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Discomfort and life lessons ensue after a 60-something-year-old man (Shofukutei Tsurube, center) marries a much younger woman (Ayami Nakajo, left) while living with his 39-year-old daughter (Noriko Eguchi) in “Amalock.”
CULTURE / Film
Apr 11, 2024

‘Amalock’: Family comedy plays questionable age gap for laughs

Noriko Eguchi delivers a relatable performance as a woman who is disconcerted by her father’s marriage in Kazuhiro Nakamura’s film.
Summer averages in eastern Hokkaido float in the high teens and low 20s, not necessitating widespread air conditioning usage in homes and businesses.
LIFE / Travel
Apr 12, 2024

Fear the impending heat? Escape to Kushiro, the land of no summer.

A once mighty fishing port, Kushiro now aims to capture the hearts of tourists seeking escape from sweltering urban jungles for a misty paradise.
The creator of "hanetsuki gyōza" is Isao Yagi, and his restaurant, Nihao, can be found right on the border of Tokyo and Kawasaki in Ota Ward.
LIFE / Food & Drink
Apr 14, 2024

How ‘winged’ gyōza took flight from a Tokyo suburb

I mistakenly thought these crispy delights had been around for as long as “gyōza” themselves, but their creator is alive and cooking today.
OpenAI Japan’s president Tadao Nagasaki speaks at a news conference about the opening of its first Asia office in Tokyo on Monday.
BUSINESS / Companies
Apr 16, 2024

OpenAI taps ex-Amazon executive to head enterprise push in Japan

The artificial intelligence darling is opening an office in Tokyo as it releases a custom GPT-4 model catering to Japanese language users.
An aircraft from the Thai Department of Royal Rainmaking deposits a sodium chloride-based material in an effort to produce rain.
ENVIRONMENT / Earth science
Apr 18, 2024

How cloud seeding boosts rainfall — and why that’s controversial

Developed in the 1940s, cloud seeding can boost rain and snowfall, but the World Meteorological Organization warns we don't know enough about it yet.
If all you drink is Asahi, Sapporo and Kirin, you're depriving yourself of some of the best craft beer Tokyo has to offer — and there sure is a lot of it out there.
LIFE / Food & Drink / Top 5
Apr 21, 2024

A craft beer crawl through Tokyo’s top bars, brewpubs and dives

From microbreweries to tiny pubs stocking umpteen bottled choices, Tokyo is now more than ever a beer lover’s dream.
Solomon Islands Prime Minister Manasseh Sogavare speaks during a visit to Beijing last July.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Apr 22, 2024

Pro-China Solomon Islands PM fails to secure outright majority

Manasseh Sogavare's Our Party has won 12 seats with six contests still in play — well short of a majority in the 50-seat parliament.
The town government of Fujikawaguchiko, Yamanashi Prefecture, decided to set up a 2.5-meter-high screen to prevent tourists from taking pictures of Mount Fuji looming behind a convenience store.
JAPAN / Society
Apr 26, 2024

Town to block view of Mount Fuji in response to overtourism

An official said some visitors leave litter behind and ignore traffic regulations.
An Amazon Web Services (AWS) logo is pictured during a trade fair in Hanover, Germany, on April 22.
BUSINESS / Companies
May 1, 2024

Amazon triples quarterly profit as cloud surges

The Seattle-based company reported $10.4 billion in profit on revenue of $143.3 billion
Birdhead members Ji Weiyu (left) and Song Tao, who are exhibiting “The Matrix” facing the “chikuin no ma” garden at Kondaya Genbei as part of Kyotographie 2024.
CULTURE / Art
May 3, 2024

Shanghai duo Birdhead flips photography

Artists Ji Weiyu and Song Tao play with randomness and control in their Kyotographie exhibition, "Welcome to Birdhead World Again, Kyoto 2024."
Much like other hot spots across Okinawa, Onna has diligently strived to captivate both domestic and international tourists, while at the same time grappling with the environmental strain induced by the influx of visitors.
ENVIRONMENT / Sustainability / OUR PLANET
May 5, 2024

