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Takeo Suzuki from the Pentax division of Ricoh Imaging demonstrates the Pentax 17 half-frame film camera at the Pentax Club House in Tokyo on June 28.
JAPAN
Jul 25, 2024

New Japan film camera aimed at 'nostalgic' young fans

Japan's major camera brands stopped making analogue models in the 2000s, prompting sellers in big cities to refurbish old models for new analogue enthusiasts.
Flames and smoke rise from a burning wildfire, as seen from a highway in Jasper, Alberta, Canada, on Tuesday.
ENVIRONMENT
Jul 26, 2024

Wildfire roars through a Canadian town popular with tourists

The town is in the heart of Jasper National Park, which is one of Canada’s premier tourist destinations, receiving about 2.5 million visitors each year.
Torchbearers Teddy Riner and Marie-Jose Perec light the Olympic cauldron during the opening ceremony of the Paris Games on Friday.
OLYMPICS
Jul 28, 2024

Upset bishops and mixed reviews for Paris Olympics ceremony

The show's artistic director Thomas Jolly, who is gay, had pledged earlier this month that the ceremony would celebrate "diversity" and "otherness."
French fans cheer on their team during an Olympic rugby sevens match on Sunday. Fans are back in force at the Games and providing a lively atmosphere for the competition after COVID-19 forced the Tokyo and Beijing Olympics to be mostly played without spectators.
OLYMPICS
Jul 29, 2024

The Olympic roar is back in Paris after two pandemic-hit Games

The sights and sounds of the Olympics have returned to normal this year, with fans able to attend the Games without restrictions for the first time since 2018.
Two people in Tokyo walk past a poster meant to evoke a cooling feeling the summer heat.
LIFE / Language / BILINGUAL
Jul 31, 2024

Sunscreen bans, UV-cuts and the language of summer skincare in Japan

Get to know Japanese terms for products that will help you protect your skin in the scorching sun.
An unemployed man (Eita Okuno) whose community was decimated by the Great East Japan Earthquake grapples with rebuilding his life in “Shinpei.”
CULTURE / Film
Aug 8, 2024

‘Shinpei’ takes on 3/11 disaster with a fresh angle

Tatsuro Yamashiro infuses his drama centered on a complex protagonist struggling with the Great East Japan Earthquake’s aftermath with humor and visual beauty.
A boy skateboards past Yanaka Cemetery in Tokyo’s Taito Ward. A perfectly peaceful spot the rest of the year, it becomes a place children may test their courage during the Bon holidays.
LIFE / Language / BILINGUAL
Aug 8, 2024

Japanese cities turn into ghost towns during the Bon holiday period

As people return to their hometowns to pay their respects to their ancestors, children may try to test their nerves with a "kimodameshi."
Shiseido's sales in China are still sluggish as consumers remain reluctant to buy Japanese products over the discharge of treated water from the wrecked Fukushima nuclear power plant.
BUSINESS / Companies
Aug 8, 2024

Shiseido posts steepest drop since 1987 on anemic China demand

The company reported a January-June operating loss of ¥2.7 billion ($18.4 million), compared with profit of ¥13.6 billion a year earlier.
Utagawa Hiroshige produced several highly successful series of landscape prints over the course of his career, including “One Hundred Famous Views of Edo” — the largest collection of his career.
CULTURE / Books
Aug 8, 2024

The definitive guide to Utagawa Hiroshige's masterwork is a feast for the eyes

Ukiyo-e expert Andreas Marks' new book is a rare compendium of the Japanese artist’s landscapes, even by local standards.  
The United States' Stephen Curry (right) and LeBron James celebrate after their win over Serbia in the men's basketball semifinals at the Paris Olympics on Thursday.
OLYMPICS / Basketball
Aug 9, 2024

United States passes tough test against Serbia to reach Olympic final in Paris

Stephen Curry scored 36 points for the United States.
Blistering heat is becoming a fixture of summer in Japan, but a few tweaks to your routine can make your outdoor runs bearable — if not enjoyable — until cooler temperatures return.
LIFE / Lifestyle / Boiling Point
Aug 10, 2024

Ice bandanas, convenience store breaks: Running under Japan’s summer sun

There are easily affordable ways to work some more cooling elements into your runs.
The Paris Olympics beach volleyball event held next to the Eiffel Tower was met with rave reviews.
OLYMPICS
Aug 11, 2024

'City of Light' was star of the show at Paris Olympics, say Games veterans

From beach volleyball at the Eiffel Tower to the elegant surroundings of the Palace of Versailles for the equestrian events, the Games were a veritable tourism guide.
Ami competes in the women's breaking competition at the Paris Olympics on Friday.
OLYMPICS / Breaking
Aug 11, 2024

Is breaking a sport? Even among competitors, the answer depends on who you ask.

There was not even consensus from the B-girls — though all agreed that it belongs in the Olympics.
Fireworks during the closing ceremony of the 2024 Paris Summer Olympics at the Stade de France in Saint-Denis on Sunday
OLYMPICS
Aug 12, 2024

The Olympics, a triumph of ambition, lift France from its gloom

France came into the Games shaken by a political impasse. It will exit with those problems unsolved but with a new self-confidence.
A new trend on social media advocates living a more frugal lifestyle that prioritizes quality over quantity.
WORLD / Society
Aug 12, 2024

Do I need it? 'Underconsumption core' trends on TikTok

Years of inflation have forced many to the conclusion they cannot keep up with the spending habits of those on their social media feeds.
Afghan girls weave a carpet at their house in Kabul on July 20.
WORLD / Politics
Aug 13, 2024

