Arts

Stairs thought to be part of a Dayun temple excavated among the Ak-Beshim ruins in Kyrgyzstan. (Photo by Shun Kato)
Arts

Japan-Kyrgyz team finds ruins linked to China's only female emperor

Kyrgyzstan site believed to be temple built during Tang Dynasty's westward push

17 May 2026
The Japanese kabuki actor Takanosuke Nakamura performs Fuji Musume in Paris in April.
Arts

Kabuki makes a comeback in Europe after hit film 'Kokuho'

Shochiku brings shows to Paris, Rome and Cologne

5 May 2026
“China Eastern Airlines (2),” by Hiroya Uezato, is one of the many eye-catching works on display in “Creative Adventures by 45 Japanese Art Brut Creators,” being held through May 10 at the Okinawa Prefectural Museum and Art Museum in Naha. (Photo by Edward M. Gomez)
Arts

In Okinawa, a showcase for Japanese art brut

Exhibition captures the creative spirit of a genre that has come into its own

26 April 2026
Japanese skaters Riku Miura, left, and Ryuichi Kihara celebrate after winning gold medals at the Milan Cortina Winter Olympics on Feb. 16.
Sports

Japan's figure-skating Olympic champs Miura and Kihara to retire

'Riku-Ryu' pair have 'no regrets,' aim to develop younger athletes

17 April 2026
In Suzann Victor's 2025 artwork "City Lantern," recently shown at Art Basel Hong Kong, colonial-era photographs shift and refract behind lenses in a rotating panoramic cityscape. (Courtesy of Gajah Gallery)
Arts

Suzann Victor installation lights up Art Basel Hong Kong

'City Lantern' showcases Australian Singaporean artist's challenge to Asia's colonial legacy

6 April 2026
Yip Yew Chong's 2015 mural “The Letter Writer” depicts the men who wrote letters on behalf of unschooled Chinese migrants in Singapore. The scribes could be found in Chinatown until as recently as the 1980s. (All photos courtesy of Yip Yew Chong)  
Arts

Singaporean artist's nostalgic murals win a global following

Yip Yew Chong has spent a decade enlivening neighborhoods with signature works

28 March 2026
New York graffiti pioneer Mark Bode tags a mural he helped create at Manhattan Records in Tokyo's Shibuya district. His work has brought the characters of his father, underground comics legend Vaughn Bode, to a new generation of Japanese fans. (Courtesy of Alexander Mitchell)
Arts

US graffiti legend brings his iconic street art to Japan

Artist Mark Bode extends the comics universe created by his father

22 March 2026
K-pop group BTS waves at the end of their comeback concert in central Seoul on March 21.
Media & Entertainment

BTS takes over central Seoul with massive comeback concert

K-pop stars mixed old favorites with live debuts of tracks from new album

21 March 2026
People take photos of an installation promoting the Netflix broadcast of a March 21 concert by K-pop group BTS at Gwanghwamun Square in Seoul. (Photo by Ahn Seong-bok) 
Media & Entertainment

BTS comeback show to go 'Dynamite' on Netflix only

Streaming focuses questions over how South Korea can capitalize on K-pop's success

20 March 2026
Left to right: Maggie Kang, Chris Appelhans and Michelle L.M. Wong pose with the Oscar for Best Animated Feature Film for "KPop Demon Hunters" in Los Angeles on March 15.
Media & Entertainment

'KPop Demon Hunters' wins best animated feature Oscar

Action-packed feature also nominated for best original song for 'Golden'

16 March 2026
Ceramic water dropper with celadon and blood-red glaze, 1922, by Japanese artist Kanjiro Kawai. 10 x 19 x 12.5 cm. (Courtesy of the Kawai Kanjiro House)
Arts

Japan pottery legend Kanjiro Kawai honored with first US solo exhibition

60th-anniversary show features 'mingei' master's ceramics, wood sculptures, calligraphy and more

15 March 2026
Anime cels for sale are displayed at a Mandarake store in Tokyo. (Photo by Reika Mihara)
Media & Entertainment

