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The “dogeza” position is used for the sincerest of apologies and it was deployed by the man who mistakenly ruined an attempt at a Guinness world record on live television.
LIFE / Language / BILINGUAL
Feb 9, 2024

The year so far has been marked by some good and bad apologies

A social norm seems to persist in Japan that one should apologize first and explain later. That goes for companies as well.
U.S. and U.K. military aircraft have carried out over a hundred bombing missions on Iran-backed Houthi forces in Yemen, as well as against Tehran's proxies in Iraq and Syria, since last month.
COMMENTARY / World
Feb 6, 2024

2024 looks to be a very bloody year

Preventing a conflagration and wider wars depends first on preventing regional crises from escalating, which demands a strong deterrent posture.
Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy takes a video in front of a road sign with the words "Avdiivka this is Ukraine" as he visits in the front-line town of Avdiivka Donets region, Ukraine, on Dec. 29.
WORLD / Politics
Feb 9, 2024

Zelenskyy’s ugly fight with top general exposes split in Ukraine

The Ukrainian president's public fallout with commander-in-chief Valeriy Zaluzhnyi has come at the worst possible time.
An anti-seismic reinforced building at the Keiju Medical Center in Nanao, Ishikawa Prefecture, suffered broken pipes and water leakage following a New Year's Day earthquake.
JAPAN / Society / Regional voices: Chubu
Mar 4, 2024

Hospitals in Japan slow to adopt seismic isolation in their buildings

Facilities severely hit by the New Year's Day quake have not been able to resume surgeries and other medical services.
A soldier participates in a multinational training exercise in the municipality of Hohenfels in Germany.
WORLD / Politics
Feb 15, 2024

Europe's race against time to rebuild militaries in uncertain world

The continent is a decade away from being able to defend itself unaided, officials say, while Russia could target a NATO member in three to five years.
A demonstration against racism and far-right groups, including the Alternative for Germany party, is held in Berlin on Jan. 21.
COMMENTARY / World
Feb 15, 2024

The case for banning anti-democratic candidates

Barring anti-democratic candidates from elections may be like fighting fire with fire, but it could work in extreme cases, such as in the U.S. and Germany.
Ukrainian police officers and rescue workers clear away the rubble of a destroyed house after a Russian rocket attack in Kramatorsk, Donetsk region, on Saturday.
WORLD / Politics
Feb 19, 2024

Ukraine’s allies are gaming out a world where the U.S. retreats

NATO members are beginning to doubt the U.S. will maintain its traditional role of protecting Europe as part of the alliance.
BASEBALL / MLB
Feb 19, 2024

Dodgers hurler Yoshinobu Yamamoto will be tough code to crack for MLB hitters

His mix of power, stuff and command have some wondering if the 25-year-old right-hander is already the best pitcher on the planet.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Feb 21, 2024

Film director Hideo Sakaki held on suspicion of sexual assault

While allegations of sexual abuse were made against Sakaki as far back as March 2022, this is the first time that the director has been taken into custody.
Specimen M831 stored at the National Museum of Nature and Science’s Tsukuba Research Departments in Ibaraki Prefecture
ENVIRONMENT / Wildlife / OUR PLANET
Feb 22, 2024

How a 13-year-old discovered a possible Japanese wolf specimen

A new paper by Hinako Komori and two academics says a specimen she found could be one of two Japanese wolves kept at Ueno Zoo in the late 19th century.
Former U.S. President Donald Trump at a campaign event ahead of the Republican presidential primary election in North Charleston, South Carolina, on Feb. 14
COMMENTARY / Japan / Geoeconomic Briefing
Feb 29, 2024

Why Japanese companies need to prepare for Trump 2.0

Given the former president's views on the recent U.S. Steel deal, firms should cover all bases ahead of the Nov. 5 U.S. election.
Yasuhiro Otomo and Miku Narisawa during one of Odyssey Nature Japan's educational fishing programs.
PODCAST / deep dive
Feb 22, 2024

A young 3/11 survivor and her vow to protect the ocean

At 12, Miku Narisawa experienced a magnitude 9 earthquake and tsunami that destroyed her home. Now she is working to protect it.
Prime Minister Fumio Kishida meets with Ukraine's prime minister, Denys Shmyhal, during the Japan-Ukraine Conference for Promotion of Economic Growth and Reconstruction in Tokyo on Monday.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Feb 23, 2024

Where others dither, Japan delivers on aid to Ukraine

Japan is doing all it can to prove to the Kremlin that it will ultimately be Ukraine, not Russia, that will prosper when the war is over.
People read newspapers at a roadside tea stall in Patna, Bihar, India. Newsrooms are being reshaped, journalists say, by India’s richest press barons, many of whom are close to the ruling party and depend on millions of advertising dollars from the government.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Feb 26, 2024

Billionaire press barons are squeezing media freedom in India

Many press barons are close to the ruling party and depend on millions of advertising dollars from the government.
China saw a record six months of outflows from the equity market until this month, while foreign direct investment is at a 30-year low.
BUSINESS / Markets
Feb 26, 2024

China’s quant clampdown risks damaging fragile markets for years

Beijing's changes made it hard for quant funds' data-reliant models to outperform the market, and even resulting in repeated wrong predictions.
Britain's Andy Murray in action during his round of 32 match against Canada's Denis Shapovalov in the Dubai Tennis Championships on Monday
TENNIS
Feb 27, 2024

