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November 26, 2024
 

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Directed and co-written by Sunao Katabuchi, animated film “In This Corner of the World” depicts the beauty of nature and the horrors of war with equal potency.
CULTURE / Film
Mar 27, 2024

Films that give the Japanese perspective of the atomic bomb

Movies about the nation's darkest days — in genres such as dramas, fantasies and anime — offer another side to Christopher Nolan's 'Oppenheimer' story.
Ryuya Wakaba plays a man determined to kill the person who murdered his girlfriend, only to find he’s stuck reliving the same day over and over with his foe still alive in “Penalty Loop.”
CULTURE / Film
Mar 28, 2024

‘Penalty Loop’: Murder on repeat loses meaning

Shinji Araki’s dark comedy about two antagonists stuck in a time loop is intriguing, but lacks logic and satisfying answers.
Takeru Satoh (right) and Masami Nagasawa play an engaged couple whose relationship is put to the test by memories of an earlier romance in Tomokazu Yamada’s “April, Come She Will.”
CULTURE / Film
Mar 28, 2024

‘April, Come She Will’ promises more than it delivers

Tomokazu Yamada’s ruminative romantic drama sets out to interrogate love story cliches, but ends up succumbing to them.
Myanmar's military high ranking officials attend a ceremony to mark the country's 78th Armed Forces Day in Naypyidaw on Wednesday.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Mar 28, 2024

Myanmar army behind Facebook pages spewing hate speech: U.N. probe

In 2021, Rohingya refugees sued Facebook for $150 billion (¥22.6 trillion), claiming it had failed to stem the hate speech directed against them.
An installation titled "Ukiyo-e" by Atsushi Kaga is displayed at Art Basel in Hong Kong on Tuesday.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Mar 28, 2024

Art Basel Hong Kong’s full-scale return tests city’s events appeal

The art fair will serve as a test of the city’s ability to stage major events, in the wake of several big-name controversies and cancellations.
People exit the platform at a train station along the Yamanote Line in Tokyo in 1986. A time-traveling TV comedy with a bawdy middle-aged hero from the era has become a big hit in Japan, juxtaposing brash 1980s attitudes with the more politically correct present day.
CULTURE / TV & Streaming
Mar 29, 2024

Satire TV show strikes a generation-spanning chord in Japan

"Extremely Inappropriate" uses a time-traveling protagonist to humorously highlight the gap between attitudes of the 1980s and the 2020s.
A poster for "Oppenheimer" is displayed at a theater in Tokyo's Shinjuku Ward on Friday. The film's Japan debut came eight months after its global release.
CULTURE / Film
Mar 29, 2024

'Oppenheimer' opens in Japan eight months after global release

Japan screenings were delayed as the worldwide premiere was only weeks before the anniversary of the 1945 bombings in Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
On the Diving Deep podcast hosted by Olympic athlete Sam Fricker, Former Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison dismissed the idea that China is unable to become a multiparty democracy, saying there is no "anti-democratic” instinct in the Chinese people.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Mar 29, 2024

Former Australia PM Scott Morrison says China can be a democracy

The former Australian PM said Canberra’s relationship with China will always be transactional and never "values-based” like Australia’s ties with the U.S.
For some fundamentalist Christians, Donald Trump is seen as divine instrument even though his behavior seems at odds with their religious values.
COMMENTARY / World
Mar 28, 2024

What fundamentalist Christians see in Trump

Navigating the paradox that is the intersection of fundamentalism and politics in America.
“Time” is a mixed-genre performance, conceived by musician Ryuichi Sakamoto and artist Shiro Takatani, that depicts a struggle between man and nature.
CULTURE / Stage
Mar 30, 2024

Ryuichi Sakamoto and Shiro Takatani’s ‘Time’ is a dreamy blur

It’s been one year since the composer’s death, but his creative output carries on in Japan.
Jin-Oh Hyun searches for wild king cherry trees and their relatives on Geoje Island, off the coast of South Korea, on March 22.
ASIA PACIFIC / Society
Mar 30, 2024

Wanted in South Korea: imperialism-free cherry blossoms

Activists want to replace a variety of cherry tree associated with the Japanese colonial era with one they say is Korean. The science is messy.
U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris delivers remarks at the Chavis Community Center in Raleigh, North Carolina, on Tuesday.
WORLD / Politics / FOCUS
Mar 30, 2024

