In-depth News Features | NHK WORLD-JAPAN News

Baseball's governing body has teamed up with a Japanese video gaming giant in the world of esports. Officials hope success in the digital realm will inspire more kids to pick up a bat and glove in real life — and possibly see their sport return to the Olympic fold.

More than half a century after man first walked on the moon, the world's space powers are engaged in a new quest to unlock the secrets of Earth's nearest neighbor. In the race to conquer the lunar frontier, companies in Japan's space industry have found an unexpected advantage in their own backyard.

A British woman whose late father was a prisoner of war in Japan during World War Two visited the country nearly eight decades after he left, to retrace his experience. Her journey took her to Zentsuji City in Kagawa Prefecture, the site of the country's first POW camp.

Authorities in Hong Kong are cracking down on critics of Beijing to the point of suffocation. Not only are they using a sweeping piece of national security legislation enacted in 2020 — they're also wielding a sedition law that's been dormant for almost half a century. From bouquets to candles and even children's books, almost nothing escapes their crosshairs.

China's Defense Minister Li Shangfu has not been seen in public for more than a month, and the government is yet to say why. His absence is strange, but not unique. Foreign Minister Qin Gang never returned to his post after suddenly disappearing earlier this year, while questions also hang over the whereabouts of other senior officials in the military. Mysterious stuff. But some analysts say nothing happens by chance under President Xi Jinping.

It's not every day the young students at Kyoto's Terada Ballet Art School get a visit from some of the world's top dancers. So, in August, when the children welcomed a group from the National Ballet of Ukraine, they made the most of the rare opportunity to learn from their guests — not just about their shared art, but also their shared humanity.

The first meeting of states parties to the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons was held June 21-23 in Vienna. The talks came as Russia's invasion of Ukraine raises genuine fears of a country pushing the dreaded button in an act of aggression for the first time since the end of Cold War. NHK covered all the major developments.

Talk about a baptism of fire. Less than a week after becoming Japan's first female foreign minister in almost two decades, Kamikawa Yoko travelled to New York for the United Nations General Assembly. A stern diplomatic test, but she's clearly hit the ground running — especially in the push for improved women's representation on the global stage.

A Ukrainian dentist who fled invading Russian forces and moved to Japan is hoping to rebuild his career in his adopted country, but first he has to navigate some imposing linguistic and administrative barriers.

Sweden is on edge, as almost weekly demonstrations about the Quran trigger reactions across the country and diplomatic protests from abroad.