Nepal

22 May 2025
A mountaineer holds on to a rope during an ice climbing session at Everest base camp in Nepal on April 15. 
Nonprofit Build Up Nepal trains rural entrepreneurs to produce bricks that promise to cut carbon emissions and air pollution compared with their conventional counterparts. (Photo by Build Up Nepal)
Construction

The startup helping rebuild Nepal, one eco-brick at a time

Build Up Nepal's bricks promise to address major source of pollution, CO2

19 May 2025
This print by Kashmiri artist Moonis Ahmad is one of the many works by South Asian artists being shown at "(Un)Layering the Future Past of South Asia," which runs from April 11 to June 21 at the School of Oriental and African Studies Gallery in London. (All photos courtesy of Dhoomimal Gallery) 
Arts

London show spotlights the art of South Asia

Shared memories and layered histories tie the region together

11 April 2025
Secondary article image
Podcast: News Roundup

Nepal tightens rules on Everest tourism

Tune in to Nikkei Asia's podcast, bringing the region's key news to global listeners

28 March 2025
Everest climbers in April 2024: The mountain's high social media profile increasingly draws inexperienced foreign tourists with money to burn trying their luck at one of the world's best-known challenges. (Photo by Purnima Shrestha)
Big in Asia

Nepal seeks better grip on Mount Everest tourism

Industry waits to see impact on safety and sanitation from new rules

15 March 2025
A Gurkha soldier plays a bagpipe lament at a graveside memorial service at the British Cemetery in Kathmandu to mark the 50th anniversary of the funeral of New Zealander Heather Horscroft. (Photo by Kripa Shakya)
Tea Leaves

How a Nepal cemetery bridges Asia's colonial era and contemporary society

Burial ground highlights battle to preserve more than 1 million graves

12 February 2025
There is no better place to start an exploration of the Kathmandu Valley than in its heart, Durbar Square, one of several World Heritage Sites in the area. (All photos by Tom Vater)
Life

Footloose in Kathmandu: Spanning history and the hippy trail

Devastated by civil war and earthquakes, Nepal's capital is now safe and welcoming

21 December 2024
Nepali Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli met with Chinese President Xi Jinping on Tuesday. (Photo from Foreign Ministry spokesperson Hua Chunying's X feed)
International relations

China and Nepal sign deals as Xi refines BRI commitments

Beijing pushes for better infrastructure connectivity with landlocked neighbor

3 December 2024
Truong My Lan attends a trial in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam on Apr. 11. The property tycoon was sentenced to death after being convicted of financial fraud.
Your Week in Asia

Vietnam death penalty case, China business gauge, India rate decision

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

1 December 2024
Nepali riot police face pro-monarchist protesters in November 2023.
Politics

Nepal's monarchists nostalgic for the past

Critics say proponents are looking at history through rose-tinted lenses

30 November 2024
Nepali Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli begins his visit to China on Dec. 2.
International relations

Nepal PM heads to China ahead of India, breaking tradition

Beijing-backed infrastructure tops Oli's agenda as he leans further away from India

26 November 2024
Cooking with locals at the Bhada Community Homestay in the Chitwan region of southern Nepal's Terai plains. (All photos by Chan Kit Yeng)
Life

Nepal's vibrant tourism begins at home

Women-led local homestay program spearheads reform in Himalayan nation

31 October 2024
Sharat Singh Bhandari, Nepal's minister of labor, employment, and social security, speaks during an interview in Tokyo. (Photo by Nanami Sato)
Interview

Nepal to send more skilled workers to Japan: labor minister

Pay levels in Japan still appealing despite weak yen, says Sharat Singh Bhandari

2 October 2024
The Shinta Mani Mustang -- a 29-suite luxury property that opened in the remote western town of Jomsong in August 2023 -- has helped bring Nepal into the top-end segment. (Shinta Mani Mustang)
Life

Forget backpacking, Nepal aims for Asia's luxury tourism list

Himalayan budget travelers' paradise is becoming a destination for the discerning

28 September 2024
A protest on International Women's Day in Kathmandu in March 2020: By some measures, Nepalese women have lost ground on gender equality in recent years.
Opinion

Nepal's gains on gender equality in politics are in peril

Representation of women in key positions is declining, exposing patriarchal norms

4 September 2024
Prime Minister K.P. Sharma Oli is a veteran that has held the office three times before.
International relations

