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Japanese firm Space Entertainment Laboratory is showcasing a model of its fully autonomous, battery-powered Hamadori 3000 amphibious drone at this week's Japan International Aerospace Exhibition in Tokyo.
JAPAN / Science & Health
Oct 18, 2024

Drone solutions take center stage in Tokyo aerospace show

A flurry of dual-use unmanned aerial vehicles are being showcased, a testament to their growing popularity and the Defense Ministry’s increasing demand for them.
Stays at Aman Kyoto start at around $2,500 (about ¥375,000) and increasing to $4,000 (about ¥600,000) per night, but for the right traveler, it's not money entirely wasted.
LIFE / Travel
Oct 19, 2024

Kyoto’s most expensive hotel offers inner peace — for a price

Aman Kyoto is one of the most luxurious options for stays in Japan’s ancient capital — but is it worth the hefty price tag?
For Designart 2024, 130 (one thirty) is exhibiting its first furniture collection of 100% recyclable 3D-printed works at Issey Miyake Ginza.
LIFE / Style & Design / ON: DESIGN
Oct 19, 2024

117 creative exhibits take over Tokyo for Designart 2024

Designart’s official exhibitions at the World Kita -Aoyama Building in Minato Ward are always well-rounded displays of both established and up-and-coming designers.
The dining room at Ca'enne is as authentically rustic as the ingredients — all from Nagano Prefecture's Yatsugatake region — that chef Noriyuki Usui cooks with.
LIFE / Food & Drink / Destination Restaurants
Oct 20, 2024

Ca’enne: Into the Yatsugatake mountains for Nagano’s freshest produce

For a restaurant that only uses ingredients from a landlocked region, there is a surprising amount of excellent fish on chef Noriyuki Usui’s menu.
Group of Seven defense chiefs attend the grouping's first-ever defense ministers' meeting in Naples, Italy, on Saturday.
JAPAN / Politics
Oct 20, 2024

G7 defense chiefs voice concern over Chinese military drills around Taiwan

The defense chiefs singled out China over a number of concerns, though their decision to emphasize Taiwan, in particular, is unlikely to go over well in Beijing.
A battery charge technology display at the Engie pavilion at the Paris Motor Show on Tuesday. Japan's EV market share remains significantly lower than in other countries, with only 2.2% of cars sold being battery EVs, compared to 18% in France and 25% in China.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Oct 18, 2024

Japan hopes electric cars are just a bad dream

Automakers face many setbacks in electrification, but Japan uniquely argues that the shift is not only logistically challenging but fundamentally misconceived.
“The Secret Lives of Numbers” co-author Kate Kitagawa discovered the power of storytelling as a research assistant for a professor in Japanese history. Since then, Kitagawa has been dedicated to using storytelling to show that humans are able to unlock the greater secrets of the universe through collaboration, not competition.
CULTURE / Books
Oct 21, 2024

'The Secret Lives of Numbers' reveals the unsung figures of mathematics

The book’s core message of creative collaboration leading to great discoveries is the brainchild of co-author Kate Kitagawa, a leading expert on the history of math.
A collage made of undated handout pictures released by the Yamagata University Institute of Nasca shows 10 of 303 new geoglyphs discovered by scientists at the university in Japan.
JAPAN / Science & Health / Longform
Oct 21, 2024

The Japanese researcher uncovering the mystery of Peru’s Nazca Lines

Masato Sakai has dedicated his career to the collection of desert etchings. AI is starting to make his work much easier.
An airplane specially painted with the theme of Tokyo DisneySea's Fantasy Springs area
BUSINESS / Companies
Oct 21, 2024

JAL unveils plane themed on Tokyo DisneySea's new area

The plane, which features characters from the Disney movies "Frozen," "Tangled" and "Peter Pan," will mainly fly on domestic routes until November next year.
The Zeekr Mix at the Beijing Auto Show
BUSINESS / Tech
Oct 21, 2024

Mixing hotpot with horsepower. Have Chinese car gimmicks gone too far?

A recent Zeekr campaign underscores the lengths Chinese EV makers will go to to stand out in an ultracompetitive market.
Tiger Woods acknowledges the crowd at the 18th green during the 152nd Open Championship at the Royal Troon Golf Club in Troon, Scotland, on July 19.
MORE SPORTS / Golf
Oct 22, 2024

Woods expected to make TGL debut on Jan. 14

The 15-time major champion's first potential match will come in the second week of the season inside a venue that fits 1,500 fans.
Apple CEO Tim Cook
BUSINESS / Companies
Oct 22, 2024

Apple CEO Tim Cook’s other job: Helping Nike turn things around

Cook has carved out a role as one of Nike’s closest outside advisers over the last 19 years and is the company’s lead independent director.
The South Korean Coast Guard vessel Taepyongyang, the U.S. Coast Guard cutter Waesche and the Japan Coast Guard vessel Wakasa patrol in formation during a trilateral exercise in the Sea of Japan in June.
ASIA PACIFIC
Oct 23, 2024

With ramped-up activities, U.S. Coast Guard plots greater Indo-Pacific role

The move comes at a time when a growing number of coast guards in the region are becoming deeply involved in patrolling disputed waters.
Election campaign staff rally support for their respective candidates, waving their hands from the open windows of campaign vehicles.
JAPAN / Politics / Regional Voices: Tohoku
Nov 4, 2024

‘Bush warbler ladies’ name bows out from Japan’s election campaigns

Workers who rally support for candidates using loudspeakers on vehicles are increasingly being referred to by a gender-neutral term.
People from Thailand look at used smartphones in Tokyo's Akihabara district in October 2022.
BUSINESS / Markets
Oct 23, 2024

