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People read newspapers at a roadside tea stall in Patna, Bihar, India. Newsrooms are being reshaped, journalists say, by India’s richest press barons, many of whom are close to the ruling party and depend on millions of advertising dollars from the government.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Feb 26, 2024

Billionaire press barons are squeezing media freedom in India

Many press barons are close to the ruling party and depend on millions of advertising dollars from the government.
A man claimed Amazon promised "unlimited, commercial-free, instant streaming” of entertainment through Prime Video. He alleges the company reneged on the deal and is suing.
COMMENTARY / World
Feb 23, 2024

Amazon shouldn't be swindling users

The tech giant is being sued for charging subscribers more than advertised: Not what you'd expect from a self-professed customer-obsessed company.
Koichi Kondo plays the harmonica. Playing harmonica was like life itself for members of the Bluebird Band, according to his words.
JAPAN / Society / Regional Voices: Hiroshima
Mar 4, 2024

Harmonica melodies of Hansen's disease patients live on

A band featuring the instrument was founded in 1953, at a time when prejudice against the disease was still strong
A floating barrier at the entrance of Scarborough Shoal in the South China Sea on Feb. 22
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Feb 27, 2024

Satellite images reveal floating barrier at mouth of disputed atoll in South China Sea

China claims the Scarborough Shoal, although it is inside the Philippines' 200-nautical mile exclusive economic zone.
Sean Bailey, president of Walt Disney Studios Motion Picture Production, at his office in Burbank, California
BUSINESS / Companies
Feb 27, 2024

Disney reshuffles leadership at troubled namesake movie division

New President David Greenbaum oversaw the release of Oscar nominated "Poor Things" and previous winners such as "The Shape of Water" and "Nomadland."
Apple started working on a car around 2014, setting its sights on a fully autonomous electric vehicle with a limousine-like interior and voice-guided navigation.
BUSINESS / Tech
Feb 28, 2024

Apple to wind down electric car effort after decadelong odyssey

Many employees on the team will be reassigned to focus on generative artificial intelligence projects, an increasingly key priority for the company.
DeNA plans to co-develop Pokemon Trading Card Game Pocket with Creatures Co. for launch on both iOS and Android devices this year.
BUSINESS / Companies
Feb 28, 2024

Shares in DeNA soar on announcement of new Pokemon trading card game

The smartphone game was one of a flurry of announcements on the 28th anniversary of the first Pokemon game release.
Immersive Fort Tokyo holds a ceremony on Thursday ahead of its Friday opening in Tokyo's Odaiba area.
BUSINESS
Feb 29, 2024

Immersive Fort Tokyo seeks to update theme park experience

The park could become a new landmark in the Odaiba district by the Tokyo Bay as it seeks to update the typical theme park experience.
A poster for digital coupons at a store in the city of Fukushima
JAPAN / Society / Regional Voices: Fukushima
Mar 11, 2024

Fukushima’s welfare coupon campaign highlights digital divide

A call center dedicated to the initiative received so many calls that telephone lines were overloaded.
An MQ-9 Reaper drone stands on the runway at Naval Base Ventura County Sea Range, Point Mugu, near Oxnard, California. The Defense Ministry is considering purchasing the Reaper for intercepting foreign aircraft approaching Japanese airspace.
JAPAN / Politics / FOCUS
Mar 1, 2024

New drone tech in spotlight as Japan eyes boosted capabilities

As Tokyo seeks to beef up its unmanned systems, inspiration could come from the latest tech displayed at this year's Singapore Airshow.
A Meteorological Agency map shows the location and intensity of an earthquake that struck off the coast of Chiba Prefecture early Friday morning.
JAPAN
Mar 1, 2024

Series of quakes shake Chiba, with authorities calling for caution

More than 10 tremors registering 1 to 4 on the Japanese seismic intensity scale have occurred since Tuesday.
Anthony Kim, seen in 2010, is returning to the sport with LIV Golf.
MORE SPORTS
Mar 1, 2024

Anthony Kim comes out of retirement 'on a mission' with LIV Golf

Kim, 38, will compete in the LIV Golf League as a season-long wildcard.
A satellite image shows the Rubymar cargo ship on Friday after it was heavily damaged in a Feb. 19 missile strike claimed by Iran-backed Houthi rebels.
WORLD
Mar 3, 2024

Ship sunk by Houthis threatens Red Sea environment

The sinking marks the first vessel lost since the Houthis began targeting ships in November.
The Dongmenting night market in Shenzhen, China, on Feb. 12. Hong Kong residents are flocking to nearby mainland cities in record numbers for cheaper shopping and entertainment.
ASIA PACIFIC
Mar 4, 2024

Young Hong Kongers who defied Xi are now partying in China

Thanks to new infrastructure, they can regularly go to Shenzhen where products and services are cheaper.
A U.S Army CH-47 Chinook helicopter lands as U.S. soldiers wait during the Freedom Shield joint military exercises between South Korea and the United States, at a training field near the Demilitarized Zone separating the two Koreas in Pocheon, South Korea, on March 19, 2023.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Mar 4, 2024

South Korea and U.S. kick off annual drills focused on North's nuclear threats

The Freedom Shield joint exercise, which features twice as many field training drills as last year, will run through March 14.
When Japanese American makeup artist Kazu Hiro first started experimenting with makeup as a teenager in the 1980s, one face leapt out at him from books and magazines he saw in shops: legendary conductor Leonard Bernstein.
CULTURE / Film
Mar 4, 2024

Oscar-nominated makeup genius Kazu Hiro comes full circle with 'Maestro'

Nominated for his fifth Academy Award, Kazu Hiro faced some criticism for the way he depicted Bradley Cooper as conductor Leonard Bernstein in "Maestro."
What role should money from oil and gas — the very industry that’s the main contributor to global warming — have in funding the work of climate scientists?
ENVIRONMENT / Climate change
Mar 4, 2024

Two young climate scientists. Two visions of the solution.

