Tea Leaves

The beaches of the Iranian resort island of Kish have been largely empty despite the arrival of peak tourism season. (Photo by Shuntaro Fukutomi)
Tea Leaves

How sanctions sank Iran's Persian Gulf tourism dream

Failed Kish Island resort comes a dreary second to neighboring Dubai

13 March 2024
Bars in Yangon are still busy, but often close early as the downtown streets grow quiet at night. (All photos by Carlo Wright) 
Tea Leaves

What running has taught me about life in Yangon under military rule

Touring the city on foot past barricades reveals soldiers, beggars and sex workers

6 March 2024
Tourists snap photos of Buddhist monks while watching the morning alms ceremony in Mandalay, Myanmar. (Photo by Charukesi Ramadurai)
Tea Leaves

Time for tourists in Asia to stop behaving badly

Lack of respect grows out of arrogance, as well as ignorance

28 February 2024
Artist Simon Normand uses souvenir teaspoons as an entry point for examining difficult social issues. (All photos courtesy of Simon Normand)
Tea Leaves

How a humble teaspoon can stir memories

Melbourne exhibition of mid-20th-century souvenirs raises uncomfortable questions

21 February 2024
A waxwork-like effigy of the late heroin warlord Khun Sa in his parlor -- now part of a museum in his honor -- in the Thai town of Thoed Thai, near the border with Myanmar. (Photo by William Mellor)
14 February 2024
 Tourists dine at a restaurant in Hanoi's Old Quarter in March 2023.
Tea Leaves

Vietnam's lackluster nightlife symbolizes official inertia

Early closing times and visa restrictions weigh on tourism growth

7 February 2024
A platform attendant stands outside a female-only train car in Tokyo. Some men have begun calling for male-only cars, arguing that they can be victims of harassment, too. 
Tea Leaves

In Japan, it can be hard to be a man, say men

Groping problem triggers female outrage amid male sense of injustice

31 January 2024
Circular boats known as thuyen thung rest on a beach in central Vietnam. (Photo by Andrew Benfield)
Tea Leaves

Lessons from Vietnamese basket cases

A colonial-era tax dodge shows how hardship can catalyze creativity

24 January 2024
A casual conversation over sushi can go more toward forging bonds between business parties than a daytime office meeting.    
Tea Leaves

Genteel Japanese art of the business dinner

Face-to-face interactions can build trust while enriching our work lives

17 January 2024
Masked performers show off a phallus used to ward off demons at a festival for the Chezhi Goenpa Temple in the Bhutanese village of Genekha. (All photos by Humphrey Hawksley)
Tea Leaves

How tiny Bhutan deals with its demons

Phallus legends and fancy resorts both play roles in the kingdom's pursuit of prosperity

10 January 2024
A shop assistant bows outside an elevator at a Takashimaya department store in Tokyo. The world can learn much from Japan's renowned customer service. 
Tea Leaves

Japan's 'omotenashi' culture can offer an edge in the AI age

Anticipating people's needs will become a critical business skill

27 December 2023
The ubiquitous presence of trees at Hindu temples reflects the religion's reverence for nature. (All photos by Meenakshi J)
Tea Leaves

Faith meets conservation in India's sacred spaces

Thousands of ancient cultural treasures now serve as biodiversity hot spots

20 December 2023
The author navigates his neighborhood aboard his Tokyobike, connected to the streets that surround his apartment on the western fringe of Yoyogi Park. (Photo courtesy of Jeremy Smart)
Tea Leaves

For Tokyoites, bicycles are the wheel deal

Cycling is a rare feature of urban life that gets better as more people do it

13 December 2023
Local transport in Lahore in March 1998. By this time, Pakistan had serious image problems that kept all but the hardiest travelers away. (Photo by Tom Vater)
Tea Leaves

Asia's overland hippie trail falls victim to geopolitics

Wars and fast travel have shut a once-popular route for Western travelers

6 December 2023
Young students read Vedic texts in Sanskrit in Madurai, India. The internet is helping to breathe new life into the ancient language. 
Tea Leaves

Why it's worth learning ancient Sanskrit in the modern world

India’s classical language is making a comeback via Telegram and YouTube

29 November 2023
A father carries a baby in a sling in Tokyo's Setagaya Ward. More Japanese men are taking time off work to care for their children -- an option that had not always been available to them.
Tea Leaves

Japan's fathers get leave to do their bit

A collapse in the fertility rate prompts a more liberal approach to paternity leave

22 November 2023
A hiker takes in the view from Mount Fuji. Giving a label to the pursuit of solo activities -- solo katsudo -- has helped destigmatize being alone in Japan.
Tea Leaves

In Japan, you're not alone in being alone

Social embrace of 'solo katsu' shows that to deal with solitude, relish it

15 November 2023
Cats crowd the harbor on Aoshima, a small island in southwestern Japan where felines outnumber humans by roughly 24 to 1. 
Tea Leaves

Behind Japan's curious obsession with cats

Perhaps feline freedom is the lifestyle model the nation needs

8 November 2023
Women gather near the main entrance of the University of Tehran on Oct. 24. Despite laws requiring women to cover their hair with a hijab, not everyone complies.
Tea Leaves

Life as a woman in Iran, uncensored

Challenges remain, but there has been real change in recent decades

1 November 2023
Tokyo's Koenji district is home to cozy nightspots where fashion, music and art collide. (Nikkei montage/Source photos courtesy of Edward M. Gomez and Botchy-Botchy)  
Tea Leaves

In a retro suburb of Tokyo, nightclubs are second homes

Koenji's diverse music dives double as refuges for patrons

25 October 2023
Our Memorial Museum, in Minamisoma, Fukushima prefecture, showcases 50 artworks inspired by the disaster, dominated by a striking woodcarving created by a sculptor who lost his home. (All photos by Yuki Kohara) 
Tea Leaves

Humanizing the story of Fukushima

'Hope tourism' initiative brings creativity and local perspectives to official accounts

18 October 2023
Old temples in India, such as this one in Modhera, in the western state of Gujarat, had water reservoirs in the form of stepwells within the premises. (All photos by Charukesi Ramadurai)
Tea Leaves

Indian stepwells provide lessons in ancient ingenuity

Hundreds lie in ruins, but many are being renovated for new uses

11 October 2023
This Bhutanese man, Sumba, took the author and his expedition partner to visit a cave where yetis allegedly sleep. (Photo by Andrew Benfield)
Tea Leaves

Yeti or not, something interesting is out there

A Himalayan odyssey brings some unexpected insights

4 October 2023
Tim Blackman holds a poster showing a photograph of his missing daughter, Lucie Blackman, at a news conference in Tokyo in July 2000.
Tea Leaves

Japan's debt to Lucie Blackman

Murder of young British woman in 2000 helped usher in change in rape laws

27 September 2023
Women wear yukata, or summer kimonos, at a shrine in Tokyo. The traditional garment is a refreshing example of slow fashion in today's age of hyper-consumerism.
Tea Leaves

Japan's 'yukata' boom is more than a fashion statement

Tourism-driven revival of traditional costume rekindles old values

20 September 2023