Life & Arts

Hong Kong's Foreign Correspondents' Club serves an important role for journalists based in the city. (All photos by Tommy Walker)
Tea Leaves

In the wake of COVID-19, reporting on Asia isn't what it used to be

Amid rising authoritarianism in Hong Kong and elsewhere, correspondents seek next regional hub

15 September 2021
For Sachiko Nakamichi, being the okami-san -- or "female boss" -- at Beniya Mukayu means looking after every detail at the ryokan, or traditional Japanese inn. (Courtesy of Beniya Mukayu)
Life

Behind every good Japanese inn is an 'okami-san'

Traditional hostelries rely on the centuries-old custom of female bosses

15 September 2021
Jean-Paul Belmondo, left, shot to international fame with the film Breathless.
Obituaries

Jean-Paul Belmondo, a national treasure of French cinema

Talented actor charmed movigoers around the world

13 September 2021
The plane in which Lin Biao tried to escape to the Siberian city of Irkutsk crashed in the eastern Mongolian desert on Sept. 13, 1971. All nine on board were killed, including Lin Biao's wife, son and close aides. (Photo courtesy of Yu Ruxin and New Century Press)
Arts

Shedding new light on a 50-year-old Chinese mystery

Yu Ruxin takes a fresh look at the death of Mao's former designated heir Lin Biao

13 September 2021
At the Australian War Memorial in Canberra, the Roll of Honour, adorned with red poppies, lists the names of over 102,000 members of the Australian armed forces who have died in service. (Courtesy of Australian War Memorial)
Life

Costly expansion of Australia's war memorial stirs controversy

Critics argue that national budget better spent on fighting pandemic than elevating war memories

12 September 2021
An Osaka neighborhood engulfed in flames after a firebombing raid on June 7, 1945. (Photo courtesy of Hidenori Watanave)
Life

Rebooting Memories Project helps Japan retain its wartime past

Colorized photographs shed light on a fading era

10 September 2021
In "Minamata," Johnny Depp, right, stars as American photojournalist W. Eugene Smith, who documented the deadly effects of industrial mercury pollution in Minamata, Japan. (Vertigo Releasing/screen grab from YouTube) 
Arts

Minamata mercury tragedy gets Hollywood treatment

New film gives flawed view of the American photojournalist who exposed poisoning scandal

10 September 2021
Yoshiki gives recital at Carnegie Hall in New York in 2017.
20 years after 9/11

X Japan's Yoshiki sees music as a potential cure for trauma

Philanthropist and rock 'n' roller has been supporting disaster victims since 1995

10 September 2021
"Children reading a history book" features two figures looking at a page that simply says "Remember." 
20 years after 9/11

Minako Yoshino sculpts messages to the future

Japanese sculptor hopes her work will help connect a divided world

9 September 2021
A Buddhist nun offers prayers to Saint Kukai on Koyasan in Wakayama Prefecture. (All photos by Stephen Mansfield)
Tea Leaves

Seeking the 'right' rite of passage

Space, cost and tradition dictate Japan's colorful funeral practices

8 September 2021
Thai film "Anatomy of Time," directed by Jakrawal Nilthamrong, will have its world premiere at the Venice International Film Festival on Sept. 10. Domestic screenings, however, will have to wait while theaters remain closed due to the pandemic. (Courtesy of Diversion, Damned Films, Sluizer Film Productions, M'GO Films, Mit Out Sound Films)
Arts

Thai films struggle at home amid international praise

Pandemic-related cinema closures threaten local movie renaissance

8 September 2021
A female taxi driver transports a passenger in Tehran in August 2011. About 500 women drive for the Women's Taxi company, which serves only female passengers. In Iran, women are playing an increasing role in society.
20 years after 9/11

Keiko Sakai sees Islam, democracy as compatible

Expert says deep understanding of each country's culture and traditions needed

8 September 2021
Robert "Skipp" Orr, who has died at age 68, enjoyed deep, long-lasting relationships in business, government and academia in both the U.S. and Japan.
Obituaries

