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Special Supplements / Ainu language special
Feb 21, 2022

Respected comic book spurs hope for indigenous tongue

In 2009, UNESCO in its “Atlas of the World’s Languages in Danger” designated the Ainu language as being critically endangered. As the most dire of the five categories — only extinct is worse — used in the report, it highlighted the precarious state that had befallen the language.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Feb 21, 2022

Soaring gasoline bad timing for Asian governments facing voters

Soaring gasoline prices are fanning inflation and causing a headache for governments and central banks worldwide.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Economy
Feb 21, 2022

SoftBank calls Credit Suisse subpoena a ‘fishing expedition’

The Tokyo-based holding company the subpoena prepared by the Swiss bank is nothing more than an attempt to deflect responsibility for the Greensill collapse.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC
Feb 21, 2022

Thousands flee to mainland China as Hong Kong outbreak widens

Departures via land routes tripled to 24,697 in the first 17 days of February from a year earlier, according to Immigration Department data.
Japan Times
OLYMPICS
Feb 20, 2022

Controversial Beijing Olympics reach finish line

Japan had its best-ever showing at a Winter Games with 18 medals in an event that will be remembered for its complicated circumstances as much as its thrilling athletic displays.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC
Feb 20, 2022

Nepal police fire tear gas, water cannon to disperse protest over U.S. gift

Nepal security forces used tear gas and water cannons against protesters opposed to a U.S.-funded infrastructure program that was presented in parliament for ratification.
Japan Times
WORLD
Feb 20, 2022

Queen Elizabeth tests positive for coronavirus, as England is poised to relax rules

The health of the queen, the world's longest-reigning monarch, has been in the spotlight since she spent a night in hospital last October for an unspecified ailment.
Japan Times
WORLD
Feb 20, 2022

Russia and Belarus extend military drills north of Ukraine

NATO says Russia has up to 30,000 troops in Belarus and could use them as part of an invasion force to attack Ukraine, although Moscow denies any such intention.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Feb 20, 2022

How China’s 'COVID zero' policy is giving a polish to gold

Gold has mostly traded sideways since the start of the year, and the usual negative correlation between higher U.S. Treasury yields and lower gold prices — and vice versa — has disappeared.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / Japan
Feb 20, 2022

The fates of Ukraine and Taiwan aren't necessarily linked

Despite some similarities, the issues facing Ukraine and Taiwan are mostly different and the two will likely not suffer the same fate.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Feb 20, 2022

Will the U.S. finally make the pivot to Asia?

Biden's Indo-Pacific strategy is essentially an exercise in public diplomacy, while Trump's strategic framework was formulated to advance a policy of a “free and open Indo-Pacific.”
Japan Times
WORLD
Feb 20, 2022

Storm Eunice cuts power and disrupts travel across Europe

Felled trees, damaged rail lines and record-breaking wind speeds wreaked havoc in the U.K. and on the continent.
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi addresses the media in New Delhi on June 7.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Aug 1, 2024

India's state elections to test Modi after budget fails to aid swing voters

Despite talk of relief, the government has raised taxes on gains from retail investments, removed some real estate tax benefits and left income tax rates untouched.
Yuto Horigome defended his Olympic title in men's street skateboarding on Monday to continue Japan's dominant run in the event.
OLYMPICS / Skateboarding
Aug 1, 2024

Why Japan is so dominant in street skateboarding

Skateboarding has only been a part of the Olympics for two editions, but the sight of Japanese skaters on the podium in the street competition is already a familiar one.
Students at Aichi Commercial High School in Nagoya participate in a makeup workshop held at the school in July.
JAPAN
Aug 1, 2024

Nagoya high school allows students to wear makeup on Fridays

Aichi Commercial High School has permits students to not wear their uniform on Fridays to help them learn about maintaining a professional appearance.
The amount of money stolen in fraud cases linked to social media in the first half of 2024 exceeded that of the whole 2023, the National Police Agency said.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Aug 1, 2024

¥66 billion stolen in Japan via online scams in first half of 2024

Of the investment fraud cases reported, 51.6% involved advertisements on social media platforms.
A 28-year-old woman has been arrested on suspicion of deceiving a man she met on a dating app into paying her cash for sexually transmitted infection tests.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Aug 1, 2024