The pair's biggest question: What role should money from oil and gas have in funding work like theirs?
An Upper House budget committee session for questions and answers on the fiscal 2024 draft budget held Wednesday
BUSINESS / Economy
Mar 6, 2024

Japan's huge draft budget raises questions over fiscal accountability

The government allocates reserves and determines their use at Cabinet meetings, requiring only retroactive approval by parliament.
On the amateur circuit, domestic tournaments such as the Dream Girls Cup, which took place in Tokyo last month, have generated significant publicity for youth sumo.
SUMO / INSIDE SUMO
Mar 6, 2024

Sumo's popularity is booming. The recruitment of new pros is not.

Sumo is not immune to the labor shortages plaguing the rest of aging Japan.
In “Matched,” a dating app makes a wedding planner’s (Tao Tsuchiya, center) love life all the more difficult when it turns up a string of murders and a stalker.
CULTURE / Film
Mar 7, 2024

‘Matched’: Contrived thriller tries to make dating scarier

Clueless characters and a strained plot are hardly a perfect match in Eiji Uchida’s suspense film about murder and dating apps.
A war survivor details vivid recollections of World War II in footage never before made public. The Tokyo Metropolitan Government has released parts of a collection of interviews with over 300 war survivors for public viewing this month.
JAPAN / Society
Mar 8, 2024

Witness accounts recall 1945 firebombing of Tokyo

The Tokyo government is screening a collection of interviews of survivors for the first time to serve as a reminder of the destruction of war.
A worker at Nakamatsu Meat speaks to an Alexa-powered device at its factory in Uruma, Okinawa Prefecture, in November. At the factory, workers give production updates to Alexa, which then converts this into data that is compiled in the company's computer.
BUSINESS / Companies / Regional Voices: Okinawa
Mar 11, 2024

Okinawa meat shop uses tech to improve efficiency and raise wages

Nakamatsu Meat's digitalization enabled it to cut its factory operating time and optimize raw material purchases.
Ground Self-Defense Force members disembark from a V-22 Osprey aircraft during an annual live-fire exercise at East Fuji Maneuver Area, in Gotemba, Shizuoka Prefecture, in May 2022.
JAPAN / Politics
Mar 11, 2024

Osprey safety concerns linger in Japan, despite U.S. reassurances

Critics have decried the lack of specifics about the cause of the deadly November crash as Tokyo and Washington tout "unprecedented" information-sharing.
A DJI drone emerges from the casing on top of a BYD Yangwang U8 vehicle.
BUSINESS / Companies
Mar 11, 2024

China EV makers woo buyers with in-car beds, kitchens and drones

Top EV makers are facing a slowdown in demand at home as consumers curb spending.
Shintaro Tajima (left) and his son, Daisuke, pose in their forest in Hita, Oita Prefecture, in January. At their feet is wasabi growing in clusters.
BUSINESS / Companies / Regional Voices: Kyushu
Mar 18, 2024

Oita forestry firm signs carbon trade deal with Line operator

LY, which operates Line and Yahoo services, will purchase 1,500 tons of carbon credit per year from Tajima Forest for 10 years.
Phytochemical Products CEO Makiko Kato (second from right) and Chief Technology Officer and professor Naomi Kitakawa (right) at the startup's laboratory in Sendai
BUSINESS / Companies / Regional Voices: Tohoku
Mar 18, 2024

Tohoku University startup opens path to waste oil recycling

Its proprietary technology allows it to extract useful compounds from waste oil to produce biofuel and other products.
A U.S. Marine Corps MV-22 flies near Marine Corps Air Station Futenma in Ginowan, Okinawa Prefecture, on Thursday morning.
JAPAN / Politics
Mar 14, 2024

U.S. military resumes Osprey flights in Japan

The resumption came after Washington last week lifted a worldwide flight ban on the aircraft following a deadly crash last year.
Veteran peace activist Setsuko Yamazato warns of the gathering “clouds of war” in Chie Mikami’s eight-year chronicle of the militarization of Okinawa.
CULTURE / Film
Mar 14, 2024

‘Clouds of War’: The real story of Okinawa is its people

“Clouds of War” is an unwieldy but heartfelt portrait of citizens fighting back against militarization in Okinawa.
Made by Karimoku, Keiji Ashikawa’s design of the JAL Boeing 777 cabin window stool uses an outer window pane from the plane as a transparent seat set on a base comprising recycled oak off-cuts.
LIFE / Style & Design / ON: DESIGN
Mar 16, 2024

Recycling old JAL planes and bullet trains into design treasures

This month, On: Design looks at recycled products designed to rev the engines of plane and train enthusiasts.
Paris Saint Germain's Kylian Mbappe celebrates scoring his team's first goal against OGC Nice in Paris on Wednesday.
OLYMPICS
Mar 15, 2024

Mbappe presence at Olympics 'very difficult,' says Deschamps

Deschamps said the Euro 2024 tournament, shortly before the Games, "remains the priority."

Longform

Construction takes place on the Takanawa Gateway Convention Center in Tokyo, slated to open in 2025.
A boom for business tourism in Japan?