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Former digital minister Taro Kono has long counted reform of social security and pensions among his pet policies.
JAPAN / Politics / FOCUS
Feb 17, 2025

It’s time to get serious on the pension system, ex-digital minister says

The pension study group offers Taro Kono an opportunity to tentatively step back into the limelight after an unusually quiet period.
Diana Taurasi celebrates after winning her sixth Olympic gold medal with Team USA at the Paris Olympics on Aug. 11, 2024,
BASKETBALL
Feb 27, 2025

Six-time Olympic gold medalist and WNBA great Diana Taurasi retires

Taurasi's 10,646 career points in the WNBA is nearly 3,000 more than the next highest scorer Tina Charles.
The entrance to the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum, in the city of Hiroshima, on Feb. 22
JAPAN / Society
Mar 3, 2025

Annual visitors to Hiroshima museum top 2 million for the first time

The total number of visitors since the museum's opening is expected to surpass 80 million by the end of this month.
Seven & I has spent months fending off Couche-Tard’s takeover bid with complex maneuvers, but instead of chasing defensive strategies, it should focus on strengthening its core convenience-store business, which still has untapped potential.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Mar 4, 2025

7-Eleven’s time-wasting isn’t so convenient

Retail is a fast-moving industry — and months spent fending off Couche-Tard means less focus on strategy.
Fertility rates remain low across much of Asia, with past policies to curb population growth proving difficult to reverse, while governments explore adaptation strategies like immigration and AI.
COMMENTARY
Mar 5, 2025

It’s time we adapt to low fertility rates

South Korea’s fertility rate saw a slight increase, but experts doubt it signals a long-term reversal. Similar trends are seen in Singapore and Japan.
United States coach Mauricio Pochettino speaks to the media in Inglewood, California, on March 20.
SOCCER
Mar 24, 2025

Mauricio Pochettino says U.S. has time to get on track before World Cup

Pochettino, who was appointed last year after the ill-fated second reign of Gregg Berhalter, is confident that his side will be in much better shape by the 2026 World Cup.
The Upper House passes a revised budget bill for fiscal 2025 on Monday, before sending it back to the Lower House for approval.
JAPAN / Politics
Mar 31, 2025

Japan's fiscal 2025 budget enacted just in time

The budget bill, which calls for general account spending of ¥115 trillion, was enacted in time for the start of the next fiscal year on Tuesday.
The Capitals' Alex Ovechkin celebrates after breaking the NHL all-time record with the 895th goal of his career during the second period against the Islanders in Elmont, New York, on Sunday.
MORE SPORTS / Ice hockey
Apr 7, 2025

Alex Ovechkin passes Wayne Gretzky to become all-time leader in career goals

Ovechkin's landmark moment came in the second period of visiting Capitals' 4-1 loss against the New York Islanders.
Beards, once symbols of rebellion and counterculture, are making a comeback among elites, reflecting shifting cultural norms even as biases persist in professional settings.
COMMENTARY / World
Apr 7, 2025

What does your beard say about you?

During the 19th century, the European monarchies associated beards with dangerous radicals. So did the dangerous radicals.
Guests play the upcoming Nintendo Switch 2 console at an event in Paris on April 2.
BUSINESS / Tech
Apr 10, 2025

Nintendo gets breathing room on tariffs — just in time for Switch 2 launch

Nintendo dodges a 46% tariff on Vietnam-assembled consoles, buying time to flood the U.S. with Switch 2 units before the launch window closes.
Japan needs a strong leader as it faces huge challenges. With Upper House and Tokyo gubernatorial elections coming up, the LDP needs to lay the groundwork for replacing Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba, whose polls have entered the danger zone.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Apr 9, 2025

The window to replace Japan's accidental prime minister is nigh

Shigeru Ishiba isn't the right leader to weather Japan through the incoming storm. With Upper House elections this summer, it's time the LDP starts fielding his replacement.
Barcelona defender Jules Kounde (right) celebrates alongside forward Lamine Yamal during the Copa del Rey final in Seville, Spain, on Saturday.
SOCCER
Apr 27, 2025

Barcelona sinks Real Madrid in extra time to win Copa del Rey title

Barca won a record-extending 32nd Spanish Cup title thanks to a stunning strike from French defender Jules Kounde.
Russian President Vladimir Putin and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un pose for a photo during a signing ceremony following bilateral talks in Pyongyang last June.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Apr 28, 2025

North Korea confirms troop deployment to Russia for first time

Leader Kim Jong Un called the move "a sacred mission to further consolidate as firm as a rock the traditional friendship and solidarity between the two countries."
Tesla, SpaceX and X CEO Elon Musk looks on ahead of the inauguration ceremony where Donald Trump was sworn in as the 47th U.S. President in Washington on Jan. 20.
WORLD / Politics
Apr 29, 2025

Musk lays groundwork for midterms donor role as time with DOGE ends

Musk views his money and his social media platform X as potentially more powerful political tools than his time inside the government.
LeBron James will take his time to decide if he wants to return for a 23rd NBA season.
BASKETBALL / NBA
May 1, 2025

LeBron James to take time to decide future after Lakers' playoff exit

James, who turned 40 on Dec. 30, averaged 24.4 points, 7.8 rebounds and 8.2 assists per game this season.
U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer travels to the resort island of Jeju, South Korea, to join his counterparts at the meeting of Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation members on Thursday and Friday.
WORLD / Politics
May 15, 2025

