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July 27, 2024
 

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Republicans have been extraordinarily successful in shaping the electoral battlefield to their advantage and depicting U.S. President Joe Biden as too old.
COMMENTARY / The Year Ahead
Dec 30, 2023
American anxiety builds ahead of 2024 vote
The outcome of next year's election may hinge on the economic outlook, which in turn will partly depend on how the Middle East conflict evolves.
When Chinese President Xi Jinping came to power, he inherited a China that was enjoying prosperity, but also succumbing to gilded-age excesses.
COMMENTARY / The Year Ahead
Dec 29, 2023
The moral of the China story
Even if China is no longer “winning,” it would be short-sighted to dismiss its recent experience as irrelevant.
The Dvorak Dreams project leveraged AI to retrieve, synthesize and extend the legacy of an earlier cultural pioneer.
COMMENTARY / The Year Ahead
Dec 28, 2023
The AI question we should be asking
Artists working with AI can map out a path for the technology’s role across society more broadly.
A Ukrainian soldier looks out from a tank as he holds his position near to the town of Bakhmut, in Ukraine's Donetsk region, on Dec. 13.
COMMENTARY / The Year Ahead
Dec 28, 2023
The battles Ukraine has already won
Many of the nation's key victories began long before Russia’s latest assault.
Next year, U.S. President Joe Biden will seek a mandate to govern into his mid-80s. His likely opponent, former President Donald Trump, is only three years younger.
COMMENTARY / The Year Ahead
Dec 27, 2023
Making or breaking democracy
As 2024 approaches, one milestone looms menacingly on the horizon: The U.S. presidential election on Nov. 5.
While Magic: The Gathering is popular with card game aficionados the world over, the community in Japan is split along some unexpected lines.
LIFE / Lifestyle
Dec 23, 2023
Diehards and casuals clash in Tokyo’s Magic: The Gathering community
The Commander format is widely popular across Europe and the United States, but Japan’s Magic community hasn’t quite followed the same path.
Fans praised Nintendo for following up one of the best open-world games ever made with The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom, a worthy sequel that introduced enough new mechanics to keep the experience fresh for players new and old alike.
CULTURE / 2023 in Review
Dec 22, 2023
Zelda was a gem among many in a crowning year for gaming
Japanese studios’ hits included: Street Fighter 6, remakes of Metroid Prime and Resident Evil 4, and Super Mario Bros. Wonder, to name a few.
In Hayao Miyazaki's films, characters often experience life-changing revelations in midair, such as Haku and Chihiro in "Spirited Away."
CULTURE / Film
Dec 19, 2023
How Hayao Miyazaki’s films continue to take us to the skies
When characters take flight in the films of the master animator, there is always a deeper meaning.
Seihan Mori, the chief Buddhist priest of Kiyomizu Temple in Kyoto, writes the kanji character "zei," meaning "tax," with a calligraphy brush to announce the Kanji of the Year.
LIFE / Language / BILINGUAL
Dec 15, 2023
Despite a taxing year, 2023's top kanji still draws questions
In a year of major crises around the world, Japanese voters pick the kanji for "zei," meaning "tax," based on a plan yet to be implemented.
While Hayao Miyazaki’s return to filmmaking, “The Boy and the Heron,” did not attain the ¥10 billion milestone that the beloved animator’s movies had once routinely surpassed, it debuted at the top of the North American box office and became the first original anime film to lead the box office in the United States and Canada.
CULTURE / Film / 2023 in Review
Dec 15, 2023
Japan’s auteurs and anime triumphed in 2023
From Hayao Miyazaki's “The Boy and the Heron” to Hirokazu Kore-eda’s “Monster,” the box-office hits kept coming.
A still from The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom
PODCAST / deep dive
Dec 14, 2023
Big in Japan 2023: Anime, Murakami and The Legend of Zelda
Our guests tell us why anime dominated in 2023, which books stood out among a lackluster crowd and why the Zelda franchise is experiencing a renaissance.
Hayao Miyazaki’s “The Boy and the Heron” received Golden Globes nominations for best animated motion picture and best original score for a motion picture this week.
CULTURE / Entertainment news
Dec 12, 2023
'The Boy and the Heron' and 'Godzilla Minus One' win over U.S.
While both Japanese films broke records at the North American box office, Hayao Miyazaki's latest also received two Golden Globes nominations.
Seihan Mori, chief priest of Kiyomizu Temple in Kyoto, writes "zei" (taxes), which was chosen on Tuesday as the kanji of the year.
JAPAN
Dec 12, 2023
Talk of taxes spurs choice for Japan’s kanji of the year
The choice came as tax hikes and cuts were heavily covered in the news and discussed among policymakers.
The former lead singer of The Pogues, Shane MacGowan, attends the funeral service of his mother in Silvermines, Ireland, in January 2017.
COMMENTARY / World
Dec 6, 2023
