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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.
Young Kenyan students look at a computer monitor in Nairobi on Oct. 31, 2023.
BUSINESS / Tech
Jun 19, 2024

From Swahili to Zulu, African techies develop AI language tools

Technology experts warn the lack of AI tools in African languages will lead to millions of people on the continent being excluded.
The River Seine near the Eiffel Tower in Paris as a heat wave hits France in August 2022.
OLYMPICS
Jun 19, 2024

New report warns of heat danger at Paris Olympics

The report said conditions in Paris could be worse than the last Games in Tokyo in 2021.
Anti-abortion protesters outside the Supreme Court in Washington on June 14.
WORLD / Society
Jun 19, 2024

'Unthinkable' normalized two years after U.S. abortion ruling

From medics to single mothers to abused minors, Americans from all walks of life have been affected.
American Institute in Taiwan Director Sandra Oudkirk looks at a Switchblade 300 drone during the 2023 Taipei Aerospace and Defense Technology Exhibition at the Nangang Exhibition Center in Taipei last September.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Jun 19, 2024

U.S. approves sale of more than 1,000 ‘suicide drones’ to Taiwan

The $360 million arms sale comes as Washington doubles down on helping Taipei counter a potential Chinese attack on the self-ruled island.
While the education ministry recently introduced a new subject called “logic and expression” in its new curriculum guidelines, experts say that many teachers, in practice, are still focusing on grammar acquisition.
JAPAN / Society
Jun 19, 2024

Japan study downplays complex grammar in improving English writing skills

English learners are better off focusing on making good arguments, according to the Kobe University research.
The European leader to watch in the months and perhaps years ahead is Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, whose far-right party was among the big winners in the recent European elections.
COMMENTARY / World
Jun 19, 2024

EU populists are blind to the real threat to the bloc

The center-right will continue to dominate parliament, the surge in support for the extreme right evokes memories of the ugliest moments of the 20th century.
German and Japanese fighter jets take part in an exercise over Japan. Germany's air force plans to send three of the fighters to Japan next month for the first-ever joint aerial exercise between the Luftwaffe and Air Self-Defense Force.
JAPAN / Politics
Jun 19, 2024

Germany laser-focused on Indo-Pacific despite hurdles, top envoy to Japan says

German Ambassador Clemens von Goetze expects soaring ties with Japan to continue to reach unprecedented heights.
Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan leader Kenta Izumi (left) faces off against Prime Minister Fumio Kishida in a debate in parliament on Wednesday.
JAPAN / Politics
Jun 19, 2024

CDP's Izumi challenges Kishida to dissolve Lower House

Izumi said Kishida ought to seek a fresh mandate from the public due to his party's handling of its slush funds scandal.
People wait to cross a street in Kyoto in April. The number of foreign visitors to Japan came to 3.04 million in May, marking the third straight month at more than 3 million.
JAPAN
Jun 19, 2024

Flood of tourists prompts call to charge foreign visitors more

Foreign tourist arrivals numbered 3.04 million in May, up 9.6% from 2019 and marking the third straight month at over 3 million.
Celtics forward Jayson Tatum walks off the court with the NBA championship trophy after Boston clinched the title on Monday.
BASKETBALL / NBA
Jun 20, 2024

Celtics celebrate as confidence grows that winning run is just beginning

The Celtics sealed the NBA title earlier this week, but Boston had actually been waiting for this moment for over a decade.
Atarashii Gakko! released its third album, “AG! Calling,” on June 7. The group is currently touring Asia with songs from the new release featured in its set
CULTURE / Music
Jun 21, 2024

Atarashii Gakko! schools crowds overseas on just how bananas J-pop can get

With appearances at major festivals, on U.S. television and new album "AG! Calling," this sailor-suited rapping four-piece is on quite a roll.
A man affected by the scorching heat is helped by a member of the Saudi security forces as Muslim pilgrims arrive in Mina, near Saudi Arabia's holy city of Mecca, on June 16.
ENVIRONMENT / Climate change
Jun 20, 2024

Climate change threat hangs over Hajj as hundreds perish in heat

More than 500 people have died during this year's pilgrimage, according to a tally based on foreign ministry statements and sources.
A protester holds up a portrait of Aung San Suu Kyi during a demonstration to mark the third anniversary of Myanmar’s 2021 military coup, outside the United Nations office in Bangkok on February 1.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Jun 20, 2024

Son of Suu Kyi 'concerned' as mother marks birthday in detention

The Nobel laureate has been detained by the military since it toppled her government and seized power in 2021.
People applaud during a campaign event in Tokyo on Thursday. Those running in the July 7 poll will be battling to govern the sixth-largest city in the world by population.
JAPAN / Politics
Jun 20, 2024

Tokyo governor poll campaign kicks off with 56 candidates in running

Ideas on how to reverse the capital's declining birth rate and make spending transparent are topping the agenda.
Palestinians gather amid power cut near houses destroyed during Israel's military offensive in Khan Younis, in the southern Gaza Strip, on Wednesday.
WORLD
Jun 20, 2024

Anarchy hinders Gaza aid efforts, despite daily combat pause

The Israeli military’s decision to pause fighting for hours each day along the aid route has so far produced scant humanitarian benefit.
A person walks among the giant columns supporting the Metropolitan Area Outer Underground Discharge Channel in Saitama Prefecture.
PODCAST / deep dive
Jun 20, 2024

Tokyo underground: The city beneath our feet

Join us this week on Deep Dive as we discuss with Alex K.T. Martin the expansive subterranean world of Tokyo’s ever-changing underground.
The Russia-Estonia frontier at Narva has long been a flash point for tensions.
WORLD / Politics
Jun 20, 2024

NATO watches eastern border as Russia's hybrid tactics open 'second front'

Acts intended to provoke and destabilize nations that share a frontier with Russia and Belarus have grown in frequency since Russia began its war on Ukraine.
For hundreds of thousands of people around the world every year, heat is deadly. In the U.S., it takes more lives than hurricanes, tornadoes, earthquakes or floods.
COMMENTARY
Jun 20, 2024

Heat waves are deadlier than hurricanes. Make them ‘disasters.’