As visitors surge, Japan seeks ways to make tourism eco-friendly

A record tourism boom has raised concerns over the enormous stress visitors put on the environment.
On May 2, the streets of Arashiyama, a well-known tourist destination in Kyoto, were filled with tourists, including many from abroad, ahead of the four-day weekend.
JAPAN / Society
May 6, 2024

Excitement returns to tourist spots in Japan one year on

Medical institutions have remained on alert for a possible spread of infections, including during the Golden Week holiday period.
Mikuni Minato is not a town that has recently fallen on hard times — it's been that way for a century.
LIFE / Travel
May 7, 2024

48 hours in Mikuni Minato, Japan’s port town that time forgot

A trip to Mikuni Minato may not appeal to the average tourist, but well-traveled residents will find it fascinating.
The Kioke Summit on Shodoshima has seen a steady rise in participants from dozens in its early days 12 years ago and about 100 in 2019 to more than 600 this past February.
LIFE / Food & Drink
May 8, 2024

On Japan’s island of olives, age-old shoyu secrets survive

Each Kioke Summit features many activities including a "kioke" auction — shoyu fermentation barrels that fetch anywhere from ¥60,000 to ¥450,000.
Lawrence Wong will become Singapore's fourth prime minister on Wednesday. He will be tasked with steering the city-state into new territory as its economy slows down and its population ages rapidly.
COMMENTARY / World
May 13, 2024

New Singaporean PM faces some economic headwinds

Lawrence Wong will be sworn in as the city-state's fourth prime minister on Wednesday. Despite Singapore's strong economy, new challenges lie ahead.
Michael Cohen, former lawyer for Republican presidential candidate and former U.S. President Donald Trump departs his home in Manhattan to testify in Trump's criminal trial over charges that he falsified business records to conceal money paid to silence porn star Stormy Daniels in 2016, in New York on Monday.
WORLD / Crime & Legal
May 14, 2024

Michael Cohen testimony ties Trump to hush money payment

Cohen's account of Trump directing the falsification of financial records is potentially the most damaging testimony against the former president so far.
Patty Ortega, widow of slain Philippine environmental activist and radio host Gerry Ortega, points to old photographs of her late husband at their home in Puerto Princesa in Palawan.
ASIA PACIFIC / Crime & Legal
May 15, 2024

A 13-year fight for justice in Philippine activist's murder

Environmental activist and radio host Gerry Ortega was shot in a clothes shop along a busy road in the Palawan capital of Puerto Princesa in 2011.
Art OnO, which took place from April 19 to 21 in Seoul, featured a modest number of 36 participating galleries from 15 countries.
CULTURE / Art
May 17, 2024

Seoul's eclectic Art OnO shines light on Japan's artists and galleries

Japanese contributions accounted for almost a third of the non-Seoul based booths at the art fair's inaugural event, which featured artists such as Yoshitomo Nara and Hisao Domoto.
Japan's first 7-Eleven convenience store (above) in Tokyo's Toyosu district on May 15, 1974, and the same store on Wednesday
BUSINESS / Companies
May 17, 2024

7-Eleven convenience store chain marks 50 years in Japan

Today, of the about 57,000 convenience stores in the country overall, more than 21,000 are from the 7-Eleven chain.
People take selfies at a pop-up shop for the Japanese volleyball manga series "Haikyu!!" in Tokyo on April 19. Men's volleyball is flying high in Japan with the national team ranked fourth globally ahead of the Paris Olympics.
CULTURE / Books
May 22, 2024

'Haikyu!!': Comic heroes fuel Olympic volleyball manga mania in Japan

"Haikyu!!" has sold 60 million copies since its 2012 inception, and has been turned into an anime series and a film.
Despite the proximity of Pingtan island to Taiwan, many there were unaware of Lai's inauguration on Monday — or even sure who the man Beijing has described as a "dangerous separatist" was.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
May 21, 2024

