Life & Arts

Actor David Gulpilil, who died on November 29, pictured here in 2005 as part of a new production of "Walkabout" in which he first starred in as a 15-year-old.
Obituaries

Indigenous icon David Gulpilil leaves indelible cinematic legacy

Actor remembered as one of the greatest Australia has produced

4 December 2021
Guangzhou University geologist David Zhang with the handprint and footprint "Art Panel" in Quesang, Tibet, made during Earth's last ice age, between 169,000 and 226,000 years ago. (Photos courtesy of David Zhang)
Arts

Do these handprints show humanity's earliest creative instinct?

Debate rages over whether markings can be considered art

4 December 2021
Midosuji Avenue, one of the main streets in central Osaka, is illuminated during the year-end holidays.
Travel & Leisure

Guinness-record light show returns to Osaka despite power crunch

Facing cold winter, economy minister asks homes to use energy wisely

4 December 2021
Crust Japan offers beer made from leftover bread tossed out by factories and bakeries. (Photo courtesy of Crust Japan)
Food & Beverage

Japanese food companies 'upcycle' leftovers into tidy profits

Small firms offer creative solutions for making waste eatable and drinkable

3 December 2021
A still from "Mother Dao, the Turtlelike," a compilation of clips from documentaries and propaganda films shot by Dutch cameramen between 1912 and 1932, when Indonesia was a colony of the Netherlands. (Courtesy of Eye Filmmuseum)
Arts

Book review: Stark images reevaluate colonial culture in Dutch East Indies

Sandeep Ray's 'Celluloid Colony' focuses on lost films of Indonesia under the Dutch

3 December 2021
Based on a decade of research and extensive fieldwork including interviews with a diverse range of stakeholders, author Hanno Jentzsch looks at a number of trends in post-war Japan agriculture and the impact they have had, not always as intended.
Life

Book review: Can Japanese agriculture adapt?

A fascinating insight into the delicate interplay of people, policy and place

2 December 2021
Traditional Thai costumes also have Victorian and Indian influences. (All photos by Andrew Benfield)
Tea Leaves

Thai lessons in cultural appreciation

Pad thai noodles and tuk-tuks highlight influences from around the world

1 December 2021
Eiichi Shibusawa, known as “the father of Japanese capitalism,” will grace Japan's 10,000 yen note from 2024, when a new series of banknotes will come into circulation.
Life

Japan's new banknote celebrates maverick venture capital pioneer

From currency to potato chips, Eiichi Shibusawa is a fitting hero for tumultuous times

1 December 2021
"Good entertainment is everyone's right and people of the interior of India have been deprived of this for long," said Sushil Chaudhary, founder of mobile cinema operator Picture Time DigiPlex. (Photo by Bilal Hussain)
Life

The inflatable Ladakh cinema that will leave you breathless

High altitude Himalayan movie house a hit with local audiences

30 November 2021
Alberto Giacometti's "Le Nez" at an auction house on Nov. 5 in New York. Cases of art investment gone wrong signal a growing trend of illegal fundraising in China.
Caixin

In depth: Art fraud paints picture of sketchy public fundraising

High-profile management company part China's $58bn ring of scammers

28 November 2021
Nazeer Ahmad Zaroo, whose family have been making rifles in Kashmir since the middle of last century. The Zaroo Gun Factory is one of only two remaining in Indian-controlled Kashmir.
Life

A Kashmir gunsmith's last stand

Storied Zaroo firearms manufacturer nears the end of the line

28 November 2021
Heather Mack, jailed in 2015 after being found guilty for playing a role in murdering her mother and stuffing the remains in a suitcase, is seen inside an immigration car, after being released from Kerobokan Prison in Denpasar, Bali, Indonesia, on October 29.
Life

Making sense of Heather Mack and the Bali 'suitcase murder'

Paroled daughter faces new charges in the U.S. over the 2014 killing of her mother

