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The dying words of a wounded man (Yang Ik-june, back) come back to haunt him when he fails to meet his maker on schedule in Nobuhiro Yamashita’s “Confession.”
CULTURE / Film
May 23, 2024

‘Confession’ takes a stab at the dark side of getting it off your chest

The film’s South Korean actor Yang Ik-june brings the intensity needed to deliver a macabre B-movie that's a bloody good time for gore fans.
Managing India's regional tensions will be critical for the nation's future, as demographic shifts and economic disparities threaten to exacerbate existing divides.
COMMENTARY / World
May 23, 2024

Hindu-Muslim split isn’t India’s most dangerous divide

If the long-established consensus around states’ rights continues to erode, India will be in real trouble.
Yoshinobu Yamamoto’s ERA in nine starts since returning from Seoul is 2.38.
BASEBALL / MLB
May 23, 2024

Dodgers' Yoshinobu Yamamoto finds rhythm on mound after early stumble

Yamamoto has impressed even the organization that went out and committed $375 million (including posting fees) to add him to its roster this winter.
Japan's new whaling mother ship, the Kangei Maru, arrives at Ariake pier in Tokyo on Thursday.
JAPAN
May 23, 2024

WiFi, drones and sharp blades on Japan's whaling mother ship

The country has a quota this year of around 350 Bryde's, minke and sei whales.
Designed by architect Akira Watanabe, Numazu Club’s villa rooms offer views of a tranquil pebble-lined shallow pool that draws clear spring water from Fuji River.
LIFE / Travel
May 25, 2024

Meditation as architecture at a Shizuoka teahouse turned villa

Whether you meditate by the crystal-clear pool or enjoy a dip in a "hinoki" bath, you're bound to appreciate Numazu Club's original vision: a sanctuary from modern life.
"Rintaro: Japanese Food from an Izakaya in California" is a welcome reminder of how Japanese basics are best done and, perhaps, how to get a little closer to how things still should be.
LIFE
May 26, 2024

A California dreamin’ cookbook of 'izakaya' favorites

In an age where traditional knowledge is being forgotten, “Rintaro: Japanese Food from an Izakaya in California” is a treasure trove.
Takashi Miike (front left) is among the big-name directors slated to work with K2 Pictures, a new film production startup that aims to disrupt the Japanese film industry.
CULTURE / Film / Wide Angle
May 25, 2024

Can K2's goal of creating a better film industry in Japan win over skeptics?

While established auteurs such as Takashi Miike, Miwa Nishikawa and Hirokazu Kore-eda are slated to work with the startup, it still faces an uphill struggle.
A member of a Ukrainian artillery crew stores munitions at a firing position near the town of Vovchansk, in the northern Ukrainian city of Kharkiv, on May 19. Two classified Ukrainian reports show that some U.S. precision-guided weapons are vulnerable to electronic warfare, an element in Ukraine's recent battlefield setbacks.
WORLD
May 26, 2024

Some U.S. weapons stymied by Russian jamming in Ukraine

Two classified Ukrainian reports show that some U.S. precision-guided weapons are vulnerable to electronic warfare, an element in Ukraine’s recent battlefield setbacks.
To counter the rise of authoritarianism, liberals must acknowledge the importance of transcendent loyalties like faith and family, while defending liberal institutions.
COMMENTARY / World
May 26, 2024

The authoritarians have the momentum

To counter the rise of authoritarianism, liberals must acknowledge the importance of transcendent loyalties like faith and family, while defending liberal institutions.
Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese leader Xi Jinping meet in Beijing on May 16.
COMMENTARY / World
May 26, 2024

The fragile fraternity of China and Russia

Putin’s Mao-like bid for a full-fledged military alliance with China, including commitments to mutual defense, also seems to have failed.
Yoko Yamanaka, 27, became the youngest woman to win an award from the International Federation of Film Critics at the Cannes Film Festival on Saturday.
CULTURE / Film
May 26, 2024

Director Yoko Yamanaka's film wins critics award at Cannes

Japanese director Yoko Yamanaka's "Desert of Namibia" won an award from the International Federation of Film Critics at the Cannes Film Festival.
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. has pledged to build three advanced plants in the U.S. state of Arizona with total investments exceeding $65 billion.
BUSINESS / Companies
May 27, 2024

TSMC’s foreign investments are good for Taiwan, official says

TSMC is the world’s biggest contract chipmaker, with Apple and Nvidia relying on it for their most important products.
Mitsubishi Electric's TOKUI Fast Accurate Synchronized Motion Testing Robot solves a Rubik's Cube
JAPAN
May 27, 2024

Japanese robot solves Rubik's Cube in record time

Guinness World Records recognized the 0.305-second time achieved by Mitsubishi Electric's machine as a new world best, beating the previous record of 0.38 seconds.
Hakone in Kanagawa Prefecture will host one of three ryokan Hyatt is set to launch with Kyoto-based developer Kiraku in 2026.
BUSINESS / Companies
Jun 2, 2024

Hyatt doubles down on Japan with line of luxury ryokan

The first three locations are scheduled to start opening in 2026 in Kanagawa, Oita and Kagoshima prefectures.
Health ministry officials enter Kobayashi Pharmaceutical's plant in the city of Osaka for inspection on March 30.
JAPAN
May 29, 2024

Two more unexpected compounds found in beni kōji supplements

The two compounds are believed to have been created by contamination of blue mold.
Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi's death has sparked a crisis of legitimacy for the regime amid speculation about Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei's succession plans.
COMMENTARY / World
May 29, 2024

