Life & Arts

Kyohei Sorita devised gym workouts to build a body that could produce more beautiful music. At the 18th International Chopin Piano Competition in Warsaw on Oct. 18. ⓒWojciech Grzedzinski/Darek Golik (NIFC)
Arts

Japan pianist Kyohei Sorita aims to make orchestras profitable

27-year-old who studied in Russia, Poland set on nurturing Chopinists in Japan

25 December 2021
Japanese Ground Self-Defense Force personnel participate in a live fire exercise in Gotemba, Japan, on May 22. In his new book "Defenders of Japan," Garren Mulloy provides an encyclopedic account of how Japan's Ground, Maritime and Air Self-Defense Forces have emerged as a highly competent military force that will likely be called upon to play an ever greater role in facing the rapidly changing security environment.
Arts

Book review: A nuanced deep dive on Japan's Self-Defense Forces

After overcoming postwar identity crisis and developing capabilities, SDF finally gains public respect

25 December 2021
Andy "The Blade" Hiraoka poses at Yokohama's Ohashi Boxing Gym, which is run by former world champion Hideyuki Ohashi. (Photo by Ken Kobayashi)
Sports

An African father's tough love pushes Japanese boxer to the top

Bullied as a child, Andy Hiraoka now sets his sights on a world championship belt

24 December 2021
A screenshot of "Squid Game Parody," a Vietnamese show on YouTube that satirizes the Netflix original.
Tea Leaves

Vietnam's 'Squid Game' comedies entertain, but to what end?

Copycat fad shows how a single hit cultural product can shape public imagination

22 December 2021
An auto tuktuk rides past the Hua Lamphong railway station in Bangkok
Transportation

Thailand hits brake on closing Bangkok station after rail buffs protest

Plan to shutter 105-year-old Hua Lamphong receives monthlong reprieve

22 December 2021
Jamu, a traditional Indonesian herbal drink used to soothe ailments, has gone upscale. (Screenshot from Acaraki Journey's YouTube page) 
Food & Beverage

Indonesia's 'jamu': 'Smelly, tastes weird' -- and suddenly trendy

Traditional herbal drink, once mostly sold on streets, now available in posh cafes

21 December 2021
The Science of Fiction, a hybrid film-screening event held at Indus. Evening events like these were popular among Jakartan creatives who traveled to Bali for the festival. (Photo by Felix Rio)
Arts

Bali's big little book festival goes hybrid

Online events keep Southeast Asia's largest festival of words and ideas alive

21 December 2021
Shigeo Iizuka, center, in 2018. 
18 December 2021
The Thai resort island of Phuket is renowned for its sand and surf, but many of its charms can be found in Old Town, a crowded neighborhood of shops in the heart of the main town that has undergone a sweeping gentrification over the last decade.
Life

Phuket's Old Town a striking alternative to beach culture

Thai resort island offers returning tourists historical and architectural interest

18 December 2021
In their recent book, co-authors Henry Reynolds and Nicholas Clements argue that Tasmanian Aboriginal leader Tongerlongeter is a war hero worthy of a place in the Australian War Memorial in Canberra. The image on the right depicts Tasmanian Aboriginal fighters attacking a shepherd's hut. (Cover image courtesy of the publisher)
Arts

Book review: Reevaluating Australia's dark history

Aboriginal leader emerges as resistance hero of Tasmania's forgotten war

17 December 2021
Bangladeshi composer and master of Puthi-paath, Abu Bakar Siddique, in his home studio: "It's hard to understand the magic of Puthi-paath by sitting in a room amid the concrete jungle." (Photo by Faisal Mahmud)
Arts

Bangladeshi bard breathes life into the dying art of Puthi-paath

Once a vital source of entertainment in rural Bengal, now almost obsolete

16 December 2021
Anchilee “Ann” Scott-Kemmis celebrates being crowned Miss Universe Thailand in Pattaya on Oct. 24. (Photo from her Instagram)
Tea Leaves

