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Japan Times
JAPAN
Jan 19, 2021

Japan eyes use of robots to boost COVID-19 testing as Olympics loom

A Kawasaki Heavy Industries-built prototype uses a robotic arm to take a sample from a person's nose and can deliver the results in about 80 minutes.
JAPAN / FOCUS
Jan 19, 2021

Access denied: Virus third wave forces hand of Japan's medical system

“The fact that there are people dying after being sent home to recuperate is testament to the severity of the situation we're in,” Tokyo Gov. Yuriko Koike told reporters.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / Japan
Jan 19, 2021

Vaccination minister: Reward or punishment for Taro Kono?

Only the prime minister and the highest level of LDP executives know for sure the motivations behind tapping Kono as the minister in charge of the COVID-19 vaccinations.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / Japan
Jan 19, 2021

Biden ponders the trans-Atlantic option to press China

The new team understands that no country, not even the United States, can check Beijing's ambitions on its own.
MORE SPORTS
Jan 19, 2021

Chuck Mills, who inspired Japan's college football to flourish, dies at 92

The Chicago native brought Utah State and Wake Forest to Japan for exhibition games before taking local coaches under his wing in the United States.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World / The Great Reset
Jan 19, 2021

Trade in personal data is here to stay

Japan is well-placed to be a leader in data trading, but technical hurdles need to be overcome and mindsets need to be changed.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Politics
Jan 19, 2021

Japan's new COVID-19 vaccine czar Taro Kono commits to rapid yet safe rollout

The nation is preparing to vaccinate, starting with medical workers and older people, based on hopes that Pfizer's vaccine will be approved here by mid-February.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Jan 19, 2021

Japan to launch $96 billion university fund by March 2022

Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga's administration approved the plan in part to try to restore Japan's standing in international academic rankings.
Members of the California National Guard stand outside a federal building in downtown Los Angeles on June 8. California Democrats have unified against the Trump administration’s use of federal troops to quell unrest and its deportation campaign, but the stance may backfire for the party nationally.
COMMENTARY
Jun 16, 2025

ICE protests in LA are forcing a tough choice on Democrats

As the rightward shift among voters in the last election made abundantly clear, the state’s politics don’t always translate to other parts of America.
Japan faces a growing crisis of social isolation, with over 1.4 million people — many middle-aged — living reclusive lifestyles, and experts say only long-term, trust-based community support can reverse the trend.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Jun 16, 2025

Japan needs to rethink how it helps hikikomori

While hikikomori, the Japanese term for acute social withdrawal, often brings to mind young recluses in dark bedrooms, the reality is broader.
Chinese aircraft carrier, the Liaoning. It crossed what is known as the second island chain, which links the Ogasawara Islands and the U.S. territory of Guam, on June 7.
JAPAN
Jun 16, 2025

Japan suspects Chinese aircraft carriers conducted drills against U.S.

The two flattops may have conducted exercises for countering U.S. forces, with one playing the role of a U.S. aircraft carrier and the other practicing intercepting it.
A man checks a mainboard at an assembly line to produce ventilators at a Vsmart factory outside Hanoi in 2020.
BUSINESS / Economy
Jun 16, 2025

U.S. pushes Vietnam to decouple from Chinese tech, sources say

Local firms have expressed a general willingness to adapt, but many warned that instant changes "would destroy business."
Nippon Steel is buying United States Steel in a deal that gives the U.S. government a golden share in the U.S. steelmaker.
BUSINESS / Companies
Jun 16, 2025

Nippon Steel may have gotten the deal it wanted all along

The Japanese company has already committed to heavy investment in U.S. Steel and a U.S.-controlled board of directors at the American steelmaker.
Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang (left) speaks to German Chancellor Friedrich Merz in Berlin on June 13.
BUSINESS / Tech
Jun 16, 2025

Nvidia's pitch for sovereign AI resonates with EU leaders

The concept for every nation to develop its own artificial intelligence is based on the idea that the language, knowledge, history and culture of each region are different.
Agriculture minister Shinjiro Koizumi talks to rice farmers in Fukushima Prefecture on Sunday.
JAPAN / Politics
Jun 16, 2025

Agriculture ministry aims to stop publishing rice index amid accuracy concerns

A gap between the rice crop situation index and farmers’ testimonies about actual yields occurred because the agriculture ministry was using outdated sampling numbers.
The national government's envisioned disaster management agency is a signature project of Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba,
JAPAN / Politics
Jun 16, 2025

Many regions eager to host branches of upcoming disaster agency

A total of 28 entities representing prefectures, municipal government and other bodies have expressed their interest.
Shion Tsurubo, a member of boy band JO1, allegedly engaged in illegal gambling on an online casino website.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Jun 16, 2025

Boy band member referred to prosecutors over illegal gambling

Shion Tsurubo, a member of JO1, allegedly engaged in illegal gambling on an online casino website.
The Neuralink device, called Blindsight, stimulated areas of a monkey’s brain associated with vision, said engineer Joseph O’Doherty.
WORLD / Science & Health
Jun 16, 2025

Neuralink device helps monkey see something that’s not there

The device, called Blindsight, stimulated areas of a monkey’s brain associated with vision.
Shingo Kato, assistant manager at Homechigiru Driving School in Ise, Mie Prefecture, rides in a training vehicle with a smartphone equipped with the school’s translation app.
JAPAN / Regional voices: Chubu
Jun 30, 2025

Translation apps help break language barriers at Chubu driving schools

Some driving schools have refused enrollment of foreign nationals with limited Japanese skills, sources have said.
A DJ performs for attendees drinking coffee at an alcohol-free clubbing event in Singapore.
CULTURE / Music
Jun 16, 2025

Sober clubbing brews fresh beat for Singapore's Gen Z

Not into an environment filled with alcohol? Try hitting up a coffee rave in Singapore.
U.S. President Donald Trump (left) speaks with Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba at the Group of Seven summit in Kananaskis, Alberta, Canada, on Monday.
JAPAN / Politics
Jun 17, 2025

No breakthrough on tariffs at Ishiba-Trump meeting in Canada

Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba and U.S. President Donald Trump met for 30 minutes on Monday during the annual Group of Seven gathering in Alberta.
Smoke billows from an explosion at the Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting (IRIB) building in Tehran on Monday after it was struck in an Israeli attack.
WORLD / Politics
Jun 17, 2025

Israel and Iran trade blows as air war rages into fifth day

The Israeli military said Tuesday it had killed Iran's top military commander — a close confidant of the country's supreme leader — amid rising fears of a wider conflict.
Researchers prepare medicine at a laboratory in Nanjing University in Nanjing, in China's Jiangsu province. China's share of global drug development is now nearly 30%.
BUSINESS / FOCUS
Jun 17, 2025

U.S. pharma bets big on China to snap up potential blockbuster drugs

Firms bet they can turn upfront payments of as little as $80 million into multibillion-dollar treatments.

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?