In-depth News Features | NHK WORLD-JAPAN News

With Russia's invasion of Ukraine entering its third year, a more detailed picture has emerged of the devastation and suffering in one occupied city.

Two years after Russia launched its ground invasion into Ukraine from the Belarus border in the north, NHK World visited the area to document the effort to prevent another incursion.

Sarah Brayer arrived in Japan in 1979, thinking it was just a stop on an international backpacking trip. But the country became her home where she’d become an acclaimed visual artist, whose work with washi paper is celebrated around the world. Her most recent project offered an opportunity to examine the role her art can play in supporting and reinvigorating cultural institutions in her adopted home.

The National Ballet of Ukraine has enchanted audiences in Japan with its first full-scale overseas performances since the Russian invasion. Though the conflict has presented the 120-year-old dance company with its greatest crisis to date, the dancers and orchestra have pulled together under the leadership of newly appointed artistic director Terada Nobuhiro.

The Ainu, an indigenous people predominantly living in northern Japan, have a distinct language and rich cultural traditions. Although Hokkaido has the largest Ainu population, thousands also live in or around Tokyo, where they face discrimination and lack of awareness. One woman of Ainu heritage, Shimada Akemi (pictured), is working to change this.

A growing number of Ukrainian soldiers want to ensure that even if they don't return from battle, they can still build a family. Many are choosing to freeze their sperm before they head to the front. A new law is making the process easier.

Relics from World War Two are being returned to the families of soldiers who died in foreign lands. The individuals behind these gestures of goodwill provide the recipients with a precious keepsake, and the closure they've been missing for decades.

For many of the 17,000 foreign residents in Ishikawa Prefecture, January's Noto Peninsula earthquake has highlighted difficulties that are causing isolation and unease.

A critically acclaimed film about a woman's illegal abortion has hit screens in Japan. 'Happening' is based on an autobiographical novel of the same name by Annie Ernaux, last year's winner of the Nobel Prize in Literature. The director of the film, Audrey Diwan, and the writer explain why the story, set in 1960s France, is still relevant today.

A star Ukrainian para athlete who is unable to fight against Russian invaders on the battlefield has found other ways to help his country. Yevhenii Bohodaiko has sacrificed both his livelihood and one of his most treasured possessions to support the leagues of young people going off to war.

Child protection expert Paola Bellucci knows that a message with music and animation can reach youngsters' hearts. Her cartoon, "Don't Mess With Me" (English translation), is designed to teach children how to identify a threat of sexual assault or harassment — and protect themselves from a potential assailant.

In Myanmar, resistance fighters are loosening the junta’s grip on the country, and some believe a historic tipping point is near. The catalyst was Operation 1027 -- coordinated attacks on October 27 last year by three ethnic armed groups. Since then, other resistance forces have joined the movement.

As the Russia-Ukraine conflict nears the two-year mark, with international support faltering, leaders in Kyiv are orchestrating a strategic shift, ramping up domestic arms production and turning more to drone warfare. 

President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has said he wants to manufacture at least one million FPV drones by the end of the year, which means training drone pilots is now a priority. And it's a strategy that relies increasingly on civilians.

A fresh-faced, attractive young woman promotes a Japanese green tea that promises longevity and good health. The tea is real, but the model holding the bottle is not.

She was produced by generative artificial intelligence for a TV commercial in a trend that has Japanese artists worried about their livelihoods.

In the aftermath of World War Two, Soviet Union forces rounded up 570,000 Japanese soldiers and put them to work in concentration camps. They also captured an unknown number of Japanese civilians, among them Ahiko Tetsuro, a teenager at the time. He was eventually released, but due to a government designation, he couldn't go back to his homeland.

When he died in 2020, aged 89, he was the last Japanese person still living in Kazakhstan out of the many who were sent to toil in Soviet gulags. A new movie tells the story of his struggle.

An alliance of human rights organizations is using open-source information to investigate alleged war crimes by Russia in Ukraine. Russian forces are suspected of having committed more than 48,290 atrocities, many of them attacks on civilians. Just a handful of cases have led to convictions so far. Prosecuting more will be a long and complicated process.

An alliance of resistance fighters in war-torn Myanmar has scored major victories against the military junta in recent months, capturing towns and army posts in the most successful challenge to the regime since it seized power in a 2021 coup. Zin Mar Aung, the foreign minister of the pro-democracy National Unity Government — the shadow civilian government formed as an alternative to the junta — visited Tokyo late last year to speak with Japanese lawmakers about the state of the conflict. She also sat down with NHK World's Yoshioka Takuma to discuss her aspirations for Myanmar in a post-junta era.

As leaders from around the world gathered in Egypt this month for the United Nations Climate Change Conference, one official is sounding a warning about a country that's being devastated by the severe drought, with many children already losing their lives. The World Food Programme's Somalia spokesperson sat down with NHK to discuss the likelihood of a catastrophic famine.

Revered French historian Helene Carrere d'Encausse believes mounting opposition in Russia to the invasion of Ukraine could ultimately see President Vladimir Putin lose his grip on power. She's been right about downfalls at the Kremlin before.

The military regime in Myanmar is turning to increasingly brutal tactics to suppress opposition. In July, it executed four people and started ramping up attacks on urban areas. This has spurred many young people to take up arms and fight back, while others have chosen to leave the country. But some remain committed to non-violent protest. NHK World spoke to an 18-year-old activist about the difficulties of staying true to pacifism while facing a relentless opponent.

