Advertisement
Advertisement
Asia /

East Asia

Related Topics:
Japan
South China Sea
South Korea
Belt and Road Initiative
North Korea
A Japanese government survey estimated that 1.46 million people were living as shut-ins as of 2023. Photo: Shutterstock
Japan

Japan’s hikikomori recluses are growing old. So are their carers

What happens to more than 1 million social recluses in the world’s fastest-ageing society when the last person who cared for them is gone?

videocam
Japan

Bound by anxiety: Japan and Australia deepen ties for an uneasy age

South Korea

South Korean judge in Kim Keon-hee’s appeals trial found dead days after verdict

videocam
North Korea

North Korea’s own-brand phone is sleek, colourful – and possibly watching you

Reports suggest North Korean-produced phones periodically capture screenshots that are stored in hidden folders accessible to authorities.

videocam
Domestically produced Jindallae mobile phones are displayed during the Pyongyang Spring International Trade Fair on Monday. Photo: AFP
Domestically produced Jindallae mobile phones are displayed during the Pyongyang Spring International Trade Fair on Monday. Photo: AFP
Japan

Why Japanese politician’s goal to reset ties with Russia is ‘a long shot’

A proposed meeting of foreign ministers from Tokyo and Moscow is unlikely for now due to objections from the Japanese public and allies.

Japan

Japan, Philippines to fast-track transfer of navy destroyers

The two countries’ shared grievances over Chinese territorial claims have seen them draw increasingly close in recent years.

videocam
Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement
Japan

Japan army unit’s gun-toting AI-generated elephant logo gets trampled by critics

Officers created the logo using ChatGPT based on the ‘elephant’, ‘cool’, ‘blue flame’, and ‘mammoth’ keywords, a media report says.

A patch of Japan’s 1st Infantry Regiment was withdrawn after an uproar over its design deemed as out of place with the image of the country’s military. Photo: X
A patch of Japan’s 1st Infantry Regiment was withdrawn after an uproar over its design deemed as out of place with the image of the country’s military. Photo: X
South Korea

South Korea rebuffs Trump’s ‘Project Freedom’ call after Hormuz ship fire

A UN mandate and a global coalition are required before Seoul joins Trump’s mission to reopen the strait, officials indicate.

videocam
19
Japan

Japan offers Indonesia and the Philippines lethal muscle to counter China

Frigate and submarine sales are reportedly on the cards as Tokyo’s defence minister tours the region.

Japan

Avocados push out citrus fruits as Japan warms up from climate change

Global warming is expected to expand areas suitable for ‘sensitive’ avocados in Japan 2.5-fold or more by the middle of the century.

Fuminori Arita shows off avocados grown in his orchard in Matsuyama, Ehime prefecture. Photo: Kyodo
South Korea

Seoul says ‘explosion and fire’ on South Korean ship in Hormuz strait

The vessel is a cargo ship of almost 180 metres (590 feet) sailing under the flag of Panama.

videocam
Cargo ships at sea near the Strait of Hormuz, as viewed from a rocky shoreline near Khor Fakkan, United Arab Emirates. Photo: AP
Cargo ships at sea near the Strait of Hormuz, as viewed from a rocky shoreline near Khor Fakkan, United Arab Emirates. Photo: AP
North Korea

Pitch perfect diplomacy? North Korean footballers head to South Korea

The visit by Naegohyang Women’s FC to South Korea’s Suwon for a competitive match does not signal a thaw in inter-Korea ties, analysts say.

South Korea

South Korean team behind new stroke research, treatment cites Chinese interest

Animals given an experimental drug have shown significant improvement in motor function, with their brain damage reduced.

videocam
Japan

Japan’s FamilyMart gives old clothes new lease of life to reduce textile waste

Some 560,000 tonnes of clothes are estimated to be thrown away in Japan each year – about 70 per cent of new clothing supplied to the market.

FamilyMart executives launch boxes to collect used clothing and goods at a convenience store in Tokyo on April 13. Photo: Kyodo
South Korea

‘Stay to end’: South Korean agency pledges funeral support for foreign workers

Foreign workers, who comprise roughly 3.5 per cent of the workforce, account for over 10 per cent of annual workplace fatalities.

Park Jong-kil pays his respects at a memorial altar for Nguyen Van Tuan at Incheon International Airport on March 20. Photo: K-Comwel
Park Jong-kil pays his respects at a memorial altar for Nguyen Van Tuan at Incheon International Airport on March 20. Photo: K-Comwel
Japan

Takaichi bound for Australia to strengthen economic, security ties

The Prime Minister’s three-day visit will focus on defence, critical minerals and broader economic security as Japan takes a more assertive military stance.

videocam
Japan

Japan joins hunt for aliens. Can it solve the ‘Wow! Signal’ mystery?

Japan’s first SETI group plans radio observations near Sagittarius next August, aiming to decode the 1977 signal.

videocam
Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement
Japan

Common threats help Japan, South Korea overlook historical rows

Both appear willing to put past differences aside as they confront an assertive China, North Korea and an unpredictable US.

videocam
Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi (left) and South Korean President Lee Jae Myung visit the Horyu-ji temple in Ikaruga, Nara prefecture, on January 14. Photo: EPA
Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi (left) and South Korean President Lee Jae Myung visit the Horyu-ji temple in Ikaruga, Nara prefecture, on January 14. Photo: EPA
Japan

Takaichi to hold talks in Vietnam on economic security, critical minerals

Both sides are expected to discuss cooperation in areas such as energy and artificial intelligence.

videocam
Japan

Rapidly ageing Japan’s ‘macho carers’ lend muscles to benefit elderly, disabled

Japan’s care industry is facing a shortage of workers, and one company is plugging the gap by deploying ‘cool’ and well-toned staff.

videocam
Ukraine war

Ukraine sees path to Japanese arms after Tokyo eases export rules

Japan has linked Ukraine’s fate to its own security as it faces China’s growing military power.

videocam
Ukraine’s Ambassador to Japan Yurii Lutovinov poses next to a mockup of a Ukrainian-made Vampire drone during an interview at the Ukraine Embassy in Tokyo, Japan on Tuesday. Photo: Reuters
Japan

Tokyo man who attacked teens with hammer arrested after manhunt

He also struck another high school student who sustained minor injuries.

videocam
A police officer investigates the scene where a high school student was struck on the head with a hammer by a man in Fussa, western Tokyo, on Wednesday. Photo: Kyodo
A police officer investigates the scene where a high school student was struck on the head with a hammer by a man in Fussa, western Tokyo, on Wednesday. Photo: Kyodo
Malaysia

Elephants never forget? Malaysians demand Japan return ‘homesick’ trio

One video shows Dara, Amoi and Kelat responding to their names in Malay while another reportedly reveals one of the elephants ‘weeping’.

Japan

Man arrested in Japan for burning wife’s body in zoo incinerator

While alive, the victim once told her relatives that Tatsuya Suzuki was threatening to ‘burn you until no trace of you will be left’.

Japan

Japan’s higher education sector faces reckoning as student pool shrinks

The potential abolition of so many universities is a ‘dramatic move’ that analysts warn will affect thousands of students and teachers.

University insiders agree that Japan has too many small, private tertiary institutions battling enrolment shortfalls and financial pressures. Photo: Getty Images
Help preserve 120 years of quality journalism.
SUPPORT NOW