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The controllers for the Switch 2 will attach to the console magnetically rather than sliding on rails as with the original device.
LIFE / Digital
Apr 3, 2025

Nintendo to launch the Switch 2 on June 5

The gaming giant's newest console will retail for ¥49,980 for its Japanese-only version and ¥69,980 for multilingual and multiregion support.
The words "This site has been hacked by RENEG4DE.COM" are displayed on the archived site of a rival video game cheating website on Tuesday.
WORLD / Politics
Apr 3, 2025

DOGE official at DOJ bragged about hacking and distributing pirated software

National security professionals were largely split on how seriously to take 33-year-old Christopher Stanley's past.
Momoka Matsui and her co-worker Saki Matsumoto take photos of acrylic stand figure models of their favorite idols with cakes and teas, which they ordered at a Tokyo cafe where Matsui’s favorite boy band stopped by.
LIFE / Lifestyle
Apr 5, 2025

Can Japan's take on fandom help drive spending?

The explosion of "oshikatsu" (supporting favored celebrities or characters), which entered the mainstream during the pandemic, has economists and the Bank of Japan taking note.
Cybersecurity agencies in six Western countries have warned of a "growing threat" posed by malicious surveillance software deployed by a contractor reported to have ties to Beijing.
WORLD / Politics
Apr 9, 2025

Western intelligence agencies warn spyware threat targeting Taiwan

The mobile phone applications developed by a Chengdu-based contractor also surveil Tibetan rights advocates and others opposed by the Chinese government.
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.
A working group of the Japan Securities Dealers Association is discussing a revision to the current set of recommendations in order to prevent fraud in online transactions.
BUSINESS / Companies
Apr 11, 2025

Japan brokerage body weighs tougher moves to fight phishing scams

The move underlines the spreading concern around the sharp rise in unauthorized trades at some of Japan’s largest brokerages.
French soccer legend Zinedine Zidane holds the torch during the opening ceremony of the 2024 Paris Olympics on July 26, 2024.
OLYMPICS
Apr 14, 2025

Paris Olympic torches auctioned off along with other memorabilia

Money raised from the auction was handed over to three charities by the company in charge of the 2024 Olympics.
The suspects used free AI software to create images of naked adult women, who do not exist in the real world, using prompts that included terms such as "legs open," according to NHK.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Apr 16, 2025

Four arrested over obscene AI images in Japan first

Concern is growing worldwide over the use of AI for malicious purposes including through deepfakes, which turn genuine photos, video or audio of people into false likenesses.
U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio speaks as Vice President JD Vance looks on during a meeting with President Donald Trump and President Nayib Bukele of El Salvador in the White House in Washington on April 14. Rubio and his aides shut down a State Department office on Wednesday that tracks and counters global disinformation from foreign actors, including the governments of China, Russia and Iran, U.S. officials said.
WORLD / Politics
Apr 17, 2025

U.S. State Department closing office targeting foreign disinformation

The GEC had come under intense criticism from some Republicans who said it was straying from its mission, accusing it of disfavoring opinions by conservative media in particular.
People walk past an advertisement featuring Los Angeles Dodgers two-way star Shohei Ohtani outside Tokyo Dome on March 18.
BASEBALL / MLB
Apr 18, 2025

Nothing sells like Shohei Ohtani, MLB’s marketing megastar

The Los Angeles Dodgers two-way player is at the peak of his stardom, and brands are rushing to cash in with huge sponsorship deals.
Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney speaks during a campaign rally in Laval, Quebec, Canada, on Tuesday. Carney was the subject of at least 16 books published in March and listed on Amazon, according to a review of the site on April 16.
BUSINESS / Companies
Apr 23, 2025

AI floods Amazon with strange political books before Canadian election

The development adds to concerns about how new technologies are affecting the information voters receive during the election campaign.
The U.S., U.K. and Europe are aligning with China and Russia in their efforts to undermine the encryption tools that millions of internet users depend on.
COMMENTARY / World
Apr 23, 2025

Don't let governments break encryption

To convince the public that breaking encryption is necessary, governments often rely on technical jargon and emotionally charged anecdotes.
An attendee plays with the Nintendo Switch 2 gaming device at a media event in Tokyo on April 3.
BUSINESS / Companies
Apr 24, 2025

Nintendo says demand for Switch 2 console in Japan is overwhelming

"We have received 2.2 million applications for the lottery sale at our official online store for customers in Japan alone," said Nintendo President Shuntaro Furukawa.
Trafficking experts have raised concerns over how satellite internet technology may hamper efforts to crack down on scam centers in Asia.
ASIA PACIFIC / Crime & Legal
Apr 25, 2025

Portable internet helps Asia scam centers bypass blackouts

Trafficking experts have raised concerns over how satellite internet technology may hamper efforts to crack down on scam centers.
AI-generated content — including those made using pictures of real people, which are known as “deepfakes” — is not explicitly covered under Japan's current legal framework, nor are human-drawn illustrations that depict child abuse.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal / FOCUS
Apr 27, 2025

Japan struggles with gray zone of AI deepfakes exploiting children

AI-generated content is not explicitly covered under the country's legal framework, nor are human-drawn illustrations that depict child abuse.
Google has been pushing back on the remedies proposed by the U.S. to address its search dominance — one of which is sharing search data with rivals.
BUSINESS / Tech
May 3, 2025

