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Sorane Sakihama, a 22-year-old college student, speaks at a rally in the city of Okinawa on Sunday protesting against sexual assaults by U.S. soldiers.
JAPAN
Dec 23, 2024

Okinawa people stage rally against sexual assaults by U.S. servicemen

The Okinawan protesters adopted a resolution demanding apologies for sexual assault victims, compensation and a revision of the Japan-U.S. Status of Forces Agreement.
Former President Jimmy Carter waves to the crowd at the Democratic National Convention 2008
WORLD / Politics
Dec 30, 2024

World leaders pay tribute to former U.S. President Jimmy Carter

World leaders and politicians pay their respects to the U.S. president who brokered peace between Israel and Egypt and later received the Nobel Peace Prize.
U.S. President Jimmy Carter and Prime Minister Masayoshi Ohira share a laugh ahead of talks in Tokyo in June 1979.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Dec 30, 2024

Jimmy Carter's surprising connection to Japan: his Christian faith

The former U.S. president, who died Sunday, bonded with his counterpart, Prime Minister Masayoshi Ohira, over their shared faith.
A United Steelworkers sign is seen outside the Great Lakes Works United States Steel plant in River Rouge, Michigan, in September.
BUSINESS / Companies
Jan 3, 2025

Biden to block U.S. Steel sale to Nippon Steel, source says

Biden's call to block the deal was taken despite contrary efforts by some senior advisers concerned that it could hurt U.S.- Japan relations.
Nippon Steel and U.S. Steel sued the U.S. government Monday for blocking the merger of the two companies.
BUSINESS / Companies
Jan 7, 2025

Nippon Steel and U.S. Steel sue U.S. government for blocking deal

The suit argues that the two companies were denied due process and that the $14.9 billion transaction was blocked for political reasons.
Some people are questioning the U.S. decision to block Nippon Steel’s takeover of U.S. Steel, citing the lack of clear evidence of any national security risk from Japan — a country that hosts over 50,000 U.S. troops and relies on America for defense.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Jan 7, 2025

Biden's Nippon Steel move: A troubling snub of a key ally

Preventing the takeover of U.S. Steel is bad enough. Declaring Japan a national security risk is worse.
U.S. Steel’s Edgar Thomson Steel Works in Braddock, Pennsylvannia, in 2019. Nippon Steel and U.S. Steel face significant legal challenges in their case against the United States.
BUSINESS / Companies
Jan 15, 2025

Nippon Steel’s case against Biden probably unwinnable, attorneys argue

A U.S. president's rejection of a deal following review by the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States has only been successfully challenged once.
U.S. President-elect Donald Trump’s potential role in any plan to save TikTok remains both intriguing and complicated. The ban is set to take effect just one day before his inauguration, and while it has been reported that President Joe Biden won’t enforce the ban on day one, the decision on what to do long-term will become Trump’s problem almost immediately.
BUSINESS / Tech / FOCUS
Jan 18, 2025

TikTok’s fate rests on Trump after U.S. Supreme Court upholds law

U.S. President -elect Donald Trump’s potential role in any plan to save TikTok remains both intriguing and complicated.
Tokyo Gas President Shinichi Sasayama speaks during an interview at the company's headquarters in Tokyo on Jan. 16.
BUSINESS / Companies
Jan 22, 2025

Tokyo Gas focusing on more U.S. investment opportunities

"Among our overseas businesses, North America is an especially important growth market for us,” said President Shinichi Sasayama.
U.S. Vice President JD Vance (left) swears in Pete Hegseth (center) as U.S. secretary of defense during a ceremony in Washington on Saturday.
WORLD / Politics
Jan 26, 2025

New U.S. defense chief pledges to work with allies in message to Pentagon

Pete Hegseth appeared to try and dispel concerns in allied capitals that the U.S. could again see a more transactional approach to foreign policy under President Donald Trump.
A U.S. Marine provides water to Afghan families during the evacuation at Hamid Karzai International Airport in Kabul in August 2021.
COMMENTARY / World
Jan 30, 2025

Abandoning Afghans who worked with us troops is shameful

The urgency is driven by a simple fact: The Afghans who helped us, along with their family members, are considered traitors by the ruling Taliban.
The Chinese Consolidated Benevolent Association, also called the Chinese Six Companies, formed in San Francisco in 1882, was a unifying umbrella organization for immigrant associations, becoming one of the first such influential community advocacy groups in America.
COMMENTARY / World
Feb 2, 2025

America versus China, the troubling prequel

A forthcoming book details the horrific experience of Chinese immigrants in the U.S. in the 19th century. Is it an omen for the future?
A woman queues at Phedisong clinic on April 8, 2013, during the launch of the new single dose anti-AIDs medication in Ga-Rankuwa, 100 kilometers north of Johannesburg.
WORLD / Politics
Feb 5, 2025

'I don't want to die': Trump's aid plans incite fear in Africa

Trump's decision to pause foreign aid, and other orders and declarations relating to LGBTQ+ rights, have forced NGOs to wonder how secure future U.S. funding will be.
“Light Court” (2024) is based on the “Lightcourt” space at the Hiroshima City Museum of Contemporary Art, designed by metabolist architect Kisho Kurokawa (1934-2007).
CULTURE / Art
Feb 9, 2025

Yuki Harada's contemplative artworks ponder vanishing

The artist spent time researching Japanese migrants who left Hiroshima and Yamaguchi prefectures for Hawaii, and the U.S. island state often features in his art.
An Afghan woman sits with her children along the roadside in Kandahar on Sunday.
WORLD / Politics
Feb 10, 2025

