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The Taro Nasu gallery in Tokyo, with work by the French artist Benoit Pieron on view.
CULTURE / Art
Oct 10, 2024

In Tokyo, the Taro Nasu gallery focuses on conceptual art

Striving to be unique, the small gallery is bringing attention to artists from around the world whose works have rarely been seen in Japan.
The Japan Pavilion at the Venice Biennale is located in the Giardini, a historic park in the Italian city.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Nov 6, 2024

Venice Biennale: 70 years of bringing Japanese art to the world

The Venice Biennale has been an international showcase for Japanese art for over seven decades. This year, Yuko Mohri is representing Japan at the prestigious event.
A Toyo Safety Industrial helmet with a built-in fan is showcased at Extreme Heat Countermeasures Exhibition in Tokyo in July.
BUSINESS
Jul 31, 2023

Fan-cooled beds and baby carriers among new gadgets to beat heat

At Tokyo’s annual trade show last week the focus was on how to keep workers in high-temperature environments cool and reduce the risk of heatstroke.
A couple enjoy the sunset in Seoul. The proportion of people getting married has declined worldwide, but it has plummeted especially far in South Korea.
ASIA PACIFIC / Society
Aug 21, 2023

Seeking love, with help from the city government

Singles are signing up for city-hosted blind-dating events in South Korea, but some point to their inability to address real issues with family planning.
The fast-growing field of generative AI has raised novel intellectual property issues.
WORLD / Crime & Legal
Aug 22, 2023

AI-generated art cannot receive copyrights, U.S. court says

Only works with human authors can receive copyrights, a judge ruled Friday.
Employees work on the assembly line at an electric vehicle plant in Shanghai. Cutting salaries is illegal in China, but complex pay structures offer loopholes.
BUSINESS / Companies
Sep 5, 2023

China's auto workers bear brunt of price war as fallout widens

Cutting salaries is illegal in China, but complex pay structures offer ways around this.
An installation view of "Ruth Asawa Through Line" at the Whitney Museum in New York shows one of her signature suspended sculptures, a study in form, air and shadow.
CULTURE
Sep 21, 2023

Ruth Asawa: Solid form meets thin air

The Japanese American sculptor helped erase boundaries between art, craft and the decorative arts. A New York show explores her luminous connections.
The cast of Chelfitsch’s play “The Window of Spaceship ‘In-Between’” includes individuals with different levels of Japanese-language proficiency. They participated in workshops hosted by the theater company to promote more inclusivity in Japanese theater.
CULTURE / Stage
Sep 29, 2023

Chelfitsch challenges Japanese theater's language barriers

The theater company questions the status quo of the Japanese stage by casting non-native speakers in new project, 'The Window of Spaceship "In-Between."'
Rahm Emanuel, U.S. ambassador to Japan, and Ann Burroughs, president and CEO of the Japanese American National Museum in Los Angeles, discuss the importance of preserving the history of interned Japanese Americans.
CULTURE / Art
Oct 6, 2023

U.S. ambassador honors artworks by interned Japanese Americans

“This is not a great moment for America, and we have to own it,” Rahm Emanuel said at a reception in Tokyo.
In some cases, it's up to individual foreign residents to understand the unique tax implications of their home countries and Japan in order to avoid a penny-pinching retirement.
COMMUNITY / How-tos / Age Wise
Nov 5, 2023

Retiring in Japan? Be prepared to foot your own bills.

“In an ideal world, everyone should have retirement planning on their radar as soon as possible when working life begins.”
'Arayes' are a Lebanese dish made from raw meat stuffed into pita pockets and cooked until succulent inside and crispy outside.
LIFE / Food & Drink / The Recipe Box
Nov 26, 2023

Recipe: Coffee-spiced stuffed pitas

'Arayes' are a Lebanese dish made from raw meat stuffed into pita pockets and cooked until succulent inside and crispy outside.
The Royal Theater in the city of Gifu screens 35-millimeter films.
JAPAN / Society / Regional voices: Chubu
Dec 18, 2023

Mini-theater showing 35mm films is struggling to survive

Massive amounts of funds are needed to renovate the aged facility and people involved in the theater are seeking ways to keep the place alive.
Driveline Pacific Rim director Frank Minamino (second from right) poses with Lions pitcher Kaito Yoza (left) Hawks pitcher Shuta Ishikawa (second from left) and the Lions' Kona Takahashi.
BASEBALL
Feb 2, 2024

NPB pitchers embracing Driveline Baseball method

NPB players are working with Driveline Baseball in greater numbers.
According to a proposal from the EU’s executive arm, as much as 450 million tons of CO2 will need to be captured annually by 2050 to achieve net-zero goals, including 100 million tons from generators powered by fossil fuels.
ENVIRONMENT / Climate change
Feb 5, 2024

The $2.6 billion experiment to cover up Europe’s dirty habit

The project could start as early as next year, and pave the way for a new international trade in industrial emissions.
Akira Toriyama
CULTURE
Mar 8, 2024

'Dragon Ball' creator Akira Toriyama dies at 68

A post announcing his death said Toriyama was “working on many projects” and that “there was so much more that he wanted to accomplish.”
Built for two artists, Ishii House is a simple, rectangular timber structure with a double-height window facing the veranda.
LIFE / Style & Design
Mar 16, 2024