Robert 'Skipp' Orr, an American patriot who loved Japan

Former US ambassador to ADB and president of Boeing Japan dies at 68

7 September 2021
Mohsen Makhmalba: director, novelist, human rights activist.
20 years after 9/11

Mohsen Makhmalbaf warns of extremists

Iranian filmmaker worries over fate of journalists and artists stuck in Afghanistan

7 September 2021
The poster for the Shigeko Kubota exhibition at the National Museum of Art, Osaka, features a 1972 photo of the artist by Tom Haar. (Original photo in poster © Tom Haar)
Arts

Japanese video-art pioneer honored at last

Shigeko Kubota blended sculpture and high technology

6 September 2021
Firefighters work beneath the destroyed mullions, the vertical struts, of the World Trade Center's twin towers after a terrorist attack on Sept. 11, 2001. 
20 years after 9/11

Thomas Friedman argues for more cooperation and less confrontation

Columnist hopeful our good intentions will triumph over our tribal instincts

6 September 2021
Los Angeles Angels star Shohei Ohtani is now being called the greatest player in all of baseball.
Sports

Shohei Ohtani gives Japanese baseball a moment to savor

Country has reached the end of a 150-year spiritual journey

5 September 2021
Los Angeles Angels star Shohei Ohtani, the American League's starting pitcher for the MLB All-Star Game on July 13 in Denver, throws during the first inning.
Sports

Shohei Ohtani and the quest to rewrite baseball's record books

Purist warrior monk rises above a game consumed by greed and entitlement

4 September 2021
The legacy of Sri Lanka's civil war looms large in Anuk Arudpragasam's second book, "A Passage North," which has been longlisted for this year’s Booker Prize. (Nikkei montage/Photos courtesy of Granta Books, Ruvin De Silva)
Arts

Book review: Trauma lingers in novel about Sri Lanka's civil war

Young Tamil author ponders human costs of violence and the nature of love

3 September 2021
Vendors offer food and drinks from their small boats to people visiting the Amphawa floating market in Samut Songkhram Province, west of Bangkok, in 2013. 
Tea Leaves

Pandemic takes flavor out of Bangkok's grocery shopping

Thai capital's wet markets struggle to survive disruptions

1 September 2021
Nepalese artifacts that were repatriated after being stolen. From left: the head of a 12th-century statue of the Hindu goddess Saraswati, a 10th-century Uma Maheshwar-themed stone carving, and a stone statue of Buddha. (Courtesy of the National Museum of Nepal)
Arts

Hunting for Nepal's stolen idols

Global awareness of widespread theft is leading to recoveries

1 September 2021
A Buddhist monk protests the arrest of Wirathu, an ultranationalist monk who has been accused of conspiring to persecute Muslims, in Yangon in January. Even well before the coup, the military and some racist monks were tapping into a latent xenophobic strain among the country’s mainly Buddhist ethnic Burman majority to target Muslims and other minorities. 
Life

As anti-coup protests continue, where are Myanmar's monks?

Ignoring history, some prominent Buddhist clergy have sided with the military

28 August 2021
One of the most beautiful black opals from Lightning Ridge is the 180-carat Aurora Australis, on display at the Altmann & Cherny retail store in Sydney. (Courtesy of Altmann & Cherny)
Life

Australia's black opal fields lure dreamers and prospectors

Part-time miners flock to desolate but colorful Lightning Ridge in search of riches

27 August 2021
Western tourists cut conspicuous figures while strolling through a village on Mabul Island in the east Malaysian state of Sabah. (Photo by Kit Yeng Chan)
Tea Leaves

Developing Asia can do without Western 'influencers'

Tough line needed on ill-informed social media and antisocial tourists

25 August 2021
"Being selected to be the final torchbearer for the 2020 Olympics has been by far the top personal achievement of my life thus far. Perhaps it will be the greatest honor in all my life." --Naomi Osaka. 
Sports

This is Naomi: Japan gave me pride that will stay with me for life

Tennis star vows to come back to represent her country at the Paris Olympics

25 August 2021