search

 
 
Japan Times
CULTURE / Books
Jan 17, 2023

Could the Akutagawa Prize get its first American winner?

Gregory Khezrnejat, whose short story “Kaikonchi” is up for the literary award, sees writing in Japanese as a minor rebellion against English's assumed dominance in global culture.
Japan Times
WORLD
Jan 17, 2023

Brazil's crowdfunded insurrection leaves paper trail for police

Pix, a wildly successful government-run payments system, has become a key financial pillar underpinning Bolsonaro's election-denial movement.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC
Jan 17, 2023

China’s population falls, heralding a demographic crisis

Deaths outnumbered births last year for the first time in six decades. Experts see major implications for China, its economy and the world.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Jan 17, 2023

China issuing visas for some Japan travelers despite halt

Under what criteria Chinese authorities approve visa applications is unknown, but there have been some cases in which applications were accepted.
Japan Times
BASEBALL / MLB
Jan 17, 2023

With this Japanese ace, the ghost stories are true

Fans, teammates and even opponents are excited to see new Mets ace Kodai Senga's trademark 'ghost fork' — if they can manage to track it.
Japan Times
SOCCER
Jan 17, 2023

Jurgen Klopp searches for solutions to Liverpool 'low point'

The cost of Liverpool's bid for an unprecedented quadruple last season, which brought the club victories in the FA and League Cup finals, is still being felt as injuries and losses mount.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Economy
Jan 17, 2023

China's economy slows sharply, with 2022 growth one of worst on record

GDP grew 2.9% in October-December from a year earlier, data showed Tuesday, slower than the third-quarter's 3.9% pace.
PRESS / Corporate Trends
Jan 17, 2023

Announcement: “Originator Profile Collaborative Innovation Partnership” established

The Japan Times, Ltd. (President and CEO: Minako Suematsu) today announced its participation in a nonprofit initiative “Originator Profile (technology) Collaborative Innovation Partnership (OPCIP)”, alongside firms in the media and advertising industries from Japan and abroad.
PRESS / Corporate Trends
Jan 17, 2023

オリジネーター・プロファイル(OP)技術研究組合の設立について

株式会社ジャパンタイムズ(本社:東京都千代田区、取締役社長:末松弥奈子)は、国内外のメディア、広告関連企業などとともに「オリジネーター・プロファイル(Originator Profile=OP)技術研究組合」を設立しました。
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Markets
Jan 17, 2023

Japan pushes global counterparts to regulate cryptocurrencies like banks

FTX's bankruptcy and fraud charges against Sam Bankman-Fried have battered the crypto sector, highlighting gaps and differences in global digital-asset regulation.
U.S. President Joe Biden, Prime Minister Fumio Kishida and South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol meet in Hiroshima on May 21, on the sidelines of a Group of Seven summit meeting.
JAPAN
Jul 21, 2023

In first, Biden planning three-way standalone summit with Kishida and Yoon in August, sources say

If the plan goes ahead, it will be the first standalone summit between the leaders of the U.S., Japan and South Korea.
Performers play a traditional drum unique to Wajima, Ishikawa Prefecture, in the prefectural capital of Kanazawa on March 16 to mark the extension of the Hokuriku Shinkansen line to Tsuruga Station in Fukui Prefecture.
JAPAN / Society
Apr 26, 2024

Japan wants you to spend more with ‘luxury tourism’

The country is looking to nudge affluent tourists to lesser-known destinations with the offer of unique experiences of culture, craftsmanship and nature.
A woman in the Tokai region posts her meals on social media and gives advice to young people suffering from eating disorders.
JAPAN / Science & Health / Regional voices: Chubu
Apr 22, 2024

Woman with eating disorder looks to help young sufferers via social media

The woman is letting people know that a person’s value is not determined by their body shape.
Scientists handle a multiple-core sampling device for extracting sediments and sludge, in Beppu Bay, off Oita Prefecture, in June 2021. Beneath the seawater lie layers of seemingly unremarkable sediment and sludge that tell the story of how humans have fundamentally altered the world around them.
JAPAN
Jul 20, 2023

Japanese sea sludge tells story of human impact on Earth

Beppu Bay is among areas being considered for designation as a "golden spike," a location that offers evidence of a new geological epoch defined by our species: the Anthropocene.
Tony Bennett at the Apollo Theater in the Harlem neighborhood of New York in 1997
CULTURE / Music
Jul 21, 2023

Tony Bennett, masterful stylist of American musical standards, dies at 96

Bennett vaulted to fame in the early 1950s with a string of emotional hits, including "The Boulevard of Broken Dreams," "Because of You" and "Blue Velvet."
A Japanese submarine captain (Takao Osawa, center) goes rogue with a nuclear-armed vessel in “The Silent Service.”
CULTURE / Film
Sep 28, 2023

‘The Silent Service’: Submarine thriller runs shallow

While it has the makings of a potent geopolitical thriller, Kohei Yoshino’s film struggles to work as a standalone feature — or generate thrills.
Director Hirobumi Watanabe (second from left) stars alongside his brother Yuji (far right), who has served as composer on all of his films, in his new feature “Techno Brothers,” which follows a sibling trio on the road to Tokyo to find success in the music business.
CULTURE / Film
Jul 21, 2023

