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Thai eatery Orangutan takes over Lou cafe in the evening, replacing casual coffee and cakes with the fiery dishes of Isan cuisine.
LIFE / Food & Drink
Jun 29, 2025

Come nightfall in Nakano, Thai eatery Orangutan opens its arms

Named after an ape, the restaurant, which takes over a cafe space in the evening, brings authentic, fiery Isan flavors to Tokyo.
Masaru Sato says the ossuary at Matsuoka Hoyoen must be preserved even after residents are gone from the sanatorium.
JAPAN / Regional Voices: Tohoku
Jul 7, 2025

Former Hansen’s disease patients shed light on history of discrimination

Although the prejudice against Hansen's disease patients brought on by past segregation policy persist, the memories of their hardships are now fading.
Jerome Powell, Chairman of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, in Washington on June 24. The question of how to handle the fallout from White House decisions may loom large as Powell is set to speak on a panel with peers from the euro zone, Japan, South Korea and the U.K.
BUSINESS / Markets
Jun 30, 2025

Powell and Lagarde count cost of Trump’s turbulence

At the halfway point of 2025, global policy is almost paralyzed by the need to navigate risks posed both to inflation and growth in the wake of Trump’s actions.
The International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons hopes the online memorial will "spur action for the total abolition of nuclear weapons."
JAPAN
Jul 1, 2025

Anti-nuclear group creates online memorial for children who died in atomic bombings

The online memorial features more than 400 profiles with details of the children's lives.
The remains of an Iranian missile launched during the 12-day Israel-Iran war lie on a road near Tekoa in the occupied West Bank on Sunday.
COMMENTARY / World
Jul 2, 2025

Nuclear proliferation cannot just be bombed away

The most powerful deterrent for any state is possession of nuclear weapons or membership in an alliance that offers a nuclear umbrella (like NATO).
Ex-serviceman Izumi Murakami speaks of his experience during World War II, when he was still a child, in an interview in Kasuga, Fukuoka Prefecture, in May.
JAPAN / History / Regional Voices: Kyushu
Jul 14, 2025

Man inspired as a boy by WWII-era commando questions Japan's past actions

Izumi Murakami, now 92, joined the Air Self-Defense Force, but he concedes now that "there is nothing good that comes out of war."
Tadej Pogacar celebrates after winning the men’s road race at the world championships in Zurich on Sept. 29, 2024.
MORE SPORTS / Cycling
Jul 3, 2025

Tadej Pogacar looking to join greats with fourth Tour de France crown

The 112th edition of the race begins in Lille on Saturday.
A worker installs part of a business-class aircraft seat at the factory of Safran Seats GB in Cwmbran, South Wales, Britain, on Feb. 20.
BUSINESS / FOCUS
Jul 3, 2025

Airline seat industry crisis delaying jet deliveries

Certification bottlenecks and growing demand for bespoke features make it hard for the fragmented sector to achieve economies of scale after the pandemic.
Karuizawa Distillers, which runs Komoro Distillery in Nagano Prefecture, has teamed up with the city of Furano and real estate developer Seibu Group to open a whisky distillery in Furano.
LIFE / Food & Drink
Jul 4, 2025

Beyond the lavender fields in Furano, a whisky distillery emerges

The region has teamed up with Karuizawa Distillers and property developer Seibu Group to build a state-of-the-art facility to make single malts.
Shuhei Nakata, president of Nakata Kogei — a wooden-hanger maker in Toyooka, Hyogo Prefecture — says a revised work evaluation system and a strict policy against workplace harassment has helped to attract women to the company.
JAPAN / Regional Voices: Fukushima
Jul 14, 2025

Fukushima looks to local initiatives to combat population decline

The measures will bring the area in line with other parts of Japan that are proactively trying to retain residents.
The exhibition of Fujimoto’s architecture surveys his career to date, as well as looks ahead as shown in his proposal of a future floating city designed in collaboration with data scientist Hiroaki Miyata.
CULTURE / Art
Jul 4, 2025

The future is bright inside the visionary mind of architect Sou Fujimoto

From a model of the Grand Ring you can walk through to a futuristic city design, the architect’s exhibition at Mori Art Museum is an invitation to engage with architecture.
Author Minae Mizumura strolls through the garden of her cottage in Oiwake, Karuizawa, in a photograph taken by her friend and collaborator Toyota Horiguchi.
CULTURE / Books / Perspectives
Jul 8, 2025

Between reality and fiction: A summer’s day in Karuizawa with Minae Mizumura

The author speaks on the Nagano Prefecture town's unique positioning between Japan and the West, literary tradition and artificial intelligence.
The Transportation Security Administration’s reversal on removing shoes ends a policy that has been for nearly two decades one of the most visible — and criticized — features of the post-9/11 heightened U.S. airport security system.
WORLD
Jul 9, 2025

U.S. travelers can keep shoes on at airport security, TSA says

The reversal ends a policy that has been for nearly two decades one of the most visible features of the post-9/11 heightened U.S. airport security system.
“Giselle” lead Yuriko Kajiya (center), performing with Connor Walsh as Albrecht, is one of six Japanese dancers at Houston Ballet.
CULTURE / Stage
Jul 9, 2025

Japanese dancers find a home abroad at Houston Ballet

Returning to Japan for the American ballet company's first international tour since 2022, several dancers speak about why they moved overseas.
The Punjab Kings' Josh Inglis competes in the final of the Indian Premier League on June 3 in Ahmedabad.
MORE SPORTS / Cricket
Jul 10, 2025

Cricket's Indian Premier League value surges to $18.5 billion: report

The world's richest cricket tournament has been estimated to generate more than $11 billion a year for the Indian economy.
A Beijing store selling merchandise based on the "boys’ love" genre of graphic novels on June 16
ASIA PACIFIC / Crime & Legal
Jul 10, 2025

