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SUMO / INSIDE SUMO
Nov 2, 2022

Centuries-old records test sumo’s modern superstars

Autumn Basho champion Tamawashi is 11 tournaments away from becoming sumo's all-time ironman, but there are other marks in the sport widely expected to remain untouchable.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Nov 2, 2022

How to read the U.S. polls

Inflation, crime, and abortion have attracted the most attention so far in the U.S. midterm season, but concerns about the fate of democracy perhaps should not be underestimated.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Nov 2, 2022

Women, life, freedom and the left

The politics of sex and gender can either challenge or reinforce existing power structures. For Western liberals, understanding these dynamics will be crucial to beating back the new right.
Japan Times
PODCAST / deep dive
Nov 2, 2022

Hey Japan, are you happy?

Deep Dive explores whether the Japanese are content or not with the help of Alex K.T. Marin, who has written several features on the polls and surveys of happiness.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Tech
Nov 2, 2022

Elon Musk’s Twitter faces exodus of advertisers and executives

At least five Twitter executives have left in recent days, as one of the world's largest ad companies said clients should pause spending on the social media platform.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics / ANALYSIS
Nov 2, 2022

Why Germany is at odds o­­ver Scholz’s trip to China

While some view the visit as key for Berlin to shore up economic ties with its top trading partner, others fear the country could become over-reliant on yet another authoritarian state.
JAPAN
Nov 2, 2022

COVID-19 tracker: Tokyo reports 6,346 new cases in significant rise

The number of new COVID-19 cases in Tokyo rose by 1,999 from a week before to 6,346 on Wednesday, marking a week-on-week rise for the 11th straight day.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC
Nov 2, 2022

North Korea fires off at least 23 missiles, including one landing near South Korean waters

The South's military announced later in the day that its fighter jets had responded by firing three missiles into waters north of the de facto marine border between the two nations.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Nov 2, 2022

Rishi Sunak must detoxify Brexit to save himself

A thaw in U.K.-EU relations is the U.K. prime minister's best hope of political survival.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Nov 2, 2022

Energy crisis chips away at Europe's industrial might

While lower energy use helps weather the crisis sparked by Russia's invasion of Ukraine, the long term effects will severely weaken Europe's industrial base.
Japan Times
LIFE / Language / BILINGUAL
Nov 2, 2022

Use 'Book Week' to finally get to those titles piling up on your shelves

Started by publishers and librarians decades ago, Book Week is a way to get people reading. Though, the fact that it's autumn may also provide some encouragement.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Nov 2, 2022

Selling a cleaner, affordable cooking fuel for Kenyan homes

Koko Networks in Nairobi supplies more than 675,000 households with clean-burning ethanol, which is used in the company's cookers and sold over an app.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / Japan
Nov 2, 2022

Japan asks if it’s better to flip burgers than work at a megabank

The weak yen makes the wages of Japan's long-suffering workers seem absurdly low.
Plaintiffs, lawyers and supporters march to the Tokyo District Court on Nov. 30, the same day the court ruled that Japan’s lack of legal protections for same-sex couples is unconstitutional.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Oct 27, 2023

Japan's 'failed' same-sex marriage lawsuits can still propel reform

Even unsuccessful cases challenging Japan’s failure to recognize same-sex marriage have gotten courts to acknowledge a constitutional problem.
Climate activists demand that the World Bank stop fossil fuel financing on the first day of the annual meeting of the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank in Marrakech, Morocco, on Oct. 9.
COMMENTARY / World
Oct 27, 2023

Telling countries not to be poor is bad climate advice

As developing nations bear the brunt of the costs of climate change; the world's richer states need to pay up.
A U.S. Air Force B-52 strategic bomber is escorted by South Korean F-35s during a joint military exercise over the Korean Peninsula that also involved Japan's Air-Self Defense Force.
EDITORIALS
Oct 27, 2023

Japan, U.S. and South Korea patrol the skies together

The three countries have historically engaged in bilateral exercises with the United States, but this trilateral exercise in the air is a notable first.
Christopher Nolan's film about the creator of the atomic bomb, "Oppenheimer," was released in theaters worldwide this summer and received mostly strong reviews. However, distributors still have not announced whether the film will be shown in Japan's cinemas.
CULTURE / Film
Oct 28, 2023

Will Japan ever see 'Oppenheimer' screened in its cinemas?