Foolish Piggies Films keeps humor at its heart

Indie director Hirobumi Watanabe looks back on 10 years of making distinctive, micro-budget films with his brother and seeking out new challenges on and off screen.
Specializing in gastronomy-themed tours, Arigato Travel, founded and directed by Anne Kyle, was once a one-woman operation. Today, it counts more than 100 employees.
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / 20 QUESTIONS
Apr 26, 2024

Anne Kyle: 'People want to know what life actually is like here’

The founder and CEO of Arigato Travel grew her business from a one-woman operation to a national outfit of more than 100 employees in a matter of years.
Saou Ichikawa (right) won Japan's Akutagawa Prize for her debut novel "Hunchback" on Wednesday. The Naoki Prize was awarded to Sayako Nagai (left) and Ryosuke Kakine (center).
CULTURE / Books
Jul 20, 2023

Disabled author wins Akutagawa literary award for the first time

Saou Ichikawa, who has congenital myopathy, was awarded the prestigious prize for her humorous novel "Hunchback," which offers commentary on the privileges of non-disabled people.
Japan has entered an era of full-fledged population decline. If current trends remain unchanged, the nation's population is expected to decline by about half from 124 million in 2023 to 63 million by 2100.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Apr 26, 2024

Japan’s shrinking population is a big problem for the nation

An expert panel sounds the alarm on the nation's declining birthrate and population crisis.
Prime Minister Fumio Kishida meets with Saudi Arabian Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and other officials in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, on Sunday.
EDITORIALS
Jul 21, 2023

Kishida takes ‘global green’ initiative to the Middle East

Middle East countries are keen to diversify their economies, reducing their reliance on oil and gas for revenue. Japan hopes to assist in that transition.
A colorized scanning electron micrograph of group A streptococcus bacteria
JAPAN / Science & Health
Mar 24, 2024

Tokyo issues warning as rare but deadly STSS bacterial infections rise

Concerns are growing over the spread of streptococcal toxic shock syndrome (STSS), often dubbed the “flesh-eating disease.”
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy attends a NATO leaders summit in Vilnius, Lithuania, on July 12. The leader's efforts to conduct diplomacy in the face of conflict have drawn comparisons with British wartime leader Winston Churchill.
COMMENTARY / World / Geoeconomic Briefing
Jul 20, 2023

Why Zelenskyy's diplomacy is a key factor in Ukraine's efforts to win war

The leader's counteroffensive came at a critical time, sandwiched between two summits — the Group of Seven summit in May and a NATO summit earlier this month.
Race walker Nanako Fujii wears thick-soled shoes during a national race walking event in Kobe on Feb. 18.
MORE SPORTS
Apr 25, 2024

Japanese race walkers slow to embrace thick-soled shoes

The key benefit of athletes wearing thick-soled shoes is that they are propelled forward by the bounce generated by the soles of the shoes.
Beyond Meat plant-based burger patties for sale at a plant-based grocery store in Hong Kong in June 2019.
COMMENTARY / World
Jul 21, 2023

The coming disruption of animal production

It will be easier to persuade people to avoid meat from animals if they can eat meat and other animal products that taste like those they know, but do not require raising animals.
When comparing Ukraine’s military situation in 2024 to Europe’s in 1941, Russia’s defeat seems entirely possible.
COMMENTARY / World
Apr 25, 2024

Ukraine is far from doomed

When comparing Ukraine’s situation in 2024 to Europe’s in 1941, Russia’s defeat seems entirely possible.
Prime Minister Fumio Kishida is greeted by Abdulla bin Touq Al Mari, the UAE's minister of economy, during a reception in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, on Monday.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Jul 20, 2023

Kishida's Middle East visit creates an opportunity for Japan

Kishida visit shows Japan's policy vis-a-vis the Middle East is shifting from the traditional energy-securing economic diplomacy to a more strategic foreign policy.
Demolition work is seen underway on a house damaged by the Noto Peninsula earthquake in Anamizu, Ishikawa Prefecture, last week.
JAPAN
Apr 22, 2024

Quake-hit Ishikawa sees slow progress in housing demolitions

As of April 16, only three demolitions had been completed, despite 78,000 homes in the prefecture being damaged.
Demonstrators protest against Japan's plan to discharge treated radioactive water from the damaged Fukushima No. 1 nuclear plant into the ocean, in Seoul on July 7.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Jul 20, 2023

Fukushima water opposition is steeped in anti-science

Skepticism over Japan’s plan to discharge treated water from the Fukushima nuclear plant must not give way to scaremongering.
Wang Xiuting chats with her virtual boyfriend on Wantalk — an AI chatbot created by Chinese tech company Baidu, on her phone in Beijing.
ASIA PACIFIC / Society
Feb 13, 2024

'Better than real men': Young Chinese women turn to AI boyfriends

Users say they are driven by a desire for companionship because China's fast pace of life and urban isolation make loneliness an issue for many.

Longform

Later this month, author Shogo Imamura will open Honmaru, a bookstore that allows other businesses to rent its shelves. It's part of a wave of ideas Japanese booksellers are trying to compete with online spaces.
The story isn't over for Japan's bookstores