Murray drops retirement hint after 500th hardcourt win in Dubai

Murray has failed to go beyond the third round of a Grand Slam since reaching the Wimbledon quarterfinals in 2017.
Houthi supporters and other protesters rally in solidarity with the Palestinians in Sanaa, Yemen, on Friday.
WORLD / Politics
Feb 27, 2024

After U.S. strikes, Iran’s proxies scale back attacks on U.S. bases

Tehran, wary of igniting open warfare with Washington, has told militia groups it backs to curtail assaults on targets such as military installations.
There is a global trend toward economic bifurcation with the U.S. and China leading the charge — and multinational solutions are needed to address the new challenges.
COMMENTARY
Feb 28, 2024

The inexorable movement toward a divided global economy

Efforts to protect national economies from threats require multinational solutions. Chains are only as strong as their weakest link.
Aoi Suzuki’s son runs past a home in Taketomi on Iriomote Island (not to be confused with Taketomi Island, which lies to the east of Iriomote). The Suzukis run the Takemori Inn, one of the few hotels on Iriomote.
PODCAST / deep dive
Feb 29, 2024

[Rebroadcast] Traveling Okinawa with a broken heart

This week on Deep Dive we get contributing writer and photographer Lance Henderstein to read us his article on traveling Okinawa during the rainy season.
A poster for digital coupons at a store in the city of Fukushima
JAPAN / Society / Regional Voices: Fukushima
Mar 11, 2024

Fukushima’s welfare coupon campaign highlights digital divide

A call center dedicated to the initiative received so many calls that telephone lines were overloaded.
Chinese President Xi Jinping has upended Communist Party norms since consolidating power and installing a coterie of loyalists in 2022, marking a shift from the more collective decision-making that helped propel China’s economic rise.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Mar 1, 2024

Xi’s one-man rule over China’s economy is spurring unrest

While the Chinese leader attempts to put the China's economy on a more sustainable footing, he is failing to convince the nation that's a good idea.
Alex “Rami-chan” Ramirez
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / The Big Questions
Mar 1, 2024

Baseball star Alex Ramirez’s NPO helps special kids

Founder of Vamos Together, Venezuelan Alex Ramirez played for Yakult Swallows and Yomiuri Giants, then became manager of the Yokohama DeNa BayStars
Former Canadian Prime Minister Brian Mulroney in Ottawa in May 2009.
WORLD / Politics
Mar 1, 2024

Brian Mulroney, former Canadian prime minister, is dead at 84

Mulroney was known as the Canadian leader who led the country into the North American Free Trade Agreement with the United States and Mexico.
Gregory May, U.S. consul general in Hong Kong, takes part in an interview in the city on Thursday.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Mar 2, 2024

Top U.S. envoy in Hong Kong warns of creeping internet curbs

In his first interview since taking up the post in 2022, U.S. Consul General Gregory May said that connectivity and data security issues are growing.
Remember, Vladimir Putin ridiculed the idea that he would invade Ukraine, right up until he ordered close to 200,000 troops over the border.
COMMENTARY / World
Mar 3, 2024

Would Putin stop if he wins in Ukraine? Let’s not find out.

Just because the Russian leader is a serial liar doesn’t prove he is being untruthful now.
Chinese Premier Li Qiang speaks during the 54th annual meeting of the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, in January.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Mar 4, 2024

China scraps premier's briefing, breaking years of convention

The decision removes a rare platform for investors to learn more about the nation’s policy direction under President Xi Jinping.
United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Turk said that he recognized China's advances in development and in alleviating poverty, but urged that such policies be accompanied by reforms "to align relevant laws and policies with international human rights standards."
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Mar 5, 2024

U.N. says China violating 'fundamental rights' in Xinjiang, Tibet

The U.N. human rights chief also asked Beijing to release rights defenders arrested under the "vague" offense of "picking quarrels and making trouble."
Three years ago, Sean Ono Lennon became intrigued by the possibility of expanding the message of “Happy Xmas (War Is Over),” the 1971 protest song by his parents, John Lennon and Yoko Ono, through a narrative film. The resulting work is the 11-minute film “War Is Over! Inspired by the Music of John & Yoko,” directed by Dave Mullins.
CULTURE
Mar 7, 2024

How Sean Ono Lennon helped his parents send a message

To keep their legacy relevant for a new generation, he worked on the short “War Is Over! Inspired by the Music of John & Yoko.” Now it’s up for an Oscar.
The Hong Kong flag and surveillance cameras outside the Central Government Offices in Hong Kong
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Mar 8, 2024

Hong Kong government issues draft of new national security law

It includes sentences of up to life imprisonment for treason, 20 years for espionage and 10 years for state secrets offenses.
An ukiyo-e print by Utagawa Kuniteru depicts the assault of Asano Naganori on Kira Yoshinaka, an incident that triggered the tragedy of the 47 Ronin and one that was re-created in the play “Chushingura.”
JAPAN / History / The Living Past
Mar 8, 2024

Revenge: A dish seldom served in Japanese history but still cold as ice

When Confucius was asked, "Should we kill those who are evil?" The response came, "What need is there for you to kill?"

Longform

Dangami House is a 180-year-old former samurai residence of the Kato clan, who ruled over Ozu, Ehime Prefecture, until the Meiji Restoration.
A house, a legacy and the quiet work of restoration in rural Japan