Reportage

Features & Analysis

After last train in Tokyo, a second city comes to life — The Japan Times

It begins with a flutter of anxious energy. Checking watches and phones, and with concerned glances toward the dwindling number of trains as the station clock ruthlessly slices away the minutes overhead. A sudden burst of energy jolts through the crowd of salarymen, late-night diners and fashionable young people.

World trade in torture tools flourishes under lack of scrutiny— Nikkei Asia

Across Chinese manufacturers' websites and e-commerce sites, Nikkei Asia found electronic neck grabbers edged with spikes, serrated shields, weighted shackles, and stun shields and stun gloves with electronic bolts edited into the photos.

Paradise lost? China, the Solomons and the battle for the Pacific — Nikkei Asia

Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison boasted in March about how his country's COVID-19 vaccine aid to Pacific islands had prevented a Chinese "incursion" into the region. About two weeks later, the Solomon Islands seemed to blow that claim out of the water when it confirmed it was hammering out a security partnership with Beijing.

One year on, Itaewon's scars remain— The Japan Times

In headlines it was called the “crush,” but survivors and witnesses described it more like the sea — a force that swept and sucked people into the crowd, brutally disappearing them..

Solomon Islands unrest magnifies Pacific unease over China ties — Nikkei Asia

Unrest in the Solomon Islands has laid bare simmering unease over China's growing profile in the Pacific, and how some of the region's tiny states are approaching relations with the world's No. 2 economy.

A Hong Kong literary outpost stands its ground— Nikkei Asia

In a nondescript industrial building in Kowloon, bordered by mechanics and warehouses, an independent Hong Kong bookshop is reemerging from a pandemic-imposed hibernation at a time when words -- both written and spoken -- are viewed with increasing scrutiny.

The orchid obsession: How science and smuggling meet in a global trade — The Japan Times

Orchids are a mysterious plant and have long enraptured and enticed hobbyists and scientists. Hunting out their varied forms — an estimated 31,000 species — has even turned some into thieves. For those who love them, they can quickly become an obsession.

News

Hundreds of thousands of protesters march through Hong Kong against China extradition bill — The Telegraph

Hundreds of thousands of protesters took to the streets in Hong Kong to demonstrate against a controversial extradition law that would allow suspects to be sent to mainland China.

China to set up new 'special branch' in Hong Kong — The Telegraph

A new intelligence agency risks prompting return of running street battles and mass protests against Chinese rule.

‘Like time had stopped’: Japan grapples with Shinzo Abe’s loss — Al Jazeera

The fatal shooting of former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe in the western prefecture of Nara has sent shockwaves through Japan, a country where firearms are highly regulated and gun violence is rare.

Crackdown against Hong Kong activists sparks protest talk — Al Jazeera

After a Saturday morning trip to the Peak for exercise and breakfast with his wife at Hong Kong island’s highest hill, 81-year-old Martin Lee he was left considering how to spend the rest of the day. “The police provided me with the answer – they told me what to do,” he told Al Jazeera, describing the moment seven officers arrived at his door with a search warrant.

Hong Kong's elite golf course becomes development battleground amid housing crisis — The Telegraph

For more than a century, its pristine lawns have been the playground of British aristocrats and Chinese businessmen with leisure time to burn. Now the Fanling golf course has become a battleground as Hong Kong’s golfing community face off against a government struggling to manage the island city's spiraling housing crisis.

Transfer of Russian assets in focus at G7 finance ministers meeting — The Japan Times

The Group of Seven is discussing ways of transferring to Ukraine the Russian assets seized following the invasion by Moscow, with legal complexities and domestic restrictions making it difficult to do the transfers, a source familiar with the discussion said Friday.

Hong Kong domestic workers fight for day off amid infection fears — Al Jazeera

Domestic workers in Hong Kong typically only have one day off each week – Sunday. But as the coronavirus spreads, a day spent beyond the confines of their workplace is being challenged.

Reviews, Travel & Design

Where you can eat the world: Hong Kong's Chungking Mansions turns 60 — Nikkei Asia

Hong Kong's Chungking Mansions has a large mouth and a global appetite. The densely populated 17-story building, which houses an estimated 4,000 residents from 129 countries and for 60 years has served as a key hub for trade and currency exchange, is a unique Hong Kong icon.

In the Mood for Love 20 years on — Al Jazeera

Through longing glances in corridors and across intimate table settings, In the Mood for Love tells the slow-burning love story of two beautiful, betrayed neighbours.

Review: Rosewood Villa Magna — Design Anthology

In the lobby, guests are introduced to the first of many frames', or scenes, created by Melbourne-based BAR Studio. Developing each space as an individual moment creates a of intimacy that belies the hotel's scale (there are 154 rooms).

Crafted Connections — Design Anthology

From the outside, there are few hints that differentiate the Meguro home of kooo architects founders Shinya and Ayaka Kojima from the other apartment buildings on the block in this ward of Tokyo Metropolis. Inside is another story.

Flâneur column: The Changing City — Design Anthology

Just before leaving my home town of Wellington, New Zealand’s capital city, to move overseas, I took a walk to the Mount Victoria lookout. This was my favourite walk for its wise old trees and abundance of flowers, but also because it shows the whole maze of the city, revealing how small it is, despite how big it once felt.

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