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Marina Tsukada got the idea for her anthology “Mitsuki, Sekai” from her acquaintance with the two young lead actors, whom she first met at a video workshop she conducted in Nagano Prefecture.
CULTURE / Film
Sep 20, 2024

Marina Tsukada lets local lives shape her work

The director’s latest, “Mitsuki, Sekai,” is part of an ongoing project that traces the lives of Nagano Prefecture-based children for a decade until they reach adulthood.
Red Bull's Max Verstappen speaks during a news conference in Singapore on Thursday.
MORE SPORTS / Auto Racing
Sep 20, 2024

Max Verstappen riled up by call for F1 drivers to swear less

Mercedes's seven-time world champion Lewis Hamilton took issue with the FIA's comparison to rappers, saying there was a "racial element" at play.
Anthony Joshua (left) and Daniel Dubois during a pre-bout news conference in London on Thursday.
MORE SPORTS / Boxing
Sep 20, 2024

Dubois and Joshua primed for Wembley heavyweight showdown

The British boxers left the hype to their promoters as they met in a low-key news conference ahead of Saturday's IBF world heavyweight title fight at Wembley Stadium.
Dodgers designated hitter Shohei Ohtani hits his 50th home run of the season on Thursday in Miami.
BASEBALL / MLB
Sep 20, 2024

Ohtani’s former manager elated — but not surprised — after historic mark

Even as Ohtani rewrites the record books, Hideki Kuriyama believes he can do more.
Scientists used a version of ChatGPT to challenge conspiracy theories and beliefs and found people more open to evidence than expected, contradicting the "post-truth" era idea.
COMMENTARY
Sep 20, 2024

AI can debunk conspiracy theories better than humans

Believers often invest huge amounts of time in researching their theories online. Maybe only LLMs can keep up.
Through trial and error, Tashi Gyamtso and his team meticulously selected a variety of herbs and vegetables best suited to Yufuin’s unique altitude, climate and soil conditions — and which now form the backbone of Jimgu's menu.
LIFE / Food & Drink / Destination Restaurants
Sep 22, 2024

Jimgu: A farm-driven restaurant of outstanding local variety

Three years before chef Tashi Gyamtso served his first meal at Jimgu, he arrived in Oita Prefecture to build the farm that stocks his kitchen today.
A woman passes an "akichi" (vacant lot) in Bunkyo Ward, Tokyo. The capital is littered with such small lots in part because of Japan's aging and shrinking population.
JAPAN / Society / Longform
Sep 21, 2024

Dealing with rising land vacancies as Japan shrinks

"Akichi," or vacant plots of land, are nothing new to the urban landscape. As the population decreases, however, the challenge is how to handle their steady increase.
Anthony Joshua gets knocked down by Daniel Dubois during their IBF heavyweight title bout on Saturday in London.
MORE SPORTS / Boxing
Sep 22, 2024

Dubois destroys Joshua to retain IBF world heavyweight crown

The 27-year-old dominated the bout from the start in front of 96,000 passionate fans, dropping the former two-time heavyweight champion multiple times.
Onosato (right) during his bout against Kotoshoho in Tokyo on Wednesday, which marked his 11th straight win to open the Autumn Basho.
SUMO / Basho reports
Sep 22, 2024

With Autumn Basho win, Onosato makes it clear that he is sumo's dominant force

Onosato was so dominant over the course of the Autumn Basho that it's hard to see who can stop him from adding even more silverware in the coming tournaments.
Former environment minister Shinjiro Koizumi, a candidate for ruling Liberal Democratic Party’s presidential election, speaks during a debate in Tokyo on Sept. 14.
JAPAN / Politics
Sep 23, 2024

Does Shinjiro Koizumi have what it takes to lead Japan?

The 43-year-old is determined to put his past missteps behind him, promising to be a leader who can steer the country through rough waters.
Prime Minister Keir Starmer during the opening day of the U.K. Labour Party annual conference in Liverpool on Sunday
WORLD / Politics
Sep 23, 2024

Starmer struggles to reclaim ‘change’ narrative after missteps

Labour is facing backlash for cutting winter energy aid for millions of pensioners in an effort to fix national finances amid donor scandals.
Injured Palestinian student Fares al-Farra, 19, salvages some of his academic documents from the rubble of his home, destroyed due to Israeli bombardment, in Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip on Sept. 16.
WORLD
Sep 23, 2024

Bereaved and destitute: Gazans a year after Oct. 7

A student, a paramedic and a former civil servant in the Gaza Strip share their stories on how the conflict has destroyed their lives.
McLaren driver Lando Norris celebrates after winning the Singapore Grand Prix on Sunday.
MORE SPORTS / Auto Racing
Sep 23, 2024

Lando Norris cuts into Max Verstappen's lead with dominant win in Singapore

It was the McLaren driver's third career win and his first from pole position as he finished almost 30 seconds clear of his rival's Red Bull.
Wang Tao jumps on his opponent during the Supercard From Shanghai event in Shanghai on Sept. 14. Wang, 23, ran away from home at the age of 17 to become a professional wrestler.
MORE SPORTS
Sep 24, 2024

No pain, no gain: Chinese pro wrestlers fight for mainstream glory

Despite a promising potential domestic market, China's pro wrestling community continues to struggle for recognition and financial stability.
Bangladeshi army chief Gen. Waker-uz-Zaman gestures during an interview at his office in Dhaka on Monday. Zaman has outlined a pathway to rid the military of political influence.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Sep 24, 2024

Bangladesh army chief vows support for interim government 'come what may'

Gen. Waker-uz-Zaman pledges to work toward the holding of elections within the next 18 months following the ouster of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina.
Catherine O’Connell has achieved a number of notable firsts in Japan.
BUSINESS / Companies
Sep 24, 2024

Pioneering foreign female attorney stresses pragmatism within Japan Inc.

