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SUMO / INSIDE SUMO
Sep 23, 2020

Sumo experiencing extreme period of parity in final stages of Hakuho's legendary reign

With four former ozeki and an incredible ten wrestlers with championship experience still active in the top division, sumo is the very definition of parity right now.
Japan Times
PODCAST / deep dive
Sep 23, 2020

[Bonus episode] The making of the Walkman

This episode is based around an extract from the audiobook of 'Pure Invention.' We join in the middle of chapter 5, which is all about the invention of the Walkman.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Sep 23, 2020

Celebrating 75 years of the United Nations

The U.N. and the belief in global solidarity that it embodies have never been more essential as the world finds itself in turmoil amid a virus pandemic and a recession.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Sep 23, 2020

Coal’s last refuge crumbles with China’s renewables plan

If Asia — and in particular China, which accounts for about half the world's coal consumption — can't break the habit, devastating climate change will be unavoidable.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Sep 23, 2020

It’s time for Palestinians to make their own peace plan

The main strength of the 2002 Arab Peace Initiative for the Palestinians was that it could be presented as an Arab consensus. That is now broken, giving them no leverage.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Sep 23, 2020

Avoiding a 'climate lockdown'

To avoid such a lockdown scenario aimed at mitigating climate change, the world must overhaul its economic structures and do capitalism differently.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Sep 23, 2020

Blacklisting U.S. tech would highlight China’s own weakness

Pulling the trigger on such a threat could end up proving that the importance of the world's most populous country as a global buyer may be smaller than many imagine.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Sep 23, 2020

Japan to loosen border enforcement measures to allow in new arrivals

The country will start allowing entry for long-term residents and international students, regardless of where they come from, reports say.
JAPAN
Sep 23, 2020

Suga and Koike agree to move forward with holding Tokyo Games

The two are the latest in a string of top government officials and organizers who have recently tried to quell concerns over whether it is feasible to host the games.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Sep 23, 2020

Malaysia opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim claims majority to form new government

The road ahead remains uncertain as he has not received a nod from Malaysia's king, who could instead choose to call for elections.
JAPAN / Politics
Sep 23, 2020

Trump’s nominee for U.S. ambassador to Japan passes key hurdle

Although nominated in March, Kenneth Weinstein was only greenlighted by the Senate Foreign Relations Committee on Tuesday.
MUFG Bank's new outlet that will open in Tokyo's Minato Ward on Friday
BUSINESS / Companies
Sep 10, 2025

MUFG Bank to open retail outlet for first time in 20 years

Staff at the new retail outlet will chiefly help customers open accounts or give them advice on asset investment.
The 3rd Multi-Domain Task Force conducts the first Typhon midrange missile system live-fire exercise outside of the continental United States on July 16, successfully sinking a maritime target during the Talisman Sabre exercises in Australia's Northern Territory.
JAPAN / ANALYSIS
Sep 10, 2025

High-tech U.S. missile systems come to Japan amid policy shifts and China concerns

Long wary of such a move, Tokyo’s acquiescence — and its own planned missile deployments — highlights a gradual but monumental shift in defense policy.
A Chinese Navy ship speeds past a Philippine fishing boat while the Philippine, Australia and Canadian navies conduct a joint drill near Scarborough Shoal in the disputed South China Sea on Sept. 2.
ASIA PACIFIC
Sep 10, 2025

Manila working on new protocols for dealing with Beijing in South China Sea

As tensions heat up in the waterway, the Philippines is updating its existing rules of engagement as part of a whole-of-government approach.
Ito Mayor Maki Takubo (right) notifies the municipal assembly of its dissolution on Wednesday in the city in Shizuoka Prefecture.
JAPAN / Politics
Sep 10, 2025

Ito mayor dissolves municipal assembly after it passed no-confidence motion

Ito Mayor Maki Takubo had claimed that she graduated from Toyo University, but said in July that she had, in fact, been expelled from the school.
Hakuyo at Kokugikan in Tokyo the day before his first tournament in professional sumo in May 2014.
SUMO / INSIDE SUMO
Sep 10, 2025

