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Gala Espel’s “Archeology of the Future” fuses digital technology with handcraftsmanship to create silverware and jewelry of industrial forms and natural motifs.
LIFE / Style & Design / ON: DESIGN
Oct 17, 2023

Designart’s young creators foreshadow the future

On: Design this month focuses on the work of five creators selected by Designart judges for its 2023 Under 30 program.
Chinese civil servants and employees of state-linked enterprises are facing tighter constraints on private travel abroad and scrutiny of their foreign connections.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Oct 17, 2023

China tightens curbs on foreign travel by bankers and state workers

Individuals' accounts varied but were consistent in describing heightened scrutiny of overseas travel even after China reopened borders in January.
An attendee tries out the XR Catch game at the Sony Group booth at CEATEC in Chiba on Tuesday.
BUSINESS / Tech
Oct 17, 2023

Major Japan tech show opens with focus on sustainability

The major trade show kicked off on Tuesday, with firms keen to showcase how their latest technologies could contribute to creating a sustainable society.
Troy Sutton, a virologist at Pennsylvania State University, on July 25, 2023. Sutton says that health officials referred to the public controversy over the lab leak theory in advising him to pursue different experiments.
WORLD / Science & Health
Oct 18, 2023

Lab leak fight casts chill over virology research

While some believe practices such as gain-of-function research could fend off the next pandemic, others worry that they are more likely to start one.
Busan International Film Festival host Song Kang-ho presents the Asian Filmmaker of the Year award to veteran Hong Kong star Chow Yun-fat at the 2023 edition of the Asian film festival.
CULTURE / Film
Oct 18, 2023

Film fans flock to Busan festival despite scandal

Busan International Film Festival remains a prestige Asian movie event amid internal strife and budget cuts.
Without the World Games, the Sumo World Championships remain amateur sumo's top-level international competition.
SUMO / INSIDE SUMO
Oct 18, 2023

Sumo's Olympic dream requires fresh approach

A new variant of the sport wouldn't replace the professional or amateur versions, but would instead create a new path to participation and fandom.
China's ambitions to control the legacy chip market have implications for the world economy and Western nations are beginning to take countersteps.
COMMENTARY / World
Oct 18, 2023

China's economic ambitions squeeze the developing world

While Chinese diplomats try to promote “win-win” solutions, Chinese policy is preventing developing-world partners from selling goods to China.
Smoke billows over the northern Gaza Strip during Israeli bombardment on Wednesday.
WORLD / Politics / ANALYSIS
Oct 19, 2023

Israel's endgame? No sign of postwar plan for Gaza

Israel has vowed to wipe out Hamas, but it has no clear plan for how to govern the ravaged Palestinian enclave even if it triumphs on the battlefield.
Rep. Jim Jordan after a vote for House speaker on Capitol Hill in Washington on Wednesday
WORLD / Politics
Oct 19, 2023

Jordan defeated again for speaker as Republican stalemate deepens

The hard-line Republican from Ohio lost a second bid for speaker after running headlong into opposition from a group of mainstream GOP holdouts.
Commuters ride on rickshaws on a flooded road after heavy rains in Dhaka in September.
ENVIRONMENT / ANALYSIS
Oct 19, 2023

Can pre-disaster cash and aid help fix climate loss and damage?

Anticipatory action can help avert the worst effects of climate-related disasters.
BUSINESS / Tech / Regional Voices: Hokkaido
Oct 23, 2023

Hokkaido waits to gauge impact from upcoming Rapidus chip plant

The nationally backed effort to revive Japan’s semiconductor industry has been called the region’s largest-ever development project.
For Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, tackling the impact of rising prices has become a key priority.
JAPAN / Politics / FOCUS
Oct 19, 2023

Upcoming parliament session puts Kishida's stimulus package in spotlight

Tackling inflation has become a key priority for Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, as economic trends have played a part in his low approval ratings.
Jobseekers attend a Business and IT Career Fair at Cape Fear Community College in Castle Hayne, North Carolina, on Sept. 20.
BUSINESS / Companies
Oct 19, 2023

Biased bots? U.S. lawmakers take on 'Wild West' of AI recruitment

Around 85% of large U.S. employers now use some form of automated tool or AI to screen or rank candidates for hire, according to recent surveys.
Various aspects of Japan’s Sado Island — noh, taiko drumming, business investment and cultural regeneration projects — weave their way into “L’ile d’Or Kanemu-Jima,” with characters and cultures coming together in a melting pot of real-world political problems, theater styles and dark humor.
CULTURE / Stage
Oct 20, 2023

Cultures collide in Ariane Mnouchkine's Sado Island-inspired play

The Kyoto Prize-winning French theater director's latest production, "L’ile d’Or Kanemu-Jima," draws from her experiences in Japan, both old and new.
Japan-based DJ and broadcaster Peter Barakan invites artists from around the world to perform at his two-day roots music festival, Peter Barakan’s Live Magic!.
CULTURE / Music
Oct 19, 2023

Peter Barakan’s Live Magic! festival celebrates 10th edition

The two-day roots music festival in Tokyo features sounds from around the world with acts such as Minyo Crusaders, Jon Cleary and Oreka TX.
The All Blacks perform the haka before their World Cup match against Uruguay in Lyon, France, on Oct. 5
MORE SPORTS / Rugby
Oct 19, 2023

