Life & Arts

A work by Afghan street artist Milad Mohammadi. Once commissioned by the U.S.-backed government and foreign embassies to paint murals, Milad says his work is "against the rules" of the new Taliban regime, making it hard for him to earn enough money to feed his children. (Courtesy of the artist)
Arts

The art of surviving under the Taliban

Lack of work hits Afghan artists more than direct repression

29 April 2022
“This isn’t like regular badminton,” says Irina Inozemtseva, co-founder of Kuala Lumpur's Shuttle in The Dark. “We want people to come out of their comfort zones.”
Life

A neon twist on Malaysia's favorite sport

Kuala Lumpur club has big dreams for glow-in-the-dark badminton

27 April 2022
Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip wave to a crowd of children in Bathurst, Australia, during their royal tour in February 1954. (Getty Images)
Tea Leaves

Australia's republican quandary: how to pick a president

Voters are in no rush to dump the British monarchy, despite demographic change

27 April 2022
The Marufukuro remains an art deco standout in this otherwise quiet residential neighborhood
Life

Kyoto's Marufukuro: the boutique hotel that cards built

Nintendo’s former headquarters receives playful makeover by Tadao Ando

27 April 2022
Members of the LGBT community and supporters march in Tokyo's Shibuya district during the Tokyo Rainbow Pride parade on April 24. (Photo by Ken Kobayashi)
Life

Less talk, more action: Tokyo Rainbow Pride's call to arms

Defiant marchers express dismay over lack of progress on LGBT rights

26 April 2022
India currently accounts for 1% of the $225 billion global pet care industry, but with an annual growth rate of 17%, it is the world's fastest-growing market and is expected to be valued at around $500 million by the end of this year.
Life

Aspirational millennials give Indian dogs a luxury upgrade

From spas to psychics, booming pet industry is about more than food and grooming

24 April 2022
How could hard-right candidate Marine Le Pen, left, rack up such a strong result against sitting Emmanuel Macron in the first round of the French presidential election? Quite easily, argue Eric Protzer and Paul Summerville, co-authors of the recently published book "Reclaiming Populism." (Source photo by AP) 
Books

Books: French election highlights the why, when and where of populism

Emerging conundrum unsettling advanced economies highlights 'Japanese exception'

23 April 2022
Pimsiri Sirikaew of Thailand focuses during the Women's 58 kg weightlifting competition at the 2016 Rio Olympics in August 2016. She took home the silver medal that year, as well as four years earlier at the London Games.
Life

Thailand's female weightlifters defy gender expectations

Athletes face stumbling blocks away from the Olympic platform

22 April 2022
At 55, Japanese soccer veteran Kazuyoshi Miura is still playing professionally. For comparison, Teddy Sheringham, the oldest player to appear in the English Premier League, was 40 in his last EPL game in 2006.
Tea Leaves

Asia's aging sports stars never say 'retire'

Durability of the region's professional athletes puzzles outsiders

20 April 2022
The ReMaker -- aka Yuttana Anothaisintawee -- at his Bangkok workshop. (Courtesy of Artery)
Arts

Thai designers elevate cool side of 'trashion'

Upcycling trend forges a more sustainable future for the fashion industry

20 April 2022
Thai artist Natee Utarit’s current exhibition "Deja vu: When the Sun Rises in the West" fuses Greco-Roman and Buddhist art forms in an attempt to address Western cultural imperialism in the East. “It’s very important that we are the same; not one higher than the other or one lower. It’s about equality,” he says. (Courtesy of artist and Art Centre Silpakorn University)
Arts

Thai artist combines classical and Buddhist cultures

Natee Utarit puts East and West on equal footing in memorable exhibition

18 April 2022
Homes and stores line a main thoroughfare in one of the Tonle Sap's largest floating villages. (Photo by Brian Eyler)
Books

Books: Disaster looms for Cambodia's Tonle Sap Lake

Once bountiful, 'world's largest inland fishery' nears ecological collapse

15 April 2022
The Indian game of kattam vilaiyattu is similar to the Western game of tic-tac-toe. (Courtesy of Kreeda Games)
Tea Leaves

