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School children walking on a road submerged by sea water at Timbulsloko village in Demak, Indonesia.
ENVIRONMENT / Climate change
Jul 24, 2023

'Slow disaster': Indonesians in sinking village forced to adapt

More than 200 people remain in one of Indonesia's fastest sinking areas, an alarming symbol of how climate change could upend coastal communities everywhere.
A disturbing factor that may ultimately defeat the all-volunteer military force is the growing political division across the U.S., which is diminishing the young people's faith in America.
COMMENTARY / World
Jul 24, 2023

U.S. military’s recruiting woes are a national-security crisis

The U.S. military's struggle to entice even the most surefire candidates — the children of veterans — puts the future of the all-volunteer force in doubt.
A man sits on his own at a taco stand on Kokusai Street in Naha.
COMMUNITY / Issues
Jul 2, 2023

Peacemaking of a different sort in Okinawa

Through therapy and community outreach, counseling service TELL draws on the personal experiences of its clinicians and support workers to help various communities in Okinawa.
A woman (Rinko Kikuchi) shut off from the world confronts her unresolved fury toward her dead father in “Yoko.”
CULTURE / Film
Jul 28, 2023

Rinko Kikuchi completely commits to raw performance in ‘Yoko’

The Oscar-nominated actor plays a socially isolated woman who attempts to hitchhike her way to her estranged father's funeral in Kazuyoshi Kumakiri’s powerful road movie.
Migrants are seen on a metal boat as members of the Tunisian coastguard try to stop them at sea during their attempt to cross to Italy, off Sfax, Tunisia, on April 27.
WORLD
Jul 28, 2023

Tunisia says 900 migrants drowned off its coast this year

Tunisia has become a major gateway for irregular migrants and asylum-seekers attempting the perilous sea voyages in often rickety boats in the hopes of a better life in Europe.
While certain professions necessitate advanced degrees, for others, it's essential to weigh the potential benefits against the cost and debt burden.
COMMENTARY / World
Jul 5, 2023

Grad school is not the escape you are looking for

Layoffs across technology and finance along with the threat from AI may make a higher degree seem a sensible bet. Don’t be fooled.
A major bonus of the Japan Exchange and Teaching (JET) Programme is the time it offers you to be able to plan for long-term goals. Writer Erik M. Jacobs was able to map out what he needed to pursue a career in U.S.-Japan relations, for example.
COMMUNITY / Issues / Learning Curve
Aug 8, 2023

Every situation is different on JET, but they're all similarly rewarding

As a new wave of JET Program participants arrives in the country, a program alumni shares tips on getting the most out of the experience.
Masae Yamanaka joins colleagues from Panasonic Connect to take part in the Tokyo Rainbow Pride parade in April.
BUSINESS / WOMEN AT WORK
Aug 3, 2023

How one woman's career in sales flourished across four companies

As she rose through sales in various companies, Masae Yamanaka stuck to her mother’s teachings: keep working, commit to actions.
The wife of an author turns into a forest after a fight with her husband and growing tired of serving as the idealized and sexualized subject of his novels in Maru Ayase's "The Forest Brims Over."
CULTURE / Books
Aug 12, 2023

Maru Ayase takes a hard look at Japanese misogyny in 'The Forest Brims Over'

Translated by Haydn Trowell, author Maru Ayase takes the reader into a surreal world to deal with a problematic issue.
Elizabeth Kutschke at the park with her son Ben, who was diagnosed with spinal muscular atrophy
WORLD / Science & Health
Aug 15, 2023

When a $2 million gene therapy is not enough

Ben is one of a growing number of patients with spinal muscular atrophy whose doctors are turning to additional drugs in addition to gene therapy.
A playful photo of Japanese female politicians on a work trip to Paris drew much criticism back home. The backlash may be one of the reasons women choose to avoid public service.
COMMENTARY / World
Aug 16, 2023

Japan has a misery-loves-company problem

The backlash to government officials' lighthearted moment is a prime example of how to undermine workers.
Manchester Crown Court, the venue for the trial of Lucy Letby, who was found guilty of murdering seven newborn babies and trying to kill another six.
WORLD / Crime & Legal
Aug 19, 2023

'I am evil': British nurse guilty of murdering seven newborn babies

Lucy Letby, 33, was convicted of killing five baby boys and two baby girls and attacking other newborns.
Alexis Ryoko Nishizawa (left) facilitates workshops for people with curly hair during which she shares the basics with attendees.
JAPAN / Society
Aug 20, 2023

In Japan, curly hair makes you stand out. This entrepreneur says 'embrace it.'

Nishizawa has become a go-to guide for people in Japan looking to tame and style their natural wavy, curly and coily hair.
A COVID-19 test swab is placed into a tube in Hilversum, the Netherlands, in November 2020.
WORLD / Science & Health
Aug 22, 2023

Two years after catching COVID, patients still risk getting sick

People who were not hospitalized for acute COVID-19 still had a higher risk than uninfected people of developing long COVID-related disorders.
Takeshi Kimura, special adviser to the board for Nippon Life Insurance Co.
ESG CONSORTIUM
Aug 28, 2023

PRI’s global ESG investing talks in Tokyo to tackle ‘sense of crisis’

The leading global conference on responsible investment will be held in Tokyo for the first time this fall, focusing on what investors can do to make society sustainable at a time when many industries are struggling to meet their targets for combating climate change.
Korean writer-director Kim Sung Hwan's "Iron Mask" took one of the two top awards at this year's Bucheon International Fantastic Film Festival (BiFan) in South Korea.
CULTURE / Film / CULTURE SMASH
Aug 30, 2023

Does South Korea now have the edge over Japan when it comes to film?

