Search - 2023

 
 
High-end tourism is becoming more about the kinds of experiences that Japan's lesser-known places can provide.
LIFE / Travel / Longform
Mar 25, 2024

Can Japan lure the jet-set class off the beaten path?

High-end travelers are looking for sustainability, wellness and adventure when they head abroad. Japan hopes to deliver in places other than Tokyo.
Justice Minister Ryuji Koizumi speaks to reporters in Tokyo on Friday. Koizumi stressed that the granting of the special residency permits to children subjected to deportation orders was a one-time measure.
JAPAN / Politics
Sep 27, 2024

Japan fine-tunes issuance of humanitarian visas

The move comes amid a near-tripling of technical intern trainees from Myanmar going missing from their programs in 2023.
China's strategic government support has enabled it to lead in the production and supply chains for renewable technologies, including wind turbines, solar panels and electric vehicles.
COMMENTARY / World
Oct 22, 2024

What happens when China becomes the green tech superpower?

What should be of more concern is the “soft power” that Beijing will acquire by mastering the green tech sector.
Visitors to Kyoto walk along a street near Kiyomizu Temple in April. A popular tourist spot, Kyoto has seen what locals feel to be an overwhelming amount of tourists in 2024.
LIFE / Travel / Longform
Dec 23, 2024

Is Japan ready for 60 million tourists?

Inbound tourism to Japan reached a record high in 2024, but managing the crowds and ensuring sustainability remain a challenge.
A Dior store front in Rome. Despite passing audits, Dior's contractors in Italy have been accused of labor abuses.
BUSINESS / Companies
Jan 2, 2025

Inside luxury goods' broken audit system

Revelations of worker exploitation in Dior's Italian production chain have exposed flaws in supply chain audits and triggered judicial action.
Land at an address identified on the U.S. entity list, in Shenzhen, Guangdong province, China, on Oct. 31, 2024.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
May 6, 2025

U.S. blacklist on China is riddled with errors and outdated details

Five former U.S. officials acknowledged difficulties in evaluating possible cases of mistaken identity and updating information on the entity list, due in part to limited staffing.
Chinese leader Xi Jinping joins Russian President Vladimir Putin and other foreign leaders at a ceremony at the Kremlin’s Tomb of the Unknown Soldier in Moscow on Friday to mark the 80th anniversary of the Soviet Union’s victory over Nazi Germany in World War II.
COMMENTARY / World
May 12, 2025

Beijing talks peace in Ukraine while aiding Putin’s war

China benefits strategically as long as the war stays within Ukraine, the nuclear risk remains low and its “unlimited partner,” Russia, does not lose.
Malware used by Chinese state-backed hacking groups was on the systems of a U.S. telecommunications firm for seven months starting in the summer of 2023, investigators claim.
WORLD
Jun 5, 2025

Chinese hacked U.S. telecom a year before known wireless breaches

The hack raises questions about when Chinese intruders established a foothold in the American communications industry.
The total number of people who sat for police departments' exams in Japan during fiscal 2023 fell by more than 20% from fiscal 2021, while 30% of applicants who received informal job offers turned them down.
JAPAN
Jun 29, 2025

Police in most prefectures miss hiring targets

Around 30% of the applicants given informal offers in many prefectures end up turning them down.
Pedestrians hold umbrellas for protection from the sun during a heat wave in New York on Thursday.
ENVIRONMENT
Jul 28, 2023

July set to be world's hottest month on record

We may have to go back thousands if not tens of thousands of years to find similarly warm conditions on our planet.
Japan’s national bar exam was held on Nov. 8 with a pass rate of 45%. Though for decades the pass rate was much lower, this seeming improvement has come on the back of several regulatory blunders.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Nov 20, 2023

The failure behind Japan’s bar exam pass rate

The pass rate for Japan's bar exam has fluctuated, with this year's level coming on the back of several misguided interventions.
A wind farm near near Golmud, Qinghai province, China
COMMENTARY / World
Nov 29, 2023

The promise of China’s sustainable-development path

As of this month, China has (since 2017) approved 572 “ecological civilization construction demonstration zones.”
PODCAST / deep dive
Dec 7, 2023

Feeling anxious? Wastewater, heat and Japan’s year in climate

In a year that saw Japan release 24,000 tons of wastewater (so far) from Fukushima No. 1 as the planet smashed heat records, it’s no wonder climate anxiety is on the rise. Mara Budgen joins us to break down the year in environment news, where we could see hope, and what we should be worried about....
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.

Longform

Mount Fuji is considered one of Japan's most iconic symbols and is a major draw for tourists. It's still a mountain, though, and potential hikers need to properly prepare for any climb.
What it takes to save lives on Mount Fuji