2025

For Gazans buried in rubble or unmarked graves, a last indignity

There are potentially as many as 10,000 Palestinians unaccounted for and presumed dead, though in the devastation left by two years of war, no one knows for sure.
Sony, a key supplier of image sensors to Apple and other device-makers, has said it doesn’t expect demand in the mobile phone market to bounce back until next year at the earliest.
BUSINESS / Companies
Aug 10, 2023

Sony falls most in a year as smartphone demand fails to recover

The Tokyo-based company’s operating income fell 31% in the first fiscal quarter because of sharp declines in the movie and sensor groups.
Aillis CEO Sho Okiyama receives the first place award from Pegasus Tech Ventues founder and CEO Anis Uzzaman at the Startup World Cup Tokyo preliminary on Friday.
BUSINESS / Tech
Sep 12, 2023

Two Japanese startups to compete in Startup World Cup 2023 final

Smart homes and AI-assisted medical devices took top prizes, with the winners now set to attend the final competition in San Francisco.
A meteor is seen in an aurora borealis above Lausanne and the Jura from the Tour de Gourze in Riex, Switzerland, on Saturday.
WORLD / Science & Health
May 11, 2024

First 'extreme' solar storm in 20 years brings spectacular auroras

The "extreme" geomagnetic storm is the first since the so-called Halloween Storms of October 2003.
A protester holds up a portrait of Aung San Suu Kyi during a demonstration to mark the third anniversary of Myanmar’s 2021 military coup, outside the United Nations office in Bangkok on February 1.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Jun 20, 2024

Son of Suu Kyi 'concerned' as mother marks birthday in detention

The Nobel laureate has been detained by the military since it toppled her government and seized power in 2021.
Branded bags are displayed at a secondhand store in Tokyo in December.
BUSINESS
Feb 2, 2025

Secondhand shops rush for branded goods in Japan

Some operators have partnered with department stores, while others have use AI to determine the value of vintage luxury goods.
“The Place of Shells” takes place mostly in Gottingen, Germany, where both the author and the book's narrator live, while also jumping both geographically and temporally to Sendai, Japan, through memories of the 3/11 disaster and its aftermath.
CULTURE / Books
Mar 10, 2025

Grief ebbs and flows between two tragedies in 'The Place of Shells'

Mai Ishizawa’s debut novel, which won one of the three Akutagawa Prizes awarded in 2021, is also her first to be released in English, translated by Polly Barton.
Asia's best bartenders congregated in Hong Kong for the unveiling of the 2023 list of the continents top watering holes.
LIFE / Food & Drink
Jul 21, 2023

Tokyo’s Ben Fiddich inches toward top of Asia’s 50 Best Bars

A total of 14 bars in Japan cracked the top 100 of this year’s continent-wide rankings.
U.S. police speak to a Chinese exchange student near the site where he was found in the mountains near Brigham City, Utah, on Sunday after being reported missing.
WORLD / Crime & Legal
Jan 2, 2024

Chinese student found in U.S. woods after 'cyber kidnapping' scam

Cyber kidnappers have been targeting foreign exchange students recently, and in particular, Chinese foreign exchange students, Riverdale police said.
Just over 100 days after Oct. 7, enduring pain is a key reason why polls in Israel show consistently high support for its military offensive in Gaza.
WORLD / Politics
Jan 19, 2024

Enduring pain keeps public support for Gaza war strong in Israel

The support comes despite optimism fading over whether Israel can achieve its stated goals.
Former Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra greets supporters after landing at an airport in Bangkok on Aug. 22.
ASIA PACIFIC / Crime & Legal
Feb 18, 2024

Thai tycoon Thaksin tastes freedom in homeland 15 years after fleeing

Thailand's best-known leader has loomed large over politics during the years spent mostly in self-imposed exile.
Pope Francis gives the Easter Urbi et Orbi message from St. Peter's basilica in the Vatican on Sunday.
WORLD
Mar 31, 2024

Pope Francis pleads for peace in Easter message

In his Easter speech, Francis condemned war as "always an absurdity and a defeat," raising conflicts in Ukraine, Gaza, Sudan, Myanmar and beyond.
Inscriptions on a disaster monument in Miyako, Iwate Prefecture (left), can be seen clearly when illuminated using a smartphone app "Hikari Takuhon" developed by researcher Hideyuki Uesugi.
JAPAN / FOCUS
Jul 30, 2024

Number of natural disaster monuments on state map increasing in Japan

Stone monuments inscribed with descriptions of the damage caused by past natural disasters and lessons from forerunners have been erected since ancient times.
Wealthy Chinese shoppers are buying luxury goods in Japan to take advantage of favorable exchange rates, which is hurting European luxury brands' profitability.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Sep 8, 2024

Big Luxury frets that China is turning Japanese

Wealthy Chinese shoppers are buying luxury goods in Japan to take advantage of favorable exchange rates, which is hurting European luxury brands' profitability.
National team great Michael Leitch participates in the Japan Rugby League One season-opening news conference on Dec. 9.
MORE SPORTS / Rugby
Dec 20, 2024

Japan Rugby League One plays leading role through tough days in Japanese rugby

At the JRLO’s official 2024-25 season kickoff press conference in Tokyo on Dec. 9, the mood could only be described as festive and upbeat.
Aung San Suu Kyi, the former leader of Myanmar, has been in military custody since a 2021 coup deposed her government.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Sep 8, 2025

Former Myanmar leader Suu Kyi's health worsening in military custody, son says

The prominent pro-democracy leader has been in military custody since a 2021 coup deposed her government.
Professional groups may lobby for regulations to control artificial intelligence and steer it toward labor-augmenting uses rather than labor-replacing ones.
COMMENTARY / World
Nov 16, 2023

Managing the AI backlash: Lessons from the past

The history of professional guilds in Europe provides clues as to how workers may react to AI-caused disruptions.
U.S. President Joe Biden departs a campaign fundraising event in Washington on Oct. 27, 2023.
WORLD / Politics
Jan 3, 2024

Biden unplugged: President goes off-script in election fundraisers

Biden's open-mic disclosures are clashing with the White House system built to keep him on script.

Longform

Once smoky, male-dominated spaces, today's net cafes, like Kaikatsu Club, are working to make their operations more attractive to women customers.
The second life of Japan's net cafes