All Blacks hit reset button ahead of semifinal against Argentina

New Zealand edged Ireland in a pulsating quarterfinal last weekend to reach the semifinal round at the Rugby World Cup.
BUSINESS / Companies
Oct 19, 2023

Self-driving taxi service set to be launched in Tokyo in 2026

Honda, GM and the American automaker’s autonomous driving unit, Cruise, will establish a joint venture next year to prepare for the robotaxi service.
Arctic climate scientists tend to be a close-knit community, but the war in Ukraine upended that status quo.
ENVIRONMENT / Climate change
Oct 19, 2023

Climate science in Arctic ‘broken’ as U.S. and Europe isolate Russia

Arctic climate scientists tend to be a close-knit community, but the war in Ukraine has upended that status quo.
Chef Stuart Brioza (left) of San Francisco’s State Bird Provisions explores the vineyard at Domaine Takahiko in Yoichi, together with his partner, Nicole Krasinski, and their son, Jasper.
LIFE / Food & Drink
Oct 22, 2023

A California chef's quest across Hokkaido for umami

Acclaimed chef Stuart Brioza has been to Hokkaido many times — but never with a focus like this on the island’s stunning natural bounty.
Meiji University professor and cinema expert Lindsay Nelson writes about 
J-horror (Japanese horror) in her book, “Circulating Fear.”
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / 20 QUESTIONS
Oct 28, 2023

‘Horror has always been a vehicle to talk about social problems’

A J-horror expert gives her take on the essence of the genre and the cultural roots of its creative choices.
A woman takes her meal alone in Tokyo's Yanaka neighborhood. As the country ages, Japan's average caloric intake has been shrinking.
PODCAST / deep dive
Oct 20, 2023

Table for one? What depopulation in Japan means for dinner.

As Japan’s population ages and more people find themselves isolated, solving their dietary needs is shaping the way the country feeds itself.
The health ministry found that, following the reported death of a TV personality in May 2022, the number of excess suicides in Japan spiked for two or three weeks.
JAPAN / Science & Health
Oct 20, 2023

Copycat suicides spiked in Japan after celebrity's 2022 death

A government report is calling for the media to ensure that coverage is in line with the World Health Organization’s suicide reporting guidelines.
An assembly engineer works on a TWINSCAN DUV lithography system at ASML in Veldhoven, Netherlands, in June.
BUSINESS / Tech
Oct 21, 2023

The multimillion-dollar machines at the center of the U.S.-China rivalry

Complex lithography machines that print intricate circuitry on computer chips are at the heart of Washington's tough new measures on Beijing.
Palestinians inspect destruction from an Israeli airstrike in Khan Younis, a city in southern Gaza, on Thursday. The Israeli bombardment of the Gaza Strip, in retaliation for a deadly Hamas attack on southern Israel, has brought a new outpouring of support in the Arab world for the Palestinian quest for a state.
WORLD / Politics
Oct 21, 2023

Passion for Palestinian cause had faded, but Gaza violence reignited it

The Israeli bombardment of Gaza brought a new outpouring of support in the Arab world for the Palestinian quest for a state.
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Foreign Minister Melanie Joly during an event in Ottawa on Wednesday.
WORLD
Oct 21, 2023

Trudeau says many countries worried after India ousts Canada envoys

The diplomatic row is the latest escalation since Trudeau accused India of helping to orchestrate the killing of a Sikh separatist in Canada.
They call it Q-Day: the day when a quantum computer, one more powerful than any yet built, could shatter the world of privacy and security as we know it.
WORLD / Science & Health
Oct 23, 2023

The race to save our secrets from the computers of the future

Quantum technology could compromise our encryption systems. Can America replace them before it’s too late?
South Africa flyhalf Handre Pollard (left) is tackled by England's Dan Cole (center) and George Martin during their Rugby World Cup semifinal in Paris on Saturday.
MORE SPORTS / Rugby
Oct 23, 2023

Springboks have work to do ahead of RWC final against All Blacks

This year's Rugby World Cup final will be a rematch of the 1995 title game between South Africa and New Zealand.
Members of the Ground Self-Defense Force disembark from a CH-47 Chinook helicopter during a live fire exercise in Gotemba, Shizuoka Prefecture, in May 2022.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Oct 23, 2023

Kishida's proposed tax cuts put higher defense spending on hold

The plan to raise defense spending partly through tax hikes has been put on ice. In fact, it was never likely to deliver fast results.
A used KIA electric car is seen for sale outside the showroom of a used car dealer in Manchester, Britain
BUSINESS / Tech
Oct 23, 2023

The battery test race to work out what used EVs are really worth

There used to be no way to measure battery health. But that is changing as firms rush to scale up EV battery tests — some of which take just minutes.
Bucks forward Giannis Antetokounmpo's new contract will give him the option to remain with the club through the 2027-28 season.
BASKETBALL / NBA
Oct 24, 2023

Bucks star Giannis Antetokounmpo agrees on contract extension

The Greek star has spent the entirety of his NBA career with Milwaukee since being drafted by the franchise in 2013.

Longform

Bear attacks have dominated Japanese news headlines in recent months, with 13 people so far having been killed by the animals.
Japan’s bears have been on their killing spree for more than 100 years