The life of the Pogues' frontman and the ‘banality of crazy’ in U.S. politics
The current focus on performative acts in politics diminishes serious policy debates, leading to social and political divides.
Hayao Miyazaki came out of retirement this year with “The Boy and the Heron,” which opened to critical acclaim and has so far earned ¥8.56 billion — a good showing but not enough to take the top spot at the box office for the year.
CULTURE / Film / 2023 in Review
Nov 30, 2023
The year that defined the post-Miyazaki era
The success of “Oshi no Ko,” “Detective Conan” and “The Super Mario Bros. Movie” proved that anime is the mainstream now.
An Albanian communist hangs a banner with Enver Hoxha's image in a public cemetery in Tirana in April 2012 to mark the anniversary of the hard-line Stalinist dictator's death.
COMMENTARY / World
Oct 27, 2023
When freedom does not bring about justice
From communism to capitalism, Lea Ypi's book,"Free: Coming of Age at the End of History" reflects on Albania's transition to freedom.
Singer-songwriter Aina The End (center) plays a young woman who strives to overcome her hardscrabble life and become an indie musician in “Kyrie.”
CULTURE / Film
Oct 12, 2023
'Kyrie': Musical melodrama celebrates youth
Shunji Iwai's film about indie musicians and female friendships may have an overstuffed plot, but it also has a visual energy unique to the director.
Mori Building's Azabudai Hills complex in Tokyo's Minato Ward, which will house offices, shops, apartments, hotels and a school, is set to open in November
COMMENTARY / Japan
Oct 2, 2023
While Manhattan’s offices stay empty, Tokyo keeps building
Remote working has decimated offices in cities like New York and London. But Tokyo's workspaces have bounced back, also thanks to new builds.
The Mikomotojima Lighthouse in Shimoda, Shizuoka Prefecture, was designed by Richard Henry Brunton, a Scotsman who was employed by the Meiji government to build lighthouses across Japan in the 19th century. In "The Japan Lights," author Iain Maloney connects his personal travels and experiences in Japan to Brunton's pursuits.
CULTURE / Books
Oct 1, 2023
'The Japan Lights' traces a journey of self-discovery in the wake of 3/11
Iain Maloney's wise book connects his travels in Japan to the pursuits of Richard Henry Brunton, a Scotsman who built lighthouses across the country.
The Toronto International Film Festival opened on Sept. 7 with admiring applause for "The Boy and the Heron," Japanese animation master Hayao Miyazaki's latest movie — a meditation on love, loss and the horrors of World War II.
CULTURE / Film
Sep 16, 2023
Hayao Miyazaki has ideas for next project after 'The Boy and the Heron'
Junichi Nishioka, Studio Ghibli's vice president for international distribution, says the director "shows the willingness to create something new."
Japan's population continues to fall even as foreign resident count rises
The number of residents in Tokyo as of Jan. 1 rose by 0.03% from a year before, data shows, marking a year-on-year increase for the first time in three years, while the country's other 46 prefectures saw their populations continue to decline.
Japan’s minimum wage set for record ¥50 hike in major boost
Demonstrators rally to demand a big hike in minimum wages in Tokyo last week.
One dead, three missing as heavy rain batters Tohoku
Camera footage shows the Mogami River bursting its banks in Tozawa, Yamagata Prefecture, on Friday morning.
Yen melt-up nudges Japanese stocks into correction territory
Japanese stocks are down 10% from their July peak as the yen strengthens.
Yen rally could help end crushing wage decay in Japan
Some economists say a sticky weak yen trend would have a negative impact on Japan's real wage growth.
Japan’s minimum wage set for record ¥50 hike in major boost
Demonstrators rally to demand a big hike in minimum wages in Tokyo last week.
Japan loses top spot on strongest passport list to Singapore
Japan had the strongest passport for six years running from 2018, before being dethroned by Singapore on the 2024 list.
Why Japan's mysterious stash of classified funds escapes scrutiny
Prime Minister Fumio Kishida and Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshimasa Hayashi (right) during a meeting in Tokyo on Tuesday.
Terunofuji, as he tends to do, returns to stamp his authority on sumo pretenders
Terunofuji (left) throws down Kirishima on Tuesday to build on his perfect record at the Nagoya Grand Sumo Tournament.
Japanese startups advised to internationalize to get some global mojo
Entrepreneurs who participated in the Beyond Japan Zero to X program last year share their experiences in the United States during a meeting in May in Tokyo.

Podcast

One of the many entrances to the Kabukicho neighborhood in Tokyo’s Shinjuku Ward.
Kabukicho: Tokyo’s ‘stadium of desire’

Longform

Traditional folk rituals like Mizudome-no-mai (dance to stop the rain) provide a sense of agency to a population that feels largely powerless in the face of the climate crisis.
As climate extremes intensify, Japan embraces ancient weather rituals
By Alex K.T. Martin

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