Search - 2023

 
 
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.
Dodgers star Shohei Ohtani poses with President of Baseball Operations Andrew Friedman at Ohtani's introductory news conference at Dodger Stadium on Dec. 14, 2023.
BASEBALL / MLB
Mar 13, 2025

Dodgers' Andrew Friedman hails team's growing Japan connection

“I think the atmosphere is going to be electric. ... I think it’s the closest I’ll ever get to traveling with the Beatles."
Japan Times
LIFE / Language
Jul 18, 2023

ChatGPT, Bing, Bard and DeepL: Which one offers the best Japanese-to-English translation?

AI is revolutionizing the world of translation, but which tool reigns supreme? We staged a head-to-head battle between ChatGPT-4, Bing, Bard and DeepL … and the results are in.
Military vehicles carrying DF-5B intercontinental ballistic missiles in Beijing in 2019
ASIA PACIFIC
Oct 20, 2023

Pentagon says China set to have over 1,000 nukes by 2030

The report adds that China has "probably completed" 300 intercontinental ballistic missile silos as it expands its launch facilities.
SUMO / INSIDE SUMO
Nov 8, 2023

Tigers’ triumph resonates in a sumo world full of Kansai natives

As Hanshin fans celebrate a long-awaited championship, it's timely to look back at what sumo looked like when Hanshin last won it all in 1985.
Prime Minister Fumio Kishida makes a toast with Indonesian President Joko Widodo at a Japan-ASEAN luncheon meeting at the Japan Business Federation in Tokyo on Dec. 18. Kishida’s chance of reelection in the LDP presidential race in September will largely depend on his administration’s response to the current funding scandal and its entanglement in it.
JAPAN / Politics
Dec 31, 2023

Scandal, economic policy and LDP race to weigh on Kishida in 2024

How he balances all three will determine whether he keeps his job as LDP party president and, by extension, prime minister.
A worker guides drilling pipes on the Gazprom PJSC Chayandinskoye oil, gas and condensate field in Russia's Sakha Republic.
WORLD / Politics
Jan 10, 2024

Russia’s oil drilling boom proves Moscow’s resilience to Western sanctions

In the first 11 months of 2023, Russia's drilling was on track to beat the post-Soviet record.
Former U.S. President Donald Trump greets attendees at a campaign rally in Indianola, Iowa, on Sunday.
WORLD / Politics
Jan 15, 2024

The Trump voters in swing states who are returning to the fold

To try to understand his enduring appeal, reporters spoke to five Trump supporters in five general election battleground states.
A worker carries a tray containing steamed kamaboko at a factory in Ise, Mie Prefecture.
JAPAN / Society / Regional voices: Chubu
Jan 22, 2024

As costs rise, kamaboko producers struggle to stay afloat

Many have little choice but to raise the prices of their own products after having exhausted other measures.
China's birthrate has been plummeting for decades as a result of the one-child policy implemented from 1980 to 2015 and its rapid urbanization during that period.
ASIA PACIFIC / Society
Jan 17, 2024

China's population drops for second year, adding to growth concerns

A plunging birthrate and a wave of COVID-19 deaths accelerated a downturn that will have long-term economic effects.
In the 2022 fiscal year, which ended in March 2023, Hokkaido's Niseko resort area saw a cumulative total of more than 1.4 million visitors, including day-trippers and those who spent at least one night.
JAPAN / Society / Regional Voices: Hokkaido
Jan 29, 2024

Ski season surge tests limits of Niseko’s infrastructure

The return of tourists to the Hokkaido resort area is putting pressure on food retailers and transportation.
Gross domestic product data released on Thursday showed the U.S. economy ended the year with a bang, while China is struggling under the weight of a yearslong real estate bust and its worst streak of deflation in some 25 years.
BUSINESS / Economy
Jan 26, 2024

U.S. extends lead over China in race for world’s biggest economy

China was expected to experience a fast recovery as it reopened its economy fully after strict COVID-19 lockdowns, but that hasn't happened.
Workers on a production line manufacturing false eyelashes at a workshop of Monsheery in Pingdu, China, in November
ASIA PACIFIC
Feb 4, 2024

How North Korean eyelashes arrive in the West as 'made in China'

North Korea exported 1,680 tons of false eyelashes, beards and wigs to China in 2023, worth around $167 million.
Toyota raised its annual net profit forecast to a record high ¥4.5 trillion in the year ending in March.
BUSINESS / Companies
Feb 6, 2024

Toyota raises annual net profit forecast as chip shortage eases

But scandals involving rigged engine and safety tests at subsidiaries led the firm to slightly revise down its sales target for the financial year.
A Ukrainian soldier walks next to a howitzer while waiting for it to fire toward Russian positions, in the Donetsk region last month.
WORLD / Politics
Feb 15, 2024