Tokyo woman arrested on suspicion of STI test fraud

Police said Misaki Watanabe asked a man to pay for tests before engaging in sexual relations, but ceased all communication after receiving the money.
Japan's personal mortgages are set to rise for the first time in a generation following the Bank of Japan's rate hike.
BUSINESS / Economy
Aug 1, 2024

Japan’s ultralow mortgages to see first increase in 17 years

Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group said it plans to increase the short-term prime rate for the first time in 17 years in September.
Gold medalist Pan Zhanle of China celebrates on the podium after winning the men's 100-meter freestyle event at the Paris Olympics on Wednesday.
OLYMPICS / Swimming
Aug 1, 2024

Chinese swim fans hit back at doping claims as Pan takes gold

Pan burnished his reputation in his home country with a world-record time of 46.40 seconds, beating the previous fastest time of 46.80 he had set in February.
Surrounded by Iranian lawmakers, Ismail Haniyeh (center), a chief political leader of Hamas, flashes a victory sign at a swearing-in ceremony for President Masoud Pezeshkian, in Tehran on Tuesday. Haniyeh was assassinated hours later, Iran’s Revolutionary Guard said, a severe blow to the Palestinian group that threatens to engulf the region in further conflict.
WORLD / Politics
Aug 1, 2024

Iran and Hamas blame Israel for killing of top official and vow to strike back

In recent years, Israel has carried out several high-profile assassinations in Iran, rattling the country’s leaders.
A line of children's clothes featuring slogans about lazy, uninvolved fathers have sparked an online backlash.
BUSINESS / Companies
Aug 1, 2024

Japan store pulls 'lazy dad' kid clothes after backlash

Some commentators called them an affront to hard-working fathers, while others said they highlighted the country's childcare gender gap that weighs heavily on women.
Mountain climber Kazuya Hiraide, from Nagano Prefecture. Hiraide and his climbing partner, Kenro Nakajima, fell 7,000 meters while climbing K2. He was 45.
JAPAN
Aug 1, 2024

Rescue called off for two Japanese climbers falling from K2

The two were spotted from a helicopter, but it could not land to retrieve them due to the steep location and other logistical problems.
Jera reported ¥93.4 billion in profit for the April-June quarter, down 48% from the year-before period.
BUSINESS / Companies
Aug 1, 2024

JERA's April-June profit halves; Taketoyo plant remains shut

The 1,070-megawatt (MW) Taketoyo power station in Aichi Prefecture has been shut since it was hit by a fire on Jan. 31.
Toyota's hybrids are selling well in North America, making up for sluggish demand for its vehicles in Japan and China.
BUSINESS / Companies
Aug 1, 2024

Toyota quarterly profit rises 17% on year as weak yen drives U.S. demand

Despite ongoing turmoil from a government probe that found issues with vehicle certifications, analysts still project the carmaker will post a record profit this year.
An event that was part of a regional sumo tour in Uji, Kyoto Prefecture, in April 2019.
SUMO / INSIDE SUMO
Aug 1, 2024

Summer sumo tour may be tough for wrestlers, but it's a boon for fans

Grueling tours can be quite taxing for top pros, but they offer fans in small cities a rare chance of seeing their heroes up close.
Takeshita street in Tokyo's Harajuku shopping district on Wednesday, when temperatures reached 35.6 degrees Celsius.
JAPAN / Science & Health
Aug 1, 2024

New 'most severe' category added to Japan’s heatstroke guidelines

The move is meant to stress the need for urgent medical attention in severe cases as the number of heatstroke cases soars amid record-high temperatures.
Taro Kono, digital transformation minister, speaks to reporters in Naka, Ibaraki Prefecture, on Wednesday.
JAPAN / Politics
Aug 1, 2024

Taro Kono softens line against nuclear power ahead of LDP leadership race

The minister has said he now believes that the country should look to restart idled nuclear power plants ahead of a predicted rise in electricity demand.

Longform

Tetsuzo Shiraishi, speaking at The Center of the Tokyo Raids and War Damage, uses a thermos to explain how he experienced the U.S. firebombing of March 1945, when he was just 7 years old.
From ashes to high-rises: A survivor’s account of Tokyo’s postwar past