27 November 2021
The George Town Festival returns for its 12th edition this year on the Malaysian island of Penang. (Courtesy of George Town Festival)
Arts

Malaysian art festivals spring back to life

Live performances return for the first time since pandemic lockdowns

26 November 2021
A carpenter uses a buzz saw at centuries-old forestry company Yamacho's Tanabe complex, where the machinery hasn't changed much in decades. Finishing touches, or hard-to-machine-cut jobs, are completed by hand. (Photo by Thomas Shomaker)
Life

Edo-period forestry company faces a 21st-century problem

How a centuries-old Japanese industry is adapting to climate change

25 November 2021
A seller of yakiimo, or freshly roasted sweet potatoes, parked near the Meguro River in western Tokyo, with his specially outfitted truck. (Photo by Edward M. Gomez)
Tea Leaves

Japan's street vendors preserve a fading culture

In towns and cities throughout the country, itinerant merchants help energize urban life

24 November 2021
Thai aid activist Ben Svasti Thomson meets with a teenager in the 1990s, when his Women Against AIDS group organized Thai women to stand up for their rights. (Courtesy of Women Against AIDS)
Life

Activist-diplomat supports victims of Myanmar takeover and trafficking

Humanitarian campaigner Ben Svasti Thomson among first to arrange help

24 November 2021
Former South Korean president Chun Doo-hwan in 1997.
Obituaries

Former South Korea President Chun Doo-hwan dies at 90

One-time military dictator presided over 1980 Gwangju army massacre

23 November 2021
Philipp Maas, left, and Benjamin Knopp, want to "make it as easy as possible for people to find sake that they would like without having to be an expert." (Photo by Yuki Kohara)
Life

For the love of sake

Two expats in Japan attempt to make iconic brew easier to enjoy

23 November 2021
Members of the Feminist's Liberation Front at the Oct. 9 mob pluey, or "naked mob," event in Bangkok. (Courtesy of the Feminist's Liberation Front)
Life

Gender-rights activists remake Thai feminism

Fight for democracy must include equality and social justice, campaigners insist

22 November 2021
Wada Emi during the 15th Pusan International Film Festival in 2010
21 November 2021
A keen swimmer as a teenager, Liu wanted to become either a professional athlete or a pianist. Deciding that swimmers have much shorter careers, with a higher risk of injury, he opted for music. "The older you get, the better it is," Liu said of playing the piano.
Arts

Meet Bruce Xiaoyu Liu, the new grand master of Chopin

Concert pianist credits his parents for never having pushed him too hard

21 November 2021
From left, the Chef, Natsuko Shoji; the Bartender, Yukiyo Kurihara; The Sake Brewer. Kuniko Mukai; The Entrepreneur, Food Loss Bank CEO Sakiko Yamada. (Source photos by Yuki Kohara, Ken Kobayashi and courtesy of Black Market Sake)
Life

The chef, the bartender, the sake brewer and the entrepreneur

Four women at the forefront of Japanese gastronomy

20 November 2021
Lucky Dog Recue Bali cares for more than 200 stray dogs. The island's dog population jumped by over 13% from 2019 to 649,00 last year due in large part to the negative economic effects of the pandemic. (Photo by David Smith)
Life

Bali's dog problem strays out of control

Rescue organizations struggling to survive amid pandemic blow to funding

19 November 2021
Office workers walk down a street in central Tokyo in June. The typical Japanese salaryman has been forced to live a stressful life.
Tea Leaves

Why I'd rather be a Japanese woman than a Japanese man

Unrealized female potential is preferable to the insufferable life of a salaryman

17 November 2021
Iranian composer and producer Mehdi Rajabian has been banned, imprisoned, tortured and thrown into solitary confinement, becoming one of the most discussed Middle Eastern musicians of the past decade. (Courtesy of Mehdi Rajabian)
Arts

Iranian musical rebel risks prison (again) over new album

Mehdi Rajabian's 'Coup of Gods' competes for 2022 Grammy Award

17 November 2021