Kamala Harris pushes the envelope as Biden struggles with some Democrats

The U.S. vice president's new role is seen as part of a high-profile effort to persuade the fractious coalition of voters to give them a second term.
A site in Chiyoda Ward, Tokyo, that formerly belonged to the British Embassy, was discovered to have artifacts and dwellings from the city's past.
JAPAN / History / Longform
Apr 1, 2024

The complications in digging up Tokyo's ancient past

When traces of history are found at construction sites, businesses need to sport the cost of removing them. But then, the build goes on.
Customers browse Gashapon official shop “Ikebukuro Sohonten” in Tokyo.
BUSINESS / Companies
Apr 2, 2024

Top capsule-toy maker Bandai bets on huge market outside Japan

Machines for capsule toys have become ubiquitous in Japan, found not only in arcades, but also malls, supermarkets, airports and train stations.
New recruits of the Ukrainian military's 1st Da Vinci Wolves Separate Mechanized Battalion take part in a military exercise in an undisclosed location in central Ukraine on March 12.
COMMENTARY / World / Geoeconomic Briefing
Apr 7, 2024

Ukraine war has brought new challenges for international security

Democracies are being forced to confront the idea of hybrid warfare and the danger of full-scale conflict.
Daiya Seto in action during the men's 400m medley final at the World Aquatics Championships in Doha on Feb. 18.
OLYMPICS / Swimming
Apr 2, 2024

Japanese swimming veteran ready to make waves at Paris Olympics

Daiya Seto wants to be a voice for meaningful change in the domestic sport.
As they enter the workforce, the young employees who grew up texting one another have their own rules for communicating.
LIFE / Language / BILINGUAL
Apr 2, 2024

Fear of a full stop? Young Japanese say drop the period in your texts.

In addition to "maruhara," or "period harassment," younger employees want to cut down on the unnecessary emails that are a part of work culture.
People dressed as King Kong and Godzilla attend the world premiere of "Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire" at the TCL Chinese Theater in Hollywood last month.
CULTURE / Entertainment news
Apr 2, 2024

'Godzilla x Kong' tops North American box office with $80 million haul

Japan's favorite monster seems to be on a roll this year, winning an Oscar and topping the box office in a prized market.
Workers prepare processed crickets at Hygente Technology in Shinjo, Yamagata Prefecture, in November.
JAPAN / Regional Voices: Tohoku
Apr 8, 2024

Next-gen protein sources explored as meat replacements in Tohoku

While proponents tout the benefits of edible insects and plant-based meat, getting consumers to change their eating habits remains an uphill task.
A giant mural of baseball star Shohei Ohtani appears on the side of a hotel in downtown Los Angeles in March. ANA Holdings said it has reached a multi-year deal to be the official Japanese airline for the Los Angeles Dodgers.
BUSINESS / Companies
Apr 2, 2024

ANA to be official Japanese airline of Ohtani's LA Dodgers

The carrier will also collaborate with the Dodgers in celebrating Japanese culture at heritage nights events.
Kobayashi Pharmaceutical's Tokyo office. The company reported more cases of hospitalization linked to its dietary supplements.
JAPAN / Science & Health
Apr 2, 2024

Kobayashi Pharma's health supplements tied to 157 hospitalizations

The figure reflects an increase from the 114 hospitalization cases that the company said were linked to its products containing red yeast rice.
The National Museum of China following the closing of the Second Session of the 14th National People's Congress in Beijing on March 11
WORLD / Politics
Apr 3, 2024

China’s advancing efforts to influence the U.S. election raise alarms

The accounts signal a potential shift in how Beijing aims to influence American politics, with more of a willingness to target specific candidates.
Renegade director Koji Wakamatsu (Arata Iura, right) heads to Nagoya in the early 1980s to open his own cinema in “Hijacked Youth Dare to Stop Us 2.”
CULTURE / Film
Apr 4, 2024

‘Hijacked Youth Dare to Stop Us 2’ captures origins of indie theater boom

Junji Inoue’s semi-autobiographical film is a love letter to independent cinemas — and their fans.
The surprising election losses by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's ruling Justice and Development Party to candidates of the Republican People's Party are signs of hope for democracy and secularism in the country.
COMMENTARY / World
Apr 2, 2024

Turkey’s Erdogan is down, but don’t count him out

The election upset of President Erdogan’s AKP Party is just the start in a long fight for liberal democracy.
Abe no Seimei (Kento Yamazaki), an apprentice at a school of mystic arts, gets wrapped up in a murder investigation in “The Yin Yang Master Zero.”
CULTURE / Film
Apr 4, 2024

