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England goalkeeper Mary Earp has criticized team outfitter Nike over failing to produce replicas of her uniform for sale.
SOCCER / Women's World cup
Aug 15, 2023

Adidas and Nike navigate bumps in retail demand as WWC breaks records

As the market for women's soccer grows, marketers have to juggle the fan base's ever-changing demands.
A jade pig from the Ming dynasty (1368-1644) at the shop of jade trader Lee in Taipei. Taiwan's jade trading sector is flagging post-COVID.
ASIA PACIFIC
Aug 19, 2023

Taiwan's antique jade dealers see trade losing luster

With the global economy in tatters, buyers are more cautious about taking a chance on expensive items, especially with the market awash with counterfeits.
Harvard historian Calder Walton says U.S. leaders have ignored China’s massive, multifront intelligence push.
COMMENTARY / World
Sep 8, 2023

The vulnerability of open societies to foreign espionage

Are Western nations, with their open societies, making the same mistake with China as they did with the Soviet Union?
In "Dragon Palace," Hiromi Kawakami's new collection of short stories, middle-aged and elderly characters inhabit a world in which sexuality and attractiveness are liberated.
CULTURE / Books
Sep 17, 2023

Hiromi Kawakami's 'Dragon Palace': Delightfully raunchy and funny

In her new collection of short stories, the author returns to a world of fluid transfiguration with dry matter-of-factness and knowing humor.
Starting next year, all renovations to the new Imperial Hotel are scheduled to finish in 2036.
CULTURE / Art
Sep 16, 2023

Frank Lloyd Wright’s Imperial Hotel enters the history books

The curtain is about to close on Frank Lloyd Wright’s contribution to Tokyo’s skyline.
Aoi Suzuki and her two sons head back down to a barbecue after watching the sun set.
PODCAST / deep dive
Sep 28, 2023

Traveling Okinawa with a broken heart

Writer and photographer Lance Henderstein reads us his article on traveling Okinawa during the rainy season.
Steve Kemme's "The Outsider" offers insight into Lafcadio Hearn's prodigious talent with the pen and the development of his style over the course of his career.
CULTURE / Books
Oct 8, 2023

'The Outsider' brings out colorful personality of one of history’s great Japanophiles

A new biography on Lafcadio Hearn charts the course of the writer’s 54-year life and shows how his years in Cincinnati and Japan were formative periods.
A portion of a Microsoft data center that supports the Pentagon, and is next door to a bitcoin mine operated by Chinese-owned Bit Origin, in Cheyenne, Wyoming, on Sept. 29. Aside from the intelligence-gathering concerns over Chinese bitcoin mines in the U.S., the energy sucking facilities can also put immense pressure on power grids.
WORLD
Oct 14, 2023

Across U.S., Chinese bitcoin mines draw national security scrutiny

Microsoft reported one site in because of its proximity to a nuclear missile base. Other cryptocurrency facilities have ties to the Chinese state.
A member of the India team sorts through rubbish at the end of the first round of the Spogomi World Cup 2023 final, in which teams pick up as much rubbish as possible in a set amount of time, in Tokyo's Shibuya Ward on Wednesday.
JAPAN
Nov 22, 2023

Load of rubbish: Litter-hunters vie for world title in Tokyo

The Spogomi World Cup saw 21 countries battle it out to collect the most rubbish within a set time limit.
Tokyo Healthcare University professor Takayuki Mifune explains how he is trying to re-create bonito broth from 1,300 years ago.
JAPAN / Science & Health / Longform
Dec 4, 2023

The quest to re-create what the Japanese ate 1,300 years ago

Professor Takayuki Mifune and his team are hoping to understand, in minute detail, the culinary habits of our Japanese ancestors.
Beet carpaccio served with fresh cream and caviar, the signature dish of three-Michelin-star chef Mauro Colagreco, features at Cycle, his much-anticipated new restaurant in Otemachi.
LIFE / Food & Drink / TOKYO FOOD FILE
Dec 9, 2023

Tokyo dining finally kicked the pandemic blues in 2023

The further we got into 2023, the more it really started to feel like COVID-19 had finally dissipated like a malodorous mist.
U.S. President Joe Biden with IBM’s System One quantum computer during a tour of a facility in Poughkeepsie, New York in 2022. Chinese spies are challenging the C.I.A. by deploying artificial intelligence and other advanced technology as the two nations try to pilfer each other’s trade secrets.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Dec 28, 2023

Chinese spy agency rising to challenge the CIA

In recent years, China's Ministry of State Security has sharpened itself through better training, a bigger budget and the use of advanced technologies.
Tokyo is filled to the brim with anime-related activities and attractions, but the best require a little digging to enjoy to the fullest.
LIFE / Travel
Feb 10, 2024

An anime otaku's blueprint to nerding out in Tokyo — and beyond

The first step to taking anime otaku-dom to the next level is to educate yourself on the history and evolution of the medium.
Specimen M831 stored at the National Museum of Nature and Science’s Tsukuba Research Departments in Ibaraki Prefecture
ENVIRONMENT / Wildlife / OUR PLANET
Feb 22, 2024

How a 13-year-old discovered a possible Japanese wolf specimen

A new paper by Hinako Komori and two academics says a specimen she found could be one of two Japanese wolves kept at Ueno Zoo in the late 19th century.
Aoi Suzuki’s son runs past a home in Taketomi on Iriomote Island (not to be confused with Taketomi Island, which lies to the east of Iriomote). The Suzukis run the Takemori Inn, one of the few hotels on Iriomote.
PODCAST / deep dive
Feb 29, 2024

