Search - about-us

 
 
Palestinians carry their belongings through the town of Jabalia as they flee the southward toward Gaza City on Monday.
WORLD / Politics
May 20, 2025

Trump plan or not, Israel is letting more Palestinians leave Gaza

The easing of restrictions parallels the Israeli government's stated goal of facilitating the resettlement of Gaza's population in other countries.
Jony Ive, left, is collaborating with OpenAI’s Sam Altman as part of a nearly $6.5 billion deal.
BUSINESS / Tech
May 22, 2025

OpenAI to buy AI startup from Apple veteran Jony Ive in $6.5 billion deal

The purchase — the largest in OpenAI’s history — will provide the company with a dedicated unit for developing AI-powered devices.
Mervat Hijazi washes clothes inside the tent they took shelter in after being displaced in Gaza City.
WORLD / Society
May 24, 2025

Diary of a Gazan family's descent toward starvation

The family's plight is a snapshot of the misery plaguing the Palestinian enclave of Gaza.
Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba offers a flower during a ceremony to pay respects to unidentified war dead from World War II at the Chidorigafuchi National Cemetery in Tokyo on May 26.
JAPAN / Politics / FOCUS
Jun 3, 2025

Ishiba faces political and diplomatic quandary ahead of WWII anniversary

There is fierce opposition among conservatives to any form of official reflection on the 80th anniversary of Japan's surrender in World War II.
Detail of Takashi Murakami, “Rakuchu-Rakugai-zu Byobu: Iwasa Matabei RIP” (2023-25)
CULTURE / Art
Jun 5, 2025

New Naoshima museum bets on Asia, not the West

The Naoshima New Museum of Art is Tadao Ando’s 10th contribution to the popular art islands.
Sundar Pichai, chief executive officer of Alphabet, presented a vision of AI that was at once optimistic about the technology’s possibilities and sober-minded about some of its present limitations, at an event at the Bloomberg Tech conference in San Francisco on Wednesday.
BUSINESS / Tech
Jun 5, 2025

Alphabet CEO expects to keep hiring engineers while AI advances

Alphabet's CEO presented a vision of AI that was at once optimistic about the technology’s possibilities and sober-minded about some of its present limitations.
For Isamu Tatsuno, the founder and CEO of outdoor gear maker Montbell, his youth was all about reaching the pinnacle. Today, he’s far more interested in enjoying the journey.
BUSINESS / Companies
Jun 9, 2025

Montbell founder went from a feeble boy to a renowned mountaineer

Drawing on his experience as a climber, Isamu Tatsuno planned ahead for the survival of his outdoor gear and clothing company. It paid off.
Chinese tour groups visit a waterfront promenade in Hong Kong on May 5.
ASIA PACIFIC
Jun 9, 2025

Can big stars bring higher-spending tourists back to Hong Kong?

Hong Kong, which once billed itself as Asia’s World City, is now seeking to brand itself as the region’s events capital.
Novak Djokovic plays a forehand return to Italy's Jannik Sinner during their men's singles semifinal match on day 13 of the French Open tennis tournament at the Roland-Garros Complex in Paris on June 6, 2025.
TENNIS
Jun 11, 2025

No rest, no gain: Novak Djokovic’s go-to tools for a mind and body reset

Japan residents with deep pockets now have a chance to replicate Djokovic’s wellness and longevity routines at Aman Tokyo.
Eating locally grown food could be part of a decokatsu lifestyle that's both good for the planet and your wallet.
ENVIRONMENT / Sustainability / OUR PLANET
Jun 15, 2025

Decokatsu could save you money and help the planet. But you probably haven't heard of it.

The ambitious government program aims to get people to live in ways that are healthier for the planet without being restrictive about it.
A woman in Vatican City on July 19 during a heat wave. Projecting temperatures is inherently imprecise because modern humans have never experienced such extremes.
ENVIRONMENT / Climate change
Jul 29, 2023

An overheating planet requires extreme climate solutions

Projections say warming will only get worse, but humans exert control over planet-warming pollution and can change these models’ trajectories.
Materials derived from cabbage (left), iyokan (center) and onion by Tokyo-based startup Fabula, which is working to develop new materials that can replace concrete.
ENVIRONMENT / Sustainability / OUR PLANET
Aug 27, 2023

Japan’s scrap-and-rebuild culture faces an environmental reckoning

The nation's tendency toward new construction — rather than renovation — is coming under renewed scrutiny amid concerns over sustainability.
A Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) banner outside the party's state office in Kolkata, India.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Sep 26, 2023

Modi's ruling BJP plots election drive of epic scale

Growing anti-incumbency sentiment is conspiring with a newly formed national alliance to pose what BJP officials say will be Modi's toughest test by far.
Writer Baye McNeil (left) poses for a picture with Cameron Peagler, who organized the Black Gold event in Tokyo’s Adachi Ward.
COMMUNITY / Voices / Black Eye
Oct 16, 2023

An OG's tips for Japan: Create beauty and don't fake your smile

Speaking at Black Gold, an event aiming to connect the Black and Japanese communities, our columnist offered seven tips to enjoying life in Japan.
Labyrinth organizer Russell Moench sparked controversy with transphobic tweets, leading booked artists to pull out of the highly regarded electronic music festival’s 2023 edition.
CULTURE / Music
Oct 20, 2023

Art and politics clash at Labyrinth 2023

A controversy surrounding the prestige electronic music festival sparks an old debate over separating art and the artist.
Eiko Takeuchi talks about a traffic jam during last winter’s heavy snow along National Route 8 in Kashiwazaki, Niigata Prefecture, on Sept. 18.
JAPAN / Society / Regional Voices: Tohoku
Dec 11, 2023