Taiwan inauguration barely makes ripples across strait in China

Many were unaware about the events taking place in Taipei, and some didn't even know who Lai Ching-te, the island's new president, was.
A worker installs a mesh barrier to block the view of Mount Fuji emerging from behind a convenience store in Fujikawaguchiko, Yamanashi Prefecture, on Tuesday. The measure follows complaints of bad behaviors by tourists seeking the perfect photo at the location.
JAPAN / Society
May 21, 2024

Weary of overtourism, Japan town blocks one popular view of Mount Fuji

The large mesh barrier was put up at the popular photo-taking spot in Fujikawaguchiko, Yamanashi Prefecture, in response to misbehaving tourists.
Japan's new whaling mothership, the Kangei Maru, is seen during the ship's launch ceremony at a port in Shimonoseki, Yamaguchi Prefecture, on Tuesday.
JAPAN
May 22, 2024

Japan's new 9,300-ton whaling vessel sets sail on first hunt

The departure of the Kangei Maru heralds a new era for an industry defended by the government as an integral part of Japanese culture.
A boy walks past a mural painted outside the house where former South African President Nelson Mandela once lived in, in Johannesburg's Alexandra township, on June 9, 2013.
WORLD / Society
May 27, 2024

Mandela's vision for South Africa fades as nation closes door to migrants

Immigration has become a hot issue in the run-up to the country's May 29 national vote, the first in which most people have no memory of decades of apartheid.
Why does it feel like we’re in a ceaseless cycle of seasonal prep?
COMMUNITY / Voices / FOREIGN AGENDA
May 31, 2024

Help! I'm stuck in Japan's endless cycle of seasonal prep

Rainy season is here, and so are all the preparations for your home and clothes. Why does living in Japan feel like an endless cycle of gearing up for the weather?
Many buildings in the shopping district of Anamizu, Ishikawa Prefecture, remain damaged five months after the area was hit by a powerful earthquake on Jan. 1.
JAPAN / Society
Jun 2, 2024

Over 100 businesses closed in municipalities hit by Noto quake

Many business owners are shutting down because reconstruction is slow, people are leaving the area and they have no one to take over in the future.
Tottori Gov. Shinji Hirai (left) with Shinsuke Nakajima, executive chef at the Hotel New Otani Tokyo
ESG CONSORTIUM
Jun 5, 2024

Tottori wagyu and wine paired at New Otani Tokyo fair

The Tottori Wagyu Fair is taking place at six restaurants in the Hotel New Otani Tokyo until July 15. The event has been hosted by the hotel every year since 2018, and this year is offering a new way of enjoying the premium wagyu together with wine from Tottori Prefecture.
Ryu Kawane works at the Costco store in Meiwa, Gunma Prefecture. Costco's high pay has triggered wage hikes at other businesses in town.
BUSINESS / Companies
Jun 6, 2024

Costco's Japan wages provide pathway to firing up nation's low pay and economy

A sustainable rise in wages is a key goal for Prime Minister Fumio Kishida and the Bank of Japan says it's a crucial factor for normalizing monetary policy.
Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang
BUSINESS / Tech
Jun 7, 2024

At Computex, Nvidia billionaire Jensen Huang showcases Taiwan's tech dominance

With this year’s raucous Computex — the world’s biggest computing conference — Taiwan sent a message: If you want AI, you need Taiwan.
A U.K. biannual customer satisfaction index based on a survey of 15,000 consumers fell to its lowest since 2015 in January and has declined for three straight periods.
COMMENTARY / World
Jun 9, 2024

Bad service is in the U.K.’s cultural DNA

While the U.K. could treat its customers better, not doing so is a choice. Why? There's a strain of British society that doesn’t accept the idea of service.

Longform

In 2020, 38% of all households were single-person. That figure is projected to rise to 44.3% by 2050.
The rise of AI companionship in a lonely Japan