Pakistan to force tens of thousands of Afghan refugees out of the capital

Pakistan has ordered Afghan refugees in Islamabad to leave by March 31, as Trump’s refugee ban leaves thousands in limbo.
The U.S. Navy guided-missile destroyer USS Ralph Johnson conducts routine operations in the South China Sea last August. The vessel, along with survey ship USNS Bowditch, carried out a “routine” transit through the Taiwan Strait from Monday to Wednesday.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Feb 12, 2025

U.S. warship sails through Taiwan Strait for first time since Trump inauguration

China's military said the move had "sent the wrong signals" and "increased security risks” in the strategic waterway.
Pierre Poilievre, leader of Canada's Conservative Party, speaks during a "Canada First" rally in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, on Saturday.
WORLD / Politics
Feb 17, 2025

Canada’s conservative leader pitches economy overhaul to counter Trump

Opposition leader Poilievre aimed to persuade Canadians Sunday that he’s the best candidate to lead the country in a looming tariff war with the U.S.
Donald Trump, then the Republican presidential candidate, and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy meet at Trump Tower in New York City in September.
WORLD
Feb 23, 2025

Trump says U.S. wants return on Ukraine aid money

The comments came as Washington and Kyiv negotiate a mineral resources deal being pushed by Trump.
As more countries gain global influence, disagreements over the future world order are making cooperation harder, especially between democracies and autocracies.
COMMENTARY / World
Feb 23, 2025

The age of multipolarization

The shift to a multipolar world has been accompanied by deepening polarization within and between countries.
The latest "Captain America" movie depicts a conflict between the U.S. and Japan over a newly discovered element, but the premise seems implausible and likely reflects a late-stage decision to replace China with Japan to avoid alienating Chinese audiences.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Feb 28, 2025

A U.S. war with Japan? Only in ‘Captain America.’

It’s clear that Japan must be a stand-in for China — possibly a late-stage replacement in a movie that became notorious for its multiple rewrites and reshoots.
A demonstration by the Polish army at the Bemowo Piskie Land Forces Training Center in Poland in September 2023. As U.S. President Donald Trump casts doubt on his country's alliances, Poland needs to double its military manpower and consider more destructive weapons, Prime Minister Donald Tusk said.
WORLD / Politics
Mar 8, 2025

Alarmed by Trump, Poland must look at nuclear options, premier says

Poland needs to double its military manpower and consider more destructive weapons, Prime Minister Donald Tusk said.
A makeshift memorial for fallen Ukrainian soldiers on Independence Square in Kyiv.
WORLD / Politics
Mar 8, 2025

Ten days that shook Ukraine’s world reverberate in defiant Kyiv

The U.S. shift is as calamitous for Ukraine as it is shocking for European allies. But the mood remains defiant in Kyiv.
Idled blast furnaces at U.S. Steel's Granite City Works in Granite City, Illinois, in July 2017
BUSINESS / Companies
Mar 15, 2025

U.S. Steel activist investor boosts holding in turnaround push

The move comes as hope for the deal that drew massive attention during the 2024 American presidential election has shown little progress.
Workers at the Cosco Shipping Holding shipyard in Qidong, Jiangsu province, China, on Oct. 8, 2024
BUSINESS / Economy
Mar 24, 2025

Billion-dollar U.S. levies on Chinese ships risk ‘trade apocalypse’

The levies could theoretically generate between $40 billion and $52 billion for U.S. coffers.
Defense Minister Gen Nakatani (left) and U.S. Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth review an honor guard during a welcome ceremony at the Defense Ministry in Tokyo ahead of their talks Sunday.
JAPAN / Politics
Mar 30, 2025

In Tokyo, Pentagon chief provides assurances that Japan-U.S. alliance remains robust

U.S. Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth described Japan as an “indispensable partner” in confronting China and sought to dispel lingering unease in Tokyo.
Defense Minister Gen Nakatani and U.S. Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth chat after reviewing an honor guard during a welcome ceremony at the Defense Ministry in Tokyo on Sunday.
JAPAN / Politics / ANALYSIS
Mar 31, 2025

On defense, Japan may avoid Trump's worst impulses — for now

In his first official trip to Japan, U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth appeared to have been looking to tamp down on concerns in Tokyo.
U.S. President Donald Trump meets with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un at the Demilitarized Zone separating the two Koreas, in Panmunjom, South Korea, in June 2019.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Apr 1, 2025

Trump says his administration is in 'communication' with North Korea's Kim

“There is communication,” the U.S. president told reporters at the White House when asked if he would once again engage with the North Korean strongman.
As the 80th anniversary of the end of the Pacific War approaches, the U.S.-Japan alliance faces a new turning point, with both Japan Society and the International House of Japan ready to play crucial roles in strengthening cultural and diplomatic ties amid global geopolitical shifts.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Apr 6, 2025

How the U.S. and Japan can keep partnering for the future

Today, we are at another turning point. The world confronts another major season of geopolitical changes — not seen since the 1950s or the 1920s.
Kwai Chung container ports in Hong Kong earlier this month
BUSINESS / Markets
Apr 7, 2025

East Asia tries a mix of measures to counter U.S. tariffs as markets suffer

U.S. President Donald Trump last week announced a raft of tariffs, with almost every country affected.
Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba attends a joint press conference with U.S. President Donald Trump at the White House in Washington on Feb. 7.
JAPAN / Politics
Apr 7, 2025

Japan responds to Trump's tariffs with a polite phone call and request

The call was the first interaction between the two leaders since the U.S. president rolled out new tariffs targeting almost every country on the planet.

Longform

Mamoru Iwai, stationmaster of Keisei Ueno Station, says that, other than earthquake-proofing, the former Hakubutsukan-Dobutsuen (Museum-Zoo) Station has remained untouched.
Inside Tokyo's 'phantom' stations — and the stories they tell