Indians go back to future via board games

Modern games lose their monopoly amid a resurgence of traditional pastimes

13 April 2022
In addition to showcasing a rich variety of artwork, Rupert Mann's "Bangkok Street Art and Graffiti" contains essays peppered with interviews that address the history of street art and graffiti, from its origins in the U.S. and Europe to its rise in Thailand. (Nikkei montage/source photos by River Books and Tom Vater) 
Books

Books: For creative protest, in Thailand the writing is on the wall

Illustrated book traces history of political street art and graffiti

13 April 2022
In Thailand, its "boys love" or BL dramas are popular mainly among young women, as the country is more accepting of the LGBTQ community than most other Asian countries.
10 April 2022
Naomi Osaka hits a forehand in the women's singles final in the Miami Open at Hard Rock Stadium.
Sports

Inside Team Naomi: How Japan's tennis superstar climbed to top

Tight-knit professionals keep Osaka's tennis, business machine rolling

9 April 2022
A family crosses a river as they flee from Myanmar army attacks in Kayin State last December. (Courtesy of Free Burma Rangers)
Life

No end in sight for Myanmar's Karen insurgency

Military takeover has reignited the ethnic minority group's seven-decade revolt

8 April 2022
Manga artist Fujiko A. Fujio said in 2002 that his motto was "Never do today what you can put off till tomorrow."
Obituaries

Curiosity fueled manga artist Fujiko A. Fujio's 70-year career

Abiko, whose works ran gamut from kid-friendly comics to dark humor, dies at 88

8 April 2022
The Patpong Museum retraces the history of the Bangkok district from rice paddy to nightlife mile, via the Cold War. It features an exhibit on serial killer Charles Sobhraj, who picked up victims in the area and has returned to the spotlight following last year's release of the BBC/Netflix series, "The Serpent." (Nikkei montage/Source photos by Tom Vater, Netflix)  
Tea Leaves

Bangkok museum highlights curious fame of serial killer

Exhibition and TV drama keep Charles Sobhraj in the limelight

6 April 2022
A detail of one of the 17 sections that made up Yuichiro Ukai’s long, scroll-like “Monsters” drawing (2021, marker and colored pencil on cardboard), which was on view in the recent exhibition “Genius: The Human Gift for Creating and Living” at the Shiga Museum of Art. (Photo by Edward M. Gomez)
Arts

Japanese museum puts spotlight on self-taught artists

In Shiga, innovation and a new director's fresh ideas point to a promising, post-pandemic period

6 April 2022
A former baseball player shows his batting form in this still from the 2021 documentary "Taste of Wild Tomato," about the 38 years in which Taiwan was gripped by the "White Terror." (Courtesy of Lau Kek Huat)
Arts

Memories of bloody past push Taiwanese arts forward

Documentary highlights efforts to make sense of the island's 'White Terror'

3 April 2022
Stream article image
Podcast

Asia Stream: And the Oscar Doesn't Go To...

First they were too white. Now they're too violent. But there's a larger problem with the Oscars: They're also, well, too American

2 April 2022
Recent portrait of Yohji Yamamoto. (Photo by Kazumi Kurigami)
Yohji Yamamoto

Shattering authorities, prejudices and customs: Yohji Yamamoto (1)

Wandering through a wilderness -- anger and a father's regret

1 April 2022
Icon Award winner Jeong Kwan shows off fresh produce she grows in her gardens at Baekyangsa Temple in South Korea. (Courtesy of Davin Park)
Life

Asia's newest celebrity chef elevates Korean temple food

From her mountain haven, Jeong Kwan's vegetarian cuisine reaches across the world

1 April 2022
Bongbong Marcos, sitting beneath a portrait of his father, photographed by director Lauren Greenfield during filming of "The Kingmaker." (Courtesy of Evergreen Pictures/©Lauren Greenfield)
Tea Leaves

A bruising ride on the Bongbong bandwagon

How 'The Kingmaker' warned of a resurgent Marcos regime in the Philippines

30 March 2022