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"Uketsu" is a completely anonymous writer and YouTuber whose odd books — which blend mystery and horror — have become a smash-hit publishing phenomenon in Japan.
CULTURE / Books
Feb 7, 2025

'Uketsu': The internet phantom haunting Japan's bestseller lists

Anonymous author and YouTuber "Uketsu" deals in a quiet horror that has delighted millions of readers.
China, under President Xi Jinping, is resisting Donald Trump’s trade tariffs, but may need to respond with major fiscal stimulus, currency devaluation or allowing TikTok’s sale to navigate economic challenges.
COMMENTARY / World
Feb 5, 2025

China’s Mr. Big Won’t Cave in to Trump for Nothing

Does Xi Jinping have a trade war game plan? He’ll need to make hard choices.
The consortium proposing to take Seven & I Holdings private has tapped Citigroup and Bank of America for financing, adding to a growing group of players in the potentially record-breaking management buyout bid, people familiar with the matter said.
BUSINESS
Feb 7, 2025

Seven & I consortium to tap Bank of America and Citi for financing

The two U.S. banks’ role in the bid would be to refinance the debt of Seven & I’s U.S. unit.
The rubble of destroyed buildings in Jabalia on Jan. 30
WORLD / Society
Feb 7, 2025

Trump call for Gazan exit echoes in destroyed homes

The war has stopped after 16 months, but the destruction left in its wake leaves Palestinians in a daily battle of trying to decide whether to stay or go.
Russian President Vladimir Putin attends a meeting in Moscow on Wednesday.
WORLD / Politics
Feb 7, 2025

Ukraine keeps its Kursk bargaining chip for any Russia talks

Russian forces have, so far, reclaimed only about half of the area that Ukraine took last year.
People hold placards as the USAID building sits closed to employees after a memo was issued advising agency personnel to work remotely, in Washington on Monday.
WORLD
Feb 7, 2025

Trump to keep only 294 USAID staff out of over 10,000 globally

Washington's primary humanitarian aid agency has been a target of a government reorganization program spearheaded by businessman Elon Musk
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.
People walk to attend a memorial ceremony for Salim Iskef, one of the victims of a mass shooting, at St. Mary's Church in Orebro, Sweden, on Thursday.
WORLD
Feb 7, 2025

Sweden reels from worst mass shooting as it mourns the dead

Police said people of different ages, genders and nationalities were among the victims.
Demonstrators rally during a protest against U.S. President Donald Trump and the actions he has taken in the first weeks of his presidency, in Washington, on Wednesday.
WORLD / Politics
Feb 7, 2025

U.S. judge blocks Trump buyout program as 60,000 sign up to quit

The Trump administration is pressuring workers to leave their jobs in an unprecedented drive to overhaul the federal government.
Athletes compete in the men's 1,500-meter heats in front of empty stands at the National Stadium in Tokyo during the Tokyo Games in August 2021.
OLYMPICS / Athletics
Feb 7, 2025

Tokyo world athletics party can make up for Olympic lockout, says CEO

Organizing committee head Takashi Takeichi is confident that all nine days of the World Athletics Championships will be sold out.
Ishiba eats a mikan tangerine at the Prime Minister's Office in Tokyo on Jan. 22.
JAPAN / Politics / FOCUS
Feb 7, 2025

A 'joyful' Japan? Ishiba's choice of slogan sparks the opposite feelings

Even members of Ishiba’s Liberal Democratic Party were not happy with the slogan.
After starting out as a games journalist, John Davis found opportunities in marketing and consulting that led him to work in the Japanese gaming industry.
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / 20 QUESTIONS
Feb 8, 2025

John Davis: ‘At its core, indie is about creative freedom’

The co-founder of BitSummit, Japan’s biggest indie gaming showcase, shares how he pivoted from journalism to gaming after moving here.
Dig Shibuya 2025 spotlights tech in art and high-tech experiences such as “Around the Corner,” an interactive piece by the Hong Kong-based technology-driven artist group XRT (extended reality art).
CULTURE / Art
Feb 7, 2025

Shibuya becomes the canvas for tech-infused art during Dig 2025

Now in its sophomore year, the Dig Shibuya digital art festival runs from Feb. 8 to 11, with activities and exhibitions popping up across Tokyo’s trendiest neighborhood.
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.
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un speaks during a ceremony near Pyongyang on Thursday.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Feb 8, 2025

North Korea says its nuclear weapons not a 'bargaining chip' as Trump and Ishiba meet

The two leaders expressed their commitment to ensuring North Korea ends its nuclear weapons program.
Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba shows a gift from U.S. President Donald Trump, as they hold a joint news conference in the East Room at the White House in Washington on Friday.
WORLD / Politics
Feb 8, 2025

Foreign leaders embrace the art of flattery in wooing Trump

Ishiba became the latest figure to offer ample compliments to a president known for his transactional approach to foreign policy.
Recording artist Kendrick Lamar speaks at a press conference for the Super Bowl LIX Halftime Show.
CULTURE / Entertainment news
Feb 9, 2025

