Search - 2023

 
 
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.
People who have experienced becoming lay judges take part in a meeting to exchange views at the Tokyo District Court on March 6. Japan's lay judge system marks its 15th year on Tuesday.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
May 20, 2024

Number of lay judges falls as Japan marks system's 15th year

While there were more than 10,000 lay judges in the system's first few years, their numbers have fallen to around 6,000 in recent years.
One-on-one personal training programs have grown in popularity following the COVID-19 pandemic, but this increase in demand has not come without risks.
JAPAN
Jun 4, 2024

Over 40% of gym injuries in Japan caused by personal training, survey shows

Demand for personal training programs have grown in recent years due to a rise in health consciousness following the COVID-19 pandemic.
Despite the Sino-American trade war, China's export competitiveness has strengthened, with its share of global exports increasing in 2023 and its trade surplus reaching $823 billion.
COMMENTARY / World
Jun 5, 2024

Why the U.S. can’t win the trade war with China — and shouldn’t try

There is no evidence that China is actively targeting the exchange rate, and even the U.S. does not label China as a currency manipulator.
Shareholders at Toyota's annual general meeting, held in Toyota, Aichi Prefecture, on June 18
BUSINESS / Companies
Jun 26, 2024

Toyota chair's pay raised to $10 million despite safety probe

The total made Akio Toyoda the highest paid Japanese executive for a third straight year.
The Tokyo Stock Exchange building in Tokyo
BUSINESS / Companies
Jul 4, 2024

Shareholder revolts in Japan put proxy advisory firms in the hot seat

Two proxy advisory firms are having a moment as thinking around corporate governance in Japan undergoes a gradual shift.
Attendees wave the flags of China and the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region during an event aboard a Star Ferry to celebrate the 27th anniversary of Hong Kong's return to Chinese rule in Hong Kong on July 1.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Jul 9, 2024

As Singapore steps up scrutiny, affluent Chinese return to Hong Kong

Fallout from a blockbuster $2.2 billion money laundering case has put Singapore's family offices and wealthy immigrants under a microscope.
ASML's headquarters and factory in Veldhoven, Netherlands
WORLD
Jul 16, 2024

ASML-backed university is caught in the middle of U.S.-China chip war

The Netherlands is facing increasing pressure from Washington to stem Beijing’s chip-making efforts.
Cadets at the Maritime Self-Defense Force’s Kure Recruit Training Center row in unison during a cutter boat drill in Kure Bay, Hiroshima Prefecture, in June.
JAPAN / Society / Regional Voices: Hiroshima
Jul 29, 2024

MSDF’s Kure base faces recruitment challenges as youngsters shy away

The stressful nature of service and an increasing likelihood of actual combat are causing many to opt for other careers.
A decline in COVID-19-caused deaths likely helped boost the average life expectancy for Japanese men and women to rise for the first time in three years in 2023.
JAPAN / Society
Jul 26, 2024

Japan's average life expectancy rises for first time in three years

The rise in life expectancy may possibly be a reflection of a drop in fatality rates for COVID-19 patients.
Technicians assemble a component of the Compact Muon Solenoid experiment at the CERN nuclear research facility in Cessy, France, in March 2007. International cooperation in science is essential for solving global challenges and maintaining innovation.
COMMENTARY / World
Jul 30, 2024

Geopolitics threatens science and societal progress

In this world, the prospect of greater controls or reduced international cooperation can only be damaging.
U.S. President Joe Biden holds the arm of Elizabeth Whelan, sister of Paul Whelan, as he delivers remarks on a prisoner swap that included the release of Paul Whelan from Russia, in the East Room at the White House in Washington, on Thursday.
WORLD
Aug 2, 2024

The Russia prisoner swap was years in the making for the U.S.

Talks that led to the prisoner exchange started more than two years ago and almost didn't happen.
The BMW logo. It took the German automaker more than two years to discover the extent of a braking system fault that is expected to cost the carmaker nearly €1 billion ($1.1 billion) to fix.
BUSINESS / Companies
Sep 16, 2024

BMW took two years to find extent of defect behind recall

The braking system fault is expected to cost the carmaker nearly €1 billion ($1.1 billion) to fix.
A Russian submarine arrives at the port of Dagang, in Qingdao, Shandong province, China, in April 2019 for a joint Chinese-Russian naval exercise.
COMMENTARY / World
Oct 2, 2024

The China-Russia relationship once derided, now looks to endure

Both China and Russia are concerned about U.S. alliances in the Indo-Pacific and are acting to counterbalance them.
Pagers on display at a meeting room at the Gold Apollo company building in New Taipei City, Taiwan, on Sept. 18
WORLD
Oct 17, 2024

How Hezbollah came to possess bulky pagers with concealed explosives

The pager attack, and a second on the following day that activated weaponized walkie-talkies, killed 39 people and wounded more than 3,400.
Liberal Democratic Party lawmaker Chisato Morishita bows to reporters on Sunday in Ishinomaki, Miyagi Prefecture, after she was projected to win a seat in the Lower House election.
JAPAN / Politics
Oct 28, 2024

Record number of women elected to Japan's Lower House

A total of 73 female candidates won seats in Sunday’s general election, making up about 16% of the membership of the chamber of parliament.
People use umbrellas during a hot summer day in Ginza, Tokyo, in August.
ENVIRONMENT / Climate change
Nov 1, 2024

Extreme heat takes big toll on work and elderly mortality in Japan: report

The annual Lancet Countdown report says the world is facing elevated threats in 10 of 15 health indicators due to climate change.
Construction takes place on the Takanawa Gateway Convention Center in Tokyo, slated to open in 2025.
BUSINESS / Longform
Nov 11, 2024

A boom for business tourism in Japan?

Japan’s MICE sector is expanding rapidly, adapting with tech upgrades, flexible venues and sustainable initiatives as the Osaka Expo approaches.
Nigeriens gather in a street to protest against the U.S. military presence, in Niamey, Niger, on April 13.
WORLD / Politics
Nov 12, 2024

Trump inherits waning U.S. strength in Africa

Biden made sweeping political promises to Africa that he has yet to keep, including visiting during his presidency, which ends in January.
Roki Sasaki in action for Japan against the Czech Republic in the World Baseball Classic in Tokyo in March 2023
BASEBALL / MLB
Nov 12, 2024

Roki Sasaki and MLB: How effective would his pitching arsenal be?

Every team should be interested in Sasaki, who has been putting up some huge numbers in Japan.
The Securities and Exchange Surveillance Commission said it recommended that the Financial Services Agency impose a fine on general contractor Yamaura for releasing false financial statements.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Dec 4, 2024

General contractor Yamaura to be fined for false financial statements

A third-party investigation panel found the person in charge of preparing financial statements at Yamaura had illegally withdrawn about ¥2.6 billion.
Children stand next to the sea at the Kara Tepe camp for refugees and migrants on the island of Lesbos, Greece, in October 2020.
WORLD / Society
Dec 13, 2024

'Invisible' refugee children caught in Europe's migration red tape

In the first nine months of 2024, arrivals of unaccompanied children to the main entry points to the European Union were 8% higher, despite overall arrivals slowing.

Longform

Tetsuzo Shiraishi, speaking at The Center of the Tokyo Raids and War Damage, uses a thermos to explain how he experienced the U.S. firebombing of March 1945, when he was just 7 years old.
From ashes to high-rises: A survivor’s account of Tokyo’s postwar past