While Korean cinema tackles universal topics, Japanese studios are content to navel-gaze.
Singer Jimmy Buffett performs during NBC's "Today" show Summer Concert Series in New York City in July 2016.
CULTURE / Music
Sep 2, 2023

Singer-songwriter Jimmy Buffett dies at 76

Jimmy Buffett, the American singer-songwriter who went from Key West beach bum to billionaire behind the always-on-vacation "Margaritaville" commercial empire, has died at the age of 76.
A self-driving Chevrolet Bolt electric vehicle in San Francisco in 2017
COMMENTARY / World
Sep 17, 2023

With self-driving cars, it's the ethics we have to navigate

Do accidents involving self-driving cars today save lives tomorrow? When it comes to self-driving cars, the challenges aren't just technical, but ethical.
Nobody wishes for a medical emergency, but preparing for one while you're in a foreign country can only make things easier.
COMMUNITY / How-tos
Sep 18, 2023

How to avoid medical purgatory when hospitalized in Japan

Much like a legal will, a visit to the hospital is the last thing for which you want to prepare — yet doing so will save you stress and worry.
Leaves of marijuana plants from which hemp fibers are extracted at Japan's largest legal marijuana farm in Kanuma, Tochigi Prefecture, on July 5, 2016
PODCAST / deep dive
Sep 21, 2023

Does a university cannabis scandal point to a larger trend?

A drugs scandal at Japan’s biggest university draws attention to a troubling statistic: Cannabis use among young people is on the rise.
The Jumeirah Beach district of Dubai, United Arab Emirates. San Francisco-based Vesta wants to dump ground-up olivine on beaches and into seawater in an attempt to speed up the ocean’s natural ability to remove carbon dioxide.
ENVIRONMENT / Oceans
Sep 29, 2023

How seeding the oceans with minerals could help slow climate change

Techniques to remove carbon from the atmosphere run into the hundreds or even thousands of dollars per ton.
Tupac Shakur
CULTURE / Music
Sep 30, 2023

Suspect in rapper Tupac Shakur's 1996 slaying charged with murder

The charges marked a breakthrough for a long-unsolved case that was a defining moment in the history of rap music.
A screengrab from a video posted on Telegram on Monday shows an armed Palestinian militant leading a man during the Supernova music festival, near Kibbutz Reim in southern Israel.
WORLD
Oct 10, 2023

'Butchered in cold blood': Nightmare at music festival in Israel

Most of those gunned down at the event were young people in their party clothes who had danced through the night under the stars.
Ukrainian marines practice house-to-house combat during training exercises in the region of Vuhledar, Ukraine, on Aug. 25.
WORLD
Oct 11, 2023

‘Always under fire’: On the battlefield with Ukraine’s elite troops

In the forest belts of eastern Ukraine, the Russian forces continue to mount relentless assaults in a maze of scorched pines.
A gender-equality supporter protests against discrimination at an event held in Tokyo for International Women's Day in March 2021
COMMENTARY / Japan
Oct 13, 2023

Japan’s gender gap has never been wider. Can Kishida close it?

The government emphasizes the need to improve gender equality, but correcting Japan's dismal record requires a nuanced approach.
Kanata Kimoto had his womb and ovaries removed in Thailand when he was 24, so he could have his legal gender status changed. Now he questions whether such an invasive and costly procedure was necessary.
JAPAN / Society
Oct 22, 2023

Calls grow to abolish Japan's surgery requirement for gender change

Between 2004 and 2022, a total of 11,919 people had their gender changed through the law in Japan.
The site of the al-Ahli Arab Hospital after a blast ripped through the facility on Tuesday.
WORLD / Politics
Oct 22, 2023

In global conflict zones, hospitals and doctors are no longer spared

Over the last two decades, medical facilities and staff have become casualties of war more frequently, in violation of international law.
Voice actors record their parts for a radio drama at a radio station studio in Manila.
ASIA PACIFIC / Society
Oct 25, 2023

Filipino listeners cheered by last surviving radio dramas

A small team of voice actors and technicians produce shows that are broadcast in Tagalog by DZRH, one of the oldest radio stations in the country.
Munakata Shiko's "Oshira-sama: The Flying Silkworm Deities" (1968)
CULTURE / Art
Oct 26, 2023

Major retrospective traces hero's journey of 'Japan's van Gogh'

An exhibition of Shiko Munakata's works shows evidence of a charismatic character and a career that reflects Japan's changing relationship with the West.
A former pop idol (Mai Fukagawa) finds herself in a slump with little money, no partner and precarious mental health as she nears her 30s in “Tsundol.”
CULTURE / Film
Nov 2, 2023

‘Tsundol’: Pop idol on the brink gets mental health uplift

While it is a predictable drama about a former singer getting her life together, the film addresses her mental well-being in a refreshing manner.

Longform

Totopa in Tokyo’s Shinjuku Ward was picked by consultants TTNE as the best sauna of the year.
Japan’s sauna movement: Relax, refresh, repeat