Simon Denyer

TOKYO — From an early age, Japanese children learn the importance of conforming and fitting in. “The nail that sticks out gets hammered down,” is a well-known proverb. But also tied up in the idea is Japan’s prevailing self-image as a mono-ethnic…

The State Department heightened its travel advisory for China on Thursday, urging citizens not to travel there due to the rapid spread of coronavirus. The announcement came hours after the World Health Organization declared the outbreak a “public…

TOKYO — The best ivory for carving a hanko, or a personal seal, comes from the center of the tusk. That is where the ivory is firm and flawless, says Hideki Arami, a third-generation hanko carver who has a small shop in Tokyo’s busy Shibuya…

Stung by the realization that it faced a child malnutrition crisis worse than in most African countries, India is finally waking to the scale of the problem. Progress is slow and political will patchy, but there are signs that a new approach to…

On Friday, India is set to reach a major milestone in the global battle against polio, recording a full year without a single new case of the disease in the country that was long its epicenter and its biggest exporter. It is a massive global public…

TRIPOLI, Libya — Libyan leader Moammar Gaddafi accepted a political road map Sunday proposed by the African Union, calling for an immediate cease-fire and a dialogue with the opposition about reform. But rebels, before seeing details of the plan,…