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Blackstone will look to grow original content from Infocom’s network of manga artists, developing more works around themes enjoyed by its reader base of women.
BUSINESS
Jun 18, 2024

Blackstone taps steamy romance manga fans in $1.7 billion deal

The deal will allow the world’s largest alternative asset manager to tap into Japan’s digital manga market.
The Pentax 17 will be launched in the U.S. and Europe this month, and Japan next month, according to Ricoh.
BUSINESS
Jun 18, 2024

Japan brand launches first film camera in 20 years

The Pentax 17 will be launched in the U.S. and Europe this month, and Japan next month, according to Ricoh.
An Israeli tank maneuvers inside the Gaza Strip on Thursday. Gaza's environment was already suffering from recurring conflicts, rapid urban growth, and high population density, before the most recent conflict began on Oct. 7.
WORLD / Society
Jun 18, 2024

Gaza conflict has caused major environmental damage, U.N. says

Water, sanitation, and hygiene systems are now almost entirely defunct, the report found, with Gaza's five wastewater treatment plants shut down.
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and Russian President Vladimir Putin walk past children during a welcoming ceremony in Pyongyang's Kim Il Sung Square on Wednesday.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Jun 19, 2024

Putin and Kim sign mutual defense pact in dramatic upgrade of ties

The North Korean and Russian leaders inked a "strategic partnership treaty," upgrading ties to a level that Kim said was on par with a formal alliance.
San Francisco Giants outfielder Willie Mays poses for a portrait at Crosley Field in Cincinnati, Ohio, on April 1, 1967.
BASEBALL / MLB
Jun 19, 2024

Willie Mays, baseball’s do-it-all ‘Say Hey Kid,’ dies at 93

One of Major League Baseball’s first Black stars, Mays was widely considered the greatest all-around player of his era, perhaps ever.
Women line up to receive meat parcels from freshly slaughtered sacrificial animals distributed to internally displaced Sudanese on the second day of the Muslim holiday of Eid al-Adha, or the Feast of Sacrifice, in in the eastern city of Gedaref, Sudan, on Monday.
WORLD / Crime & Legal
Jun 19, 2024

U.N. team investigates sexual slavery in Sudan detention facilities

Both sides in the Sudanese civil war have been accused of war crimes.
Nvidia made a big bet on graphics chips and the vision of its co-founder and Chief Executive Officer Jensen Huang that the industry would shift to what he calls "accelerated computing.” That bet paid off.
BUSINESS / Companies
Jun 19, 2024

Nvidia’s 591,078% rally to most valuable stock came in waves

First, it was video game consoles, and then came data centers, autonomous vehicles and cryptocurrency. Today, its chips are powering artificial intelligence.
When describing meal times in his novel “No Longer Human,” Osamu Dazai refers to his family as being "jūikunin," which translates to "10 and change." By being vague, he diminishes the importance of the size of his family.
LIFE / Language / BILINGUAL
Jun 21, 2024

Attempting the classics: Decoding Osamu Dazai’s sinister diction

A gritty realism and gut-wrenching plots were the mark of the "I-novel" push in the 20th century.
The River Seine near the Eiffel Tower in Paris as a heat wave hits France in August 2022.
OLYMPICS
Jun 19, 2024

New report warns of heat danger at Paris Olympics

The report said conditions in Paris could be worse than the last Games in Tokyo in 2021.
Hjelmer Hammeken, Greenland's greatest polar bear hunter, rides his dog sled to look for seals on the sea ice outside Ittoqqortoormiit, on the frozen Scoresbysund Fjord.
ENVIRONMENT / Climate change
Jun 19, 2024

On thin ice: Greenland's last Inuit polar bear hunters

Climate change and hunting quotas have been threatening the livelihood on which Inuit families have long survived.
The education ministry in Tokyo's Kasumigaseki district
JAPAN / Society
Jun 19, 2024

Revised guidelines drafted for investigating serious cases of school bullying

The education ministry plans to seek public comments on the draft guidelines and finalize revisions in August, before notifying schools.
Demolition work is conducted on June 11 near a morning market in Wajima, Ishikawa Prefecture, which burned down in a fire following an earthquake on Jan. 1.
JAPAN
Jun 19, 2024

Noto quake death likely to exceed that of Kumamoto temblor

If a number of post-disaster deaths are recognized, the toll will climb to 282.
American Institute in Taiwan Director Sandra Oudkirk looks at a Switchblade 300 drone during the 2023 Taipei Aerospace and Defense Technology Exhibition at the Nangang Exhibition Center in Taipei last September.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Jun 19, 2024

U.S. approves sale of more than 1,000 ‘suicide drones’ to Taiwan

The $360 million arms sale comes as Washington doubles down on helping Taipei counter a potential Chinese attack on the self-ruled island.
Renho attends a news conference in Tokyo on Friday. Renho needs to appeal to a wide range of voters in a race that has over 50 candidates, especially CDP and JCP supporters who don’t like incumbent Tokyo Gov. Yuriko Koike.
JAPAN / Politics
Jun 19, 2024

Japanese Communist Party's shadow looms over Renho in Tokyo race

The appearance of a two-page flier in which the JCP endorsed Renho raised eyebrows and added more uncertainty to her prospects of winning the race.
A novice Tibetan monk holds the U.S. and Tibetan flags at the Kangra airport in Kangra, Himachal Pradesh, India, on Tuesday.
WORLD / Politics
Jun 19, 2024

