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Prime Minister Fumio Kishida and other leaders of the Group of Seven, as well as Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, meet during their summit in Hiroshima on May 21. 
COMMENTARY / World
Aug 7, 2023

The G7 leaders’ vision on nuclear disarmament

Geopolitical rivalries and the failure to address the complicity of G7 members in perpetuating a nuclearized world are stymieing nonproliferation efforts.
A China Coast Guard boat allegedly blocks Philippine Coast Guard vessels, which were escorting a resupply mission for the Philippine troops stationed at the Second Thomas Shoal in the South China Sea on Saturday.
ASIA PACIFIC
Aug 6, 2023

Philippines says China blocked, water-cannoned boat in South China Sea

China claims sovereignty over most of the South China Sea — an assertion rejected internationally — building islands on reefs and arming them.
Superconductors are materials that exhibit no electrical resistance and eliminate magnetic fields. South Korean researchers think they may have created a compound that achieves that at room-temperature.
COMMENTARY / World
Aug 8, 2023

LK-99 and the desperation for scientific discovery

The new room-temperature superconductor LK-99 could change the world. Or not.
A Ukrainian soldier stands guard next to Odesa's famous statue of the city's founder, Duke de Richelieu, in March 2022.
COMMENTARY / World
Aug 3, 2023

Russia should be expelled from UNESCO

UNESCO has condemned Russia’s attacks across Ukraine. It should go further, expelling Russia for as long as the Kremlin continues its criminal behavior.
As synonymous with summer as fireworks and sweltering temperatures, mosquitoes are ubiquitous in Japan. However, will rising temperatures lead more dangerous species of the bug to call Japan home?
ENVIRONMENT / Wildlife / Longform
Aug 7, 2023

The mosquito: Summer’s unwelcome little bloodsucker

An outbreak of dengue in Yoyogi Park nine years ago could be a sign of things to come if the wrong mosquito makes it into Japan.
Oliviero Morelli
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / The Big Questions
Aug 8, 2023

MSC Cruises' Morelli aims to sail the ocean green

We grew up with Japanese anime and manga in Italy. Many companies found it cheaper to buy the rights from Japan than from the USA
Now in their fourth year, Hong Kong's security crackdowns have led to the exodus of hundreds of thousands of people, resulting in grave manpower shortages and a stain on the city's image as place to do business.
COMMENTARY / World
Aug 9, 2023

Hong Kong needs to protect its image as a financial center

In Lee’s view, while reviving Hong Kong’s role as a global financial center, it is vital to continue the crackdown on perceived threats.
PODCAST / deep dive
Aug 10, 2023

Why is modernizing Japan so darn tough?

Reporter Gabriele Ninivaggi joins us to break down how Japan’s digitalization hiccups risk exposing how backward things are.
Leaders at Sweden's Psychological Defense Agency, a state agency, in Stockholm
WORLD / Society
Aug 14, 2023

Sweden is not staying neutral in Russia’s information war

Officials say the Kremlin has targeted Sweden with a concerted psychological campaign to discredit the country and undermine its bid to join NATO.
M-Sys President Masao Takikawa stands in front of a Yakiton Daikoku izakaya pub that opened in Sendai's Kokubuncho entertainment district.
JAPAN / Regional Voices: Tohoku
Aug 15, 2023

Sendai pub chain boosts performance with better work conditions

Sendai-based M-Sys has implemented a policy of offering monthly pay of ¥300,000 to new hires.
Junior high school students participate in a community-based club activity without any instructors in Kakegawa, Shizuoka Prefecture.
JAPAN / Society / Regional voices: Chubu
Aug 15, 2023

Facing long hours, teacher pushes for data-driven reforms

Given the long working hours for Japan's schoolteachers, one educator from Gifu Prefecture is leading initiatives for teachers’ work-style reforms.
Chinese leaders seem to believe the country has a narrow window of opportunity to achieve global preeminence before unfavorable demographic and geopolitical trends catch up with it.
COMMENTARY / World
Aug 15, 2023

China’s dangerous secrets

China's secretive approach to projects and activities, including its handling of the COVID-19 pandemic, should be a significant concern.
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken meets with the Chinese Communist Party's foreign policy chief, Wang Yi, on the sidelines of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations Foreign Ministers' Meeting in Jakarta on July 13.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Aug 16, 2023

Southeast Asia uses great power competition to dodge failures

The U.S. needs to rethink its approach toward Southeast Asia, counter China's narrative, and engage in effective public diplomacy.
If you've come to the realization that divorce is the only way forward, there are a host of details about the Japanese marriage system to confirm before you're finally ready to cut ties.
COMMUNITY / How-tos
Aug 21, 2023

Navigating the notorious gauntlet of divorce in Japan

Everyone wishes for “happily ever after” no matter where you’re from, but Japan recorded 1,671 bicultural divorces in 2021.
Mitsuko Suyama talks about falling victim to “black rain” in front of the community center where she was at the time of the 1945 atomic bombing of Nagasaki.
JAPAN / Society / Regional Voices: Kyushu
Aug 21, 2023

Nagasaki ‘black rain’ victims angry over lack of health benefits

Victims of the Nagasaki A-bomb tell of suffering and exclusion from health benefits reserved for those officially recognized as survivors.
A promotional poster for the film "Barbie" in Tokyo on Aug. 3
COMMENTARY / Japan
Aug 23, 2023

Why is the ‘Barbie’ movie bombing in Japanese theaters?

