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CULTURE
Feb 9, 2021

Amid a global chess boom, shogi eyes its own winning moves

The game has seen a surge in interest during the pandemic, with children and adults alike dusting off their boards or joining online communities.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Feb 9, 2021

IOC calls remarks of Tokyo Games chief Yoshiro Mori 'absolutely inappropriate'

The IOC did not mention any further action against Mori but said the Tokyo Organising Committee also considered its own chief's comments as inappropriate.
JAPAN
Feb 9, 2021

Tokyo Games sponsors speak up as Mori fallout continues

During a meeting with Olympic organizers Monday evening, several sponsors said advertising at the games could do more harm than good.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Companies
Feb 9, 2021

Honda raises full-year profit outlook despite auto chip shortage

The automaker is targeting an operating profit of u00a5520 billion for the 12 months through March, compared with a prior forecast for u00a5420 billion.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Companies
Feb 9, 2021

Nissan trims full-year loss outlook as virus-hit sales recover

Japan's second-largest carmaker is now forecasting a net loss of u00a5530 billion for the fiscal year through March, narrower than previous expectations of u00a5615 billion.
Japan Times
JAPAN / FOCUS
Feb 9, 2021

'Nothing good will come from replacing him:' Tokyo Olympics chief finds high-level support

Some on the Tokyo organizing committee believe it is important for Mori to 'quietly overcome' the crisis and for officials to do all they can to 'protect' him from the public fallout.
JAPAN / Politics / FOCUS
Feb 9, 2021

Japan vaccine czar outshines Suga to rise as potential successor

Polls show Taro Kono is already voters' favorite for prime minister, an ominous sign for Yoshihide Suga ahead of a party leadership vote in September.
Japan Times
BASKETBALL
Feb 9, 2021

Japan names provisional squad for Asia Cup qualifiers

Chiba point guard Yuki Togashi and forward Gavin Edwards were among the list of 24 who could fly to Doha on Saturday ahead of the international window later this month.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC
Feb 9, 2021

Taiwan wishes China happy new year, but says it won't yield to pressure

Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen wished China a happy Lunar New Year on Tuesday, but said she will not yield to Chinese pressure and reiterated a call for dialogue to resume with Beijing.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC
Feb 9, 2021

Biden calls India's Modi, seeks to strengthen regional security through 'Quad'

U.S. President Joe Biden and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi agreed in a telephone call to strengthen Indo-Pacific security through the "Quad" grouping of countries that is seen as a way to push back against China's growing assertiveness in the region.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC
Feb 9, 2021

Military moves into Yangon as anti-coup protesters flood streets

Tens of thousands of demonstrators have swarmed streets across the nation since the weekend, using social media to quickly mobilize supporters around three main demands.
Pipelines at Jera's thermal power station in Futtsu, Chiba Prefecture
BUSINESS / Companies
May 30, 2025

Japan’s top LNG importer will explore buying from Alaska

Jera, which is also the nation’s largest power producer, inked the nonbinding pact ahead of a summit in the U.S. state next week.
Japan’s biggest life insurers collectively lowered bullish yen wagers tied to their foreign investment holdings, a move that suggests they see a lower likelihood of the yen showing the kind of strength it did in the past.
BUSINESS / Markets
May 30, 2025

Japanese life insurers cut bullish yen hedges to 14-year low

Nine of Japan’s biggest life insurers collectively lowered bullish yen wagers tied to their foreign investment holdings to 44.4% at the end of March from 45.2% six months earlier.
A vehicle exits Shek Pik Prison after former leader of the Civil Human Rights Front, Jimmy Sham, served a four-year, three-month sentence for conspiracy to commit subversion in a landmark national security case, in Hong Kong, on Friday.
ASIA PACIFIC / Crime & Legal
May 30, 2025

Second group of Hong Kong democrats freed after 4 years in jail

Among those freed was long-time political and LGBTQ+ activist Jimmy Sham, who also led one of Hong Kong’s largest pro-democracy groups.
Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi attends the signing ceremony of the Convention on the Establishment of The International Organization for Mediation (IOMed) in Hong Kong on Friday.
ASIA PACIFIC
May 30, 2025

