Life

No professional actors were used in the sly and very funny 2015 film "Thithi" ("The Rite").
Life

Top 10 South Asian films to stream during lockdown

For those confined by coronavirus, our pick of the best movies available at a click

1 May 2020
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Nikkei Asia Prizes

Grab co-founders, clean water pioneer and museum curator honored

Nikkei recognizes outstanding contributions to quality of life in Asia

30 April 2020
A still from a music video by art-punk duo Garam Anday, formed by Karachi-based filmmaker Anam Abbas and medical student Areib Usman. (Courtesy of Garam Anday)
Life

Pakistan's women rockers stick to their guns

Female musicians are defying gender stereotypes in the Islamic republic

30 April 2020
Thalappil Pradeep, a professor at the Indian Institute of Technology Madras, developed a water purification system that works without expensive filtration membranes or electricity.
Nikkei Asia Prizes

Indian researcher opens taps on cheap drinking water

Thalappil Pradeep wins Nikkei Asia Prize for purification technology

30 April 2020
The Nakagin Capsule Tower has captured the imagination of many architects, artists, designers, film directors and musicians. (Courtesy of Shinichi Ito)
Arts

Fate of Tokyo's original capsule tower hangs in balance

Threatened building is a monument to Japan's Metabolist architecture

28 April 2020
Naomi Kawase, Cannes Film Festival prizewinner and official film director for the Tokyo Games, poses for a photo on Feb. 4. (Photo by Maho Obata)
Comment

Naomi Kawase: Coronavirus' positive legacy must be an end to division

Art, family and optimism will see us through crisis and to Olympics

27 April 2020
TheAsianparent CEO Roshni Mahtani Cheung targets young parents with a mix of local and Western parenting advice. (Photo by Koh Shi Kiat)
Startups

Mommy-pedia: Singapore entrepreneur educates new parents online

Website has 'done the homework' for 33m users, CEO says

26 April 2020
Hong Kong bookseller Lam Wing-kee's life took a dramatic turn in 2015, when he was abducted by Chinese agents. "I didn’t expect myself to be China’s next target," says Lam, pictured here in Taipei in 2019. (Courtesy of Hsu Shih-kai)
Life

Abducted by China, Hong Kong bookseller starts again in Taiwan

Lam Wing-kee, who jumped bail in 2016, wants to defy Beijing's curbs on free speech

24 April 2020
The coronavirus has brought Bangkok's world-famous nightlife to a pause.  (Photo by Akira Kodaka) 
Economy

Pandemic dims lights on Thailand's $5bn nightlife sector

Government plans aid for bars and restaurants, but recovery prospects uncertain

24 April 2020
Park Hang-seo, the South Korean coach of the Vietnamese national soccer team, is tossed into the air by his players after their victory over Indonesia in the championship match of the Southeast Asian Games, in Manila in December 2019.
Life

In Vietnam, the face of South Korea is a sprightly sports coach

Soccer manager Park Hang-seo's on-field success makes him a marketing phenomenon

22 April 2020
Empty streets in Wuhan, China, on Feb. 13.
Life

What I learned from two months under coronavirus lockdown in Wuhan

For a long time it felt like the world was ignoring us but the city was resilient

20 April 2020
Travelers hoping to enter Peru sit stranded on a bridge in the Bolivian border town of Desaguadero on March 17 after the Peruvian government announced it was closing the border in a bid to slow the spread of the coronavirus.
Life

No way out for Asians stranded in South America

Visitors trapped by COVID-19 quarantine rules lose hope of early return

17 April 2020
Migrant workers try to board a crowded bus as they return to their villages, during a 21-day nationwide lockdown to limit the spreading of COVID-19, in Ghaziabad, on March 29
Tea Leaves

Social distancing -- an Indian nightmare

Isolation is a bad joke in the teeming subcontinent, but a sense of humor helps

15 April 2020
After Thailand closed elephant camps, many expelled the animals and their trainers rather than continue paying for them. A large number of those who left began a long trek homeward along dusty roads in the blazing heat of the dry season. (Courtesy of Save Elephant Foundation)
Life

Thailand's elephant community caught in coronavirus fallout

Closure of tourism camps imperils captive animals and their careers

13 April 2020
Volunteers with the hand sanitizer program go door to door to find residents willing to lend their support. (Rachel Cheung)
Life

Hong Kong's army of volunteers disinfects the city, house by house

Build & Wish Voluntary Team puts up hand sanitizer dispensers in tenement buildings

10 April 2020
Travellers are seen at the Wuhan Tianhe International Airport after travel restrictions to leave Wuhan were lifted on April 8. 
Coronavirus

China's coronavirus epicenter Wuhan ends 76-day lockdown

Travel to Beijing still banned, but outbound trains and cars now allowed

8 April 2020
Sunny vibes at Good Day Coffee in the Okinawan city of Chatan.
Life

Okinawa, foreign even to Japan, attracts hipster tourists

Tropical island prefecture draws mainlanders looking for a gentler life

8 April 2020
Charlie, a 15-year-old cat, is ready to be adopted at an animal shelter in Perwez, Belgium, April 6, 2020. REUTERS/Yves Herman
Caixin

Cats more susceptible to coronavirus than dogs, scientists say

Chinese lab conducts experiments in search for clues to how virus reached humans

7 April 2020
A Samsung production line in South Korea in 1985. Founder BC Lee's gamble on a semiconductor line in 1983 proved to be a farsighted move. 
Life

'Samsung Rising': How a dried-fish shop became the face of Korea Inc.

New book shows productive clash between East and West but falls short on insider detail

6 April 2020
Tokyo's upscale Ginza shopping district drew few people on April 4, with big department stores such as Mitsukoshi and Matsuya closed. (Photo by Karina Noka)
Coronavirus

Japan cities quiet for 2nd weekend as governors urge staying home

As coronavirus cases top 3,000, many forego seasonal cherry blossom viewing

4 April 2020
Deepanker Khosla, head chef at Haoma, hands out food in Bangkok's low-income Onnut neighborhood as part of his No One Hungry Program. (Akira Kodaka)
Life

Bangkok's shuttered restaurants fight the virus gloom

Chefs cook up recipe for survival, including Michelin star meals in takeout boxes

3 April 2020
Lobster rolls at Indigo, an upper-midrange Japanese restaurant in the Balinese resort village of Canggu. (Ian Neubauer)
Life

Japanese cuisine on a roll in Indonesia

Consumer interest is growing but some creations are more 'mashup' than fusion

1 April 2020
Roughly 116 million fans in China watched Na Li win the 2011 French Open women's final, but it was the live crowd of 15,000 that helped make the triumph complete. 
Tea Leaves

Silence of the fans

In top-class sport, it isn't only the players who are important

1 April 2020
Ken Shimura, pictured in March 2006, stuck to focusing on the art of performing comedy skits and endured as a star. (Photo by Yukinobu Kurosaka)
Obituaries

Ken Shimura's death leaves Japanese of all generations mourning

Beloved TV personality enamored people with unique movements and expressions

31 March 2020
A mother teleworks from home to avoid infection while hired help do the cooking and cleaning during the coronavirus outbreak. (Photo by Makoto Okada)
Coronavirus

Living with coronavirus: How to limit infections at home

Laundry, cleaning and other household chores require special attention

29 March 2020