Life & Arts

Bicycles loaded with flowers are a popular backdrop for Hanoi tourist photos. (Photo by Yuji Nitta)
Retail

Hanoi's flower vendors see business bloom in rentals for photo ops

Traditional merchants adapt by serving tourists seeking social media posts

27 October 2023
Yasujiro Ozu's 1953 masterpiece "Tokyo Monogatari" ("Tokyo Story") endures today as one of Japan's best-known classic films, though other films by Ozu and other noted directors have been lost to war and natural disasters. Now many thousands more are at risk due to Japan's strict copyright law.
Arts

Rare Japanese movie prints at risk of destruction

Tokyo Laboratory forced to scrap up to 20,000 films due to quirk of copyright law

26 October 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
Doug Marsden, owner of Phnom Penh brewpub Chug Lab, cut his brewing teeth as a teenager in Australia. (All photos by Markus Bell)
Life

In search of Cambodia's budding brewmasters

Drinkers in Phnom Penh warm to emerging craft beer makers

21 October 2023
Shinji Tanimura performs at Tokyo's Budokan arena in 1979.
Obituaries

Japanese singer Shinji Tanimura's impassioned voice crossed borders

Songwriter behind 'Subaru' redefined Japanese folk music

19 October 2023
Communist posters are a fixture of Ho Chi Minh City's landscape. "Vietnam: Asia's Rising Star" dismisses the supposed "sanctity of the voting process, or some essential need to have a 'democracy.'" (Photo by Lien Hoang)
Books

Books: Nascent tiger Vietnam constrained by politics

Will economic prosperity fall victim to communist state's authoritarian system?

19 October 2023
Jay W. Chai said he told himself from the start of his career that he needed to find something only he could do. (Photo by Nikkei)
Obituaries

Jay W. Chai, architect of Toyota-GM 'giant handshake,' dies at 89

Korean-born executive helped put Japan Inc. on the global stage

18 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
Japanese singer Shinji Tanimura performs in concert in Beijing on Sept. 28, 2018. (Photo by Visual China Group via Getty Images)
Obituaries

Japanese singer Shinji Tanimura dies at 74

He found fame across Asia with 'Subaru' and other hits

16 October 2023
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Travel & Leisure

Japan's 10 best gardens for autumn moon views

From Kyoto to Tokyo, some of the top spots for centuries-old tradition

15 October 2023
About 5.5 million Japanese people regularly visit a sauna, roughly equivalent to Finland's total population. (NIKKEI montage/Source photos by Reuters and AFP/Jiji)
Business trends

Finland's sauna giants target Japan as emerging hot spot

Nordic nation capitalizes on booming market for things that make you sweat

14 October 2023
Japanese and Basque artists, including Ainu singer Emi Toko and the band Oreka TX, join forces during a performance of "Hybrid" in Pamplona, Spain. (Courtesy of Yutaka Endo)
Life

Festivals and food highlight Japan's Basque connection

Jazz, cuisine and art drive improbable international friendship

14 October 2023
Members of Immanuel Orchestra practice at a church in Khlong Toei slum in Bangkok on Oct. 6. (Photo by Ken Kobayashi)
Life

Student orchestra from Thai slum aims for best in first Japan tour

Young musicians find hope in music in spite of poverty-stricken lives

14 October 2023
Former Singaporean Ambassador Bilahari Kausikan regards China's attempts to influence other countries as a form of psychological manipulation. (Nikkei montage/Source photos courtesy of Straits Times Press Books)
Books

Books: Veteran Singapore diplomat makes a case for 'realism'

Bilahari Kausikan says ASEAN has overstepped, warns countries hosting Chinese diaspora

12 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
Though expensive, Kobe leather slippers have seen solid sales, especially at department stores, including Ginza Mitsukoshi in Tokyo's Chuo Ward. They are popular among inbound tourists. (Photo courtesy of Nagata Ryosuke Shoten)
Consumer

Foreign tourists in Japan snap up leather products from Kobe beef cattle

Young entrepreneurs promote Kobe leather under 'using after eating' concept

8 October 2023
Tamika Upton, right, a fullback for the Newcastle Knights in Australia's elite National Rugby League Women's competition, has been described as the best female player in the world. Her pay, however, is below that of even the lowest-paid male Knights NRL player.
Life

Sports pay highlights glaring gender disparity in Australia

Elite female footballers win accolades, but not top salaries

7 October 2023
Heritage buildings built during Portuguese colonial rule of Goa (1510-1961) can be found across the western Indian state. Some have been impeccably restored, while others lie in disrepair. (All photos by Kalpana Sunder)
Life

Goa's colonial mansions open doors on faded past

Indian state's heritage architecture offers a glimpse of Portuguese legacy

5 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
A growing number of Indians are looking for relationships outside marriage via dating apps. It was not until 2018 that the Supreme Court decriminalized adultery.
Life

Extramarital dating site signposts Indian social shift

The dynamics of relationships are changing as women claim more freedom

1 October 2023
Set 10 years after reunification, "2035" follows a crew of journalists as they travel the country interviewing people. (Photo courtesy of the Bucheon International Fantastic Film Festival)
Arts

Korean reunification becomes horror-comedy film plot

Park Jae-in's mockumentary "2035" aims to make audiences shudder and giggle

30 September 2023
Amy Chavez has plied the waters of Japan's Seto Inland Sea for over 20 years, often anchoring in picturesque and quiet coves as she explores an area steeped in both tradition and natural beauty. (All photos by Amy Chavez)
Life

Sailing Japan's inland sea

Yachting in Seto is smooth and scenic, but where are all the fish?

28 September 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
A giant panda at the Smithsonian National Zoo in Washington eats a farewell cake on Sept. 23. (Photo by Tomoko Ashizuka)
Life

Panda fans in Washington lament animals' looming return to China

Smithsonian zoo to soon close chapter on 51-year relationship

27 September 2023
Something for everyone: The goods at shrine and temple flea markets are always surprising. (Photo by Stephen Mansfield)
Life

Japanese flea market culture reflects shifting social attitudes

On any weekend in Tokyo, visitors can step back in time as they sift through trash and treasure

24 September 2023