Search - 2023

 
 
The international departure lobby at Haneda Aiport in Tokyo on April 29, 2023, at the start of the Golden Week holidays.
BUSINESS
Apr 11, 2024

Golden Week travel plans near pre-pandemic levels as overseas bookings surge

This year's Golden Week marks the first since the government downgraded COVID-19’s classification to the same level as the seasonal flu.
The Kremlin in Moscow on Monday
WORLD / Politics
Aug 13, 2024

Billions in dollar and euro notes reach Russia despite sanctions

Russia has managed to circumvent sanctions blocking cash imports, suggesting that dollars and euros remain useful tools for trade and travel.
A Palestinian man rides a bicycle past a damaged vehicle in which employees from the World Central Kitchen were killed in an Israeli airstrike in Deir Al-Balah, in the central Gaza Strip, on April 2. The Israeli military said it is conducting a thorough review to understand the circumstances of the "tragic" incident, amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas.
WORLD / Politics
Aug 20, 2024

U.N. warns of 'unacceptable' level of violence against aid workers

The world body warns that the Israel-Hamas war in the Gaza Strip is potentially fueling even higher numbers of such deaths this year.
A Ukrainian serviceman carries a part of a downed Russian suicide drone amid Moscow's invasion of Ukraine, near Kyiv last November.
ASIA PACIFIC
Sep 14, 2024

Russia produces new kamikaze drone with Chinese engine

The intelligence indicated that a subsidiary of a Russian state-owned weapons-maker produced more than 2,500 attack drones from July 2023 to July 2024.
New and strengthened rules aim to make street drinking a thing of the past in Shibuya's nightlife center — but the reality may not be that simple.
COMMUNITY / Issues / The Foreign Element
Oct 21, 2024

Can you drink in Shibuya and Shinjuku this Halloween? It depends.

Shibuya and Shinjuku are both planning on cracking down on street drinking this Halloween and beyond. But the problem might be bigger than a night of drunken revelry.
A police officer stands in front of the residence of a man alleged to have stabbed two junior high school students in Kitakyushu.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Dec 20, 2024

Crime numbers rise in Japan for second straight year

Crime numbers had been steadily declining since 2003, continuing to hit postwar lows from 2015 to 2021, before bouncing back in 2022.
Data show that the policies of Japan’s last decade or so have served the rich better than the vast majority of the country’s households.
BUSINESS
Feb 14, 2025

Assets of Japan’s wealthiest jump to a record $3 trillion

Between 2011 and 2023, the wealth of Japan’s rich more than doubled and super rich tripled.
Firefighters want more funding and better incentives for the millions of volunteers who prop up the system.
ENVIRONMENT / Climate change
May 3, 2025

'Not sustainable': Europe's firefighters want more funds and staff

Wildfires fueled by hotter, drier weather and household fires are straining fire services across the bloc.
Tents for displaced Palestinians at a camp, operated by the United Nations Relief and Works Agency, in western Khan Younis, Gaza, on, Oct. 17.
WORLD / Politics
Oct 26, 2023

Record 114 million people now displaced worldwide, says U.N.

Almost one-third of all displaced people originated from just three countries: Afghanistan, Syria and Ukraine.
Ukrainian refugees who were flown to Japan by the Foreign Ministry arrive at Haneda Airport in Tokyo in April 2022. 
COMMENTARY / Japan
Dec 20, 2023

Moving beyond ‘checkbook diplomacy’: Japan’s changing refugee policy

Japan's stance on admitting refugees appears to be changing amid greater global engagement by Tokyo.
U.S. President Joe Biden answers reporters questions as he departs for Camp David from the South Lawn at the White House in Washington on Dec. 23.
WORLD / Politics
Dec 28, 2023

With vote ahead, Biden trails Trump's pace of judicial appointments

Ahead of the 2024 election, Senate Democrats are pledging to stay focused on confirming Biden's judicial nominees and adding to the 166 already approved.
Workers walk past an underconstruction area with completed office towers in the background in Shenzhen's Qianhai new district on Aug. 25, 2023.
BUSINESS / Economy
Jan 1, 2024

China's strained economy casts shadow over 2024

Last year, the economy was roiled by a real estate crisis, falling consumer confidence, deflation and the disappearance of foreign investment.
Jim Rauh, founder of Families Against Fentanyl, holds a photograph of his son Thomas in Akron, Ohio, on March 4. How Trump and Biden address a lethal chapter of the U.S. drug-overdose epidemic will be pivotal in swing states that are likely to decide the election.
WORLD / Politics
Mar 27, 2024

270,000 overdose deaths thrust fentanyl into heart of U.S. presidential race

More than 4 in 10 Americans personally know someone who has died from a drug overdose.
Tourists in Kyoto on Saturday. Japan saw a record 3.08 million foreign visitors in March.
JAPAN / Society
Apr 17, 2024

Inbound tourism numbers hit record high, with Japan set to achieve 2025 goal

The nation welcomed a record 3.08 million foreign visitors in March, surpassing the previous high of 2.99 million from July 2019.
An employee handles 155 mm-caliber shells after the manufacturing process at the Scranton Army Ammunition Plant in Scranton, Pennsylvania, on April 16.
WORLD / Politics
Apr 22, 2024

Conflicts push military spending to all-time high, report says

Nations around the world are spending more than ever on their militaries as conflicts continue across various regions.
In 2023, 15.4% of China's population was over 65, a demographic milestone that typically slows economic growth.
COMMENTARY / World
Jun 12, 2024

Is China too old to get rich?