Democracy slides amid wars and political polarization, study says

Standards across the world fell amid the spread of wars, authoritarian crackdowns and declining levels of trust in mainstream political parties.
BASEBALL / MLB
Feb 19, 2024

Dodgers hurler Yoshinobu Yamamoto will be tough code to crack for MLB hitters

His mix of power, stuff and command have some wondering if the 25-year-old right-hander is already the best pitcher on the planet.
Visa-free access for Chinese tourists to Southeast Asia countries boosted traffic and signaled a robust revival in travel since Beijing lifted strict COVID-19 restrictions in early 2023 that had all but shut China's borders for three years.
BUSINESS / Economy
Feb 21, 2024

Chinese tourists flock to Southeast Asia as travel bounces back

The increase provides welcome relief to countries that rely on the Chinese and their spending.
BASEBALL
Feb 23, 2024

Former Seibu slugger David MacKinnon embraces new challenge with South Korea's Lions

The American slugger is moving from Japan's Lions to South Korea's Lions this year.
Junior high school students from the inland town of Sumita, Iwate Prefecture, visit the Iwate Tsunami Memorial Museum in the city of Rikuzentakata in December.
JAPAN / Society
Mar 4, 2024

Educational tours aim to preserve memory of Tohoku quake

Efforts are being made to ensure lessons learned from the Great East Japan Earthquake are passed on to future generations.
Air Self-Defense Force F-35 stealth fighters are displayed at the U.S. military's Yokota Air Base in Tokyo.
JAPAN / Politics
Mar 11, 2024

Japan's arms imports up 155% over last five years, report finds

The Asian nation was the sixth-largest weapons importer in the world, according to a report by the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute.
Denys Kostev, a Ukrainian teen who lived in an orphanage in southern Ukraine and ended up in Russian-controlled territory following Moscow's full-scale invasion
WORLD / Politics
Mar 20, 2024

Poster child for Russia's removal of Ukraine orphans says he was coached, threatened

Kyiv says many Ukrainian orphans taken to Russian-controlled territory have been subjected to an orchestrated program to make them accept Kremlin ideology.
The most significant outcome of Taiwan’s elections is not President-elect Lai Ching-te and the DPP’s victory, but rather the party's loss of the legislature and the return of divided government after a 16-year hiatus.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Mar 27, 2024

A divided government awaits Taiwan's new president

The most significant outcome of Taiwan’s elections is not the DPP’s victory, but rather its loss of the legislature and the return of divided government.
BASEBALL / Japanese Baseball
Mar 28, 2024

Tigers remain the Central League's team to beat as rival Giants loom

While Hanshin may be favored to repeat, the rest of the league will be waiting to pounce should the Kansai club falter.
BASEBALL / Japanese Baseball
Mar 28, 2024

Pacific League pennant set to be tight race as Buffaloes chase dynasty in 2024

The Buffaloes path to a fourth straight title is fraught with peril as the Hawks gather their forces for a renewed push for the PL crown.
According to Yano Research Institute, Japan's supplements market grew about 30% in the span of three years.
BUSINESS
Mar 29, 2024

Supplements market in Japan showing steady growth

Improved health awareness sparked by COVID-19 is a major factor fueling the growth, market research firms say.
Yayoi Kusama during a media preview of her exhibition at the David Zwirner gallery in New York in November 2013.
CULTURE / Art
Apr 11, 2024

Yayoi Kusama was the world’s top-selling artist last year

Sales from Kusama’s auctioned works totaled $80.9 million in 2023, moving her up from the second-highest selling artist in 2022.
The skyline of central Mumbai's financial district
JAPAN
Apr 28, 2024

India seen overtaking Japan in nominal GDP in 2025

Japan's economy is expected to fall to the fifth largest in the world. In February, GDP data showed that Japan was overtaken by Germany in 2023.
A Lamborghini Diablo SL automobile displayed at the company's event to mark the automaker’s 60th anniversary in Seoul in September 2023. While the boost in wealth among crypto investors was mostly poured into discretionary spending, a significant portion spilled into local housing markets, the researchers found.
BUSINESS / Markets
May 6, 2024

Lamborghini bros no more: Crypto is creating a new wealth effect

Study suggests that household spending out of crypto gains is more like the patterns from traditional equity investments, such as on home purchases.
Russian President Vladimir Putin meets Belarusian leader Alexander Lukashenko in Moscow on April 11.
WORLD
May 11, 2024

Satellite images reveal where Russian nukes could be stored in Belarus

A New York Times analysis shows security upgrades unique to Russian nuclear storage facilities at a Cold War-era munitions depot.
FIFA President Gianni Infantino announces Brazil as the host of the 2027 Women's World Cup during the 74th FIFA Congress in Bangkok on Friday.
SOCCER / Women's World cup
May 17, 2024

Brazil named as host of 2027 Women's World Cup

FIFA chose to continue its push to expand women's soccer by taking the tournament to South America for the first time.

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