Arts

7 November 2024
Daihachi Yoshida, left, speaks to the audience after his work "Teki Cometh" won the Tokyo Grand Prix award at Tokyo International Film Festival on Nov. 6. Kyozo Nagatsuka, right, won the Best Actor award with the same film. 
Melissa Malu, manager of the Australian Museum’s Pasifika collection, said the process of repatriating ancestral remains should focus on empowering Pacific peoples and restoring their autonomy. (© James Alcock/Australian Museum)
Arts

Australian museums prioritize return of Pacific ancestral remains

Institutions face calls to repatriate hundreds of body parts

7 November 2024
A Parsons Music Group piano factory in Yichang, China: With domestic sales plunging, manufacturers have been stuck with instruments they cannot move. 
Big in Asia

China's passion for the piano fades as Beijing strikes somber tone

World's biggest market shrinks rapidly amid deepening economic uncertainty

2 November 2024
Tourists in traditional Korean dress pose in front of Gyeongbokgung Palace in Seoul.
Comment

Han Kang's Nobel win reflects Korean embrace of history's tragedies

Modern events and societal pressures inspire South Korean author's books

19 October 2024
Member of the Nihon Hidankyo and atomic bomb survivor, co-chair Terumi Tanaka (C) speaks during a press conference in Tokyo on Oct. 12. The Nobel Peace Prize was on October 11 awarded to the Japanese anti-nuclear group Nihon Hidankyo, a grassroots movement of atomic bomb survivors from Hiroshima and Nagasaki. (Photo by AFP/Jiji)
18 October 2024
Organizers are expecting "a troop of VIPs from Asia" at this year's Art Basel Paris art fair at the Grand Palais. (Courtesy of Art Basel)
Arts

All points East in buzzy Paris art scene

New Asian names draw collectors and gallerists to city's fairs

18 October 2024
An interior view of Terminal 2 at Bengaluru's Kempegowda International Airport: Rich in greenery and artwork, the facility has been described by the operator as a "terminal in a garden." (All photos courtesy of BIAL)
Arts

India embraces public art in unlikely places

Bengaluru's new airport terminal is winning hearts and accolades

17 October 2024
A scene from the movie "Laapataa Ladies." ©Aamir Khan Films LLP 2024
Interview

Bollywood star Aamir Khan sees hope in movies

Actor in blockbusters '3 Idiots,' 'PK' believes creative work can bring joy, understanding

13 October 2024
Han Kang, the South Korean author of "The Vegetarian," is the first Asian woman to win the Nobel Prize in literature.
Arts

Han Kang's Nobel win hailed in South Korea as 'historic' milestone

President Yoon praises literary works that 'transformed' country's historical wounds

11 October 2024
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi posts a photo of his meeting with U.S. President Joe Biden on X. The two countries have signed an agreement to curb the smuggling of Indian cultural treasures.
Politics

India steps up hunt for stolen historical treasures

Return of nearly 300 antiquities by the U.S. highlights scale of smuggling

3 October 2024
Vincent van Gogh's "Les Canots Amarrés" led the auction of 42 other masterpieces at Hong Kong Christie's on Sept. 26. Works by French impressionist Claude Monet and England-based street artist Banksy were also featured. (Photo by Grace Li)
Arts

Van Gogh work fetches $27.6m at Hong Kong Christie's, below estimates

Lukewarm bidding at the auction house's new Asia headquarters highlights slowing demand

27 September 2024
A detail of Vincent van Gogh's "Les Canots Amarres" is pictured during the inaugural sale at Christie's new Asia Pacific headquarters in Hong Kong.
Your Week in Asia

Asian leaders head to U.N., Indonesia polls, Van Gogh sale in Hong Kong

Your weekly lineup of Asia's biggest business and political events

22 September 2024
Joe Hisaishi says generative AI can only imitate past music. (Photo by Rei Nakafuji) 
Interview

Studio Ghibli composer sees AI-generated music as just imitations

Joe Hisaishi has turned down 'numerous requests' to compose with AI

21 September 2024
Hiroyuki Sanada won an Emmy for best lead actor in a drama for his role as Yoshii Toranaga in "Shogun." (FX Networks)
Media & Entertainment

