Simon Denyer

After the Japanese table tennis team mounted an upset against the Chinese in the mixed doubles Olympic final, they found themselves facing a barrage of online hate. Even before the competitors took to the podium, death threats and messages to “go to…

TOKYO — Japanese gymnast Mai Murakami broke down in tears Thursday when asked about hateful comments directed against her online for participating in an Olympics that many people in this country didn’t want to happen. “I know there are people who are…

“We had doubts every day,” Bach said Tuesday. “We deliberated and discussed. There were sleepless nights. Like everyone else in the world, we did not know — I did not know — what the future would hold.” If Bach indeed had sleepless nights in the…

TOKYO — When Tokyo staged the Olympics in 1964, the Games marked Japan’s reemergence from the ashes of defeat in World War II and symbolized its readmission in the post-war international order. It was a moment of immense national pride. The Games…

TOKYO — North Korea supreme leader Kim Jong Un has chastised ruling party officials for failures in their anti-virus work that created what he called a "grave incident" that caused a "huge crisis" in the country's battle against covid-19, state media…

TOKYO — Olympic organizers will allow spectators at this summer's Tokyo Games but cap attendance at 10,000 people or 50 percent of a venue's capacity, whichever is smaller, they announced Monday. The upper limit will not include VIPs, officials and…

TOKYO — North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has called the country's food situation "tense," state media reported Wednesday, amid mounting reports of shortages. Opening a plenary meeting of the ruling Workers’ Party’s central committee, Kim claimed that…

President Biden was making a point as he welcomed Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga to the White House on Friday, using the first in-person visit by a foreign leader to emphasize that his administration sees Asia as its highest priority. The…

TOKYO — The Japanese government said Tuesday it had decided to release into the sea more than 1 million tons of water that has collected at the wrecked Fukushima nuclear power plant, despite opposition from local fishermen and nearby countries. The…

The Biden administration has opened the door to lifting Trump-imposed sanctions against Iran that are "inconsistent" with the 2015 nuclear deal, and also those that prevent Iran from accessing broader economic benefits under the agreement, according…

TOKYO — Japan officially launched the Olympic torch relay Thursday, four months before the Tokyo Summer Games are due to begin, in a ceremony at which spectators were banned and participants distanced from one another. The Games were postponed last…

TOKYO — Overseas spectators will be barred from attending the Tokyo Summer Olympics in an attempt to lessen pandemic risks, the Games' organizing committee said Saturday. “The fact that the spectators are not able to attend the Games from abroad,…

North Korea’s last economic plan failed “tremendously,” he complained. And his inner circle lacked an “innovative viewpoint and clear tactics” in drawing up a new one, Kim told the ruling Workers’ Party last month, yelling and finger-pointing at…

TOKYO — The wife of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un resurfaced in public view this week after an unexplained absence of more than a year, joining her husband at a concert on an important national holiday. Ri Sol Ju’s absence had provoked speculation…

TOKYO — North Korea tried to hack into the servers of U.S. drugmaker Pfizer to steal coronavirus vaccine information, South Korean intelligence officials reported Tuesday, despite leader Kim Jong Un's professed view that his isolated dictatorship is…

TOKYO — President Biden has vowed to rally the United States' partners to respond to Myanmar's military coup. But persuading Asian allies to support sanctions or moves to isolate the regime will be no easy task, given extensive business interests, a…

TOKYO — North Korea appears to be taking steps toward a new test of a powerful submarine-launched missile, U.S. weapons experts said, as it steadily dials up the pressure on President-elect Joe Biden. Last week, a beaming Kim Jong Un presided over…

TOKYO — North Korean leader Kim Jong Un opened a rare ruling party Congress this week with a frank admission that his country's economy had "immensely underachieved" in the past five years and said he had learned "painful lessons" from the…

TOKYO — A Nike advertisement highlighting racial discrimination faced by schoolgirls in Japan, and suggesting they can overcome it through sports, has provoked a fierce debate and backlash in a nation unaccustomed to openly discussing such…