Tea Leaves

The sun sets behind Mount Fuji as seen from Tokyo's Jingu Gaien district, where the new National Stadium for the Summer Games is being constructed. (Photo by Tomoki Mera)
Tea Leaves

The politics of summer time blues

Can Japan find a cure in time for the 2020 Olympics?

3 October 2018
Ayurveda shifts the emphasis away from diseased-based treatments like surgery and drugs by prescribing exercise and massage. (Photo by Four Seasons)
Tea Leaves

Road testing Ayurvedic medicine

India's ancient 'science of life' demands persistence as well as faith

26 September 2018
Classic shophouses are about to be torn down on Sukhumvit 77, Bangkok.
Tea Leaves

Want to save Bangkok's shophouses? Don't count me in

Replacing most of these utilitarian structures has benefitted the Thai capital

19 September 2018
Kettles for boiling water in the eastern Chinese city of Shaoxing, Zhejiang Province
Tea Leaves

Some like it hot: why China cold-shoulders ice water

Japanese-style thirst quencher has little appeal for Chinese drinkers

12 September 2018
The inflow of more cultures has only made Australia a more interesting and secure place.
Tea Leaves

Australia takes immigration debate to a new low

A bigger, more diverse population makes the country richer and safer

5 September 2018
Crossing through the border gate of Voeung Kam, the only land border between Laos and Cambodia, can involve some unexpected costs. (Photo by Marco Ferrarese)
Tea Leaves

Graft is alive and well on Asia's 'badland' borders

Travel hassles along national boundaries drag on regional development

22 August 2018
French President Emmanuel Macron welcomes Thailand's Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha at the Elysee Palace in Paris on June 25.
Tea Leaves

The selling of 'Thailand 4.0'

Bangkok's generals hope next coup will be economic

8 August 2018
American high school students make dumplings during a Chinese-language class. Would the Qianlong Emperor have approved?
Tea Leaves

Chinese diplomatic cookery lessons

Superpower policy recipes leave a sour taste

1 August 2018
Japanese fans impressed the world by cleaning up after matches, such as this one between Japan and Senegal in Ekaterinburg, Russia, on July 24. (Photo by Shinya Sawai)
Tea Leaves

Asian fans learn that all 'footie' is local

Japanese and South Koreans left behind as much as they took away from Russia

25 July 2018
Inside Tianjin Railway Station: China may have many internet restrictions, but the population is highly connected.
Tea Leaves

South Asians unfazed by China's Great Firewall

In Yunnan's eternal spring, visitors navigate their way around internet controls

18 July 2018
Japan has imposed new requirements under which homeowners can rent out their properties for only 180 days a year and must register for a license.
Tea Leaves

In Japan, Airbnb is rubbish

Cultural quirks pose a threat to short-term rentals

11 July 2018
Members of BNK48 perform at Bangkok's Rajamangala National Stadium on March 22.
Tea Leaves

How Thai girlband 'idols' inspire lonely male fans

Girl performers tap into needs of land that #MeToo movement passed by

4 July 2018
Shoppers carry designer label branded bags at Bicester Village in the U.K.
Tea Leaves

From Beijing to Bicester: surviving the age of 'Amazonification'

Hordes of Asian shoppers in UK town present flipside of tourism nightmare

27 June 2018
Anon Amornlertsak, left, of Buriram United and Takumi Miyayoshi of Sanfrecce Hiroshima competes for the ball during the AFC Champions League match on March 16, 2016, in Hiroshima, Japan. 
Tea Leaves

Dark art of politics clouds Southeast Asian soccer

Sport’s long-term goal should be to put its fans in charge of clubs

20 June 2018
A woman dressed in traditional costume smiles at the Royal Plaza in Bangkok. 
Tea Leaves

For Thais, smiling is no laughing matter

Social pressures have made the appearance of happiness a patriotic duty

13 June 2018
A dreamy view of Kuching waterfront at dawn.
Tea Leaves

Kuching's rise offers both inspiration and caution

Sarawak capital's tourism boom risks growing rift with hinterland

6 June 2018
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, left, and South Korean President Moon Jae-in, right, talk as they walk in the border village of Panmunjom on April 27.
Tea Leaves

Koreans glimpse a Pyongyang spring

Ignoring oft-dashed hopes many feel this time, it's different

31 May 2018
Australian cricket player Steve Smith, left, speaks to the press at Sydney International Airport on March 29 to address alleged ball-tampering in a match in South Africa.
Tea Leaves

Australians realize their image is just not cricket

Sports scandal batters national pride in 'fair play'

24 May 2018
One flag less -- the lonely lobby of Taiwan's Ministry of Foreign Affairs (Photo by Chris Horton)
Tea Leaves

Taiwan: Asia's 'uncountry'

For one of Asia's most vibrant democracies, it is always 1984

17 May 2018
Thai official gives a durian to Jack Ma Yun of Alibaba Group Holding on April 19 as Thailand start selling durians on TMALL.
Tea Leaves

Thai junta reaps bounty of 'durian diplomacy'

Bangkok turns controversial fruit into diplomatic 'secret weapon'

10 May 2018
Young men practice cricket strokes at the Royal College Indoor Nets in Colombo. (Photo by Rajpal Abeynayake)
Tea Leaves

Sri Lanka weighs colonial ballast

Is it better to preserve and build on historical legacy or destroy it?

3 May 2018
Women dressed in traditional costumes pose for a picture in Ayutthaya, Thailand, on April 6.
Tea Leaves

Bringing Thailand together through costume

Boom sparked by soap opera offers chance to review the past

26 April 2018
From left; Fathers Bruno Rossi, Bruno Soppelsa and Raffaele Sandona outside Caffe Bruno (Photo by Denis D. Gray)
Tea Leaves

Catholicism and caffeine in Thailand's hills

Priestly trio serve up mix of pastoral care, pizza and cappuccino

19 April 2018
Rajah Banerjee inspects his tea plants on Makaibari Tea Estate. (Photo by Aroon Thaewchatturat)
Tea Leaves

Darjeeling's tea king wants an organic agricultural revolution

Pioneer points the way to cooperative future for India's farming

12 April 2018
A Bengal Tiger cub at Bandhavgarh National Park in India
Tea Leaves

Hope and peril for wild tigers in India

Animal numbers are rising again but threat of extinction remains

5 April 2018