Japan's secondhand smartphone market booms as households struggle

Sales of used goods in Japan have grown rapidly as households struggle to make ends meet.
Katsuko Kurikawa shows the damage done by bears to her chestnut tree.
JAPAN / Society / Regional Voices: Chugoku
Nov 4, 2024

Uptick in bear sightings prompts policy shift from conservation to control

Hunting the Asian black bear in the Western Chugoku Mountains has been banned in principle since 1994.
Shopify, whose key selling point is lower prices for its suite of e-commerce services, has been cheekily calling out Salesforce’s penchant for wining and dining potential clients.
BUSINESS / Tech
Oct 30, 2024

Shopify is winning Salesforce clients, stoking e-commerce rivalry

The Canadian company — for years the go-to for mom-and-pop businesses looking to set up shop online — is setting its sights on larger companies in a dramatic shift.
Rene Redzepi unveils his future for Noma as well as the MAD Symposium, an event 'to create a lasting generational foundation and structure that ensures that we stay creative and impactful for a lifetime.'
LIFE / Food & Drink
Nov 1, 2024

After Kyoto residency, Rene Redzepi says 'Noma will exist as a pop-up'

"You go there to feel something but then you can’t feel it again — it’s gone," Redzepi says. "I’m excited for the restaurant to operate like that.”
The Usasuka Ryuchu throne carving on the second floor of Shuri Castle’s main hall features a unique twisted dragon design — a detail missing from prior reconstructions.
JAPAN
Oct 31, 2024

Okinawa's Shuri Castle marks five years since devastating fire

With completion set for 2026, national and Okinawan authorities are working together to restore intricate details.
In recent years, anglophone publishers have perked up to the potential of “healing fiction,” driven by a healthy appetite for East Asian literature. Japan figures prominently in this literary landscape, and a fondness for felines in the "iyashikei" (healing type) genre has proven commercially viable abroad.
CULTURE / Books
Nov 2, 2024

Cat companions and the 'healing fiction' boom

Japan's "iyashikei" (healing type) cultural products are gaining audiences, and non-Japanese readers are craving cozy feline literature in translation.
A woman walks past a poster with an image of Japanese actress Rinko Kikuchi for the 2024 Tokyo International Film Festival (TIFF), which is currently underway through Nov. 6.
CULTURE
Nov 2, 2024

Spend Culture Day weekend in Ginza with TIFF and Yuko Mohri

The Tokyo International Film Festival is great chance to see noteworthy films, while the Artizon Museum presents playful art installations by Yuko Mohri.
Former U.S. President and Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump speaks during a live interview with U.S. commentator Tucker Carlson in the finale of the Tucker Carlson Live Tour at Desert Diamond Arena in Glendale, Arizona, on Thursday.
WORLD / Politics
Nov 4, 2024

Election falsehoods take off on Youtube as it looks the other way

The largest video platform has become a home for election conspiracy theories, half-truths and lies, which provide it with revenue.
People line up outside an Apple store in Beijing on Sept. 20.
BUSINESS / Markets
Nov 4, 2024

Buffett keeps cutting Apple stake, with value down 60% this year

Berkshire cut its Apple holdings by roughly 25% in the period, after cutting it by almost half in the second quarter.
International Boxing Association president Umar Kremlev in New Delhi in March 2023
MORE SPORTS
Nov 5, 2024

French boxing quits international body to keep its fighters at Olympics

The International Boxing Association is involved in a brawl with the International Olympic Committee.
An experiment by NITE shows an oil heater catching fire from leaked kerosene.
JAPAN / Society
Nov 5, 2024

Consumers urged to check heater safety ahead of winter accident surge

Past incidents typically surged in November and peaked in December, with elevated levels of heater-related accidents continuing through April.
Alongside foreign students, some Japanese students attend a special lecture held entirely in English at Nagoya University in early October.
JAPAN / Society / Regional voices: Chubu
Nov 11, 2024

Amid rising costs, universities try to help students study abroad

The cost of studying abroad, including travel and living expenses, is much higher now compared to before the COVID-19 pandemic.
Operators respond to telephone directory inquiries from Tokyo at a call center in Naha, Okinawa Prefecture, in October 1997.
JAPAN / Society / Regional Voices: Okinawa
Nov 11, 2024

As NTT ends its Dial 104 service, Okinawa's call centers look elsewhere

Naha and Nago were home to Japan's biggest call center operations, receiving around 125,000 calls a day at their peak in 1999.
Manga artist Kazuo Umezu
CULTURE / Entertainment news
Nov 5, 2024

Japanese manga artist Kazuo Umezu dies at 88

Kazuo Umezu started drawing comics from his childhood and made his debut as a manga artist in 1955, when he was a high school student.
The Tubassadors are (from left) Tomohiro Sosogi, Kazuto Shikada, Soen Tamura and Keisuke Nishibu.
CULTURE / Music
Nov 5, 2024

The Tubassadors hope to change the tuba’s tune

Orchestras aren't known for tuba solos in their performances. However, this Tokyo-based quartet puts the instrument front and center.
The topics nominated for this year’s buzzwords of the year ranged from new banknotes and Olympian quips to political scandals and rice shortages.
JAPAN / Society
Nov 5, 2024

From cat memes to Olympians with too much rizz, these are Japan's 2024 buzzword nominations

The buzzword of the year, along with the top 10 picks, will be decided from the 30 nominated terms on Dec. 2.

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