Three years after Taliban's return, economic woes loom large

While security has improved, many Afghans are just trying to make ends meet.
For centuries, Japanese people have been scaring themselves with horror stories as a way of cooling down during the stifling summer months.
CULTURE / Books
Aug 16, 2024

New tales in translation to give you chills and thrills this summer

Recent fright-filled releases with supernatural creatures, shrewd sleuths and creepy killers provide welcome relief from the sweltering heat.
People take part in a protest organized by pro-abortion rights, pro-LGBT rights and pro-Palestinian activists, on the eve of the Democratic National Convention, in Chicago on Sunday.
WORLD / Politics
Aug 19, 2024

Pro-Palestinian delegates to Democratic convention to push for Israel arms embargo

Pro-Palestinian activists say Harris has been more sympathetic to Gazans than Biden has been.
A glittering cast of Tokyoites comes together in a collection of dreamlike vignettes in Atsuhiro Yoshida’s novella “Goodnight Tokyo.”
CULTURE / Books
Aug 21, 2024

'Goodnight Tokyo': Late-night search for meaning become magical in the big city

Atsuhiro Yoshida's novella, composed of intersecting vignettes, is a fitting introduction to an atmospheric, visually adept writer known for his quirky worldbuilding.
Shoppers outside a Sephora store in Vancouver on Aug. 15
BUSINESS / Companies
Aug 22, 2024

LVMH’s Sephora cuts around 10% of staff in China as its woes deepen

While Sephora has expanded to some 300 stores since entering China in 2005, the country is increasingly difficult for higher-end retailers to navigate.
Angkor Wat in Siem Reap, Cambodia
ASIA PACIFIC / Society
Aug 26, 2024

TikTok tourists trample on Angkor Wat in viral Temple Run recreation

Some of these viral videos have received more than 2 million views and inspire copycat versions daily.
Since arriving in Japan, Adrian Bianco has dedicated himself to exploring the country’s many subcultures at the website sabukaru.online.
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / 20 QUESTIONS
Aug 30, 2024

Adrian Bianco: ‘Leaving your comfort zone keeps you alive’

Upon relocating in Tokyo after a stint with the Vice empire in Germany, Adrian Bianco has explored Asia's underground via his website Sabukaru Online.
People sunbathe on a rock in Beirut's Ain al-Mreisseh seaside promenade on Aug. 2.
WORLD
Aug 30, 2024

The threat of war with Israel redefines ‘normal’ life in Beirut

Israel and Hezbollah have been trading fire along the border, exchanges that could spiral into a bigger, broader conflict involving global and regional powers.
A young woman visiting a rural backwater from Tokyo (An Ogawa) finds an unlikely playmate in Tatsunari Ota’s “There Is a Stone.”
CULTURE / Film
Sep 5, 2024

‘There Is a Stone’ finds beauty in the inconsequential

While very little happens, Tatsunari Ota’s slow-moving debut feature offers stirring moments of simplicity.
In Hiromi Kawakami’s novel “The Third Love,” modern-day Tokyoite Riko travels between life in 19th-century Edo (old Tokyo) and the courts of the Heian Period, examining her relationship with her husband in the process.
CULTURE / Books
Sep 6, 2024

'The Third Love' is a time-bending meditation on romantic love

Hiromi Kawakami's novel draws from “The Tales of Ise" and “Takaoka’s Travels” to immerse readers in an intertextual exploration of who we are in and out of love.
Pedestrians cross an intersection in the Shibuya district of Tokyo. Japan has experienced a postpandemic travel boom, with tourists pouring back in after restrictions closed the country’s borders to travelers.
BUSINESS / Economy
Sep 12, 2024

Japan jumps to No. 2, from sixth place, in Best Countries index

It jumped from 6th place on the 2023 list as a post-COVID boom and reforms helped bump it up on the subindexes used to calculate the overall score.
American Kara Harris is on the verge of attaining a high-level certification in the world of kimono — and may possibly be the first Black woman to do so.
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / Black Eye
Sep 16, 2024

‘The people I’d seen in kimono didn’t have as much melanin as I do’

A student of Kara Harris says the kimono instructor knows how to expertly fit the traditional garment to bodies with more curves than the stereotypical Japanese frame.
Family members mourn and react next to the coffin of the slain Olympian Rebecca Cheptegei at the Moi Teaching & Referral Hospital (MTRH) funeral home, in Eldoret, Kenya, on Friday.
MORE SPORTS / Athletics
Sep 14, 2024

Uganda buries slain Olympian Rebecca Cheptegei with full military honors

Rebecca Cheptegei suffered burns to 80% of her body after her former boyfriend allegedly doused her in petrol and set her alight.
Sanae Tamura (right), whose guesthouse in Noto, Ishikawa Prefecture, was damaged by the Jan. 1 earthquake, reopened its doors in April.
JAPAN / Society
Sep 17, 2024

Music continues to play for Noto guesthouse after Jan. 1 earthquake

Tsuchi to Disco, which is run by a 35-year-old dance aficionado, began welcoming visitors again in April after three months of repairs.
French riot police take position as part of a demonstration by dockers during the inauguration of the first French offshore floating wind turbine, Floatgen, in the port of Saint-Nazaire, France, in 2017.
ENVIRONMENT / Energy
Sep 24, 2024

Offshore wind opponents in Australia and Europe look to U.S. for advice

Many hope they can transform what was once a disorganized scattering of local activists into an increasingly sophisticated global network.

Longform

Sumadori Bar on Shibuya Ward's main Center Gai street targets young customers who prefer low-alcohol drinks or abstain altogether.
Rethinking that second drink: Japan’s Gen Z gets ‘sober curious’