The Japanese government has intervened in the currency market by buying the yen and selling the dollar for the first time in more than 24 years. The move was intended to keep afloat the value of the yen, which has so far declined over 25% against the dollar in 2022. Did the intervention have any effect? Why did the government act? Will there be more yen-buying? NHK World asked an expert.

Iran has been engulfed in unrest since the death of a young woman in police custody four weeks ago, and clashes between protesters and security forces have claimed many lives. Demonstrations are also being held beyond Iran's borders, including in Japan.

The Federal Reserve kept up its aggressive stance at its September policy meeting. An expert explains that inflation in the US remains "sticky," with some prices set to keep rising, and warns of the consequences of runaway price rises.

A director who had to remain anonymous. His work filmed in secrecy. Dark times in Myanmar are depicted onscreen in "Losing Ground", a 23-minute work that was honored in October at the Yamagata International Documentary Film Festival.

Ophthalmologist Hattori Tadashi quit his high-paying job in Japan two decades ago to give impoverished people in Vietnam access to eye care. Since then, he and his team have restored the vision of more than 20,000 people free of charge. Now he has been named one of four recipients of this year's Ramon Magsaysay Award -- often called "Asia's Nobel Prize" -- for his humanitarian work.

The global tourism industry is trying to bounce back following more than two years of coronavirus restrictions, and many countries are still struggling to regain foreign tourists.

In Greece, officials on the island of Alonissos are boosting the recovery by offering unprecedented access to an otherworldly relic, submerged underwater for thousands of years.

Bringing a new life into the world is never easy, but doing so in a foreign country, in a foreign language, is even more challenging. It's an increasingly common situation in Japan where one out of every 25 babies born have at least one parent of a foreign nationality.

Greek authorities are under fire for making life difficult for refugees and placing asylum-seekers at risk. A get-tough approach is seeing refugee camps get shut down -- and stays slashed at government-supported accommodation.

People of Japanese descent on Russia's Sakhalin island have long cherished the opportunity to step foot in their ancestral homeland, but the conflict in Ukraine has made those trips all but impossible for many.

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.

The wife of a popular hip-hop artist and former lawmaker in Myanmar is pleading with the global community to help save his life. The country's military rulers sentenced Phyo Zeyar Thaw to death after he took part in a peaceful protest against last year's coup. His execution was approved in June.

As the number of refugees and displaced people tops 100 million, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees discussed the crisis with NHK World. Filippo Grandi is appealing for help in the global response, singling out Japan for its generous support.

The curtain has fallen on the 75th Cannes Film Festival in France, and beyond the prizes and glamorous parties lie works of art that challenge us to view the world differently. Among them is Broker, from Japanese director Koreeda Hirokazu.

A man who lost his 12-year-old daughter in the 2011 tsunami that devastated northeastern Japan says it is vital for people to understand the psychological traps that can prove deadly during a crisis.

The winds of change are blowing through Europe's fashion industry as leading labels increasingly embrace animal welfare in their work. Many have spoken in favor of a fur ban, and some are using the shift to pursue eco-friendly alternatives to leather.

Steve Jobs helped shape the modern world with his products at Apple, and it appears we can partly thank the unique aesthetic of Japanese ceramics for some of his most iconic designs.

The Cannes Film Festival came to a close on May 28, and while the event was as glamorous as usual, the impact of Russia's invasion of Ukraine was reflected throughout the 12-day celebration of all things filmic.

Thousands of homes have been torched in Myanmar as the military junta burns entire villages, according to grassroots reports. The arson attacks appear to be concentrated in the opposition stronghold of the central region of Magway and the northwest region of Sagaing.

Julia Shamsheieva used to project 3D artworks on cultural sites across the globe. Now it is her hometown that is in the spotlight – and Putin's crosshairs. Russian forces are closing in on Odesa, Ukraine's biggest port city, and residents fear it will be the target of a major offensive. NHK World spoke to the audiovisual artist about life under bombardment, and the shift from making symbols of peace to camouflage nets.

Russia's invasion of Ukraine is wreaking havoc on the global fertilizer industry. Farmers are being squeezed and one expert says governments must step in to prevent what could become the worst food crisis since World War Two.

Videos and images from northwestern Myanmar are painting a devastating picture of the relentless crackdown against civilian militia and ethnic armed groups by the military junta that seized power just over a year ago. Forensic analysis is helping people outside the country understand the plight of villagers who are the targets of gunfire and whose homes have been set ablaze.

Bookworms in Japan now have a chance to delve into the literary world of Murakami Haruki in a new library dedicated to his works. And the architect entrusted to design the facility says archiving documents was not the only objective.

Two years since the World Health Organization characterized the Covid-19 outbreak a pandemic, cases and deaths around the world are declining. Some countries are starting to lift restrictions on business and social life as they look to usher in a new normal. But are we actually at the end of the pandemic? Dr. Maria Van Kerkhove, the WHO’s technical lead for Covid-19, tells NHK "we’re not there yet."

Memories are long and bitter on the tiny Okinawan island of Ie. It's a place that symbolizes the challenges faced by residents of the island chain. People there experienced terrible bloodshed during World War Two. Then, under the US occupation that followed, many were forced to leave their homes. Now, as the Japanese and US governments mark the 50-year anniversary of the reversion of Okinawa to Japan, people on Ie say there's little to celebrate.