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JAPAN

JAPAN
Mar 25, 2020
Japan makes history by putting Tokyo 2020 on hold in favor of 'recovery Olympics' next year
The one-year deferral announcement for the quadrennial sporting event amid the COVID-19 pandemic marks the beginning of a fresh chapter in what had already seemed an uphill battle for Japan.
JAPAN / Science & Health
Mar 25, 2020
80% of Diamond Princess coronavirus patients had mild or no symptoms
The SDF report is believed to be one of the largest analyses of symptoms caused by the new virus to be compiled in Japan, according to the Defense Ministry.
JAPAN
Mar 25, 2020
Tepco may take 30 years to release Fukushima No. 1 radioactive water
Tokyo Electric Power Company Holdings Inc. said Tuesday it may spend up to 20 to 30 years releasing contaminated water into the surrounding environment from its disaster-crippled Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Mar 25, 2020
Osaka court rejects retrial over Wakayama curry poisoning murders
The Osaka High Court has rejected a retrial petition by an inmate who was sentenced to death for murdering four and sickening over 60 others in 1998, by poisoning curry served at a festival in Wakayama Prefecture.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Mar 25, 2020
What pushed this Shiga assistant nurse to falsely confess to murder?
Why did Mika Nishiyama, a former assistant nurse who served 12 years in prison for murdering a male patient in 2003, falsely confess to killing him?
Japan Times
JAPAN
Mar 25, 2020
Tokyo Station's Olympic countdown clock turned off
Passersby in front of Tokyo Station gathered around a popular Olympics countdown clock to take pictures Wednesday as it stopped displaying the number of days until the games after the event was postponed due to the coronavirus pandemic.
JAPAN / EXPLAINER
Mar 25, 2020
25 years after Tokyo subway attack, Aum is a shadow of its former self
Doomsday cult Aum Shinrikyo's sarin gas attack on Tokyo subway trains shocked Japan and the world, raising concerns over nonstate organizations obtaining weapons of mass destruction.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Mar 25, 2020
Agon Shu prays for relief from natural disasters at Fire Rites Festival
French poet Francois Villon once asked, “Where are the snows of yesteryear?” as he pondered the evanescence of existence. The thousands of people who made their way along the winding mountain road to the Agon Shu Buddhist Association’s Fire Rites Festival on the morning of Feb. 9 may have been...

ASIA PACIFIC

Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC
Mar 25, 2020
Gunmen in Afghanistan kill 25 in raid on Sikh complex
Unidentified gunmen and suicide bombers raided a Sikh religious complex in the Afghan capital of Kabul on Wednesday, killing 25 people before security forces killed all of the attackers, the government said.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC
Mar 25, 2020
New Zealand declares national emergency to tackle coronavirus
New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern on Wednesday declared a state of national emergency as the country prepared to go into a complete lockdown at midnight to combat the coronavirus outbreak.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC
Mar 25, 2020
Modi announces 21-day national lockdown as India battles coronavirus
Prime Minister Narendra Modi has imposed a three-week long nationwide lockdown and allocated an extra $1.97 billion for health care to contain the spread of coronavirus infections which are now spiking in the South Asian nation.

WORLD

WORLD
Mar 25, 2020
Istanbul prosecutor indicts Saudi suspects for Khashoggi killing
Istanbul prosecutors said on Wednesday they had prepared an indictment against a close aide to Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and a former deputy head of general intelligence over the killing of journalist Jamal Khashoggi.
Japan Times
WORLD / ANALYSIS
Mar 25, 2020
Maverick presidents Bolsonaro in Brazil and Lopez Obrador in Mexico both in denial over COVID-19
The presidents of Mexico and Brazil scored stunning election victories in 2018 in defiance of the political establishment, but now their unwillingness to follow consensus on the coronavirus pandemic has left the two increasingly exposed.

BUSINESS

Japan Times
BUSINESS / Economy
Mar 25, 2020
G20 finance chiefs and central bankers to develop COVID-19 action plan
Finance ministers and central bankers from the world’s 20 largest economies agreed Monday to develop an action plan to respond to the COVID-19 pandemic, which the IMF now expects to trigger a global recession, but disclosed no specifics.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Mar 25, 2020
NTT Docomo becomes first to launch 5G service in Japan
NTT Docomo Inc. launched fifth-generation large-capacity ultrahigh-speed mobile phone services Wednesday, becoming the first in Japan to do so.

Opinion

Japan Times
COMMENTARY / Japan
Mar 25, 2020
Now is the time for Japan to make a digital shift
The coronavirus pandemic has made it clear that Japan lags far behind other countries in putting new digital technologies to actual use.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Mar 25, 2020
Finding strength and unity within our uncertain 'socially distant' future
Japan's long history of 'bending to adversity' prepares Tokyo for what comes next in terms of global and international implications.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / Japan
Mar 25, 2020
Toward a 2021 Tokyo Olympics
By postponing the games, Abe has put Japan — and himself — at the center of the post-pandemic recovery effort.

Sports

OLYMPICS
Mar 25, 2020
Japanese athletes react to Olympic postponement
Some of Japan’s top athletes have expressed mixed feelings following Tuesday’s announcement that Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and the International Olympic Committee had agreed to postpone the 2020 Tokyo Olympics and Paralympics for “about a year” amid the COVID-19 outbreak.

CULTURE

Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Mar 25, 2020
Lee Ufan: The same but different
Lee Ufan’s new paintings look very different depending on where you are standing. From a distance, when you can take in several of the large canvases at the same time, abstract shapes seem to emphatically announce themselves as existing; however, they are also pointedly ambiguous as to what they are....
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Mar 25, 2020
As COVID-19 cripples live music, hopeful promoters look ahead
This year’s edition of the Japan Nite event at the South by Southwest Music Conference and Festival (SXSW) was going to be special. It would have marked the event’s 25th anniversary of showcasing Japanese artists to fans in Austin, Texas, with a North American tour to follow.
Japan Times
CULTURE
Mar 25, 2020
When a cartoon crocodile dies, give us time to mourn
While people on social media have largely been preoccupied with the pandemic, the most buzzed-about happening online in Japan involves a crocodile — don’t roll your eyes just yet — which, at some point, transformed into a commentary on the follies of capitalism and its drive for continuous growth....

COMMUNITY

COMMUNITY / Our Lives / ADOPT ME!
Mar 25, 2020
An old dog makes for a solid companion
Chibikoro arrived at ARK some 13 years ago when he was just a young pup. He’d been rescued from a place in Tokushima where dogs lived and bred at will with no real human contact. Sadly, this quiet, gentle dog is still at the shelter. Described as a “real sweetie,” Chibikoro is slow to engage with...

Longform

Mount Fuji is considered one of Japan's most iconic symbols and is a major draw for tourists. It's still a mountain, though, and potential hikers need to properly prepare for any climb.
What it takes to save lives on Mount Fuji