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Roger Goodell, commissioner of the National Football League, at a meeting in Atlanta on Tuesday.
MORE SPORTS / Football
Dec 14, 2023

NFL expands overseas games and books Brazil contest in 2024

NFL team owners voted Wednesday to stage a 2024 regular-season game in Brazil and approved an increase in the number of international contests from four to eight starting in 2025.
Dodgers owner Mark Walter puts a jersey on Shohei Ohtani during the superstar's introductory news conference on Thursday. The structure of Ohtani's contract could help the Dodgers get a full return on their investment in the two-way player.
BASEBALL / MLB
Dec 15, 2023

For the Dodgers, Ohtani's megadeal could end up being a bargain

The Dodgers have the makings of a juggernaut, and success on the field will allow the franchise to cash in on Ohtani’s transcendent marketability.
Visitors in the last gallery of “Yves Saint Laurent, Across the Style” at the National Art Center, Tokyo, view designs inspired by fine art.
CULTURE / Art / 2023 in Review
Dec 16, 2023

Eager crowds congested Tokyo’s biggest art museums in 2023

Art fans came with wallets ready for a lineup of blockbuster exhibitions, creating bottlenecks at photo-friendly masterpieces and gift shops.
Yemeni coast guard members on patrol in the Red Sea on Tuesday amid heightened tension over drone and missile assaults by Houthi militia.
WORLD
Dec 17, 2023

Tensions spilling over from Gaza to Red Sea escalate

The shipping industry is bracing for potential economic fallout as the vital sea lane is increasingly drawn into regional unrest.
ASEAN leaders and their spouses release paper lanterns into the air with students from ASEAN member states during a lighting ceremony for the ASEAN-Japan Commemorative Summit at Azabudai Hills in Tokyo on Sunday.
JAPAN / Politics / ANALYSIS
Dec 18, 2023

With China in mind, Japan expands security ties with ASEAN

At a leaders summit, the two sides agreed to deepen security ties in areas such as defense equipment and joint training and exercises.
Some analysts believe Japan's stock market will be fragile in the coming months due to such factors as weak consumer spending and political instability.
BUSINESS / Markets
Dec 20, 2023

Japanese stocks expected to face early hurdles in 2024

Analysts see the nation’s equities indexes struggling over the next few months due to factors such as a stronger yen and weak consumer spending.
Palestinians search for casualties at the site of an Israeli strike on a house in the southern Gaza Strip on Wednesday.
WORLD / Politics
Dec 21, 2023

Egypt aims to broker Gaza ceasefire amid Hamas and Israel demands

Chances for a second truce is slim with Hamas demanding a permanent end to Israeli offensive, which Israel has ruled out.
Shinjuku's Kabukicho is filled with colorful individuals that give the neighborhood its character.
LIFE / Travel / Longform
Dec 22, 2023

Christmastime in Shinjuku Golden Gai

One of Tokyo's most storied watering holes gets a little quiet during the holidays now that it relies quite a bit on tourists.
While harsh comments from older generations can sometimes be seen as rude, consider instead that they’re often trying to teach us something they hold on to.
LIFE / Lifestyle
Dec 26, 2023

A survival guide for your first Japanese-style at-home New Year’s

Meeting your partner’s Japanese family for the New Year’s holidays? Here are some do’s and don’ts for an ‘oshōgatsu’ success story.
JAPAN / Society
Dec 27, 2023

Takashimaya apologizes over damaged Christmas cakes

The pricey ¥5,400 cakes were meant to be delivered frozen, but many arrived melted, lopsided or crumbled.
SUMO / INSIDE SUMO
Dec 28, 2023

Who will grab the spotlight at sumo's first tourney of 2024?

Ozeki Kirishima has his sights set on the ultimate promotion, while debutant Onosato is looking to impress in his highly anticipated debut.
The Ground Self-Defense Force's Amphibious Rapid Deployment Brigade takes part in a marine landing drill on Tokunoshima island, Kagoshima Prefecture, on Nov. 19.
JAPAN / Politics
Dec 29, 2023

Kishida’s military build-up plans face bumpy road ahead

One year on, questions remain as to whether the embattled leader, whose support rate recently dipped to new lows, can follow through on his pledges.
Tsai Ing-wen
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Jan 1, 2024

Taiwan president urges China to maintain peace ahead of election

Tsai Ing Wen’s remarks come ahead of the presidential election on Jan. 13, that will also help shape the course of U.S.-China relations for years.
A consumer market in New Delhi on Dec. 12, 2023. Long-term investment in India by businesses is stagnant, and foreign money is falling, even as the government is driving growth with infrastructure spending.
BUSINESS / Economy
Jan 2, 2024

India is chasing China’s economy. Something is holding it back.

