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A soldier stands guard near the American University of Beirut Medical Center after as many as 2,800 people, including Hezbollah fighters and medics, were wounded when the pagers they use to communicate exploded across Lebanon on Tuesday
COMMENTARY / World
Sep 18, 2024

Hezbollah pager attack looks like a decapitation strike

The sophisticated nature of the attack, involving the insertion of explosive material into pagers, suggests a high level of intelligence and planning.
The street where a 10-year-old boy is said to have been stabbed with a knife, on Thursday in Shenzhen in southern China.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Sep 19, 2024

Japanese school student stabbed in Shenzhen dies

The assault echoes an earlier incident of violence in June, when a man attacked a bus used by a Japanese school in Suzhou, China.
Former U.S. President and Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump speaks at the Israeli-American Council National Summit in Washington on Thursday.
WORLD
Sep 20, 2024

Donald Trump says Jews will be partly to blame if he loses election

Trump argued that Israel would likely cease to exist within two years should Harris win the election.
Dodgers designated hitter Shohei Ohtani hits his 50th home run of the season on Thursday in Miami.
BASEBALL / MLB
Sep 20, 2024

Ohtani’s former manager elated — but not surprised — after historic mark

Even as Ohtani rewrites the record books, Hideki Kuriyama believes he can do more.
Hideko Hakamata (center) and lawyers representing her younger brother, Iwao Hakamata, pose with a banner that reads "Iwao Hakamata verdict not guilty" as they leave the Shizuoka District Court on Thursday after the ruling was delivered.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Sep 26, 2024

In rare retrial, Shizuoka court rules ex-boxer not guilty of 1966 murders

Iwao Hakamata, the world’s longest-serving death row prisoner, has maintained his innocence for decades.
Members of the K-pop group NewJeans are embroiled in a dispute with their corporate backers over their creative relationship with an executive producer.
CULTURE / Music
Sep 28, 2024

NewJeans’ ultimatum casts K-pop’s displays of labor in a new light

A YouTube live broadcast from the girl group raises age-old questions about labor practices in the Korean pop industry.
Musician Koshi Inaba is the latest artist to be featured on national broadcaster NHK’s Tiny Desk Concerts Japan. Based on a series from America’s National Public Radio, Japan’s version has spotlighted acts that you likely wouldn’t see stateside, like veteran rockers Kirinji and upstart pop artist yama.
CULTURE / Music
Sep 28, 2024

NHK furthers global reach with Tiny Desk Concerts Japan

Musician Koshi Inaba delivered a rollicking set for the stripped-down music series that brings cherry-picked Japanese acts you likely wouldn’t see stateside to new ears.
The four remaining U.K. Conservative leadership contenders (from left): Robert Jenrick, James Cleverly, Kemi Badenoch and Tom Tugendhat
WORLD / Politics
Sep 30, 2024

Tories turn on each other in race to succeed low-key Sunak

The U.K. Conservatives' annual conference has kicked off with jibes between leadership contenders.
Kei Nishikori hits a return against Holger Rune during their Japan Open quarterfinal match on Sunday.
TENNIS
Sep 30, 2024

Kei Nishikori misses out on semifinal spot after Holger Rune fights back from brink

Rune, the No. 6 six seed, came back from the brink to win four straight games and end the Japanese veteran's challenge in front of a lively crowd in Tokyo.
GU's first overseas flagship store opens in SoHo, New York.
LIFE / Style & Design
Sep 30, 2024

How to own something by the punk poet designer Jun Takahashi

GU, Uniqlo’s trendier sibling, is opening its first store outside Asia in SoHo, collaborating with the subversively witty Jun Takahashi of Undercover.
While China's recent initiatives signal a willingness to address economic challenges, the road ahead remains difficult as the country's policymakers have yet to offer a clear road to success.
COMMENTARY / World
Oct 3, 2024

A stimulus is good, but China still faces a hard slog

Beijing is back in investors' good books. To justify the euphoria, it needs some meaty goals.
Ayami Sato is one of the best female players in baseball history.
BASEBALL
Oct 3, 2024

Japan great Ayami Sato helps shine light on women's baseball in new documentary

Ayami Sato has helped Japan win six straight Women's Baseball World Cup titles.
Tomoyuki Sugano (left) with his Giants teammates during a game last month in Hiroshima.
BASEBALL / Japanese Baseball
Oct 5, 2024

Giants ace Tomoyuki Sugano announces plans to join MLB

The long-time Giants starter has won the Sawamura Award as NPB's best pitcher twice, in 2017 and 2018.
Cameron Lew, who makes music under the name Ginger Root, recently released “Shinbangumi,” an album that was influenced by the glimmering pop echoes of Japan in the 1980s as well as the nerviness of Devo, the loose rock-pop of Hall & Oates and even Haruomi Hosono’s ’70s explorations of exotica.
CULTURE / Music
Oct 5, 2024

Ginger Root expands on effervescent retro sound

New release "Shinbangumi" comes after a whirlwind year for the American artist who blends glittering pop echoes of 1980s Japan with a mish-mash of Western influences.
Finance Minister Katsunobu Kato attends an interview with media outlets at the Finance Ministry on Monday.
BUSINESS / Economy
Oct 7, 2024

Japan's new finance minister vows to finish the job as deflation czar

Katsunobu Kato's message indicates that financial conditions might remain accommodative for some time.
A dolphin approaches a swimmer in the sea off the coast of the city of Fukui in 2022.
JAPAN / Society
Oct 8, 2024

