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CULTURE / Music / MUSIC NOMAD
Dec 14, 1999

The Worldwide Music Expo embraces roots and Internet

For anyone involved in any aspect of world music, WOMEX (Worldwide Music Expo) has become an essential date on the calendar. After a few years of internal wrangling, at the end of October, WOMEX returned to its original home at the House of World Cultures in Berlin, Germany, where from now on it will...
Japan Times
MORE SPORTS
Jun 18, 2023

Three teams drop out of Tour de Suisse after cyclist’s death

The Tour de Suisse cycling race resumed its multistage competition on Saturday, one day after a rider died from injuries he sustained in a crash during a high-speed mountain descent.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives
Jun 5, 2023

The farewell tour: Amid rising costs, a Canadian doctor ends his Japanese music festival

Once dubbed the 'patron saint of Japanese indie,' Canadian Steven Tanaka is ready to settle down for some 'me' time.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art / Longform
Jun 4, 2023

'Stakeout Diary': A killer on the run, two postwar gumshoes — noir at its finest

When a photographer was given rare permission to follow two detectives through Tokyo on a murder case, who’d have known he’d gather a legion of fans decades later.
Japan Times
PODCAST / deep dive
May 31, 2023

G7 '23: Kishida's pumped from a Zelenskyy bump

Another year, another G7 summit done and dusted. How did Prime Minister Fumio Kishida do? Well, he’s thinking of an early election if that’s any indication.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC
May 21, 2023

No joke: China's backlash against stand-up stirs fear of comedy clampdown

A Beijing-based comedian said a number of their shows had been canceled in the wake of a joke about the military.
Japan Times
WORLD
Apr 3, 2023

Wagner group claims 'legal' capture of Ukraine's Bakhmut

The Wagner group has supported Russian troops throughout the offensive to surround the city, the fight for which both sides have invested in heavily.
Japan Times
WORLD
Feb 9, 2023

Spurred by wave of protest, children of Iran’s revolution face ghosts of brutal past

While Iran tries to suppress the biggest challenge to its authority since the revolution 44 years ago, many younger Iranians are interrogating the Islamic Republic’s version of history.
MORE SPORTS
Aug 17, 2023

Superbike rider Haruki Noguchi dies after crash in Indonesia

Noguchi broke into the motorcycling scene with his 2021 win in the Superstock 600 category at the All Japan Road Racing Championships.
SUMO / INSIDE SUMO
Aug 23, 2023

A closer look at sumo's 'hot hand' after Hokutofuji's Nagoya run

Hokutofuji’s career best 12-win outing in July not only came out of the blue, but was his first winning record of any kind since the previous September.
The incoming and outgoing presidents of Johnny & Associates, Noriyuki Higashiyama and Julie Keiko Fujishima, bow at a press conference on Sept. 7.
PODCAST / deep dive
Sep 14, 2023

Johnny’s talent agency has admitted to a past of abuse. What next?

Karin Kaneko joins the show to update us on how the story is unfolding.
A performer going by the name “Tanefukube” leads shishi-odori dancers during Tono Meguritoroge’s grand finale at Rokko-shi shrine.
LIFE / Travel
Sep 30, 2023

Dancing with ghosts at Tono’s rural folk festival

The Tono region is Japan’s go-to setting of scary stories to tell in the dark.
A screen grab obtained from a social media video shows the scene of the stabbing of an Israeli Embassy staff member, in Beijing on Friday.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Oct 14, 2023

Israeli Embassy employee attacked with knife in Beijing

A 50-year-old male relative of an Israeli diplomat was stabbed by another foreign national outside a supermarket in Beijing, authorities said.
BASEBALL / Japanese Baseball
Oct 17, 2023

Marines and Carp hope to maintain Climax Series momentum

The CL and PL league champions, the Hanshin Tigers and Orix Buffaloes, will enter the fray with places in the Japan Series on the line.
Nurses and university students majoring in nursing hold up signs that read "Nurse act", during a protest against President Yoon Suk Yeol vetoing a nursing act that defines the roles and responsibilities of nurses, in Seoul on May 19.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Oct 19, 2023

Why South Korea has so many protests, and what that means

Born during South Korea’s difficult march toward self-governance in the 1980s, protest rallies are a fixture of Asia’s most vibrant democracy.
A festivalgoer walks along the water near Kyotophonie’s Beach Stage. Despite rain on the second day of the festival, attendees and musicians maintained a lively atmosphere until the nighttime finale.
CULTURE / Music
Oct 21, 2023