Thailand's 'revolution' in beauty standards only skin-deep

Latest choices might break the mold but Miss Universe contest holds Thailand back from broader social change

15 December 2021
More Indian girls are taking up skateboarding as the sport grows in popularity across the country. (From the Girl Skate India Facebook page)
Life

Indian girls skate to success

Craze for skateboarding is helping to empower girls and the poor

15 December 2021
A stray puppy saved by Rescue P.A.W.S., a Thai animal welfare group that provides sterilization services as well as food, veterinary services and limited shelter. (Photo by Ron Gluckman)
Life

Asian animal groups rush to rescue pandemic-hit pets

COVID-19 lockdowns have compounded the stray dog problem across the region

13 December 2021
Founded in 1988, the International Dark-Sky Association sees its main goal as encouraging "communities, parks and protected areas around the world to preserve and protect dark sites through responsible lighting policies and public education."
Life

Pandemic brings out Asia's stargazers

Movement to preserve pristine locations for looking at the night sky is gathering pace

12 December 2021
African blackwood in Tanzania, fine-grained and dense, makes the perfect material for woodwind instruments. (Photo courtesy of Yamaha)
Companies

Inside Yamaha's strategy to secure best wood for pianos and clarinets

Efforts underway to boost yields from precious trees in Tanzania

12 December 2021
Pastor Cho Yong-gi, right, who built Seoul's Yoido Full Gospel Church into the world's largest megachurch before being tainted by corruption and other scandals, died in September. He was 85. (Source photos by AP and Reuters)
11 December 2021
Edited by Singapore-based academic Ian Rowen, throughout the nine stories published in "Transitions in Taiwan" it is noticeable that Mandarin is an alien language as most of the characters speak Taiwanese or even Japanese. (Photos courtesy of Cambria Press and Ian Rowen)
Arts

Book review: Stories from Taiwan's "White Terror"

Published in English for the first time, new collection focus on period from 1947 to 1987

10 December 2021
From left, Est Chef de Cuisine Guillaume Bracaval and Est Pastry Chef Michele Abbatemarco pose for a portrait on Dec. 6 in Tokyo. (Photo by Yuki Kohara)
Life

Tokyo's Est claims a coveted star of its own

Restaurants in the Japan capital earned more Michelin stars than any other city

9 December 2021
Film nostalgia at the Katsushika Shibamata Tora-san Museum. (All photos by Stephen Mansfield)
Tea Leaves

The meaning of Tora-san

More than five decades on, unique Japanese film series remains relevant

8 December 2021
A still from director Alyx Arumpac's award-winning documentary "Aswang" (Monster), which takes a blunt look at the chroniclers, the victims and the destruction in the wake of the drug war launched by Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte after he came to power in 2016. (Courtesy of Alyx Arumpac)
Life

Award-winning film documents Duterte's bloody drug war

Director depicts modern, state-sanctioned 'monsters' that stalk at night

8 December 2021
The Burj Khalifa, the tallest building in the world, is seen in downtown Dubai, United Arab Emirates. 
Economy

UAE shifts to Saturday-Sunday weekend in line with global markets

Working week will be 4.5 days, with Friday half off

7 December 2021
A restaurant in London's Chinatown is nearly empty but for takeout customers due to the pandemic in December 2020.
Life

Hong Kong exodus set to boost U.K. restaurant sector

China's security crackdown will bring new diners, ease labor shortages

6 December 2021
Simu Liu poses on the red carpet for the premiere of "Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings" in London in August.
Arts

'Shang-Chi' star Simu Liu: 'We're stronger when we don't put up walls'

Chinese-born Canadian actor on life as a superhero and breaking down barriers to China

5 December 2021
Former Cambodian First Prime Minister Prince Norodom Ranariddh at a political rally in 1998. (Photo by Dominic Faulder)
Obituaries

Cambodia's Norodom Ranariddh: The man who would not be king

Death of the academic prince who battled political headwinds for decades

4 December 2021