Cases of dolphin attacks spike in Fukui Prefecture this summer

A total of 15 cases have been reported, compared with five last year, with victims sustaining injuries that require multiple stitches.
Chinese residents living in Japan take part in a “white paper” protest in solidarity against China's COVID-19 lockdowns, in Tokyo in November 2022.
JAPAN
Oct 10, 2024

Chinese nationals in Japan testify to harassment by Beijing, report says

One man said Chinese police had used his relatives to try and lure him back to the country.
Mindbody ClassPass CFO Tom Aveston speaks during a news conference in Tokyo in September.
BUSINESS / Companies
Oct 9, 2024

ClassPass lands in Japan with eye on domestic fitness market and visitors

The company, which provides access to gyms on a membership basis, started operating on Sept. 19 with 200 partner gyms and fitness studios, mainly in Tokyo.
Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, awards Brig. Gen. Amir Ali Hajizadeh (left), the commander of the Aerospace Force, with the Fath badge in Tehran on Sunday for the missile attack on Israel. 
COMMENTARY / Japan
Oct 10, 2024

Today's Tehran looks a lot like the Tokyo of the 1930s

Current tensions between Iran and Israel have parallels to historical events in 1930s Japan.
Israeli Army soldiers ride in a humvee convoy in the Upper Galilee region of northern Israel near the border with Lebanon on Thursday.
WORLD / FOCUS
Oct 13, 2024

'Very challenging': Israel faces Hezbollah in tricky terrain

After pounding Gaza for nearly a year, Israeli forces began "targeted" ground raids on September 30 intended to push back Hezbollah fighters in Lebanon.
A man uses binoculars to look at the North Korean side of the Demilitarized Zone dividing the two Koreas, from South Korea's Odusan Unification Observatory in Paju on Oct. 9.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Oct 14, 2024

South Korea military says 'fully ready' as drone tensions soar

North Korea has accused Seoul of flying drones over its capital to drop leaflets and warned that if another was detected, it would consider it "a declaration of war."
Nearly two-thirds of parents of Australian teenagers reported concerns about their children's social media use, according to a 2024 survey by youth service ReachOut.
WORLD / Society
Oct 16, 2024

Australia's planned social media ban raises teen isolation fears

For teenagers from migrant, LGBTQIA+ and other minority backgrounds, an age block could cut off access to essential social support.
Journalist Shiori Ito's documentary "Black Box Diaries," which follows her own investigation into her sexual assault and struggle for justice, was one of 19 Japanese films that screened at the Busan International Film Festival this month.
CULTURE / Film
Oct 18, 2024

Japan-based features generate buzz at Busan International Film Festival

With 278 films on offer, Asia's largest film festival tackled heavy themes such as assisted suicide and struggles faced by migrants.
Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal after their third-place match at an exhibition in Riyadh on Saturday.
TENNIS
Oct 20, 2024

'Don't leave tennis,' Djokovic tells Nadal after 'amazing rivalry'

Nadal, 38, announced on Oct. 10 that he would retire from tennis after the Davis Cup Finals in Malaga, Spain, next month.
Xander Schauffele in action during the final round of The Presidents Cup gold tournament in Ile Bizard, Quebec, Canada, on Sept. 29.
MORE SPORTS / Golf
Oct 22, 2024

Schauffele targets more success in Japan after major breakthroughs

The golfer has already tasted success in Japan, winning a pandemic-delayed Tokyo Olympic gold in 2021.
Former Prime Minister Fumio Kishida accepts a gift of 'dekopon' citruses, a specialty product and symbol of Kumamoto Prefecture, from Kumamon, itself a mascot and instantly recognizeable symbol of the region.
COMMUNITY / Voices / FOREIGN AGENDA
Oct 28, 2024

Japan’s ‘meibutsu’-industrial complex is a wonder to behold

If you name a Japanese prefecture, many locals will instantly be able to tell you something that the region is famous for or a product synonymous with that area.
Oracle Red Bull Racing driver Max Verstappen talks to teammates at the starting grid at the Formula 1 Pirelli United States Grand Prix at Circuit of the Americas in Austin, Texas, on Oct. 20.
MORE SPORTS
Oct 25, 2024

Verstappen carries momentum back to a favorite track

Max Verstappen arrives at the high-altitude Hermanos Rodriguez circuit 57 points clear of McLaren's Lando Norris with five rounds remaining.
A demonstration calling for the return of Ukrainian prisoners of war in Lucerne, Switzerland, in June. Securing detainees' fair treatment and release isn't important only for resolving the Russia-Ukraine war, but to uphold human rights writ large.
COMMENTARY / World / Geoeconomic Briefing
Oct 25, 2024

Human rights are key to resolving the war in Ukraine

The war against Russia can't be won without clear political objectives. This also means not losing sight of the need to uphold human rights in Ukraine, and beyond.
The yen has resumed its declines recently against the dollar on expectations that the U.S.-Japan interest rate divergence will remain wide, posing a headache for authorities who fret of the hit to households from rising import costs from a weak yen.
BUSINESS / Economy
Oct 26, 2024

IMF sees weak yen as beneficial for Japan's economy

The IMF's Japan mission chief also urged Japan to raise rates at a gradual pace and compile supplementary budgets only when a big shock hits the economy.
A custom-made split keyboard at Yusha Kobo.
BUSINESS / Companies
Oct 29, 2024

Make a one-of-a-kind mechanical keyboard at this Akihabara shop

At Yusha Kobo, customers pick switches, keycaps and all the other components needed to fashion one-of-a-kind keyboards that meet their exacting needs.

Longform

Tokyo Koon stands at the forefront of tackling the so-called 2025 issue, also known as the “Magnetic Tape Alert.”
The race to save 20th-century history