Kendrick Lamar promises 'storytelling' at Super Bowl show

Speculation abounds as to whether the rapper will perform his award-winning diss track, "Not Like Us."
Ohad Ben Ami, a Israeli man seized during the Oct. 7, 2023 attack by Hamas is reunited with his family at Sheba Medical Center in Ramat Gan, Israel, on Saturday.
WORLD
Feb 9, 2025

Hamas frees three hostages; Israel begins releasing Palestinians

Three Israeli hostages, visibly malnourished, were released by Hamas in a ceasefire exchange, while Israel freed 183 Palestinian prisoners amid ongoing negotiations.
Visitors pack Bourbon Street on Saturday ahead of the NFL's Super Bowl LIX between the Kansas City Chiefs and the Philadelphia Eagles, in New Orleans, Louisiana,
WORLD
Feb 9, 2025

Super Bowl parade celebrates fact that New Orleans is 'still in business'

New Orleans mixed celebration and remembrance with a Super Bowl parade ahead of the big game.
Protesters hold a banner reading "Enough of the Nazi glorification" as they demonstrate against an annual neo-Nazi rally in Budapest on Saturday.
WORLD
Feb 9, 2025

Thousands join far-right rally in Budapest as anti-fascists protest

Each year, far-right groups gather in Budapest for the "Day of Honour," marking a failed 1945 Nazi-Hungarian breakout during the Soviet siege of the city.
Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba and U.S. President Donald Trump hold a joint news conference in the East Room of the White House in Washington on Saturday.
JAPAN / Politics
Feb 9, 2025

Ishiba says Trump didn't push defense spending hike or discuss tariffs

Ishiba also echoed Trump's pledge to help mediate a move by Japan’s Nippon Steel to invest in U.S. Steel rather than purchasing the American company.
India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi (center) is being greeted by party members after he arrives at the Bharatiya Janata Party headquarters to celebrate the party's win in the Delhi legislative assembly election in New Delhi on Saturday.
WORLD / Politics
Feb 9, 2025

Indian PM's party celebrates landslide win in New Delhi

Modi’s BJP secured a landslide victory in Delhi, unseating Arvind Kejriwal and reclaiming power from AAP in the capital after 25 years.
U.S. President Donald Trump and South African President Cyril Ramaphosa. Trump has frozen U.S. aid to South Africa, citing a law in the country that he alleges allows land to be seized from white farmers, despite Johannesburg's denials.
WORLD
Feb 9, 2025

Trump freezes all South African assistance as standoff escalates

South Africa’s Foreign Ministry expressed "great concern that the foundational premise of this order lacks factual accuracy,” in a statement Saturday.
U.S. President Donald Trump and Russian leader Vladimir Putin attend a meeting on the sidelines of the Group of 20 summit in Osaka in June 2019.
WORLD / Politics
Feb 9, 2025

Trump says he has spoken to Putin about ending the Ukraine war

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told the TASS state news agency that "many different communications are emerging."
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un visits the Defense Ministry on Saturday, the anniversary of the Korean People's Army's founding, in Pyongyang.
ASIA PACIFIC
Feb 9, 2025

North Korea's Kim vows to further develop nuclear forces

Leader Kim Jong Un criticized trilateral military cooperation among the U.S., Japan and South Korea for raising tensions in the region.
Trucks cross the Ambassador Bridge between Detroit and Windsor, Ontario, in Canada in the early morning hours of Feb. 1.
WORLD / Politics
Feb 10, 2025

Betrayed: How Trump’s tariff threats tore the U.S.-Canada bond

Donald Trump’s menacing rhetoric seems to have fractured the fraternal trust that has been the core of the relationship between the U.S. and Canada.
Saburo Kita (a pseudonym, left) submits a claim for forced sterilization compensation on Jan. 17 at the Tokyo Metropolitan Government Building.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Feb 10, 2025

Japan enforces compensation law for forced sterilization victims

Under the new law, victims of forced sterilization will receive ¥15 million in compensation, while their spouses will be entitled to ¥5 million.
The Auckland city skyline in 2021
BUSINESS
Feb 10, 2025

New Zealand changes ‘golden visa’ to lure wealthy migrants

As well as dropping the English language test, other potential barriers to investment such as the amount of time investors must stay in the country will be adjusted.
Construction for a new Microsoft data center in East Wenatchee, Washington, in November 2024.
BUSINESS / Tech
Feb 10, 2025

What DeepSeek? Big Tech keeps its AI building boom alive.

After DeepSeek’s breakthrough rattled markets, U.S. tech giants doubled down on massive data center investments to stay ahead in AI.
Fukushima University student Itsuki Yamada (right) takes part in a workshop in December in the village of Iitate, Fukushima Prefecture, together with local residents. Yamada leads a group of student volunteers that runs an internet community radio program featuring Iitate.
JAPAN / Society / Regional Voices: Fukushima
Feb 17, 2025

University students launch community radio show for Fukushima village

The program aims to spread word about the realities faced by Iitate's aging population, and support the village's revitalization.

Longform

Japan's growing ranks of centenarians are redefining what it means to live in a super-aging society.
What comes after 100?