Anime cel prices soar as studios' trash becomes foreign fans' treasure

Auctions and proxy buyers see surge in sales to collectors and speculators

15 March 2026
Indonesia-born designer Jessica Pangestu is presenting her July 2025 graduate collection, Threads of Identity, at this year's edition of the Melbourne Fashion Festival. (Courtesy of Jessica Pangestu)
Arts

Melbourne Fashion Festival turns 30 in style

Eclectic program highlights identity, craftsmanship and next-generation designers

21 February 2026
Strewn across the courtyard of Dib Bangkok is Alicja Kwade’s “Pars pro Toto” (2020), a series of 11 natural stone spheres that, depending on the viewer's perspective, resemble giant marbles or the planets of a solar system. (Courtesy of Dib Bangkok; photo by Auntika Ounjittichai)
Arts

Dib Bangkok brings a Thai art collector's dream museum to life

Inaugural exhibition offers a poignant tribute to its founding father

15 February 2026
“Rental Family” stars, from left, Takehiro Hira, Akira Emoto, Brendan Fraser, Shannon Mahina Gorman and Mari Yamamoto. (© 2026 Searchlight Pictures, All Rights Reserved)
Arts

'Rental Family' shows how lies can spawn the truth

In Japan, stand-in relatives sometimes work better than the real thing

8 February 2026
Television series "Khemjira" is set in the Isan region of northeastern Thailand, a cultural landscape that has historically been underrepresented in Thai mainstream media. (From the Khemjira the Series Instagram page)
Tea Leaves

Hit TV show 'Khemjira' opens a door to pride in Isan

Drama's setting takes a startling new approach to Thailand's biggest region

7 February 2026
Khadhok co-founders Lea Taake, left, Tenzin Melak, center, and Tashi Nyima, whose collective is gaining attention for its efforts to support Tibetan artists inside Tibet and in exile. (Photo by Tenzin Dorjee, courtesy of Rubin Museum of Himalayan Art)
Arts

Khadhok's rise signals a new chapter for Tibetan art

India-based collective elevates contemporary voices in Tibet and in exile

7 February 2026
The Dalai Lama celebrated his 90th birthday at the Tsuglagkhang Complex, also known as the Dalai Lama Temple, in the north Indian town of Dharamshala on July 6, 2025.
Media & Entertainment

Dalai Lama receives Grammy with 'humility' as China criticizes award

Audio album 'Meditations' wins international recognition as succession issue looms

2 February 2026
Vietnamese Australian choreographer and dancer James Vu Anh Pham: "I want to be involved in projects that feel necessary, important, challenging and driven by good intentions." (Source photos @yebophotography; Pham's Instagram page, @jamesvuanh) 
Arts

Meet James Vu Anh Pham, the choreographer behind Madonna and FKA twigs

Award-winning Vietnamese Australian dancer is shaping modern pop performance

1 February 2026
Examples of Keliki artwork, which is named after the Balinese village where the intricate style originated. (All photos by Charukesi Ramadurai)
Tea Leaves

How an art school showed me Bali beyond tourism

Keliki paintings are increasingly popular among collectors in Singapore, Japan and the US

31 January 2026
Manga artist Rumiko Takahashi at a San Francisco art exhibition featuring her work on Jan. 17. (Photo by Rei Nakafuji)
Interview

How manga artist Rumiko Takahashi remains fresh after 5 decades

While AI learns from old ideas, humans foster creativity through imagination, she says

28 January 2026
Japanese artist Aoi Nagasawa searches for birds in the marshlands. Her artwork emerges from lived experiences in the mountains and with Matagi hunting culture. (All photos courtesy of Aoi Nagasawa)
Arts

The Japanese hunter who paints her prey

Aoi Nagasawa is gaining recognition for large-scale works rooted in nature

25 January 2026
Stream article image
Arts

Kaori Muraji brings classical guitar music to video game world

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

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
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
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
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
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