'Shogun' dominates Emmys as Hollywood pursues diversity on-screen

Tale of feudal Japan wins over viewers embracing subtitles and new perspectives

17 September 2024
Japanese artist Yoshitomo Nara's "Puff Marshie (Hirosaki Version, Shanghai Version)" is displayed at the Tokyo Gendai international art fair in July. Strong demand among Japanese collectors at this year's event bodes well for the city's future as a global art hub. (Courtesy of Tokyo Gendai 2024)
Arts

New York gallery sets pace in Japan's nascent art market

Recent sales of contemporary works highlight shift in collectors' attitudes

6 September 2024
Works are displayed at Frieze Seoul 2023: More than 70,000 visitors are expected at this year's edition, which will feature 110 galleries spanning 32 countries. (Courtesy of Frieze Seoul)
Arts

Frieze Seoul returns as South Korea deepens its art hub drive

Latest in a series of international art fairs showcases local and global artists

3 September 2024
Australian furniture designers are winning international acclaim for creating pieces that focus on sustainable, organic materials and reflect the country's diverse landscape and broad mix of cultures. (Source photos by Duncan Meerding, Manapan Furniture, Pier Carthew)
Arts

Australian furniture designers carve out sustainable future

Homegrown industry reflects landscape and cultural diversity

1 September 2024
Hayao Miyazaki's works include the Oscar-winning films "The Boy and the Heron" and "Spirited Away."
Arts

Hayao Miyazaki among five Magsaysay awardees for 2024

Foundation praises animator's gift for making complex issues relatable to kids

31 August 2024
Art and food are key pillars of Thailand's soft-power push backed by new Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra, pictured here at a Bangkok forum in June that showcased the government's vision. (Source photos Thai Ministry of Commerce, Getty Images)
Arts

New Thai PM spearheads economy-orientated 'soft power' drive

Paetongtarn Shinawatra has promised a creative boom, but critics point to daunting bureaucracy and confusing vision

31 August 2024
The Hara Cafe is located in Hong Kong's bustling Tsim Sha Tsui district. (Photo obtained by Nikkei)
Life

All aboard: Life-size Japanese model trains debut at Hong Kong cafe

Retro railcars by world-renowned modeler Hara transport guests to 1920s Japan

25 August 2024
With his book, historian Frederik Cryns wanted to write an accurate, faithful biography of William Adams, the English sailor who inspired the "Shogun" story. (Source photos Reaktion Books, Getty Images)
Books

Books: William Adams, 'blue-eyed samurai' who never was

Japan-based historian and author pieces together puzzle of the would-be English shogun

24 August 2024
"Bahar," a remake of a South Korean drama, has enjoyed huge popularity in Turkey. (MF Yapim)
Media & Entertainment

Asian dramas spread across the world through Turkish remakes

South Korean and Japanese content is turning up in over 100 countries

10 August 2024
Electronicos Fantasticos founder Ei Wada rocks out on a converted fan. The collective's members range from primary school kids to engineers at appliance companies. 
Tea Leaves

Japan's reverence for past gives new musical meaning to old appliances

Improbable avant-garde artists' collective Electronicos Fantasticos celebrates a retro-future

7 August 2024
Not A Hotel's Irori, a glass-walled villa in a forest near Karuizawa, Nagano prefecture, opened on July 16. (Not A Hotel)
Travel & Leisure

Japan's latest pitch to wealthy tourists: Timeshare designer palaces

A Bathing Ape's Nigo curates Not A Hotel's new villa on Tokyo Bay

7 August 2024
Artist and filmmaker Angus McDonald has been a finalist in Australia's most prestigious portrait competition, the Archibald Prize, seven times. "The Archibald transcends the art world," McDonald says. "It has so much power to engage people," (Photo by Nolan Verheij)
Arts

Acclaimed Australian painter spotlights art of human rights

From economics to campaigns for asylum seekers, Angus McDonald makes a mark in diverse worlds

4 August 2024