While money is flying into India’s stock markets, long-term investment from overseas has been declining.
Israeli soldiers take part in a drill at the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights, amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and the Palestinian Islamist group Hamas, on Thursday
WORLD / Politics
Jan 5, 2024

Israel to launch more targeted assault on Hamas

A targeted approach will be employed in the north while Hamas leaders are pursued in the south and efforts are made to the free remaining hostages.
Rescuers search for missing victims at a landslide site in the Kawashima district in the city of Anamizu, Ishikawa Prefecture, on Saturday after a major earthquake struck the Noto region on New Year's Day.
JAPAN
Jan 6, 2024

Ishikawa quake estimated to cost insurers $6.4 billion, report says

The government is considering designating the powerful earthquake as a disaster of extreme severity, raising subsidy rate for restoration projects.
Taiwanese flags at the Ministry of National Defense in Taipei in December 2022
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Jan 8, 2024

U.S. policy unlikely to shift after Taiwan poll, ex-de facto envoy says

Any differences in Washington's reaction would be "nuanced," and rather involve "adjustments in degree than in type,” said former AIT chief Douglas H. Paal.
A member of the Self-Defense Forces leads residents from Fukamimachi, a village isolated by the Jan. 1 earthquake, to safety in Wajima, Ishikawa Prefecture on Saturday.
JAPAN / Politics
Jan 11, 2024

Ishikawa earthquake response sees growing opposition scrutiny

Criticisms of the number of SDF personnel deployed to the area and level of financial support for evacuees have grown louder among opposition parties.
JAPAN / Society
Jan 12, 2024

Japan's 2024 cherry blossom season expected to arrive earlier than usual

Due to higher-than-usual temperatures in November and December, western and eastern Japan will most likely see cherry blossoms bloom early.
Snow falls on collapsed buildings in the city of Wajima, Ishikawa Prefecture, on Jan. 7, as the area began to look toward recovery from the massive earthquake that struck on Jan. 1.
JAPAN / Society / Longform
Jan 17, 2024

'Noto is kind, right down to its soil': A community's long road to recovery

Volunteers are coming together to help each other in the wake of disaster. However, eventually isolated rural villages will need rethinking.
Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen greets former U.S. national security adviser Stephen Hadley (center) and former U.S. Deputy Secretary of State James Steinberg during a visit to the Presidential Office in Taipei on Monday.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Jan 15, 2024

In Taipei visit, ex-U.S. official says commitment to Taiwan 'rock solid'

An unofficial U.S. delegation said Washington looks forward to continuity in the Taiwan-U.S. relationship under the new Taiwanese administration.
Farmers dry coffee beans at the Thiririka farming cooperative in Kiambu County, Kenya, in November 2022.
COMMENTARY / World
Jan 15, 2024

Is it time for a coffee cartel?

If farmers in the developing world are prevented from getting their fair share from coffee production they should take matters into their own hands.
A scarred war veteran (Kento Yamazaki, center) in early-20th century Hokkaido embarks on a quest to find buried Ainu treasure in “Golden Kamuy.”
CULTURE / Film
Jan 18, 2024

‘Golden Kamuy’: Big-budget adaptation glitters rather than dazzles

Shigeaki Kubo’s live-action version of Satoru Noda’s manga series has terrific visuals but doesn't quite stick the landing.
The final 10 contestants of the reality show “The Debut: Dream Academy” in November. The show aimed to select the members of a new global K-pop girl group.
COMMENTARY / World
Jan 17, 2024

K-pop without the ‘K’ just won’t pop

The BTS hiatus may have slowed K-pop down, but the answer isn't to take the Koreanness out of it. If not, all that's left is run-of-the-mill pop.
JAPAN / Politics
Jan 18, 2024

LDP political funds probe nears close with top lawmakers likely unscathed

Clerical staff of LDP factions will likely face indictment over underreporting of revenues in political funds reports, while party heavyweights will emerge largely unscathed.
Sudki Mansour is the 40-year-old owner of Bisan, one of Tokyo’s only Palestinian-style restaurants.
COMMUNITY / Our Lives
Jan 22, 2024

From restaurant roots, expat dreams up a Palestine in Yamanashi

Sudki Mansour is the owner of Bisan, one of Tokyo’s only Palestinian-style restaurants, and a Palestinian-influenced campsite in Yamanashi Prefecture.
A cut out of Lord Ram on a street ahead of the grand opening of the Ram temple in Ayodhya, India, on Friday.
ASIA PACIFIC
Jan 20, 2024

A Hindu temple embodies the rise of Modi and India's deep divisions

With national elections a few months away, the inauguration of a controversial temple is symbolic of a changing India and marks the capstone of Modi’s 10 years in power.
JAPAN / Politics
Jan 22, 2024

Kishida's LDP factions gamble fails to improve his popularity

A Yomiuri Shimbun poll conducted over the weekend found the Kishida Cabinet’s approval rating was 24%, the lowest since the LDP returned to power in 2012.
Toshiya Ikehata (center) helps prepare rice balls at a community kitchen in Wajima, Ishikawa Prefecture, on Jan. 7. Ikehata runs a fine-dining restaurant in the city, which was among the hardest-hit areas in the Noto Peninsula earthquake.
JAPAN
Jan 23, 2024

Shattered lives, unbroken spirits: Chefs step up to serve Noto communities

Fine-dining chefs rise to the challenge of feeding disaster victims in the hardest-hit areas of Ishikawa Prefecture.
Police officers hold a traffic safety lesson for e-scooter users in December 2022 in Tokyo's Meguro Ward.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Jan 24, 2024

E-scooter traffic violations rise fourfold in Japan

Reports of traffic violations totaled 1,879 in the month of December, a significant increase from the 405 cases reported in July of last year.

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