Trade chiefs jostle for time with Greer at APEC meeting in South Korea

Many will seek talks with the U.S. trade representative to try to blunt the impact of U.S. President Donald Trump’s barrage of tariffs.
A sinkhole in Yashio, which emerged in January, was triggered by a ruptured, aging sewer pipe. Authorities worry that similar sections of infrastructure across the country are also at risk of corrosion.
JAPAN / Society / Longform
May 19, 2025

That sinking feeling: Japan’s aging sewers are an infrastructure time bomb

A tragic accident in Saitama shows how aging pipes, soft soil and climate threats are straining the country’s infrastructure.
Tomomi Bitoh, seen crossing the finish line in Antarctica, on the first stop of the World Marathon Challenge, is one of the very few Japanese athletes to speak publicly about her experience with egg freezing.
MORE SPORTS
May 19, 2025

The race for more time: Japanese runner decided to freeze eggs for her future

More women in Japan are expressing interest or following through with freezing their eggs in recent years, but only a few athletes in Japan have spoken about it publicly.
Drawn to tea ceremony while volunteering at a Japanese garden in Phoenix, Arizona, Michele Laudig (right) came to learn a “common language of movement and ritual” that brought her into new communities in New York City and Tokyo.
COMMUNITY / Voices / FOREIGN AGENDA
May 26, 2025

A moving meditation: Finding serenity in tea ceremony across space and time

After an American writer ventured into the world of tea ceremony, its lessons transformed her relationship to Japan and brought her into communities bonded by movement and ritual.
Onosato (top) poses with his stablemates after his yokozuna promotion ceremony at Nishonoseki stable in Ibaraki Prefecture on Wednesday.
SUMO
May 28, 2025

Onosato, 24, promoted to sumo grand champion in record time

Onosato also became the first Japan-born wrestler to reach the rank since 2017.
Visitors look at replicas of the Chinese aircraft carriers Liaoning and Shandong at the People's Liberation Navy Naval Museum on the 75th founding anniversary of the navy in Qingdao, China, in April last year.
JAPAN
Jun 10, 2025

Two Chinese aircraft carriers conduct simultaneous drills in Pacific for first time

The moves highlight the Chinese Navy’s growing ability to punch through the “second island chain,” officials say.
The Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department said that an undercover investigation helped identify a suspect in an attempted scam case in the greater Tokyo area.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Jun 10, 2025

New police method reveals shady part-time job suspect

It was the first time for police to detect a suspect under the investigation method introduced in January.
People pray during a visit to Yasukuni Shrine in Tokyo on Aug. 15, the 79th anniversary of Japan's surrender during World War II.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Jun 20, 2025

Why only Japan is criticized for honoring its war dead

Other countries honor the ultimate sacrifice regardless of whether the war was just, later judged a mistake or involved actions that could be seen as war crimes.
A banner calling for the resolution of the issue of abductions by North Korea is displayed near the Diet building in Chiyoda Ward, Tokyo, on June 10.
JAPAN
Jun 29, 2025

Families of Japanese abductees race against time

Negotiations between Japan and North Korea have remained at a standstill since October 2002, when five victims were repatriated.
Spain midfielder Aitana Bonmati (right) celebrates with teammate Patricia Guijarro after their side defeated Germany in the semifinals of the Women's European Championship on Wednesday in Zurich.
SOCCER
Jul 24, 2025

Spain reaches Euro 2025 final after extra-time win over Germany

The win sets up a decider against defending champion England in Basel on Sunday in a repeat of the 2023 World Cup final.
Kyoko Miura presenting a kamishibai picture story about her escape back to Japan from former Manchuria as a young girl after the end of the war, on June 27 in the city of Higashimatsushima, Miyagi Prefecture.
JAPAN
Jul 31, 2025

A girl’s life during wartime, told one picture at a time

Kyoko Miura heads a civic group based in the city of Higashimatsushima, Miyagi Prefecture, that is working on passing down stories of World War II to future generations.
Stocks are hitting new highs on a daily basis as quiet market optimism takes hold.
BUSINESS / Economy
Aug 18, 2025

Tokyo stocks hit record highs for the third time in a week

A general sense of optimism has taken hold despite the lack of specific market-boosting news.  
Tokyo stocks moved higher on Tuesday morning in uninspired trading.
BUSINESS / Markets
Aug 19, 2025

Tokyo stocks hit a fourth all-time high in six trading days

Nikkei 225 ekes out another record and then falls back to end the day down.
A Japanese monk rings the bell at his temple. The bell is rung 108 times on New Year's Eve, a way to cleanse ourselves of the worldly desires.
LIFE / Language / BILINGUAL
Dec 29, 2023

The year’s end provides us a chance to consider the passage of time

There are plenty of Japanese words that express the passage of time, whether it's a matter of years or the blink of an eye.
Carmelo Anthony (right) is among the first-time nominees for the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame.
BASKETBALL
Dec 20, 2024

Carmelo Anthony and Sue Bird among first-time Hall of Fame nominees

Finalists will be selected during NBA All-Star Weekend on Feb. 14, and the Class of 2025 will be revealed at the men's Final Four on April 5 in San Antonio.

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