China sets up international mediation body in Hong Kong

The mediation body aims to cement Hong Kong's presence as a top center to resolve disputes between countries.
Anime director Shunsuke Nakashige accepts the anime of the year award for “Solo Leveling” at the Crunchyroll Anime Awards.
CULTURE / Film
May 30, 2025

Anime's big night out is getting bigger — and more surreal

The soft-power spectacle at Crunchyroll's awards ceremony in Tokyo underscores anime's expanding global influence.
A notice sent from the Sendai Municipal Government to those denied entry to an after-school care facility
JAPAN / Regional Voices: Tohoku
Jun 16, 2025

Sendai faces growing waitlist at after-school care facilities

The Sendai government has been working to expand the capacity of such programs, but many of them are still full.
Oilers center Connor McDavid skates with the puck against the Stars in Game 5 of the Western Conference finals in Dallas on Wednesday. The Oilers won 6-3 to advance to the Stanley Cup Final.
MORE SPORTS
May 30, 2025

Oilers beat Stars to set up rematch against Panthers in Stanley Cup Final

Next up for the Oilers is a rematch of last year's Stanley Cup Final against the Panthers. Florida won that series in seven games. 
The Taiwanese military conducts its first High Mobility Artillery Rocket System (HIMARS) live-fire test launch at the Jiupeng base in Pingtung, Taiwan, on May 12.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
May 30, 2025

Trump aims to exceed first term's weapons sales to Taiwan, officials say

If U.S. arms sales to Taiwan do accelerate, it could ease worries about the extent of Trump's commitment to the island.
Agriculture minister Shinjiro Koizumi speaks during an Upper House agriculture committee meeting on Thursday.
JAPAN / Politics
May 30, 2025

Some LDP lawmakers wary of Koizumi's aggressive price policy

There are fears that the approach may cause farmers, a key support bloc, to distance themselves from the party.
A revised pension reform bill that calls for a measure to shore up basic pension benefits passed the House of Representatives plenary meeting on Friday.
JAPAN / Politics
May 30, 2025

Japan's Lower House OKs revised pension reform bill

The bill, which comes amid concerns over pension shortfalls due to Japan's aging population, is expected to be enacted later in the spring.
Nippon Steel said it would build a new electric arc furnace — which uses scrap metal as a raw material — at its Kyushu works, while expanding and restarting capacity at two other sites.
BUSINESS / Companies
May 30, 2025

Nippon Steel plans $6 billion investment in its Japanese mills

The spending in Japan comes at a critical juncture for the firm’s 17-month push to acquire U.S. Steel.
Stockpiled rice arrives Thursday at a rice-milling factory operated by a subsidiary of household appliance company Iris Ohyama in the town of Watari, Miyagi Prefecture.
JAPAN / Politics
May 30, 2025

Some retailers hesitant to buy stockpiled rice on quality concerns

Smaller shops in Japan are worried that older batches might not taste as good, which could cause customers to take their business elsewhere.
Ferrari's Lewis Hamilton is seen before the Monaco Grand Prix on May 25.
MORE SPORTS
May 30, 2025

Lewis Hamilton labels rumors of friction with Ferrari engineer as 'noise'

Hamilton said he and Riccardo Adami were learning more and more about each other and adapting the way they worked.
A rice shop owner listens to an online briefing by the farm ministry on the no-bid contract method of purchase for small retailers looking to buy stockpiled rice from the government, on Thursday in Tokyo.
JAPAN
May 30, 2025

Farm ministry starts accepting applications for older rice from small buyers

Smaller retailers and rice shops can buy rice stockpiled from the 2021 harvest from the government via no-bid contracts.
A government white paper on agriculture attributed the recent rice price hikes partly to some producers boosting direct sales to consumers and sales to nonconventional buyers.
JAPAN
May 30, 2025

Government blames rice price surges on procurement route changes

Rice prices at retailers soared because wholesalers had to buy at relatively high prices to supplement shortfalls, a white paper concluded.

Longform

Growing families are being priced out of Tokyo’s condo market, forced to choose between downtown convenience and suburban space.
Is living in central Tokyo still affordable?