In-depth News Features | NHK WORLD-JAPAN News

The cost of putting a bowl of rice on the table in Japan continues to soar, despite the release of more than 200,000 tons from the national stockpile. Imported rice is playing an important role to meet demand as Japan looks for a long-term solution to the current shortage.

Singer, actor, and global style icon Jane Birkin's death at 76 on July 16 was a particularly sad passing for many in Japan. She was most widely known for her personal and artistic relationship with late songwriter Serge Gainsbourg and the iconic Hermès Birkin handbag, but her work to support survivors of the 2011 Great East Japan Earthquake and Tsunami earned her a special place in the hearts of Japanese.

The long decline of China’s once-booming property development industry is being felt nationwide, especially among workers who provide labor-for-hire. People who have left poor farming villages for jobs in urban areas are being hit hard.

A piano that was exposed to the blast and radiation from the atomic bombing of Hiroshima 80 years ago has made it on stage. A German playwright who was inspired by the instrument’s tragic story to write the piece in which the piano takes center stage has finally been able to see it for himself.

Singer, actor, and global style icon Jane Birkin's death at 76 on July 16 was a particularly sad passing for many in Japan. She was most widely known for her personal and artistic relationship with late songwriter Serge Gainsbourg and the iconic Hermès Birkin handbag, but her work to support survivors of the 2011 Great East Japan Earthquake and Tsunami earned her a special place in the hearts of Japanese.

An increasing number of male and female victims of sex crimes committed by Russian forces in Ukraine are coming forward to share their harrowing experiences. Their stories paint a horrible picture of life in occupied territory ― and as US-Russia ceasefire talks get underway, survivors fear their abusers may never be brought to justice.

*This report contains references to sexual violence and trauma that may be distressing for some readers.

"It's our duty to be ready and to have a force that's capable of prevailing, but our focus is on deterring that conflict from ever happening." The United States Navy chief shares an update on the increasingly tense situations in the Taiwan Strait and South China Sea in an interview with NHK World's Washington Bureau Chief Takagi Masaru.

"It's our duty to be ready and to have a force that's capable of prevailing, but our focus is on deterring that conflict from ever happening." The United States Navy chief shares an update on the increasingly tense situations in the Taiwan Strait and South China Sea in an interview with NHK World's Washington Bureau Chief Takagi Masaru.

"It's our duty to be ready and to have a force that's capable of prevailing, but our focus is on deterring that conflict from ever happening." The United States Navy chief shares an update on the increasingly tense situations in the Taiwan Strait and South China Sea in an interview with NHK World's Washington Bureau Chief Takagi Masaru.

"It's our duty to be ready and to have a force that's capable of prevailing, but our focus is on deterring that conflict from ever happening." The United States Navy chief shares an update on the increasingly tense situations in the Taiwan Strait and South China Sea in an interview with NHK World's Washington Bureau Chief Takagi Masaru.