Catherine O’Connell was the first foreign woman to establish a law practice in Tokyo and to sit on the audit and supervisory boards at Toyota Motor and Fujitsu.
Japan's flag flies at half mast at the Japanese Embassy in Beijing on Thursday after a Japanese schoolboy was stabbed to death in the southern city of Shenzhen.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Sep 24, 2024

The death of a Japanese school student: Is this just a tip of an iceberg?

Despite the fact that an innocent 10-year-old boy was brutally murdered, the reaction of the Japanese government and media was predictably restrained.
Debris and destruction at the site of an overnight Israeli strike on a neighborhood in the Lebanese city of Baalbeck in the Bekaa valley on Tuesday.
WORLD / Politics
Sep 24, 2024

Is all-out war inevitable? The view from Israel and Lebanon

Officials and analysts told reporters what the opposing sides hope to achieve by ramping up their attacks and whether there is any way out.
Brett Favre before a game between the Southern Miss Golden Eagles and the Louisiana Monroe Warhawks in Hattiesburg, Mississippi in 2018.
MORE SPORTS / Football
Sep 25, 2024

Brett Favre reveals he has Parkinson’s disease

The revelation was a startling admission from a high-profile football player whose more than two-decade career included induction into the Hall of Fame.
Red Bull team principal Christian Horner ahead of a practice session for the Singapore Grand Prix
MORE SPORTS / Auto Racing
Sep 25, 2024

Red Bull building back from Monza low point, Horner says

While McLaren believes the drivers' championship is on, the mathematical reality is that Norris still has a mountain to climb.
A woman walks in front of the Kremlin's Spasskaya tower (left) and St. Basil's cathedral in downtown Moscow on Monday.
WORLD / Society
Sep 25, 2024

Russia takes aim at those without children — while sending young men to war

Proposals to ban "the ideology of childlessness" resemble legislation passed more than a decade ago that banned "propaganda" about LGBTQ relationships.
Corey Conners lines up a putt during the BMW Championship in Castle Rock, Colorado, last month.
MORE SPORTS / Golf
Sep 25, 2024

Corey Conners amped for 'amazing' Presidents Cup atmosphere in Canada

The game of golf has been booming in Canada, with five golfers having won on the PGA Tour in the past two years.
A farmer harvests rice in a paddy field in Tamba-Sasayama, Hyogo Prefecture, last month.
LIFE / Language / BILINGUAL
Sep 25, 2024

In need of rice and some Japanese words that describe necessity

When does something go from being a "want" to a "need"? A few grammar structures can give the listener a sense of how urgent a situation is becoming.
Set in a village in the Swiss Alps, Vincenzo Bellini’s opera “La Sonnambula” centers on an orphan named Amina who is unknowingly frightening the locals with her nightly sleepwalking, and they believe there is a ghost among them.
CULTURE / Stage
Sep 26, 2024

'La Sonnambula' offers a modern take on a dubious happy ending

Director Barbara Lluch scrutinizes gender expectations and patriarchal societies that thrive on polarizing views in her production of Vincenzo Bellini’s opera.
Masaki Uotani, a volunteer from the city of Takaoka in neighboring Toyama Prefecture, helps to sort out debris from damaged temporary housing in the city of Wajima, Ishikawa Prefecture, on Wednesday.
JAPAN / Society
Sep 26, 2024

Volunteers step in as lifeline for Noto flood survivors

Some had previously volunteered during the Noto Peninsula earthquake on New Year’s Day and formed close ties with survivors.
Yonaguni Mayor Kenichi Itokazu speaks to a Ground Self-Defense Force soldier at the town hall on Yonaguni, Japan's westernmost inhabited island in Okinawa Prefecture last  November.
JAPAN / Politics
Sep 26, 2024

Deterring Taiwan conflict is top priority for Japan's ‘front-line’ mayor

The mayor believes the U.S. and Japan must do away with "strategic ambiguity" over Taiwan if they intend to keep China in check.
Travis Kelce has eight catches in the Chiefs' first three games this season.
SPORTS / Football
Sep 26, 2024

Chiefs star Travis Kelce more worried about wins than catches

Kelce has just eight catches for 69 yards in three games this season.
Fever guard Caitlin Clark tries to dribble past the Sun's Veronica Burton during Game 2 of their playoff series in Uncasville, Connecticut, on Sunday.
BASKETBALL
Sep 26, 2024

Fever star Caitlin Clark confident best yet to come following playoff exit

The 22-year-old broke the single-season assists record (337), smashed the rookie scoring record with 769 points.
Eric Adams, mayor of New York, exits a weekly news conference at City Hall in New York in 2023.
WORLD / Crime & Legal
Sep 27, 2024

NYC mayor was corrupt for years, U.S. claims in scathing case

The indictment calls into question the political future of New York City Mayor Eric Adams, who is in charge of running the biggest U.S. city.
Cucina Salve's wild herb salad is a example of chef Hiroshi Tsubouchi's commitment to creating dishes with as little artificial additives as possible.
LIFE / Food & Drink
Sep 29, 2024

Neither allergies nor ADHD could stop chef Hiroshi Tsubouchi

A childhood of hardships led this Chichibu-based chef to embrace an organic philosophy for all his dishes.

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