Iran’s succession crisis is a legitimacy crisis

Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi's death has sparked a crisis of legitimacy for the regime amid speculation about Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei's succession plans.
Saori (Satomi Ishihara) is thrust into a parent’s worst nightmare when her daughter goes missing, and her socially awkward brother emerges as the prime suspect.
CULTURE / Film
May 30, 2024

‘Missing’: A kidnapping story fully aware of loss

Keisuke Yoshida’s “Missing” explores a mother’s anguish (without overdoing it), commenting on modern Japan’s dark media landscape.
A professional single from Tokyo follows a deaf photographer to rural Hokkaido in Toshihiko Tanaka’s directorial debut, “Rei.”
CULTURE / Film
May 30, 2024

'Rei': An imperfect yet compelling directorial debut

Toshihiko Tanaka’s Rotterdam prizewinner is a flawed but oddly engrossing epic.
Junichiro “John” Imaeda (middle row center) decided to start Ajate, a band that infuses traditional Japanese festival music with Afrobeat, after spending three months traveling around Ghana and Burkina Faso to absorb the music of West Africa.
CULTURE / Music
May 31, 2024

Ajate's joyous blend of Afrobeat and Japanese festival music

The nine-piece project brings together sounds from disparate lands to celebrate connectivity and community.
Whether you get your goosebumps from horror movies, the dark or even historical battle sites, there are lots of ways to express fear in Japanese.
LIFE / Language / BILINGUAL
May 31, 2024

Using intransitive verbs to make Japanese ghost stories extra spooky

Since intransitive verbs don't need to take a subject, they are best at describing things that happen of their own accord.
Sokyo Ono’s “Shinto: The Kami Spirit World of Japan” reveals how a mystic sense of nature lies at the heart of Shinto.
CULTURE / Books
May 31, 2024

'Shinto: The Kami Spirit World of Japan': A helpful guide to uncovering an integral part of Japanese life

Sokyo Ono’s book provides a concise introduction to all the fundamental elements of Shinto, including its symbols, beliefs and deities.
South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol addresses the Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry in Seoul on Monday as Prime Minister Fumio Kishida and Chinese Premier Li Qiang listen on.
EDITORIALS
May 31, 2024

A long-neglected trilateral resumes — to expected results

Revival of this trilateral has been driven by Chinese uncertainty: worries about its economy and anxiety regarding geopolitical developments.
South Korea's first openly gay legislator, Cha Hae-young
ASIA PACIFIC / Society
Jun 1, 2024

'We exist': South Korea's first LGBTQ councilor tackles inclusion

Cha Hae-young was elected to the Mapo district council on June 1, 2022 — the same day as Seoul's annual LGBTQ Pride march.
In “A Gentleman from Japan,” Thomas Lockley lays out the history of English exploration around the globe during the 16th century, delving into the life of the first recorded Japanese person to set foot in the United Kingdom, the United States and South America.
CULTURE / Books
Jun 2, 2024

'A Gentleman from Japan': A journey of firsts in the age of exploration

Written in fast, novelistic prose, Thomas Lockley uses the thread of one Japanese man’s experience to guide his readers into a complex world of suspicion and danger.
British opposition leader Keir Starmer speaks at a Welsh Labour general election campaign event in Abergavenny, Wales, Britain, on Thursday.
WORLD / Politics
Jun 3, 2024

Starmer campaigns on U.K. security ahead of key debate with Sunak

The Labour Party head is trying to win the election by campaigning on the political center ground, and by showing how the party has shifted since its historic 2019 defeat.
Hyappu Ishikawa (left) attends to children at the "Karafuru" Japanese language school in Nishio, Aichi Prefecture, in April.
JAPAN
Jun 3, 2024

How one Japanese city supports foreign students through community education

In the city of Nishio, public and private sectors collaborate with schools to support foreign students in Japanese language education and raise their school enrollment rates.
Nippon Television Network in Tokyo.The publisher of manga series "Sexy Tanaka-san" has criticized Nippon Television Network for its alleged "insincere" attitude over the television drama adaptation of the manga.
CULTURE / Entertainment news
Jun 4, 2024

Publisher raps Nippon TV over 'Sexy Tanaka-san' adaptation

Distrustful of the scriptwriter on the Nippon TV side via Shogakukan, Ashihara wrote the last two episodes of the series herself.
President of the French far-right National Rally (Rassemblement National-RN) party Jordan Bardella and Marine Le Pen, parliamentary party leader of the French far-right National Rally, attend a political rally to launch the party's campaign for the European elections, in Marseille, France, on March 3.
WORLD
Jun 4, 2024

A surging hard right stumbles over its own divisions

Immigration is an issue that has laid bare the contradictions for nationalist parties of trying to forge an international alliance.
Ukrainian soldiers patrol a heavily war-damaged area of the town of Orikhiv in the Zaporizhzhia region of Ukraine on May 20.
COMMENTARY / World
Jun 4, 2024

Ukraine and its allies need a new strategy. Here’s a start.

With the war in Ukraine, stop talking about ‘liberal’ democracy and the ‘rules-based international order.’
Tottori Gov. Shinji Hirai (left) with Shinsuke Nakajima, executive chef at the Hotel New Otani Tokyo
ESG CONSORTIUM
Jun 5, 2024

Tottori wagyu and wine paired at New Otani Tokyo fair

The Tottori Wagyu Fair is taking place at six restaurants in the Hotel New Otani Tokyo until July 15. The event has been hosted by the hotel every year since 2018, and this year is offering a new way of enjoying the premium wagyu together with wine from Tottori Prefecture.

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