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During the COVID-19 pandemic, Swastika Jajoo (fourth from right) began attending the daily radio calisthenics routine at Sendai’s Kitasanbancho Park and struck up unexpected friendships with a group of elderly residents.
COMMUNITY / Voices / FOREIGN AGENDA
Sep 15, 2025

Calisthenic companions bridge cultures and generations

At the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, a doctoral student in Sendai found friendship in unexpected places.
Yasuhiko Funago (center) asks a representative question during a plenary session of the House of Councilors, inside the Diet building in January 2023.
JAPAN / Politics
Sep 12, 2025

Ex-lawmaker with ALS calls on politicians to ensure right to live

Yasuhiko Funago expressed strong concern about social pressures that could make it difficult for people with severe illnesses and disabilities to live.
Emperor Naruhito, Empress Masako and their daughter, Princess Aiko, offer flowers at a monument marking the hypocenter of the atomic bombing of Nagasaki in Nagasaki Peace Park on Friday.
JAPAN
Sep 12, 2025

Emperor Naruhito and family pay their respects in Nagasaki

The family is slated to meet with people living in a special elderly nursing home for atomic bomb survivors on Saturday.
Juan Ansotegui walks on his property in Villalibado, a hamlet in the Odra-Pisuerga comarca of Burgos, Castile, Spain.
WORLD / Society
Sep 12, 2025

Spain wants to save rural areas — and it's finding creative ways to do it

Public and private actors are experimenting with ways to reverse demographic decline and save the centuries-old histories, traditions and cultures of Spain's rural communities.
Canada's Evan Dunfee celebrates after winning the the gold in the men's 35k race walk at the 2025 World Athletics Championships on Saturday morning at Tokyo’s National Stadium.
MORE SPORTS
Sep 13, 2025

Evan Dunfee captures first gold of world championships as Japan earns first medal

Japan's Hayato Katsuki took bronze in the men’s 35-kilometer race walk at the 2025 World Athletics Championships.
A combination image released on Saturday shows North Korean leader Kim Jong Un observing a shooting competition between sniper unit in Pyongyang.
ASIA PACIFIC
Sep 13, 2025

North Korea's Kim says country to boost nuclear arsenal and conventional military

Experts said the remarks reflect Kim's view that nuclear forces alone have limits as a deterrent, and that his conventional arsenal must also be modernized.
"I don't want to scare a company from ever hiring a blind person again,” said Emeline Lakrout. But she and others want change.
BUSINESS / Companies
Sep 13, 2025

‘PowerPoint broke me’: The challenges for blind professionals

"I don't want to scare a company from ever hiring a blind person again,” said Emeline Lakrout. But she and others want change.
Kim Yo Jong, sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, arrives at the Vostochny Сosmodrome before a meeting between her brother and Russian President Vladimir Putin in Russia's far eastern Amur region in September 2023.
ASIA PACIFIC
Sep 14, 2025

North Korea condemns 'reckless' U.S.-Japan-South Korea drills

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un's powerful sister condemned the upcoming joint military drills as a "reckless show of strength" that would bring "bad results."
"Real Japanese Cooking: The Only Japanese Cookbook You Will Ever Need" pays homage to home-cooking favorites, such as classic tempura dishes.
LIFE / Food & Drink
Sep 16, 2025

From tofu to teriyaki: Japanese essentials for the home cook

Packed with more than 600 recipes, Makiko Itoh's “Real Japanese Cooking: The Only Japanese Cookbook You Will Ever Need" is an encyclopedic effort that lives up to its name.
Gold medalist Melissa Jefferson-Wooden of the U.S. celebrates after winning the women's 100-meter final at the World Athletics Championships at National Stadium in Tokyo on Sunday.
MORE SPORTS / Athletics
Sep 14, 2025

Melissa Jefferson-Wooden takes 100-meter title and sets championships record in Tokyo

