• Life & Arts

Life & Arts

18 January 2026
Jaipur’s Hawa Mahal, the Palace of Winds, is a defining landmark of India’s “Pink City.” (All photos by Anuj Behal except where indicated) 
Yau Yiu-wai stands in front of Sun Ngai Shing (New Art City), the Hong Kong umbrella shop he ran for 45 years before closing the business in December. (All photos by Kelly Yu)
Tea Leaves

Hong Kong's 'Umbrella King' bows out after 183 years

Fifth-generation shop closes, taking a slice of the old city with it

17 January 2026
A sweeping view of the outer ring of the main volcanic caldera on the Japanese island of Aogashima. (All photos by Stephen Mansfield)
Destinations

Aogashima -- Japan's ultimate island

Remote volcanic outpost 350 km south of Tokyo thrives in subtropical isolation

17 January 2026
Since McDonald's first outlet in Vietnam opened in 2014, the chain's expansion has been slow. Customers line up outside Vietnam's first McDonald's -- in Ho Chi Minh City -- on opening day, the morning of Feb. 8, 2014.
Food & Beverage

McDonald's aims to nearly triple its Vietnam outlets to 100 in 3 years

US burger chain tries to shake 'premium' image in a country that prefers chicken

16 January 2026
Hong Kong activist investor David Webb speaks at the Foreign Correspondents' Club in the city on May 12, 2025. It turned out to be his last major public appearance.
Obituaries

David Webb, advocate for Hong Kong economic freedom, dies at 60

Activist investor's cancer battle coincided with deep change in his adopted home

14 January 2026
Bags filled with sliced mango and longan -- a lychee-like fruit -- are displayed for sale at a street stall in Bangkok. (All photos by Veidehi Gite)
Eat & Drink

Eating first, asking questions later in Bangkok

Thailand's capital city challenges visitors' appetites -- and it always wins

11 January 2026
Tourists are pulled on sleds at the Gulmarg ski resort in Indian-administered Kashmir, one of the country’s most popular winter destinations, on Dec. 23, 2025.
Life

Ski slopes carry Indian-administered Kashmir's recovery hopes

Tourists are returning to Gulmarg despite continuing threat of separatist violence

10 January 2026
Uichiro Niwa, a former chairman of Itochu who also served as Japanese ambassador to China, has died at the age of 86. (Photo by Nikkei)
Obituaries

Uichiro Niwa, former chief of Itochu and ambassdor to China, dies at 86

Ex-chairman of trading house worked to improve bilateral relations in early 2010s

8 January 2026
Nepalese girls pose in traditional Japanese attire during the Japan Day festival in Kathmandu in March 2024. The two countries share a long and friendly relationship.
Tea Leaves

Sayonara Kathmandu, namaste Tokyo: Gen Z Nepalis head to Japan

Higher wages, safety and stability beckon disaffected youth

7 January 2026
Customers affectionately call the female proprietor of the Mogura snack bar in Tokyo's Ginza district "Mama." (Photo by Yutaka Miyaguchi)
Eat & Drink

Japan's snack bars fade, leaving fewer late-night social spaces

Aging owners and lack of successors could push numbers down 60% by 2050

4 January 2026
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Arts

Kaori Muraji brings classical guitar music to video game world

Japanese female guitarist icon delivers 'borderless music' inspired by cinema

4 January 2026
Black Turtle Dive staff lead a restoration and maintenance workshop on an artificial restoration site off the west coast of Thailand's Koh Tao Island. (Courtesy of Fabian Seligmann, Black Turtle Dive)
Life

Conservation makes a splash in Thailand's coastal waters

As climate change bites, tourists are being recruited to help clean up the ocean

4 January 2026
AI technology for manga translation is evolving. (Photo by Mantra. Balloon Dream © Mitsuki Kuchitaka)
Media & Entertainment

Japan aims to stop manga piracy with AI translation training program

Government also seeks to develop automated detection of illegal sites

4 January 2026
A close-up of an adult female Amur falcon, taken in the wetlands off Aree Old village in the northeastern Indian state of Nagaland. (All photos by Anne Pinto-Rodrigues)
Life

How India's Nagaland became the 'falcon capital of the world'

Once hunted, the migratory Amur falcons are now safe in the state thanks to conservation efforts

3 January 2026
Tokuda Yasokichi IV puts her originality into the traditional Kutani style of Japanese porcelain. (Photo by Keijiro Goto)
Arts

Embracing red, Japanese pottery artist expands Kutani ware's spectrum

How Tokuda Yasokichi IV stakes her legacy on color family predecessors avoided

1 January 2026
Not your average bath: Japan's infinity hot springs offer a unique way to unwind. (Photo by Hideyuki Miura)
Travel & Leisure

The 10 best Japanese infinity 'onsen' to warm your body and soul

These rejuvenating hot springs offer stunning boundary-blurring views

1 January 2026
A large balloon of main character from "Jumbo" is seen in central Jakarta. The animated film became the country's highest-grossing Indonesian movie of all time in 2025. (Antara)
Business trends

