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New Defense Minister Minoru Kihara says Japan-U.S. joint drills are very important for strengthening the U.S. commitment to the region.
JAPAN / Politics
Sep 17, 2023

Japan and U.S. boosting joint drills with eye on 'actual combat'

The exercises are intended to prepare forces in areas where a contingency could be possible, in view of military activity by China and Russia.
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un shakes hands with Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu after receiving a gift at their luncheon during Kim's visit to the port of Vladivostok, Russia, on Saturday.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Sep 17, 2023

North Korea's Kim talks up defense ties as Russia trip concludes

Both countries hinted at the “strategic importance” of bilateral ties during Kim's visit — despite U.S. warnings against any arms deals.
ENVIRONMENT / Climate change / OUR PLANET
Sep 17, 2023

Climate litigation remains a tough sell in Japan despite wins overseas

So far, Japan has seen just four climate lawsuits, all concerning the construction and operation of coal-fired power plants.
Iranian diaspora in Europe take part in a rally on the eve of the first anniversary of Mahsa Amini's death, in Brussels on Friday.
WORLD / Politics
Sep 18, 2023

Protests continue in Iran as Mahsa Amini anniversary passes

The death of Mahsa Amini last year triggered months widespread protests in Iran.
Nobody wishes for a medical emergency, but preparing for one while you're in a foreign country can only make things easier.
COMMUNITY / How-tos
Sep 18, 2023

How to avoid medical purgatory when hospitalized in Japan

Much like a legal will, a visit to the hospital is the last thing for which you want to prepare — yet doing so will save you stress and worry.
Montse Tome, the new coach of Spain's women's soccer team, speaks at a news conference in Las Rozas, Spain, on Monday.
SOCCER
Sep 19, 2023

Spain's women's players say their boycott remains, deepening crisis

Should they refuse the call-up, the players could face sanctions including fines of up to $32,000 and the suspension of their federation licence.
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un receives a welcome at Pyongyang Station after his return from Russia on Tuesday.
ASIA PACIFIC
Sep 20, 2023

Kim Jong Un returns to Pyongyang after 'immortal' Russia trip

Kim returned to Pyongyang on his armored train on Tuesday evening "in good health."
JAPAN
Sep 20, 2023

Rapid military buildup a worry for Okinawans, governor says

"We must never allow people in Okinawa to go through the same horrible experience that we went through" in World War Two, said Denny Tamaki.
John Williams (right) and Seiji Ozawa (center) have been friends for decades. Their long-awaited reunion in Japan comes courtesy of a musical collaboration between Williams and the Saito Kinen Orchestra for the 31st edition of Ozawa’s annual music festival.
CULTURE / Music
Sep 24, 2023

Music legends John Williams and Seiji Ozawa reunite at Matsumoto festival

The American composer and conductor led a special program featuring his famous film scores at his long-time friend's annual event in Nagano Prefecture.
Light from the opening ceremony of the 2022 Asian Games in the sky over the Hangzhou Olympic Sports Centre Stadium in Hangzhou, China on Saturday.
MORE SPORTS
Sep 24, 2023

China opens Hangzhou Asian Games with dazzling ceremony

Spectators in the city's 80,000 capacity stadium let out a huge roar as Chinese leader Xi Jinping was introduced and sat with visiting dignitaries.
Women with portable electric fans in the Yurakucho district of Tokyo on Sept. 12. In Japan, Cool Biz became especially popular with women, who tended to wear lighter clothes and often complained about the cold temperatures needed to make business suits comfortable for their male colleagues.
JAPAN / Society
Sep 24, 2023

Where did all the dark-suited Japanese businessmen go?

Under Cool Biz, salarymen and government workers don short-sleeved shirts in the summer as offices are kept above 28 degrees Celsius to save energy.
The U.S. Army's Landstuhl Regional Medical Center, its flagship medical center in Germany, is seen in 2021. The medical center has quietly started admitting Ukrainian Army soldiers who were wounded in combat, most of them American volunteers.
WORLD / Politics
Sep 24, 2023

U.S. Army hospital in Germany treating Americans hurt fighting in Ukraine

Landstuhl Regional Medical Center has quietly started admitting Ukrainian Army soldiers who were wounded in combat, most of them American volunteers.
Jessica Gerrity says kyūdō is for everyone. It's just a matter of finding a dojo that fits you best.
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / 20 QUESTIONS
Sep 30, 2023

‘Archery gives me a chance to decompress from a busy life’

Gerrity is trained in several forms of traditional Japanese martial arts and works to promote Japanese culture as a tourism ambassador.
U.S. President Joe Biden at an event in Tempe, Arizona, on Thursday
WORLD / Politics
Sep 29, 2023

Biden said he would stop drilling. Then reality hit.