Christopher Nolan’s film about the creator of the atomic bomb still doesn't have a Japan release date. There’s more than one possible reason for that.
Takuya Matsunaga (right), who lost his wife and daughter in a 2019 crash in Tokyo's Ikebukuro district, attends a news conference on Friday along with his father-in-law, Yoshinori Uehara.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Oct 27, 2023

Ex-Japan bureaucrat ordered to pay damages over fatal 2019 crash

Kozo Iizuka had already been sentenced to five years in prison, after the car he was driving crashed into Mana Matsunaga, 31, and her daughter Riko, 3.
BASEBALL / Japanese Baseball
Oct 27, 2023

Kansai superiority at stake in this year's Japan Series

The Buffaloes and the Tigers meet in Game 1 in Osaka on Saturday night.
A woman walks past newly unveiled lettering that references the Oct. 29 Itaewon crush in Seoul. A more fully developed memorial was later built to commemorate the event and the more than 150 people who lost their lives.
ASIA PACIFIC / Society / Longform
Oct 27, 2023

One year on, Itaewon's scars remain

A year on from the Itaewon crush, foot traffic in the Seoul neighborhood is picking back up. But what the future of the area is still in doubt.
JAPAN / Politics
Oct 27, 2023

Amid scrutiny, Kishida emphasizes tax cuts to pull out from deflation

The Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan has heavily criticized the government for its belated response to rising inflation.
Nippon Life Insurance will focus purchases on 30-year JGBs, with the current yield of above 1.8% "good in terms of absolute level," a representative for the insurer said at a recent briefing.
BUSINESS / Markets
Oct 27, 2023

Japan's life insurers to boost JGB buying but wary of policy shift

Nippon Life, Dai-Ichi Life and Meiji Yasuda Life were among those who said they aimed to buy the longest-dated JGBs amid the highest yields in a decade.
Foreign Minister Yoko Kamikawa has called for a halt in the fighting in Gaza for humanitarian purposes.
JAPAN
Oct 27, 2023

Japan's top envoy calls for halt to Gaza conflict

"The priority is to improve the humanitarian situation in Gaza," Kamikawa said.
Chinese leader Xi Jinping meets with U.S. President Joe Biden on the sidelines of the Group of 20 summit in Nusa Dua, on the Indonesian resort island of Bali, on Nov. 14, 2022.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics / FOCUS
Oct 29, 2023

U.S. and China agree to work toward Biden-Xi meeting next month

U.S. President Joe Biden emphasized the need to manage the U.S.-China rivalry "responsibly” during a rare meeting with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi.
Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei  speaks before an audience in Tehran on Wednesday.
WORLD / Politics
Oct 28, 2023

U.S. airstrikes send twin messages to Iran, American officials say

The airstrikes were the latest gamble by the United States to modify Iran’s behavior, few of which have worked in the past.
Samuel Bankman-Fried, founder and CEO of FTX, testifies during a Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry hearing on Capitol Hill in Washington in February 2022.
BUSINESS / Companies
Oct 28, 2023

FTX founder admits 'mistakes' but testifies he didn't defraud anyone

FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried insisted he did not steal billions of dollars from customers when the cryptocurrency exchange collapsed last year.
Smoke rises from a leveled building as people gather amid the destruction in the aftermath of an Israeli strike on Gaza City on Thursday.
WORLD / Politics
Oct 28, 2023

Israel rebuffs allies’ calls to ‘pause’ Gaza assault

The issue has opened the first public split between Israel and its backers, including the U.S., the EU, U.K. and other G7 members such as Japan.
The European Union and Japan concluded an agreement Saturday on cross-border data flows, a deal that could benefit companies across a range of sectors, including financial services, transport, machinery and e-commerce, allowing them to handle data without cumbersome and costly administration.
JAPAN / Politics
Oct 28, 2023

EU and Japan conclude agreement on data flows

The deal on cross-border data flows should drive business and may help shape global rules for data, the European Commission said.

Longform

In 2020, 38% of all households were single-person. That figure is projected to rise to 44.3% by 2050.
The rise of AI companionship in a lonely Japan