Jamaica’s Tia Clayton was second with a new personal best of 10.76, while Paris Olympic gold medalist Julien Alfred took third place in 10.84.
Sumadori Bar on Shibuya Ward's main Center Gai street targets young customers who prefer low-alcohol drinks or abstain altogether.
JAPAN / Science & Health / Longform
Sep 15, 2025

Rethinking that second drink: Japan’s Gen Z gets ‘sober curious’

Young Japanese are saying no to booze — and yes to mocktails, gaming and sober nights out. Breweries are pivoting to meet them.
Alibaba Group co-founder Jack Ma attends the World Artificial Intelligence Conference in Shanghai in 2018. The billionaire entrepreneur recently returned to a hands-on role at Alibaba after spending years out of the public eye.
BUSINESS / Tech
Sep 16, 2025

Jack Ma returns with a vengeance to ‘Make Alibaba Great Again’

Ma resigned as chairman of Alibaba in 2019 and largely disappeared from the public eye in 2020 amid the Chinese government's crackdown on the tech sector.
Japan’s high-tech toilets, from bidets to innovative public lavatories, offer a unique lens through which to explore the country’s culture, technology and even soft power.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Sep 16, 2025

‘Perfect Days’ spent pondering the Japanese potty

The Japanese toilet is an engineering and technological marvel that transforms daily ablutions.
Rice farmer Toru Wakui in his rice paddies in Ogata, Akita Prefecture, in August
JAPAN / FOCUS
Sep 17, 2025

For Japan's rice growers, postwar policy shifts yet to deliver stable future

Amid renewed tightness in supply and a spike in prices, officials have been urging farmers to plant more, marking yet another reversal in Japan's 80 years of agricultural policy.
Itsumi Tanaka smiles as she is complimented during lunchtime at Grandma’s Cafe in the city of Fukuoka.
JAPAN / Regional Voices: Kyushu
Sep 29, 2025

‘Grandma’s Cafe’ offers purpose and income for elderly

A company in Fukuoka Prefecture is operating unique eateries where elderly women, some with dementia, welcome guests with homestyle cooking.
The RAF Red Arrows perform a flyover at Windsor Castle in the U.K. on Wednesday.
WORLD
Sep 18, 2025

Apple and Citi CEOs join Trump and King Charles at state dinner

The guest list of the event nodded to the work that Trump and Prime Minister Keir Starmer face as they attempt to bring the special relationship back onto stronger footing.
Kobe's Yuya Osako (right) chases down the ball during a J. League match against Kashiwa on Friday.
SOCCER
Sep 18, 2025

First-half dominance leads Vissel Kobe to opening Asian Champions League win

Vissel impressed against their hosts, with Erik, Taisei Miyashiro and Yuya Osako leading the defending J. League champions to victory.
Pupils put their hands up to answer a question during a lesson at a grammar school in Maidstone, U.K. Private school alumni remain dominant among the most powerful positions in British society despite corporate efforts to hire from more diverse backgrounds.
WORLD / Society
Sep 18, 2025

Britain wants social mobility but private schools still dominate

Elite schooling remains the surest route to the top of British society, new data from a social mobility charity show.
Organizers of the World Athletics Championships said over 500,000 tickets had been sold and that they are expecting to end the event in front of large crowds this weekend.
MORE SPORTS / Athletics
Sep 18, 2025

World Athletics stars relish Tokyo atmosphere after COVID-hit Olympics

For many athletes competing at the world championships in Tokyo this week who also competed at the COVID-hit Summer Games, the experience has been like night and day.
In July, the government ordered Hanoi to phase out gas-powered motorbikes in central districts within a year.
BUSINESS / Tech
Sep 18, 2025

Vietnam startup seeks slice of third-largest EV motorbike market

Vietnam is behind only China and India in terms of its market size for electric two-wheelers, according to an August report from MotorCycles Data.
Hokkaido is reconsidering the possibility of hosting a casino resort, several years after Gov. Naomichi Suzuki halted plans for one.
JAPAN / Regional Voices: Hokkaido
Sep 29, 2025