An intimate bazaar of music and magic at Kyotophonie

The biannual music festival brought soulful sounds to Amanohashidate, a sandbar famed for having one of Japan’s three most beautiful views.
Hamas’ Ismail Haniyeh (left) and the former emir of Qatar arrive at a cornerstone-laying ceremony for the new Hamad residential neighborhood in Gaza in 2012.
WORLD / Politics / FOCUS
Oct 30, 2023

Israel-Hamas war escalation puts Qatar’s clout to the test

The nation has positioned itself as an key go-between, but has been criticized for housing Hamas leaders while maintaining channels to Israel.
SUMO / INSIDE SUMO
Nov 22, 2023

Takakeisho falters as sumo’s wait for next superstar continues

The good news for Takakeisho is that slip-ups elsewhere mean he remains in the title race.
Terry Gou, Foxconn founder and then-presidential candidate (left), former Taiwan President Ma Ying-jeou (center), Hou Yu-ih presidential candidate of the main opposition Kuomintang attend a news conference in Taipei on Thursday.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Nov 25, 2023

Taiwan opposition cracks apart, and invites the cameras in

The split over a proposed joint ticket bolsters the governing party candidate’s chances in the coming presidential election. That won’t please Beijing.
JAPAN / Politics
Dec 12, 2023

Funding scandal deepens as parliament session draws to a close

The probe into a Liberal Democratic Party funds scandal looks likely to deepen in the coming days, making the political scene increasingly unpredictable.
Shohei Ohtani is joining a franchise that has long been a trailblazer in an increasingly diverse and global game.
BASEBALL / MLB
Dec 13, 2023

In a land of stars, Los Angeles can’t stop talking about Ohtani

Dodgers fans were still beside themselves days after Ohtani agreed to the most lucrative contract in sports history.
The Japanese word "hanami," literally means “flower viewing.” But, a hanami gathering is more than that: It can be a picnic, a drinking party or an occasion to read poetry.
LIFE / Language / BILINGUAL
Mar 15, 2024

We invite you to get ready for this year’s cherry blossom parties

Asking people to a party is made easy in Japanese with a few basic sentence structures. Taking your leave from a party is just as simple.
Leonid Volkov, who was chief of staff to Alexei Navalny, speaks during an interview in Vilnius, Lithuania, in 2021.
WORLD / Politics
Mar 13, 2024

Top Navalny aide attacked with hammer outside home in Lithuania

At least one assailant smashed Leonid Volkov's car window, sprayed him with tear gas and began beating him with the hammer.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is an unpopular leader at home, whom many hold responsible for failures that led to Hamas' Oct. 7 attack.
WORLD / Politics
Apr 15, 2024

Iran attack tests Netanyahu’s political staying power

For almost three decades, Netanyahu has warned that a nuclear Iran would be catastrophic.
Makoto Hasebe (top) celebrates with his Japan team mates after qualifying for the second round of the 2010 FIFA World Cup, in Rustenburg, South Africa, in June 2010. Hasebe captained the Samurai Blue in three consecutive World Cups.
SOCCER
May 14, 2024

Makoto Hasebe bows out at the top, on his own terms

With 114 Japan caps and more than 380 Bundesliga appearances, the player has earned an almost legendary status.
Japan Times contributor Laura Pollacco (front right) was offered the role of one of her all-time favorite heroines, Elizabeth “Lizzie” Bennet, in the Tokyo International Players’ production of “Pride and Prejudice.”
CULTURE / Stage
May 18, 2024

Local theater in Japan is more than a hobby — it’s a community

For contributor Laura Pollacco, companies such as Tokyo International Players and Sheepdog Theatre offer a home away from home.
Japan's Ayumi Fukushima competes in the women's Breaking B-Girls semifinal during an Olympic Qualifier Series ahead of the 2024 Paris Games, in Shanghai on Sunday.
OLYMPICS / Breakdancing
May 22, 2024

Japanese break dancer on cusp of fulfilling Olympic dream

Ayumi Fukushima, 40, has been busting moves for longer than some of her rivals have been alive.
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?
Jacob Roberts, a former Wake Forest football player, changes tires alongside other athletes in simulated pit stops during the annual pit crew combine at Hendrick Motorsports in Concord, North Carolina, on June 13. Top racing teams have found former college football players often make the best prospects for their pit crew teams.
MORE SPORTS / Auto Racing
Aug 20, 2024

When NFL dreams end, NASCAR’s pit crews beckon

Former football players often make the best prospects for the five-man crews, thanks to their strength, agility and speed.

Longform

An ongoing shortage of rice has resulted in rising prices for Japan's main food staple.
Why Japan is running out of rice — and farmers to grow It