U.S. presses for Google to share data by citing Yahoo Japan deal

Google has long had a relationship with Yahoo Japan to provide it with search results and some backend work related to search advertising.
Ahead of Children’s Day, a survey of kids entering elementary school in Japan found their top dream job was cake shop and bakery worker, followed by police officer and athlete.
JAPAN / Society
May 4, 2025

Cake shop workers and police officers high on dream job list in Japan

Cake shop and bakery worker topped the overall rankings covering both boys and girls, chosen by 11.7% of the respondents.
According to earnings reports released by Thursday, net profit is forecast to fall 47.7% to ¥250 billion at Nippon Yusen K.K., 60% to ¥170 billion at Mitsui O.S.K. Lines and 67.3% to ¥100 billion at Kawasaki Kisen Kaisha.
BUSINESS / Companies
May 9, 2025

Three major Japan shipping firms expect sharp falls in profit

The companies are projecting a drop in the transport of autos and other goods due to U.S. tariff measures.
Nostalgic-looking photos can give off an emotional vibe, one that Japanese youth refer to as "emoi."
LIFE / Language / Vocabulary Boost
May 16, 2025

Speak like you scroll: A roundup of recent Japanese slang

A lot of new Japanese slang terms have their origins in — where else? — the internet.
From around spring 2027, people will be able to pick up over-the-counter drugs from convenience stores without pharmacists in Japan.
JAPAN
May 15, 2025

Over-the-counter drugs to be made available at convenience stores

The move will require consumers to listen to explanations from pharmacists online before purchases.
A projected 8 million deepfakes — manipulated video or audio made using artificial intelligence — will be shared worldwide in 2025, about a fifth of which will be part of romance scams, according to cyber firm McAfee.
WORLD / Society
May 19, 2025

Deep love or deepfake: Dating in the time of AI

Scammers are increasingly using deepfakes — manipulated video or audio made using artificial intelligence — to look and sound real on dating apps.
“Marion” provides a glimpse into the lives of bull dodgers, who perform a nonlethal version of bullfighting.
CULTURE / Film
May 23, 2025

Six short films that capture our world in mere minutes

The Short Shorts Film Festival & Asia proves that less time doesn't have to mean a lack of substance.
Mixue, a Chinese bubble tea chain, has become the world’s largest food and beverage chain, with tens of thousands of stores all over Asia. The company is just one example of the increasing reach and popularity of Chinese cultural exports across the globe.
COMMENTARY / Japan
May 23, 2025

How China’s soft power is rewriting Asian culture

Chinese cultural exports are becoming increasingly popular across the world and especially Asia. Do they promote cross-border understanding or are they tools for propaganda?
Donald Trump's attempt to bar international students from enrolling at Harvard, along with other actions, undercut America’s image as a land of opportunity, alienating future Asian leaders and diminishing U.S. influence in Asia.
COMMENTARY / World
May 25, 2025

America’s 'wolf warriors' are getting it all wrong in Asia

Trump's actions erode goodwill among future Asian leaders and weaken America's standing in a region once deeply aligned with it.
Farm minister Shinjiro Koizumi visits a supermarket to check the prices of rice on Friday in Koto.
JAPAN
May 26, 2025

Bags of rice at half price will hit stores by early June, Koizumi says

With necessary costs added on, a 5-kilogram bag of rice is set to cost ¥2,160 at retailers in June.
A Liverpool football club scarf lies on the ground at the scene of an incident where a car plowed into a crowd of Liverpool fans during a parade celebrating their side's Premier League soccer title, in central Liverpool, Britain, on Tuesday.
WORLD / Crime & Legal
May 28, 2025

Man arrested on suspicion of attempted murder after Liverpool parade crash

British police believe the incident, in a packed Liverpool city center on Monday, was isolated and not an act of terrorism.
Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshimasa Hayashi (second from left) chairs a meeting of the government's cybersecurity strategy panel in Tokyo on Thursday.
JAPAN / Politics
May 29, 2025

Government to formulate new cybersecurity strategy amid rising threats

The new strategy includes a change in cryptography systems to better protect the government's internal communications against cyberattacks from quantum computers.
British Prime Minister Keir Starmer meets U.S. President Donald Trump, Vice President JD Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio in the Oval Office on Feb. 27. U.S. conservatives may be unlikely defenders of free speech but their criticism of censorship in the U.K. and Europe raises real concerns about vague hate laws and curbs on liberty in the name of harmony. 
COMMENTARY
Jun 2, 2025

European kindness is threatening the foundations of free speech

Right-wing U.S. critics of U.K. and European censorship have a point.
Ohkawara Kakohki President Masaaki Okawara (right) and the eldest son of late Shizuo Aishima, a former adviser to Ohkawara Kakohki, in Tokyo on Monday
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Jun 9, 2025

Ohkawara president asks Tokyo police not to appeal damages suit ruling

Masaaki Okawara was arrested in 2020 for allegedly exporting a spray dryer that could be repurposed for weapons production, but indictments were withdrawn the following year.
Members of law enforcement operate amid a standoff between police and protesters following multiple detentions by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), in the Los Angeles County city of Compton, California, on Saturday.
WORLD / Politics
Jun 10, 2025

Los Angeles ICE raids fuel controversy over masked agents

The moves have ignited a politically charged debate over whether the agents are protecting their identities or engaging in intimidation tactics.

Longform

Ichiro Suzuki, one of the most iconic players in NPB and MLB history, was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame with 99.7% of the vote.
With Hall of Fame induction, Ichiro makes himself heard loud and clear