Architecture of community won Riken Yamamoto the Pritzker Prize

Unlike many other laureates, Yamamoto is not a household name. But his work and approach have long been admired within the Japanese architectural scene.
An audio work by Saga University's Art Works to Listen and Imagine project is available on the internet.
JAPAN / Society / Regional Voices: Kyushu
Apr 8, 2024

Experiencing art exhibitions through listening

Events and exhibitions are being held to encourage visitors to appreciate artworks with their ears and imagination.
Artificial intelligence is peering into restaurant garbage pails and crunching grocery-store data to try to figure out how to send less uneaten food into dumpsters.
BUSINESS / Tech
Apr 6, 2024

AI is spying on the food we throw away

The tech is being used to try to reduce the amount of uneaten food that ends up in dumpsters.
Manga titles that have been uploaded onto Manga-Mura, a manga piracy website, on display in Tokyo in 2022
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Apr 18, 2024

Manga piracy website operator ordered to pay ¥1.7 billion to publishers

Kadokawa, Shueisha and Shogakukan said they hoped the lawsuit would help deter other manga piracy site operators from uploading content illegally.
Yassine Alaoui Ismaili, who goes by Yoriyas, turned to photography, shooting motion while in motion himself, after an injury forced him to give up his career as a professional breakdancer.
CULTURE / Art
Apr 22, 2024

Kyotographie's strong 12th edition shines light into the margins

This year’s installment of the photography festival highlights underrepresented groups from around the world — while avoiding anything too challenging.
A truck rolls off a cargo vessel docked at Esbjerg Port in Ebjerg, Denmark. European Union food imports to the U.K. are about to get more expensive and complicated as the British government implements the Brexit deal.
BUSINESS / Companies
Apr 27, 2024

Britons finally taste full Brexit as costly border checks begin

From April 30, the U.K. will impose checks on European Union food imports — a stark reversal from the pre-Brexit era of frictionless trade.
Art OnO, which took place from April 19 to 21 in Seoul, featured a modest number of 36 participating galleries from 15 countries.
CULTURE / Art
May 17, 2024

Seoul's eclectic Art OnO shines light on Japan's artists and galleries

Japanese contributions accounted for almost a third of the non-Seoul based booths at the art fair's inaugural event, which featured artists such as Yoshitomo Nara and Hisao Domoto.
This untitled work was completed and installed in 1994 by a prominent Nigerian artist named Sunday Jack Akpan.
COMMUNITY / Voices / Black Eye
Jun 3, 2024

How a cache of African art found a home in western Tokyo

When I first encountered these statues, I was just minding my business headed for Tachikawa Station. I was struck dumb, paralyzed damn near mid-step.
Al Shifa Hospital after Israeli forces withdrew from the hospital and the area around it following a two-week operation, in Gaza City on April 2
WORLD
Jun 5, 2024

Gaza's doctors were building a health care system. Then came war.

Before the war, specialist doctors were part of a strategic effort by Hamas to build a self-sufficient health care system for Gaza.
Otowayama stable wrestlers in front of their stable. It may come as a surprise to some, but the use of ring names between wrestlers in the same stable isn’t all that common.­
SUMO / INSIDE SUMO
Jun 12, 2024

Burning questions (and their answers) new fans may have about sumo

The slow month of June is as good a time as any for our columnist to answer some of the fan questions that crop up with regularity.
Father's Day is said to have come to Japan around 1950, shortly after the establishment of Mother's Day.
JAPAN / Society / Longform
Jun 15, 2024

The evolving nature of fatherhood in Japan

Meiji Era fathers were stern, those from Showa had to be productive for the nation. Heisei dads were told to get involved at home. What will the "Reiwa Dad" look like?
When describing meal times in his novel “No Longer Human,” Osamu Dazai refers to his family as being "jūikunin," which translates to "10 and change." By being vague, he diminishes the importance of the size of his family.
LIFE / Language / BILINGUAL
Jun 21, 2024

Attempting the classics: Decoding Osamu Dazai’s sinister diction

A gritty realism and gut-wrenching plots were the mark of the "I-novel" push in the 20th century.
Toshiko Takaezu made vases and bowls in all shapes and sizes, some that could fit in your palm and some towering over your head.
CULTURE / Art
Jun 23, 2024

The Japanese-American ceramicist who made pots as big as her

The exhibit “Toshiko Takaezu: Worlds Within,” on view at the Isamu Noguchi Museum, is part of a resurgence of interest in the Hawaiian artist of Okinawan descent.
Naoki Prize winner Michi Ichiho (left), and Akutagawa Prize winners Sanzo K. Matsunaga (center) and Aki Asahina pose with their award-winning books at a news conference in Tokyo on Wednesday.
CULTURE / Books
Jul 17, 2024

Three novelists named for Akutagawa and Naoki awards

Authors Sanzo K. Matsunaga and Aki Asahina won the Akutagawa Prize for literary writers, while the Naoki Prize for genre fiction went to Michi Ichiho.
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.

Longform

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