For hundreds of thousands of people around the world every year, heat is deadly. In the U.S., it takes more lives than hurricanes, tornadoes, earthquakes or floods.
Is artificial intelligence the future of faith? Advanced algorithms might shape future religious beliefs much like technologies shaped our ancestors' spiritual practices and understandings.
COMMENTARY / World
Jun 20, 2024

Can AI foster a global consciousness?

Is artificial intelligence the future of faith? Advanced algorithms might shape religious beliefs as technologies shaped our ancestors' spirituality.
The total fertility rate dropped to 1.5 children per woman in 2022 from 3.3 in 1960 on average across OECD countries, a report from the organization has said.
WORLD / Science & Health
Jun 21, 2024

Birth rates halve in richer nations as costs weigh, OECD report says

Many in OECD member countries are now choosing to have children later in life or not at all, the report said.
Muslim pilgrims use umbrellas to shade themselves during the annual Hajj pilgrimage, on Saturday.
ENVIRONMENT / Climate change
Jun 21, 2024

Deadly heat waves mark Northern Hemisphere's first day of summer

Record temperatures in recent days are suspected to have caused hundreds, possibly thousands, of deaths across Asia and Europe.
Dan Martin of Sankaku Nutrition helps busy professionals in the Tokyo area with their meal prep.
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / 20 QUESTIONS
Jun 21, 2024

Dan Martin: ‘Long-term sustainability is the key factor to any diet’

The “sankaku” (triangle) in Sankaku Nutrition stands for improving gut health, energy balance and sleep hygiene among expats with busy lives.
Film director Hirokazu Kore-eda (left) and actor Lily Franky arrive for a photocall to promote the Official Selection feature film "Shoplifters" at the San Sebastian Film Festival in Spain in September 2018.
CULTURE / Film
Jun 21, 2024

Japanese film startup aims to change industry working conditions

K2 Pictures is seeking to raise the money from domestic and foreign investors.
Sudanese refugees collect water from a borehole at the Gorom Refugee camp hosting Sudanese refugees who fled recent fighting, near Juba, in South Sudan in January.
WORLD
Jun 21, 2024

Sudan one of world's 'worst crises' in decades: Doctors Without Borders

And yet, the humanitarian response to the civil war is "profoundly inadequate," the international president of the medical charity says.
The University of Tokyo in the capital's Bunkyo Ward
JAPAN / Science & Health
Jun 21, 2024

Japanese team uses AI to predict cancer risk from fatty liver images

The model has proved that it can predict cancer onset risk with 82.3% accuracy, researchers have said.
Founder and owner Kazunori Otowa (left) in the kitchen of his eponymous restaurant together with his two sons, head chef Hajime Otowa (center) and restaurant manager Sou Otowa.
LIFE / Food & Drink / Destination Restaurants
Jun 22, 2024

Kazunori Otowa: Tochigi’s patriarch of French fine dining

Superb cuisine, family values and deep regional roots have elevated Restaurant Otowa to its lofty position.
The Mioya Shuzo brewery was damaged by the 2024 New Year's Day earthquake — but not to the extent that it couldn't serve as a shelter of sorts for the region's many sake breweries.
LIFE / Food & Drink / Kanpai Culture
Jun 22, 2024

To Miho Fujita, ‘rules are meant to be broken in the sake world’

Miho Fujita knows the old songs sung by sake brewers by heart, but she's updated the tradition in her own way, infusing the age-old craft with a modern twist.
Perhaps being seen in the company of your own children in the right places — playgrounds, schools, etc. — can make you seem more approachable and allow children to say exactly what’s on their mind.
COMMUNITY / Voices / FOREIGN AGENDA
Jun 24, 2024

‘You’re a spy, then?’ The odd interactions of a non-Japanese father in Japan

Remember to keep your ears open whenever you’re near children and you’re guaranteed to hear something that’ll make you think.
An election poster board in Tokyo's Edogawa Ward on Friday. Incumbent Yuriko Koike and former Upper House lawmaker Renho may be stealing the spotlight for the July 7 Tokyo governor poll, but some other candidates highly unlikely to win are nonetheless running in the hope of gaining publicity during the campaign period.
JAPAN / Politics
Jun 21, 2024

PR opportunity pushes Tokyo governor candidates to record number

The amount of publicity to be gained during the campaign period is a major draw, with the ¥3 million candidate deposit described as a bargain.

Longform

A man offers prayers at Hebikubo Shrine in Tokyo's Shinagawa Ward. The shrine is one of several across the country dedicated to the snake.
Shed your skin and reinvent yourself in the Year of the Snake