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Japan’s custody system may soon change with the introduction of joint custody, though issues like a lack of protection against domestic violence and abuse must also be tackled.
COMMENTARY / Japan
May 10, 2024

Joint custody alone won’t fix Japan’s flawed system

Japan could be on the verge of adopting joint custody. While to some this is a step in the right direction, it may not be enough to protect families.
Yahya Sinwar, the leader of Hamas in Gaza, during a rally in Gaza City on April 14, 2023
WORLD / Politics
May 14, 2024

Secret Hamas files show how it spied on everyday Palestinians

A 62-slide presentation on the activities of the General Security Service reveals the degree to which Hamas penetrated the lives of Palestinians.
Police have arrested a 25-year-old man for allegedly creating malware using free generative AI tools.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
May 28, 2024

Kawasaki man arrested over malware made using generative AI

The suspect is thought to have failed to obtain a program needed to put the malware into practical use, so the police believe that it did not cause any damage.
Aphelele Vavi (right), 22, who is studying sound engineering, at lunch with fellow students at SAE Creative Media Institute in Rosebank, South Africa, on March 19
WORLD / Politics
May 29, 2024

South Africa’s young democracy leaves its young voters disillusioned

The nation is heading into a pivotal election, in which voters will determine who will pick the president, but voter turnout has been dropping in recent years.
Apple will enable individuals to add their My Number card to their Apple Wallets, the company has said.
JAPAN / Society
May 30, 2024

My Number card feature to be launched on iPhone next spring

Apple will enable individuals to add their My Number card to their Apple Wallets, allowing them to have their identity verified without using their physical card.
Pop project Kirinji was featured on the second episode of Tiny Desk Concerts Japan, an offshoot of NPR’s long-running web series that features artists performing stripped-down sets inside the cozy offices of the organization’s music department.
CULTURE / Music / Sound Off
Jun 1, 2024

The best-case scenario for Tiny Desk Concerts Japan

NHK's new project, an offshoot of NPR's web series that shows artists performing stripped-down sets, could become a place for the full spectrum of Japanese music to shine.
The stone pillar at Yasukuni Shrine in Tokyo that had "toilet" spray painted on it, on Monday after it was cleaned
JAPAN / Society
Jun 3, 2024

Police launch investigation over Yasukuni Shrine vandalism

In a video shared online, a man went to the shrine and urinated on a stone pillar before writing the word “toilet” in red spray paint.
Visitors take pictures in a booth showing photographs before a rally to commemorate the 35th anniversary of Beijing's Tiananmen Square crackdowns, at the Library Square in Taipei on Tuesday.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Jun 4, 2024

35 years on, Tiananmen memory eroded by Chinese censorship and Sino-U.S. rivalry

While commemorations of the crackdown are effectively banned in mainland China and in Hong Kong, events were being held in Taiwan and other locations.
Yayoi Kusama’s “Pumpkin,” once the victim of high waves that dragged it into the sea, sits at the end of a pier on the south side of Naoshima.
PODCAST / deep dive
Jun 6, 2024

The sweaty pleasure of Japan’s inconvenient art

This week, writer Thu-Huong Ha is our tour guide into the world of Japan’s inconvenient art movement.
People wade through a flooded road in Balagtas, Bulacan province, Philippines, on July 29, 2023.
ENVIRONMENT / Climate change
Jun 12, 2024

Hell or high water: Filipino schools lashed by climate extremes

The state weather bureau has said the country is likely to experience more tropical cyclones in 2024 due to the potential return of the La Nina weather phenomenon.
Isamitsu Knives makes their blades in large batches to optimize the use of both the resources at its disposal and its small team of three smiths.
LIFE / Food & Drink
Jun 16, 2024

‘A good knife is not only about the steel’

Founded in 2022, the knife-making process at Isamitsu Knives differs from industrial manufacturers in small but significant ways.
People stand outside the Guangzhou Intermediate People's Court, where #MeToo activist Huang Xueqin and labor activist Wang Jianbing were sentenced, in Guangzhou, Guangdong province, China, on Friday.
ASIA PACIFIC / Crime & Legal
Jun 14, 2024

Chinese #MeToo activist sentenced to five years in prison, supporters say

Sophia Huang Xueqin wrote on social media about her experience of workplace sexual harassment as a young journalist.
Yamato Transport drivers push carts loaded with parcels for distribution in Sapporo.
BUSINESS / Companies
Jun 14, 2024

Japan logistics firms work to reduce parcel redeliveries

The government aims to lower the rate of parcel redeliveries from 10% in fiscal 2022 to 6% in fiscal 2024.
A health worker puts on an adhesive bandage after inoculating a man with a booster shot of the Sinovac COVID-19 vaccine in Manila in January 2022.
WORLD
Jun 14, 2024

U.S. ran secret anti-vaccine campaign to undermine China during pandemic

The clandestine operation aimed to sow doubt about the safety and efficacy of vaccines and other life-saving aid that was being supplied by China.
Tokyo Electric Power Company Holdings' Kashiwazaki-Kariwa nuclear power station in Kashiwazaki, Niigata Prefecture, in November 2022. The plant was shuttered in the wake of the 2011 Fukushima disaster, and has sat idle since.
JAPAN
Jun 23, 2024

World’s largest nuclear plant sits idle while energy needs soar

The Kashiwazaki-Kariwa plant has the potential capacity to power more than 13 million households.
A view of the Unit 4 reactor of Tianwan Nuclear Power Plant in Lianyungang, Jiangsu province, China, in 2018
BUSINESS
Jun 17, 2024

