Banana Yoshimoto brings youthful bereavement to screen
KUALA LUMPUR -- Recovering from the death of a loved one is a harrowing experience that can crush the soul and transcend reality, and few Asian literary works have captured that feeling as profoundly as Banana Yoshimoto's debut novella "Moonlight Shadow," published in 1986. Inspired by composer Mike Oldfield's 1983 song of the same title, the novella would later form the final quarter of Yoshimoto's 1988 bestseller "Kitchen," which propelled the Japanese author's
Analysis: Xi's 'common prosperity' puts cake debate back in oven
Katsuji Nakazawa is a Tokyo-based senior staff writer and editorial writer at Nikkei. He spent seven years in China as a correspondent and later as China bureau chief. He was the 2014 recipient of the Vaughn-Ueda International Journalist prize.
Amid growing signs of weakness in the Chinese economy, President Xi Jinping's policies are facing headwinds as he pursues the goal of "common prosperity," or sharing the fruits of development.
An article published on Oct. 24 by state-run Xinhua News
Nintendo profit dragged down by chip crunch and waning COVID boom
TOKYO -- A global chip crunch, on top of slowing demand for games as COVID restrictions ease, has delivered a blow to Nintendo's profit as the company continues to struggle to churn out its Switch gaming console.
The Japanese gaming giant on Thursday reported a 19% decline to 172 billion yen ($1.5 billion) in net profit for the first half of this fiscal year from the same period a year ago on the back of a 19% drop in revenue to 62
Henderson Land unveils $14.6bn plan for central Hong Kong complex
HONG KONG -- Henderson Land Development has purchased Hong Kong's most expensive plot of commercial land from the government with a record-breaking bid of HK$50.8 billion ($6.5 billion), vowing to create a "world class" green landmark in the skyscraper-dominated area.
The prime harborfront property on Hong Kong island alongside the International Finance Centre -- the city's second-tallest structure -- measures 516,316 sq. feet (48
NFTs and their fans enjoy a coming-out party in Times Square
NEW YORK -- Jimmy Buffett's Margaritaville, the tropical-themed restaurant and hotel in midtown Manhattan, is not usually the most exclusive place in New York City.
But it was standing room only beneath the propeller-plane-themed ceiling fans on Monday as some of the biggest names in tech shuffled in and out of the urban resort -- not to drink pina coladas and don flip-flops, but to wax poetic about non-fungible tokens.
Nine months ago, few people knew what a non-
Xi says open to discussion on state-owned companies in CPTPP talks
SHANGHAI -- President Xi Jinping said Thursday that China is open to negotiations on industrial subsidies and state-owned enterprises in order to be accepted into the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership.
This follows China's application to join the CPTPP in September, a move seen as undermining the role of the U.S. in championing free trade. Washington was the brainchild of the deal -- which includes allies such as Australia, Canada and Japan, as well as eight other countries -- but later
German frigate arrives in Tokyo as China ties cool in post-Merkel era
BERLIN -- The German frigate Bayern is set to participate in exercises with Japan, the U.S., Australia and Canada after a port call in Tokyo that begins Friday, as Berlin looks to strengthen relationships with fellow democracies having stakes in the Indo-Pacific.
The vessel, which set sail in August, will dock in the Japanese capital until Nov. 12, according to the German Navy, after which it will join a 20-ship joint drill. The Bayern had sought to stop in Shanghai
How to make China and Taiwan earn their admission to CPTPP
Ambassador Kurt Tong is a former U.S. diplomat. He is a partner at the Asia Group.
After China's Sept. 16 application to join the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP), Washington faces the supreme irony of watching passively as its primary strategic rival becomes a beneficiary of a regional market-opening arrangement that the United States crafted for its own benefit.
With both American political parties indulging the populist view that fostering globalization is bad policy, the probability of President Joe
Graying China sinks pensions under critical line in more provinces
BEIJING -- China's pension reserves have fallen below a key government threshold in a majority of provinces, as growing deficits from a rapidly aging population threaten the system's long-term viability.
China has two main pension schemes that together cover 1 billion people. One is compulsory for urban employees and public servants, while the second serves other urban residents and the rural population. The urban employee pension system, the far larger of the two, received 16% less income in 2020 than the
India's financial capital Mumbai gets a makeover
MUMBAI -- Vijay Pratap, who makes his living as a door-to-door political campaigner, shares his one-room tenement -- smaller than parking space for two small cars -- with six members of his family, including his octogenarian mother. He has lived there all 61 years of his life, three generations in a 160-square-foot room in a dilapidated 96-year-old three-story building in Mumbai. While the city around his home has transformed into a