By 2023, 15.4% of China's population was over 65, a demographic milestone that typically slows economic growth.
A construction worker in Tokyo's Akasaka district on Aug. 21. With 886 cases, 54 of them fatal, during the period from 2019 to 2023, the construction industry leads Japan’s tally for occupational heatstroke.
BUSINESS / Boiling Point
Sep 1, 2024

Clocking off: Japan’s hotter summers put limit on outdoor work

Climate change is forcing businesses to sacrifice productivity in the name of safety in industries ranging from construction to transportation.
A Ukrainian military sapper places red flags next to a part of a Russian cluster bomb while demining a field in the Kherson region of Ukraine on April 4.
WORLD
Sep 10, 2024

Cluster bombs have killed or wounded over 1,000 in Ukraine since 2022

Cluster munitions can be dropped from planes or fired from artillery before exploding in midair and scattering bomblets over a wide area.
Choi Min-kyong (right), a North Korean defector who said she was deported by China four times before making it to South Korea in 2012, and Shin Ju-ye (left), who fled North Korea in the 1990s and settled in China before defecting to South Korea last year, speak during an interview in Seoul on July 19.
ASIA PACIFIC
Sep 25, 2024

China cracks down on North Korean defectors with biometric surveillance

Facial-recognition cameras now monitor China's border with North Korea, documents show, while police have collected biometric data of North Koreans in the country.
Tokyo's Haneda Airport on Oct. 7. The number of Japanese nationals who traveled abroad in the first half of this year totaled 5.8 million, a 60.4% increase from the same period in 2023.
JAPAN / Society
Oct 18, 2024

Mid- to long-term foreign residents in Japan hit record high

A total of 3.31 million foreign nationals were residing in the country for three months or longer as of the end of June, up 5.8% from the end of 2023.
The health ministry’s report shows that the number of elementary, junior high and high school students who took their own lives in 2023 stood at 513, one fewer than last year's record of 514.
JAPAN / Science & Health
Oct 29, 2024

Japan’s struggle with youth suicide sparks government initiatives

The health ministry’s report shows that the number of elementary, junior high and high school students who took their own lives remained alarmingly high.
In 2017, the Tokyo Metropolitan Government became the first among Japan's local authorities to issue green bonds.
JAPAN / FOCUS
Nov 12, 2024

More municipalities tap green bonds as demand makes rates favorable

Green bond issuance by local government authorities in Japan has risen from ¥149.3 billion in 2022 to ¥443.1 billion in 2023.
Lawyers estimate that personal bankruptcies in Japan are on track to reach the highest since 2012 this year.
JAPAN / Society / FOCUS
Dec 22, 2024

Bankruptcies and suicides rise as Japanese struggle with mounting debt

Personal debt is overwhelming an increasing number of Japanese as higher interest rates and the rising cost of living bite.
Internally displaced Syrians from eastern Ghouta queue for food in a Damascus countryside in April 2018.
WORLD / Society
Dec 24, 2024

Global hunger crisis deepens as major nations skimp on aid

The United Nations says that, at best, it will be able to raise enough money to help about 60% of the 307 million people it predicts will need humanitarian aid next year.
China's solar industry, hit hard in 2024 by overcapacity and financial losses, is expected to recover in 2025 with tighter market conditions and a 25% revenue growth forecast.
COMMENTARY / World
Dec 24, 2024

Here’s the best climate news you missed this year

There are plenty of positive trends out there once you peer past the alarmist headlines.
A 2024 Toyota Prius Prime during the 2024 New York International Auto Show in New York last March
BUSINESS / Companies
Jan 4, 2025

U.S. new car sales rose to five-year high in 2024, helped by hybrids

Sales continued to rise from their pandemic lows, bolstered by replenished inventories, higher incentives and surging demand for hybrid vehicles.
The Tiffany & Co. store on Fifth Avenue in New York in 2023
BUSINESS / Companies
Jan 28, 2025

Tiffany workers mock forced 'joy' that exacerbated staff exits

When Tiffany & Co. executives were looking for ways to boost staff morale, they rolled out an internal social app called "Tiffany Joy.” It didn’t take long to turn into a chore.
Masahiro Tanaka signed with the Giants in December.
BASEBALL / Japanese Baseball / Sac Bunts
Feb 3, 2025

Star pitcher Masahiro Tanaka looking to revive glory days with Giants

Masahiro Tanaka is one of the most recognizable faces in Japanese baseball, but sightings of the new Giants pitcher were few and far between in 2024.
Researchers work around Chang'e-5 lunar return capsule carrying moon samples next to a Chinese national flag, after it landed in northern China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, on Dec. 17, 2020.
WORLD / Politics
Feb 14, 2025

China builds space alliances in Africa as Trump cuts foreign aid

Beijing has access to data and images collected from the space technology, and Chinese personnel maintain a long-term presence in the facilities it builds in Africa.
A banner belonging to the "Alley of Angels" project displays images of children purportedly killed in conflict, at a demonstration of far-right groups in Frankfurt, Germany, on May 25, 2024.
WORLD / Politics
Feb 19, 2025

How a Moscow-linked exhibit tried to erode German support for Ukraine

Publicly, the exhibit’s organizers say they aren’t affiliated with any government and are driven by a desire to end the suffering.

Longform

Dangami House is a 180-year-old former samurai residence of the Kato clan, who ruled over Ozu, Ehime Prefecture, until the Meiji Restoration.
A house, a legacy and the quiet work of restoration in rural Japan