‘The Yin Yang Master Zero’: Imaginative action film casts a dazzling spell

Shimako Sato’s VFX-heavy, big-budget fantasy about practitioners of mystic arts goes beyond the genre standard.
Both Godzilla and Kong have a rich screen history to draw on, but “Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire” feels like a desperate attempt for the crossover franchise to justify both its existence and its continuation.
CULTURE / Film
Apr 4, 2024

‘Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire’: Running out of steam

The latest in the Warner Bros. Monsterverse franchise shows signs of an anemic imagination.
Since the original 2010 release, visual novel series Danganronpa has spawned eight mainline games (and several other titles) for a total 5 million copies sold worldwide.
LIFE / Digital / ON: GAMES
Apr 6, 2024

Are visual novels ready for a great leap forward?

Where reaction time and manual reflexes are in other genres, visual novels prize critical thinking and the ability to interpret characters’ motivations.
Foreign tourists get their photos taken in front of a public toilet that was redesigned as part of a project to transform public toilets into restrooms that can be used comfortably by everyone, during a Tokyo Toilet Shuttle Tour, in Shibuya Ward, on Thursday.
JAPAN / Society
Apr 6, 2024

Flushed with pride, public toilets a tourist draw in Tokyo

Along with taking in temples and cherry blossoms, Tokyo visitors can now join a curated pilgrimage of the city's more modern wonders: its public toilets.
A lone Tesla charges in the basement of a commercial property in Tokyo. One of Japan’s biggest obstacles to electric vehicles is subpar charging infrastructure.
BUSINESS / Companies
Apr 8, 2024

How three high-tech countries became laggards in electric vehicles

Japan's slow adoption traces back to a decade-old bet on hydrogen fuel-cell technology, while U.S. and South Korea have hit bottlenecks.
Miyagi Gov. Yoshihiro Murai speaks at a a news conference in Sendai on Monday.
JAPAN
Apr 9, 2024

Miyagi governor suggests scrapping national sports event

The annual event is hosted in rotation by the 47 prefectures.
Bluesky is booming in Japan — mainly for reasons other than U.S. politics
According to Similarweb, average monthly user numbers for Bluesky on Android in Japan quintupled in the 12 months to October.
Taiwan stuns Samurai Japan to capture Premier12 title
Japan starter Shosei Togo reacts after allowing a three-run home run against Taiwan in the fifth inning of the Premier12 final on Sunday.
Japan’s sauna movement: Relax, refresh, repeat
Totopa in Tokyo’s Shinjuku Ward was picked by consultants TTNE as the best sauna of the year.
AI boom makes 139-year-old cable maker Japan’s hottest stock
Fujikura's headquarters in Tokyo's Koto Ward. The company's share price has surged by more than 400% this year.
Japan and U.S. to form missile plan in case of Taiwan emergency
A U.S. Marine Corps M142 High Mobility Artillery Rocket System (HIMARS) and a Japanese Ground Self-Defense Force Type 12 Surface-to-Ship Missile (12SSM) system are put on display at a symposium at a base in Kisarazu, Japan, in June 2022.
Bluesky is booming in Japan — mainly for reasons other than U.S. politics
According to Similarweb, average monthly user numbers for Bluesky on Android in Japan quintupled in the 12 months to October.
How Japan can exit the fossil fuel subsidies it can’t seem to quit
A man walks past a gasoline station in Tokyo on Thursday.
Are you leaving your loved ones digital legacies or headaches?
The National Consumer Affairs Center reports a growing number of consultations regarding "digital legacies" — data and online services left behind when people die.
Rayssa Leal and Chloe Covell on Japan’s teen skaters: We are friends, not rivals
Brazil’s Rayssa Leal celebrates after winning the women's Street League Skateboarding competition on Saturday in Tokyo.
An iconic 32-foot doughnut might give Randy’s an edge in Japan
Randy's Donuts in Inglewood, California. Replicas of the giant doughnut sculpture will be installed, where possible, at shops in Japan.

Podcast

One of the many entrances to the Kabukicho neighborhood in Tokyo’s Shinjuku Ward.
Kabukicho: Tokyo’s ‘stadium of desire’

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
By Greg Dvorak

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The celebrated artist ‘updating’ the kimono
The celebrated artist ‘updating’ the kimono

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