Hokkaido cities consider fresh bet on casino resort

Citing concerns over gambling addiction and possible environmental impacts, Hokkaido's governor said it will be challenging to gain public acceptance for a casino bid.
One notable section of the “Prism of the Real: Making Art in Japan 1989-2010” exhibition is a predominantly pink room featuring works that explore the lives of Asian women, such as Minako Nishiyama’s “The Pinku House”and footage of Lee Bul’s performance “Sorry for suffering — You think I’m a puppy on a picnic?”
CULTURE / Art
Sep 19, 2025

‘Prism of the Real’ makes two turbulent decades tangible with art

Born of a partnership between The National Art Center, Tokyo and M+, the show reveals how artists across borders grappled with a changing world.
(From left) Kazato Oishi, associate professor at Kyoto University's Graduate School of Agriculture; Tomoki Kojima of the National Agriculture and Food Research Organization; and Sei Sato of the Aichi prefectural livestock research center at the award ceremony for the Ig Nobel Prize in Boston, Massachusetts, on Thursday
JAPAN
Sep 19, 2025

Japanese researchers win Ig Nobel Prize for painting cows with zebra stripes

It is the 19th consecutive year that Japanese researchers have received an Ig Nobel Prize, a spoof of the Nobel Prize that honors humorous but creative research.
Bills quarterback Josh Allen executes a shovel pass for a touchdown during Buffalo's win over the Dolphins on Thursday.
MORE SPORTS / Football
Sep 19, 2025

Josh Allen tosses three TDs as Bills take charge late to beat Dolphins

Allen completed 22 of 28 attempts for 213 yards, and his go-ahead strike to Khalil Shakir was the 200th regular-season TD pass of his career.
The process of making “Baan” was personal and enlightening for Maneetapho, who spent years talking about anime on his YouTube channel and podcast before making the jump to becoming an anime creator himself.
CULTURE / Film
Sep 19, 2025

YouTuber Gigguk shifts from talking anime to making anime

Garnt Maneetapho, who runs the YouTube channel Gigguk, makes the jump from critic to creator with his short film “Baan — The Boundary of Adulthood.”
Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group is considering increasing its stake in Jefferies Financial Group as the Japanese lender deepens ties with the U.S. investment bank.
BUSINESS / Companies
Sep 19, 2025

Sumitomo Mitsui mulls raising stake in Jefferies to 20%

The two firms are also in discussions to merge parts of their equities businesses in Japan, potentially through the establishment of a joint venture.
U.S. President Donald Trump speaks to members of the media in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington on Friday.
WORLD / Politics
Sep 20, 2025

Trump to impose $100,000 fee per year for H-1B visas, in likely blow to tech

Trump's threat to crack down on H-1B visas has become a major flash point with the tech industry, which contributed millions of dollars to his presidential campaign.
A business class suite of an Airbus SE A350-1000 aircraft operated by Japan Airlines is seen during a media preview at the company's hangar at Tokyo's Haneda Airport in January last year.
BUSINESS / Companies
Sep 20, 2025

Boom in business class travel from Japan fuels airlines profits

As tariffs change trade patterns and roil global supply chains, corporate Japan is dealing with it by getting executives in the air.
Nissan’s ProPilot navigates traffic while under human supervision during a test drive in Tokyo last week.
BUSINESS / Companies
Sep 22, 2025

Nissan revamps ProPilot to rival Tesla's driver-assist technology

The next version will be able to take on complex city streets using fewer cameras and monitors thanks to artificial intelligence software.
Tylenol for sale at a pharmacy in New York on Sept. 5
WORLD / Politics
Sep 22, 2025

Trump administration to link Tylenol to autism, report says

Officials plan to warn pregnant women against using the medication, one of the world’s most common, over-the-counter pain relievers, unless they have a fever.

Longform

An illustration features the Japanese signs for "ganbare" (good luck) and the Deaflympics, which will be held between Nov. 15 and 26.
A century of Deaf sport finds its moment in Tokyo