[Rebroadcast] Traveling Okinawa with a broken heart

This week on Deep Dive we get contributing writer and photographer Lance Henderstein to read us his article on traveling Okinawa during the rainy season.
Members of the Kurdistan Centre for Arts and Culture, inspect old books before making digital copies, as part of an effort to digitize historic Kurdish volumes and manuscripts, in the northern Iraqi city of Dohuk on Feb. 13.
WORLD / Society
Mar 11, 2024

'Sacred job': Iraqi Kurds digitize books to save threatened culture

In Iraq, the Kurds are a sizeable minority who have been persecuted, and many of their historic documents have been lost or destroyed.
Made by Karimoku, Keiji Ashikawa’s design of the JAL Boeing 777 cabin window stool uses an outer window pane from the plane as a transparent seat set on a base comprising recycled oak off-cuts.
LIFE / Style & Design / ON: DESIGN
Mar 16, 2024

Recycling old JAL planes and bullet trains into design treasures

This month, On: Design looks at recycled products designed to rev the engines of plane and train enthusiasts.
Trucks at a logistics center in the city of Fukuoka in December. Nomura Research Institute estimates that a shortage of truck drivers will lead to 35% of goods not being transported around the country in 2030, with the ratio seen to be higher in more remote regions.
BUSINESS / Companies
Mar 29, 2024

'2024 problem' seen hitting regional logistics sectors hard

Overtime caps for truck drivers coupled with soaring fuel prices could put transport companies out of business, unless consignors agree to higher fees.
Students can learn faster by using tablets in the classroom. In Malawi, every dollar spent on this type of learning delivers over $100 worth of higher productivity in the long term.
COMMENTARY / World
May 3, 2024

The policies that deliver the most bang for a government's buck

Instead of making many grand promises, governments should prioritize smart policies that yield the highest returns, such as tablets in schools.
Having succeeded her father, Akira Mori, Miwako Date has been CEO of real estate development firm Mori Trust since 2016.
BUSINESS / WOMEN AT WORK
May 19, 2024

Leading a major property developer with an eye on art and culture

Third-generation CEO Miwako Date is making her mark with Mori Trust's regional luxury hotels.
Eschewing the comfort of Tokyo’s air-conditioned museums, the inconvenient art movement draws viewers into the countryside to see artworks such as Christian Boltanski’s “Les Regards.”
CULTURE / Art
Jun 7, 2024

A list of Japan’s remote art sites

Get off the beaten path this summer and discover art tucked away in the farthest reaches of Japan.
The Veolia Southwark Integrated Waste Management Facility in London.
ENVIRONMENT / Sustainability
Jul 11, 2024

Nestle quietly shifted recycling goals as plastics problem grows

Nestle changing its plastics goal means 280,000 metric tons of additional nonrecyclable plastic waste a year, according to the latest available data for 2022.
The Hengshan Calligraphy Art Center (HCAC) aims to serve as a base for calligraphy research and education and function as a hub for calligraphy art in Asia.
CULTURE / Art
Jul 25, 2024

In uncertain times, Taiwanese art flourishes

New museums and a lively creative scene reflect an evolving, forward-looking society.
For centuries, Japanese people have been scaring themselves with horror stories as a way of cooling down during the stifling summer months.
CULTURE / Books
Aug 16, 2024

New tales in translation to give you chills and thrills this summer

Recent fright-filled releases with supernatural creatures, shrewd sleuths and creepy killers provide welcome relief from the sweltering heat.
Yoko Ogawa’s latest novel to be translated into English, “Mina’s Matchbox,” is like a playground for the author’s interest in particular details: the subtleties of striking matches, playing volleyball and searching for typos, to name a few.
CULTURE / Books
Sep 1, 2024

Yoko Ogawa's 'Mina’s Matchbox' sparkles with quiet intimacy

The latest novel in translation from one of Japan's most eclectic writers leans toward magical realism while reveling in the minutiae of an affluent family's life.
The Nintendo Museum opens to the public on Oct. 2, but unlike the company's all-ages games, the new attraction may be geared more toward older rather than younger gamers.
LIFE / Travel
Sep 25, 2024

A first look inside the new Nintendo Museum

Set to open on Oct. 2, the gaming giant's newest foray into real-world experiences shows flashes of the same creativity that made the company what it is today.
The “Fragment Shadow” exhibition by Shunichi Kasahara and Satoru Higa, in which people’s shadows were digitally re-created and manipulated.
JAPAN / Science & Health / OUR PLANET
Sep 29, 2024

Researchers in Japan look to art to mold the scientific process

From astrobiology to cybernetics, scientists are trying to use art not just for public outreach, but to shape research itself.
A United Nations flag on the back of an armored vehicle in southern Lebanon on Tuesday. The U.N. children's agency said in a new report that sexual violence against children cuts across geographical, cultural, and economic boundaries.
WORLD / Society
Oct 10, 2024

One in 8 girls and women raped or sexually assaulted before 18, UNICEF says

Among boys and men, 1 in 11 have experienced rape or sexual assault during childhood, the United Nations children's agency said on Wednesday.
Yuko Mohri uses “invisible forces” — gravity, weather, air, magnetic fields — to create jazzy kinetic sculptures.
CULTURE / Art
Nov 1, 2024

Yuko Mohri is a maestro of unstable elements

After a banner year at the Venice Biennale, the creator of jazzy kinetic sculptures opens her first large-scale exhibition in Japan.
Cream-filled 'maritozzo' buns are just one of the many sweet treats on offer at Japanese convenience stores.
LIFE / Food & Drink
Nov 3, 2024

Exploring the ‘B-gourmet wonderland’ of Japanese convenience stores

Tourists who obsess over 7-Eleven and FamilyMart can seem a bit absurd, but there's no denying the integral role these stores have in daily life in Japan.

Longform

Construction takes place on the Takanawa Gateway Convention Center in Tokyo, slated to open in 2025.
A boom for business tourism in Japan?