China detains female writers of 'boys' love' content in porn crackdown

The detentions since March have triggered debate on social media about the limits of free speech and the apparent sexist nature of the crackdown.
Shoya Narita, a physical education teacher at Obu Minami Junior High School, gives a lecture about water safety in a classroom.
JAPAN / Regional voices: Chubu
Jul 22, 2025

Swimming lessons disappearing from Japan's public junior high schools

Aging pool facilities are prompting teachers to switch to giving classroom lectures on water safety.
A high school senior (Taisuke Niihara, center), his girlfriend (Yuki Araho, left) and their alcoholic teacher (Yuka Kouri, right) find themselves in a lopsided love triangle in Toshiya Kominami’s “Young & Fine.”
CULTURE / Film
Jul 11, 2025

‘Young & Fine’: Teenage horndog tale balances heart and hormones

The oddball sensibility of Toshiya Kominami’s coming-of-age film, paired with Yuka Kouri’s winning performance, elevates a questionable setup into something surprisingly human.
Hideo Kojima, the leading auteur in Japanese video games, has skirted controversy in the wake of the release of Death Stranding 2: On the Beach
LIFE / Digital / ON: GAMES
Jul 12, 2025

Is Japanese skin really ‘too smooth’ for Hideo Kojima’s games?

When it comes to Hideo Kojima’s visuals, art imitates life — and it’s more often Hollywood’s version of life than Japan’s that influences his games.
Apple’s Craig Federighi shows off 
a set of emoji at 
a conference on June 13, 2016. While the small pictures have proved helpful in conveying nuance in our texts, younger people are using them less often.
LIFE / Language / BILINGUAL
Jul 11, 2025

An emoji used to say it all. Now it might say too much.

With World Emoji Day approaching, it's a good opportunity to recognize how important these digital pictures have become.
Jane Birkin’s original Hermes Birkin bag displayed at Sotheby’s in Paris, on July 3
BUSINESS / Companies
Jul 11, 2025

Hermes’ original Birkin bag sells for $10 million at auction to a Japanese buyer

The price shattered the previous record for a handbag at auction, a rare Himalaya Kelly bag in crocodile with a diamond that sold for about $510,000.
Nissan Motor has raised $4.5 billion through a junk bond sale in U.S. dollars and euros, part of which carries a record-high coupon rate.
BUSINESS / Companies
Jul 11, 2025

Nissan clinches $4.5 billion bond deal after orders soar

The automaker is offering a record-high coupon on at least one part of its dollar- and euro-denominated junk bond sale to drum up demand.
The museum's curators selected a wide array of works from the archives for the milestone exhibitions. Among other photos, Nobuyoshi Araki's work from the series "Winter Journey" (1990) was included in the "Continuity and Change" exhibition that concluded in June.
CULTURE / Art
Jul 11, 2025

Rare vintage shots and first-time shows at TOP’s 30th anniversary

The 2025 schedule includes two exhibitions showcasing the museum’s permanent collection and three solo shows that focus on the work of Takano Ryudai, Luigi Ghirri and Pedro Costa.
Hong Kong-based crypto entrepreneur Justin Sun, World Liberty Financial co-founder Zach Witkoff and Executive Vice President of the Trump Organization Eric Trump attend the TOKEN2049 conference in Dubai on May 1.
BUSINESS / Tech
Jul 14, 2025

Trump's $100 million crypto mystery man

A venture calling itself Aqua 1 Foundation announced last month it had bought $100 million worth of U.S. President Donald Trump’s World Liberty crypto tokens.
Trading volumes in dollar-yen call options, which gain in value if the yen depreciates against the dollar, more than doubled those of put options on July 11.
BUSINESS / Markets
Jul 14, 2025

Yen traders revamp option bets ahead of Japan election

Expectations that the election outcome may pave the way for additional fiscal stimulus have already started to drive long-term Japanese yields higher.
The Los Angeles Games will mark the first-ever appearance of flag football at the Olympics.
OLYMPICS
Jul 15, 2025

Flag football to make prime-time Olympic debut in Los Angeles

"Flag football will definitely be a hot ticket at the Games," International Federation of American Football President Pierre Trochet has said.
Wild goats photographed by a camera trap in November 2024 in the Takae district of the village of Higashi, Okinawa Prefecture
JAPAN / Regional Voices: Okinawa
Jul 28, 2025

Why authorities in Okinawa are trying to capture feral goats

The goats are causing damage to crops and there are concerns that they could negatively impact the forest ecosystems harboring rare animals and plants.
A high school student uses social media applications in November 2024.
WORLD / Society
Jul 15, 2025

EU states to test age-check app to limit children's access to online services

The European Commission has unveiled a prototype of the app that Denmark, France, Greece, Italy and Spain will customize and launch within several months.
Hiroe Kawashimo enjoys regular walks in the city of Hiroshima.
JAPAN / Regional Voices: Hiroshima
Jul 28, 2025

Woman with disabilities from atomic bombing recalls mother's dedication

The daughter of a woman exposed to radiation from the Hiroshima atomic bombing has been frail since childhood and constantly in and out of hospitals.
Only two months into his role as agriculture minister, Shinjiro Koizumi has become the face of a risky political bet by Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba.
JAPAN / Politics / FOCUS
Jul 16, 2025

Japan’s ‘rice minister’ is ruling party’s biggest election gamble

Shinjiro Koizumi’s reformist drive is testing the loyalty of Japan's rural population — the LDP’s most dependable voter bloc.

Longform

Figure skater Akiko Suzuki was once told her ideal weight should be 47 kilograms, a number she now admits she “naively believed.” This led to her have a relationship with food that resulted in her suffering from anorexia.
The silent battle Japanese athletes fight with weight