Nepal poised for closer ties with China under new prime minister

Returning PM Oli may bolster economic and military cooperation with Beijing

24 July 2024
Newly appointed Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli signs a document after taking the oath of office at the Shital Niwas presidential building in Kathmandu on July 15.
Politics

Nepal coalition to amend constitution, change electoral system

Pushing Hindu nationalism, restoring monarchy will spark protests, experts say

17 July 2024
Staff from housekeeping services provider Bears. While a severe labor shortage in Japan means many companies are keen to hire from overseas, comparatively low wages and the historically weak yen are blunting the country's appeal. (Photos by Yuji Murakami and Ryosuke Matsui)
Asia Insight

Japan's new enemy in fight to lure immigrant workers: The tumbling yen

Visa rules eased, but currency weakness tarnishes Japan's appeal for overseas hires

16 July 2024
"Nepal is one of the best places to do bug bounty," said ethical hacker Ananda Dhakal in Kathmandu, due to sufficient connectivity and a low cost of living.
Technology

Demand for emerging nation 'bug bounty hunters' grows in rich countries

One Nepalese works for Pentagon and Google, earned average annual income with one hunt

27 May 2024
Shot in Himalayan locations, "Shambhala" from Nepal became the country's first film to be shown in the Berlinale's competition section.
Arts

Lesser-known Asian films challenge the world from Berlinale

Festival can be a springboard to success for indie filmmakers

1 May 2024
Chinese President Xi Jinping, center, met with Maldivian President Mohamed Muizzu in Beijing in January.
20 March 2024
Nepal's prime minister, Pushpa Kamal Dahal, is balancing Kathmandu's relations with giant neighbors India and China. (Nikkei montage/Getty Images and AP)
International relations

Nepal political shakeup thrusts Kathmandu into India-China rivalry

PM Prachanda's new Beijing-friendly coalition tips scales away from Delhi

16 March 2024
People line up outside a government hospital for a PCR test in Kathmandu in 2020: The COVID-19 pandemic provided the first substantial stress test for Nepal's federal system.
Opinion

COVID proved Nepal's new federal system works

Despite PM's dithering, empowered local governments delivered effective help

21 February 2024
One of the attractions for international students who come to Japan to learn the language is the opportunity to work 28 hours a week to offset living expenses.
Japan immigration

Surge in Nepalese students in Japan tests multiculturalism

Number second only to Chinese after overtaking Vietnamese for first time

31 December 2023
Durga Bahadur Subedi, Nepal's ambassador to Japan, speaks to Nikkei Asia in Tokyo on Dec. 20. (Photo by Shigeru Seno)
Economy

Nepal calls for more Japanese investment in tourism, health care

Ambassador underscores growing relationship between the two nations

21 December 2023
The Hindu Kush Himalaya region, which stretches 3,500 kilometers and includes Earth's highest mountain range, is warming by 0.3 C per decade -- faster than the global average, according to the U.N.'s science body for climate change. (Illustration by Yoshiko Kawano)
Asia Insight

COP28 spotlights key climate battle: Saving Himalayan ice

From Afghanistan to China, vanishing glaciers risk floods and drought for billions

19 December 2023
Advertisements in Saint Petersburg promote military service contracts in the Russian Armed Forces.
Ukraine war

Nepal mourns mercenaries who died for Russia, faces tough questions

Trafficking of soldiers highlights Himalayan nation's high youth unemployment

13 December 2023
Saima Wazed, left, with her mother, Bangladeshi Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, right, in 2014. Wazed has been chosen to lead the WHO's regional office for Southeast Asia.
International relations

Bangladesh PM's daughter nominated for key WHO regional post

Saima Wazed chosen over Nepali rival despite criticism of 'apparent nepotism'

1 November 2023
Bangladeshi Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, right, is pictured with her daughter Saima Wazed in 2018. Wazed is running to become the World Health Organization's regional director in South and Southeast Asia.
International relations

Bangladesh PM's daughter denies nepotism driving run for WHO post

Experts urge election transparency as outcome could affect health of billions

17 October 2023
Global IME Bank is the largest bank in Nepal, while IFC is a multinational lender and member of the Word Bank Group. (NIKKEI montage/Source photo Getty. Logos from Global IME Bank and IFC websites)
DealStreetAsia

Nepal's Global IME Bank likely to get $56m from IFC

World Bank Group member proposes three-year U.S. dollar-denominated loan

6 October 2023