U.S. as many as 15 years behind China on nuclear power, report says

Beijing's state-backed technology approach and extensive financing give it the edge over its rival, the study by the Information Technology & Innovation Foundation said.
While the government aims to supply all public elementary school pupils with an electronic device for learning in school, communication between parents and teachers is still largely paper-based.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Jun 17, 2024

Parents need digital tools to cope with 'first-grade barrier'

More flexibility and efficiency would lighten the load put on the families of public elementary school children, where paper-based communication is still too prevalent.
While MyDearest's games are understably digital, employees also joke that sometimes they known coworkers only by their avatars used during meetings.
LIFE / Digital / ON: GAMES
Jun 21, 2024

Action drives VR, but Japan prizes anonymity and plot

A far cry from origins as a tech novelty, Japan's virtual reality industry is currently valued at $3.9 billion (about ¥615 billion).
A group of Chinese tourists walks through the Ginza district in Tokyo.
ASIA PACIFIC / Society
Jun 22, 2024

Japan and Thailand top list of travel destinations for Chinese tourists

The return of Chinese tourists is being closely watched, as their numbers and spending are crucial for the tourism industry’s recovery.
Digital crime in Sweden has doubled since 2021 and become a growing risk for the Nordic economy.
BUSINESS / Tech
Jun 22, 2024

Ditching paper money makes Sweden a haven for digital criminals

Digital crime in Sweden has doubled since 2021 and become a growing risk for the Nordic economy.
Renho, who is running for Tokyo governor, delivers a campaign speech in the capital's Setagaya Ward on Saturday.
JAPAN / Politics
Jun 24, 2024

Koike and Renho adopt contrasting approaches to Tokyo election

Incumbent Yuriko Koike has visited villages and towns in the capital, while challenger Renho has focused on giving speeches in central Tokyo.
R-Shitei (left) and DJ Matsunaga have scored the biggest hit of the year so far in Japan with “Bling-Bang-Bang-Born.” The track is inspired by the Jersey club style of music, right down to the squeaky chair sample.
CULTURE / Music
Jul 3, 2024

Is Creepy Nuts' catchy, rapid-fire 'Bling-Bang-Bang-Born' the song of the year?

The fast-paced ode to a style called Jersey club is everywhere in Tokyo, and it may just be the rap duo's key to international success.
Despite her consistently low approval ratings, a recent poll showed Vice President Kamala Harris to be as formidable an opponent to Donald Trump as U.S. President Joe Biden. In a hypothetical matchup, Trump led Harris by a single percentage point, 43% to 42%.
WORLD / Politics
Jul 5, 2024

Trump allies intensify attacks on Kamala Harris as Biden replacement talk builds

They have little to lose by attacking the vice president now, so that if Harris does emerge as the nominee, she might do so in a weakened state.
OpenAI Chief Operating Officer Brad Lightcap speaks at a news conference on the opening of the Japan office in Tokyo in April.
BUSINESS / Companies
Jul 5, 2024

Japanese companies lag in AI adoption, white paper says

The white paper also urged action against fake online ads.
Fencer Misaki Emura (left) and breaker Shigekix, whose real name is Shigeyuki Nakarai, during a send-off ceremony in Tokyo on Friday
OLYMPICS
Jul 5, 2024

Japanese athletes get rousing send-off ahead of Paris Olympics

Three years after hosting the Tokyo Olympics, Japan is preparing to send almost 400 athletes to the Games in the French capital.
A sprawling, secretive influence operation is attempting to vilify Qatar, the Gulf state mediating between Israel and Hamas.
WORLD / Politics
Jul 8, 2024

Shadow campaign: Global influence op targets Qatar in wartime

The campaign against Qatar shows the ease with which a person or an entire country can be tarnished in the age of disinformation while masking the ultimate perpetrators.
Japanese athletes during a send-off ceremony for the upcoming Paris Games, in Tokyo on July 5.
OLYMPICS
Jul 13, 2024

Mental health experts to join Japan delegation at Paris Olympics

It will be the first Summer Olympics during which such experts, called "welfare officers," will accompany Japanese athletes.
Guo Wengui holds a news conference with Steve Bannon in New York in November 2018.
WORLD / Crime & Legal
Jul 17, 2024

Chinese tycoon Guo guilty in U.S. of $1 billion investor fraud

Convicted on nine of the 12 counts against him, he faces as many as 20 years in prison on the most serious charges when he is sentenced on Nov. 19.
The Japan Newspaper Publishers and Editors Association says AI-assisted online search services offered by Google and Microsoft is highly likely to not only infringe news organizations' copyrights but damage their trustworthiness.
JAPAN
Jul 18, 2024

Japan news media association demands consent and accuracy from generative AI

Without regulation, generative AI will erode media content, harming democracy and national culture, according to the association.
The Torchin series of table lamps, made by Yame 'chōchin' (paper lantern) artisans Shiraki Kougei and produced in collaboration with Nakagawa Masashichi Shoten and design unit Tent, combine contemporary design with traditional lantern-making techniques.
LIFE / Style & Design
Jul 20, 2024

Celebrate o-Bon in style with these elegant crafts

As o-Bon approaches, On: Design looks at industry mainstay Nakagawa Masashichi Shoten’s latest initiatives to honor the dearly departed.

Longform

Ichiro Suzuki, one of the most iconic players in NPB and MLB history, was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame with 99.7% of the vote.
With Hall of Fame induction, Ichiro makes himself heard loud and clear