Evacuation plans for nuclear incidents called into question

Effectiveness of preparations as a “last line of defense” to save residents in the event of a nuclear disaster are in doubt.
In writing "Climate Capitalism: Winning the Global Race to Zero Emissions," journalist Akshat Rathi said his goal was to try and determine where climate solutions are being built and uncover the challenges that they face.
ENVIRONMENT / Climate change / OUR PLANET
Dec 24, 2023

Finding crucial solutions in a time of climate crisis

Journalist Akshat Rathi explores the economic side of the emergency in his book ‘Climate Capitalism.'
Iranian sources said Beijing had made it clear it would be very disappointed with Tehran if any vessels linked to China were hit, or the country's interests were affected in any way.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Jan 26, 2024

China presses Iran to rein in Houthi attacks in Red Sea, sources say

But amid regional alliances and priorities, it is uncertain whether Tehran will take action following the discussions with Beijing.
Yurii, 53, and Tetiana, 51, attend a rally of families of Ukrainian prisoners of war  in Kryvyi Rih, Dnipropetrovsk region, Ukraine, on Jan. 21.
WORLD
Feb 22, 2024

How life in Ukraine has been shattered by two years of war

Even in remote villages, signs are everywhere of the two-year-old war that has irrevocably changed the face of Ukraine.
Earl Stewart, a Toyota dealer, says he was shocked when he first heard about Toyota’s strategy.
BUSINESS
Mar 13, 2024

Toyota’s hybrid-first strategy is delivering big profits

Toyota’s sales are booming, and the company is reporting huge profits.
Mustafa Suleyman, the co-founder & CEO of Inflection AI, at the Greylock Partners office in Menlo Park, California in May 2023. Suleyman, a co-founder of Google’s DeepMind artificial intelligence lab, is leaving the startup he was running to lead Microsoft’s consumer AI business, in another sign of Microsoft’s aggressive plans for the technology.
BUSINESS / Companies
Mar 20, 2024

Microsoft deepens AI focus, hiring DeepMind co-founder for consumer tools

Over a year after unveiling an AI-enhanced Bing search, the company has made few gains in the search market, still dominated by Google.
Britain's Catherine, Princess of Wales, appears in this still image taken from video released Friday in which she announced that she is undergoing preventative chemotherapy after cancer was found to have been present, following her abdominal surgery in January.
WORLD
Mar 23, 2024

Catherine’s cancer diagnosis puts U.K. royals on even more uncertain terrain

First King Charles and now Catherine, Princess of Wales, are facing grave health concerns, stretching an already slimmed-down monarchy.
Since launching in 1961, the iconic Salone del Mobile furniture fair has firmly established Milan’s status as a leading force in the global design world
LIFE / Style & Design
Apr 18, 2024

Salone del Mobile’s Maria Porro: ‘Italy and Japan share many things’

Maria Porro became the leading global design fair's first female and youngest-ever president when she was named to the position in 2021.
Children give a presentation on volcano studies during a workshop at Tairadate Elementary School in Hachimantai, Iwate Prefecture, in February.
JAPAN / Regional Voices: Tohoku
Apr 29, 2024

Raising awareness over Mount Iwate eruption urged as memories fade

Interest in preparing for possible volcanic eruptions is difficult to muster in a nation prone to other natural disasters.
Sudanese refugees fleeing the conflict in the country's Darfur region cross the border into Chad in August.
COMMENTARY / World
Apr 23, 2024

Humanitarian catastrophes and the world's forgotten conflicts

Tragically, there are global catastrophes that, by virtue of their longevity and their distance from us, have fallen out of sight.
A truck rolls off a cargo vessel docked at Esbjerg Port in Ebjerg, Denmark. European Union food imports to the U.K. are about to get more expensive and complicated as the British government implements the Brexit deal.
BUSINESS / Companies
Apr 27, 2024

Britons finally taste full Brexit as costly border checks begin

From April 30, the U.K. will impose checks on European Union food imports — a stark reversal from the pre-Brexit era of frictionless trade.
Tesla is offering discounts and service improvements to appease European leasing companies upset by price cuts and repair issues.
BUSINESS / Companies
May 20, 2024

Tesla giving discounts to European fleet buyers in damage-control drive

After years of sharp growth, Tesla's global sales and profits are declining, with an 8.5% drop in deliveries during the first quarter, marking its first decrease in four years.
Ilya Sutskever, then-chief scientist at OpenAI, at the company’s offices in San Francisco in March 2023. Sutskever recently left the firm. He had been on the company’s board and had voted to oust Sam Altman, the chief executive, last year.
BUSINESS / Companies
Jun 5, 2024

OpenAI insiders warn of a ‘reckless’ race for dominance

Sources claim the firm has used hardball tactics to prevent workers from voicing their concerns about certain AI technology.
Softbank Group CEO Masayoshi Son speaks during the annual general shareholders' meeting in Tokyo on Friday.
BUSINESS / Companies
Jun 21, 2024

SoftBank’s Son aims to create ‘super’ AI in new investment drive

He envisions a future when Arm Holdings chips support an ecosystem of technology that can collectively cure cancer, clean houses and play with children.

Longform

Mount Fuji is considered one of Japan's most iconic symbols and is a major draw for tourists. It's still a mountain, though, and potential hikers need to properly prepare for any climb.
What it takes to save lives on Mount Fuji