The tug of war over one drilling lease in the Gulf of Mexico involving the president, Congress and the courts illustrates the limits of executive power.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Sep 29, 2023

As drug use rises in Japan, government eyes prevention plans

The ministry reported that by the end of August, around 300 stores in the country were found to be selling quasi-legal products known as “kiken drugs.”
Indonesian President Joko Widodo launches the China-backed high-speed railway connecting Jakarta and Bandung called "Whoosh," at Halim station in Jakarta, on Monday.
ASIA PACIFIC
Oct 2, 2023

Indonesia launches Southeast Asia's first high-speed rail

Indonesian President Joko Widodo hailed the bullet train "Whoosh" as "a symbol of our modernization."
Mori Building's Azabudai Hills complex in Tokyo's Minato Ward, which will house offices, shops, apartments, hotels and a school, is set to open in November
COMMENTARY / Japan
Oct 2, 2023

While Manhattan’s offices stay empty, Tokyo keeps building

Remote working has decimated offices in cities like New York and London. But Tokyo's workspaces have bounced back, also thanks to new builds.
Rows of sequins affixed to Faig Ahmed’s “Door to Yourself” gives the work its sparkle.
CULTURE / Art
Oct 6, 2023

Oku-Noto Triennale brings art into stark relief against rocks and sea

Taking place in the remote city of Suzu, Ishikawa Prefecture, the contemporary art event's pretty program aims to instill pride in the local community.
A Jera thermal power plant
BUSINESS / Companies
Oct 6, 2023

Japan climate group calls for ban on top power firm's emission claims

The group says the ads may mislead consumers as Jera fails to mention that the ammonia the utility plans to use would emit CO2 during production.
LIFE / Language / BILINGUAL
Oct 6, 2023

A year after borders fully opened, tourism vocab is also back

After tourists fully returned to Japan last October, so did a term we hadn't heard since before the pandemic: overtourism.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Oct 8, 2023

Two seriously hurt in accident near Tokyo's Shibuya crossing

Local media reports said Sunday that one of the men hit in the incident had suffered a fractured pelvis and another a fractured skull.
People standing on a rooftop watch as a ball of fire and smoke rises above a building in Gaza City, Gaza Strip, on Saturday during an Israeli airstrike.
WORLD / Politics
Oct 8, 2023

Israel battles Hamas as PM warns of 'long and difficult war'

Israel said tens of thousands of soldiers were deployed to fight militants and rescue hostages, and then evacuate the entire region within 24 hours.
Fire and smoke rises above buildings during an Israeli airstrike in Gaza City, in the Gaza Strip, on Sunday.
WORLD / Politics / FOCUS
Oct 8, 2023

Israel security forces face questions over intel after Hamas attack

Israel's security apparatus appeared to break down as a force of Hamas gunmen estimated in the hundreds broke through security fences.
Artemis II moon mission crew members Victor Glover, Reid Wiseman, Jeremy Hansen and Christina Koch pose for photographs after taking part in a news conference with NASA Administrator Bill Nelson and U.S. Sen. Mark Kelly outside the U.S. Capitol in Washington on May 18.
WORLD / Science & Health / ANALYSIS
Oct 8, 2023

Geopolitics in space: Why great powers are scrambling for the moon

A new space race — pitting the U.S. and its partners against China and Russia — is expected to have significant implications.
The U.K.'s decision to cut back on its HS2 high-speed rail network runs contrary to the path taken by Japan, which stuck to a long-term infrastructure plan.
COMMENTARY / World
Oct 11, 2023

U.K. effort to imitate Japan's shinkansen falls short

There is value of sticking to a long-term infrastructure plan, as Japan has done for almost 50 years with its high-speed rail system.
A dove flies over the debris of houses destroyed in Israeli strikes, in Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip on Wednesday.
WORLD
Oct 12, 2023

Gazans bombarded by Israel have no hope and no escape

The Palestinian territory, one of the most crowded places on Earth, has been under siege since Saturday in a near-constant bombardment.
Naoya Hatakeyama’s “Rikuzen Takata 2011-2023” is a display of hundreds of color contact prints of his hometown, Rikuzen Takata, Iwate Prefecture. The images show the shifting landscape of a place that was heavily affected by the Great East Japan Earthquake in 2011.
CULTURE / Art
Oct 13, 2023

Tokyo Biennale 2023 seeks healing through art

The contemporary art festival creates safe spaces for its artists and their works by embracing a “we accept anything” maxim.
Pedestrians walk past a McDonald's restaurant in Hong Kong.
BUSINESS / Economy
Oct 13, 2023

Hong Kong takes economic hit as Chinese tourists fail to splurge

Changes in travel habits come as the Chinese economy weakens and youth unemployment remains high.
Voters fill out ballot papers at a polling station on Sydney's Bondi Beach on Saturday as polls open in Australia's historic Indigenous rights referendum.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Oct 14, 2023

Australian voters reject greater Indigenous rights

The result will be a setback to reconciliation efforts with Indigenous Australians and a political blow to the center-left Labor government.
Suchart Kaewkhio, 75, is bedridden in his home in the Klong Toey slum in Bangkok. Thailand is one of the world's fastest graying societies, but the kingdom's economy, households, government coffers and rapidly shrinking workforce are ill-prepared.
ASIA PACIFIC / Society
Oct 17, 2023

Old and poor: Thailand sleepwalking toward an aging crisis

Thailand is one of the world's fastest aging societies — but its economy is ill-prepared.

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