What drives sumo journeymen to endure one of the world's most grueling sports

Professional sumo is one of the harshest environments in sports. Yet many toil away in the sport's lower-tier divisions for years or even decades.
Chinese DF-61 intercontinental ballistic nuclear missiles are displayed during a military parade in Beijing, marking the 80th anniversary of the end of World War II on Sept. 3. 
COMMENTARY / World
Sep 10, 2025

The global nuclear picture grows darker and darker

It’s hard, if not impossible, to escape the conclusion that the world is in a grim place when measured by nuclear metrics.
Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba and U.S. President Donald Trump hold a news conference at the White House in Washington on Feb. 7. Ishiba's short-lived prime ministership underscores the challenges facing the Japan and U.S. alliance.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Sep 10, 2025

What Japan’s political drift means for U.S.-Japan relations

Decisive political leadership is missing. Ambitious reforms and bold initiatives require political capital.
Australian defence chief Richard Marles (second from left), Minister for Defence Industry Pat Conroy (left), and navy chief Vice Adm. Mark Hammond inspect a "Ghost Shark"-class autonomous undersea vehicle at a naval base in Sydney on Wednesday.
ASIA PACIFIC
Sep 10, 2025

Australia to field 'Ghost Shark' underwater strike drones

The $1.1 billion fleet will be designed to conduct intelligence, surveillance, reconnaissance and strike operations, both stealthily and at long range.
Chinese leader Xi Jinping arrives at Tiananmen Square for a military parade in Beijing on Sept. 3, accompanied by his Russian and North Korean counterparts, Vladimir Putin and Kim Jong Un, in a scene that fueled perfunctory claims of U.S. dominance coming to an end.
COMMENTARY / World
Sep 10, 2025

International relations analysis needs to grow up

We need commentators who understand budgets as well as body language, who track institutional evolution alongside summit declarations.
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents execute an enforcement operation at a Hyundai-LG electric vehicle battery plant in Ellabell, Georgia on Sept. 4.
COMMENTARY / World
Sep 10, 2025

The ICE raid on the Georgia Hyundai plant makes no sense

The raid antagonized U.S. ally South Korea, a country that had signed a $350 billion trade pact with U.S. President Donald Trump just weeks earlier.
Eight companies are suspected of maintaining or raising prices of diesel fuel sold in Tokyo to transportation and other companies.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Sep 10, 2025

Eight companies raided in Japan over diesel fuel cartel

According to the sources, the firms are suspected of maintaining or raising prices of diesel sold in Tokyo to transportation and other companies.
Traders in Tokyo celebrate an earlier record high closing of the Nikkei 225. The benchmark index has been rallying in recent days on trade optimism and political hope.
BUSINESS / Markets
Sep 10, 2025

Tokyo stocks achieve record close after strong performance on Wall Street

A sustained rally has followed Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba’s announcement of his resignation.
U.S. President Donald Trump at Granite City Works in Illinois in 2018. U.S. Steel, the owner of the plant, was acquired by Nippon Steel earlier this year.
BUSINESS / Companies
Sep 10, 2025

U.S. Steel’s Granite City Works to cease steel slab processing: report

The production decision comes just three months after the acquisition by Nippon Steel.
Former Liberal Democratic Party Secretary-General Toshimitsu Motegi announces he will run in the race for president of the Liberal Democratic Party at a news conference on Wednesday.
JAPAN / Politics
Sep 10, 2025

Motegi calls for ‘new coalition’ in bid for LDP presidency

The former party secretary-general sees welcoming a new coalition member — possibly the Democratic Party for the People or Nippon Ishin no Kai — as the way forward.
Japan Airlines President Mitsuko Tottori (right) bows in apology Wednesday in Tokyo over the company's pilots causing flight delays due to drinking alcohol.
JAPAN
Sep 10, 2025

JAL reprimand over drunken pilots adds to airline’s woes

The transport ministry issued a fresh warning to the airline for insufficient oversight involving a series of heavy pre-flight drinking cases.

Longform

"Shake hands with Lima-chan," a statue that shares the name of the Peruvian capital looks in the direction of Peru, where a sister statue, "Sakura-chan," is located. Erected in Yokohama's Rinko Park in 1999, it commemorates Peruvian-Japanese friendship.
The journey of Peru’s Nikkei: Finding identity in Japan