Homegrown entertainment catches on across Southeast Asia in 2025

Increase in middle-income earners boosts experimental spending

31 December 2025
Bangladesh Nationalist Party Chairperson Khaleda Zia during a rally in Dhaka in May 2009. Zia, Bangladesh's first female prime minister, played a central role in transforming the BNP into a major political force and shaping the country's democratic trajectory.
Obituaries

Khaleda Zia, Bangladesh's first female PM, dies at 80

Key democracy movement figure presided over reforms but also corruption

30 December 2025
British Prime Minister Keir Starmer speaks with Bollywood actor Rani Mukerji during a visit to Yash Raj Films in Mumbai in October.
Media & Entertainment

UK recasts itself as Bollywood backdrop, turning away from Hollywood

Blockbuster producer Yash Raj Films due to make 3 movies in Britain next year

29 December 2025
Canadian entrepreneur Aaron Benjamin reimagines Japanese kimono textiles as high-end, Western-style bespoke clothing under his Ichijiku label. (Source photos by Ichijiku, Azzam Khan)
Life

The luxury brand turning kimono cloth into wearable art

Canadian entrepreneur repurposes Japanese fabric into bespoke apparel

28 December 2025
Evening sailing among the islands of South Korea's Hallyeohaesang National Park. (All photos by Marco Ferrarese)
Destinations

Sailing South Korea's less-traveled maritime paradise

Secondhand Japanese boats find a new home in spectacular national park

27 December 2025
Every day, Tsutomu Abe steps outside the traditional inn he runs in the hills of northern Japan to set off firecrackers to scare off any nearby bears. This year has seen a record number of human casualties and fatalities as hungry bears enter more urban areas. (Photo by Yuki Kohara) 
Big in Asia

Japan bear attacks send firms hunting for new ways to protect customers, staff

From fireworks to fencing, deterrents are in demand as urban intrusions multiply

27 December 2025
The works of Austrian masters such as Gustav Klimt are projected onto the walls and floors of the Moveum Yokohama in Yokohama, Japan, on Dec. 18. (Photo by Yurika Yoneda)
Automobiles

Toyota art show highlights its desire to transcend carmaking

Projection exhibit in Yokohama part of company's diversification drive

26 December 2025
Japan's Jumbo Ozaki watches his tee shot during the opening round of the Masters at the Augusta National Golf Club in the U.S. state of Georgia in April 1997.
Obituaries

Golf-Hall of Famer Masashi 'Jumbo' Ozaki dies at 78

Pioneer left a legacy with multiple championships in Japan

24 December 2025
Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim speaks at a pro-Palestinian solidarity rally in Kuala Lumpur on Aug. 24. Recent comments by Anwar suggesting his primary responsibility is toward Malaysians, not foreigners, have generated concern that refugees could face further marginalization.
Tea Leaves

If Malaysia's Anwar won't be a 'PM for refugees,' then who will?

Rohingya families face new barriers abroad as politics and public sentiment harden

23 December 2025
The 67-room Yanbai Villas is set on a lush 30,000-square-meter estate along Beijing's Yanqi Lake. It is among a growing crop of domestically developed luxury getaways in China. (Courtesy of Yanbai Villas)
Destinations

Homegrown luxury hotels make their mark in mainland China

Fueled by cultural confidence, boutique brands are rewriting the hospitality playbook

21 December 2025
Approximately 30,000 bamboo poles were used to construct the five-story, 42,000-square-foot bamboo theater that served as the centerpiece of the once-a-decade Kam Tin Jiao Festival in Hong Kong’s Kam Tin area. (All photos by Kelly Yu)
Life

Hong Kong bamboo theater tradition faces uncertain future

Safety fears, lack of successors threaten intangible cultural heritage

20 December 2025
Installation view of "Westwood|Kawakubo." A total of 150 works by the British and Japanese designers are on view at the National Gallery of Victoria in Melbourne. (Photo by Sean Fennessy)
Arts

Fashion iconoclasts Kawakubo and Westwood shine in Melbourne show

Five decades of groundbreaking work on display at National Gallery of Victoria

20 December 2025
Director Lav Diaz's "Magellan" is a fierce, absorbing reframing of the narrative of European imperial expansion. (Courtesy of Luxbox Films)
Arts

Filipino filmmaker offers a fresh view of European 'discoveries'

In 'Magellan,' director Lav Diaz challenges history and the cinematic epic

19 December 2025
Author Thant Myint U bemoans the fact that his grandfather, former U.N. Secretary-General U Thant, has been largely forgotten or mentioned in a negative light since his death in 1974 -- a neglect his book seeks to redress. 
Books

Books: How U Thant made the great powers pay attention

Thant Myint U's biography of his grandfather claims to tell the true story of the 1960s

17 December 2025