The fact that the movie's female empowerment theme won’t have a positive, lasting impact in Japan is a shame.
A rescue worker stands next to a damaged building of the Moscow International Business Center following a drone attack in the Russian capital on Thursday.
WORLD / Politics
Aug 26, 2023

Ukraine’s drone strikes on Russia are message for its own people

U.S. officials say they expect Ukraine to continue its attacks because they send a strong message: Kyiv can still strike back.
A billboard promoting contract army service in front of the Private Military Company Wagner Center in St. Petersburg on Saturday.
WORLD / Politics
Aug 27, 2023

Kremlin eyes how to bring private military group under its control

The organization’s military prowess, experienced operators and ties to African governments may be too valuable to lose.
One big challenge public health officials now face is how to restore trust so that people listen to future guidance on everything from flu shots to childhood vaccines.
COMMENTARY / World
Aug 27, 2023

Not all COVID-19 ‘misinformation’ is equal — nor misinformation

Public health scientists have to figure out how to get back to the kind of nuanced, thoughtful discussions that were the pre-pandemic norm.
Members of the Philippines, Japan, South Korea, and U.S. armed forces carry national flags during the opening ceremony of joint military exercises in Taguig, Philippines, in October 2022.
COMMENTARY / Japan / Geoeconomic Briefing
Aug 27, 2023

How Japan can make the most of its latest diplomatic tool

Japan recently decided to establish a policy of Official Security Assistance. But how can it ensure its success?
Visitors to Dateka Vegefuru, a farmers market in Koori, Fukushima Prefecture, line up to purchase Akatsuki peaches on Aug. 3.
JAPAN / Society / Regional Voices: Fukushima
Aug 28, 2023

Climate change upends Fukushima peach harvest season

One farmer said around 30% of his peaches couldn’t be shipped as the intense heat made the fruit too ripe.
A concept model of the Global Combat Air Programme's fighter jet is displayed at the DSEI Japan defense show at Makuhari Messe in Chiba in March.
COMMENTARY / Japan / Geoeconomic Briefing
Aug 31, 2023

What the trilateral fighter jet program means for Japan

The program, also involving the U.K. and Italy, is the first such project with countries other than the U.S.
Kanji Matoba offers a prayer in front of a touch screen displaying a portrait of his late wife, at a columbarium in Sendai.
JAPAN / Society
Sep 4, 2023

New types of graves and services reflect changes in tradition

The COVID-19 pandemic made such services as grave visiting in place of families or ones using virtual reality technology take root.
National Forest and Wild Fauna Service personnel check on a sea lion, amidst rising cases bird flu infections in Peru in February 2023.
WORLD / Science & Health
Aug 31, 2023

After racing across continents, bird flu threatens Antarctica

Unlike earlier versions of bird flu, H5N1 has also spread widely in wild birds and routinely spilled over into wild mammals.
A child stands in front of the Hibiya Music Hall, which collapsed during the 1923 Great Kanto Earthquake.
PODCAST / deep dive
Aug 31, 2023

The earthquake that turned Tokyo to ash

This week we commemorate the 100-year anniversary of the Great Kanto Earthquake.
CULTURE / Books
Sep 2, 2023

Saou Ichikawa’s 'Hunchback': A darkly funny portrait of disability

The winner of the second 2023 Akutagawa Prize is a sardonic commentary on the utility of bodies, both abled and disabled.
Epitheses of various body parts at Ikeyama Medical Japan in Nagoya
JAPAN / Science & Health / Regional voices: Chubu
Sep 11, 2023

Epithesis — offering appearance care to cancer patients

The use of epithesis — artificial reconstructions of body parts — is beginning to attract attention.
A rainbow at the site of this year’s Burning Man festival in the Black Rock Desert in Nevada
WORLD / Society
Sep 4, 2023

What is Burning Man, and why have Paris Hilton and Elon Musk shown up?

The festival has been described as a site of countercultural revelry that draws both hippies and Silicon Valley types.
A South Korean teacher reacts as others chant slogans during a protest to demand better protection of their rights and to mourn a young teacher found dead in July in an apparent suicide, in Seoul on Monday. The signs read "Vote for an agreement on the protection of teachers' rights."
ASIA PACIFIC / Society
Sep 6, 2023

South Korean teachers want an end to parents’ harassment

Teachers say they often face pressure from parents who make excessive or impossible demands of them, including favoritism for their children.
A screenshot of the Nigetore app (left) five minutes after the start of practice evacuation using a 15-minute setting for “preparation time.” On the right, two screenshots show the outcomes of drills and a map indicating an evacuation route with tsunami inundation areas highlighted.
JAPAN / Science & Health / Regional Voices: Kyushu
Sep 11, 2023

Tsunami evacuation app offers realistic quake preparation experience

Personal tsunami evacuation drill app Nigetore allows users to choose their own evacuation routes and evaluate their success.

Longform

Rock group The Yellow Monkey played K-Arena Yokohama in June as part of a nationwide tour. Concerts are increasingly popular in the age of social media as users value in-person experiences.
Inside Japan’s arena boom: Sports, sound and city-building