U.S. lawmakers meet Tibet's Dalai Lama and warn China on choice of successor

Tibetan tradition holds that the Dalai Lama is reincarnated after his death, and the current leader has said his successor may be found in India.
A bill to require facilities for children to check whether workers have criminal records for sex crimes is approved unanimously at a plenary meeting of the Upper House on Wednesday.
JAPAN / Society
Jun 19, 2024

Bill enacted to create sex crime screening system for work involving children

Records that can be checked will include those on nonconsensual sexual intercourse and violations of prefectural ordinances banning molesting and voyeurism.
The European leader to watch in the months and perhaps years ahead is Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, whose far-right party was among the big winners in the recent European elections.
COMMENTARY / World
Jun 19, 2024

EU populists are blind to the real threat to the bloc

The center-right will continue to dominate parliament, the surge in support for the extreme right evokes memories of the ugliest moments of the 20th century.
Without stronger international cooperation and policies that advance shared prosperity, growth will remain too slow to support progress on development and poverty reduction.
COMMENTARY / World
Jun 16, 2024

Getting the global economy out of the slow lane

The world economy has avoided recession despite the steepest rise in global interest rates since the 1980s.
German and Japanese fighter jets take part in an exercise over Japan. Germany's air force plans to send three of the fighters to Japan next month for the first-ever joint aerial exercise between the Luftwaffe and Air Self-Defense Force.
JAPAN / Politics
Jun 19, 2024

Germany laser-focused on Indo-Pacific despite hurdles, top envoy to Japan says

German Ambassador Clemens von Goetze expects soaring ties with Japan to continue to reach unprecedented heights.
Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan leader Kenta Izumi (left) faces off against Prime Minister Fumio Kishida in a debate in parliament on Wednesday.
JAPAN / Politics
Jun 19, 2024

CDP's Izumi challenges Kishida to dissolve Lower House

Izumi said Kishida ought to seek a fresh mandate from the public due to his party's handling of its slush funds scandal.
People wait to cross a street in Kyoto in April. The number of foreign visitors to Japan came to 3.04 million in May, marking the third straight month at more than 3 million.
JAPAN
Jun 19, 2024

Flood of tourists prompts call to charge foreign visitors more

Foreign tourist arrivals numbered 3.04 million in May, up 9.6% from 2019 and marking the third straight month at over 3 million.
Atarashii Gakko! released its third album, “AG! Calling,” on June 7. The group is currently touring Asia with songs from the new release featured in its set
CULTURE / Music
Jun 21, 2024

Atarashii Gakko! schools crowds overseas on just how bananas J-pop can get

With appearances at major festivals, on U.S. television and new album "AG! Calling," this sailor-suited rapping four-piece is on quite a roll.
Bryson DeChambeau celebrates with the trophy after winning the U.S. Open on Sunday in Pinehurst, North Carolina.
MORE SPORTS / Golf
Jun 20, 2024

Bryson DeChambeau 'humbled' by reaction to U.S. Open win

After a whirlwind few days following his major triumph, DeChambeau may need a nap before he tackles this week's LIV Golf Nashville event.
Emperor Naruhito speaks during a news conference at the Imperial Palace in Tokyo on Wednesday, ahead of his visit to Britain from Saturday.
JAPAN
Jun 20, 2024

Emperor recalls time with British royals ahead of visit to U.K.

"I have very fond memories of the Queen driving a car and inviting me to a barbecue," Emperor Naruhito said.
The People's Bank of China (PBOC) building in Beijing on May 29. The authority may soon start trading government bonds in the secondary market, according to a speech made by its chief on Wednesday.
BUSINESS / Economy
Jun 20, 2024

PBOC’s new tools may spur big shift in how it manages money

The PBOC is also considering narrowing the interest rate corridor within which market rates are allowed to fluctuate, to signal a clearer policy target.
Residents at a residential facility for the elderly in Sapporo show off their nails after getting them done during an on-site training session for welfare nail technicians in May.
JAPAN / Society
Jun 20, 2024

'Welfare manicures' bring a touch of color to the lives of Japan’s elderly

The practice, which took off in 2012, has been well-received among residents of care facilities for the elderly and people with disabilities.
A Thai soldier takes cover near the 2nd Thailand-Myanmar Friendship Bridge during fighting on the Myanmar side between the Karen National Liberation Army and the Myanmar junta's troops on April 20.
BUSINESS
Jun 20, 2024

Myanmar armed groups accuse junta of breaking the cease-fire

Beijing brokered the truce between the junta and the "Three Brotherhood Alliance" in January.
The Russia-Estonia frontier at Narva has long been a flash point for tensions.
WORLD / Politics
Jun 20, 2024

NATO watches eastern border as Russia's hybrid tactics open 'second front'

Acts intended to provoke and destabilize nations that share a frontier with Russia and Belarus have grown in frequency since Russia began its war on Ukraine.
Prime Minister Fumio Kishida has recently said that Japan was in the severest security environment since the end of World War II.
BUSINESS
Jun 20, 2024

Japan's Kawasaki Heavy to make ventilators for underground shelters

The announcement comes a day after Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a deal with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un that included a mutual defense pledge.
Read Adm. Daniel Hagari, the spokesperson for the Israeli military (center), stands on a roof in Gaza while escorting a group of journalists in the central Gaza Strip on Jan. 8
WORLD / Politics
Jun 21, 2024

Israel military seems to be pushing back on goal to destroy Hamas

The idea of Israel destroying Hama is "simply throwing sand in the eyes of the public," Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari said.

Longform

Dangami House is a 180-year-old former samurai residence of the Kato clan, who ruled over Ozu, Ehime Prefecture, until the Meiji Restoration.
A house, a legacy and the quiet work of restoration in rural Japan