Search - 2023

 
 
Teruki Hara (left) and Kazuyasu Takahashi in the city of Soma, Fukushima Prefecture, on Jan. 27
JAPAN
Apr 3, 2025

14 years on: Teen from Tokyo begins fishing career in Fukushima

Teruki Hara remains initially discovered his love for fishing in the prefecture as a child.
Brine pools at the Atacama salt flat in Antofagasta region, Chile, in 2023. Local Chilean Indigenous communities are pushing for greater control over lithium extraction in the country just as the government plans to raise production.
ENVIRONMENT / Energy
Apr 8, 2025

As Chile revs up lithium plans, Indigenous people demand more control

Mining companies describe a potential system as "unprecedented" in Chile, adding that it would comply with international treaties on Indigenous rights.
One thing is clear: The era of global interdependence, built on efficiency and mutually beneficial arrangements before U.S. President Donald Trump returned to power, has come to an end.
COMMENTARY / World
Apr 10, 2025

Navigating the Trump storm

Trump's second term aims to reshape the global trade system, challenging the current world order with rising tariffs and economic uncertainty.
The heavily damaged Al-Ahli hospital after an Israeli strike in Gaza City on Sunday. The Israeli military struck and destroyed part of the hospital on Sunday morning, shortly after telling patients and staff to evacuate the site.
WORLD / Politics
Apr 14, 2025

Child dies after Israel strike hits Gaza hospital, WHO says

The Al-Ahli Hospital in northern Gaza is one of few functioning hospitals in the war-ravaged territory.
Lisa gestures to the camera at the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival in Indio, California.
CULTURE / Entertainment news
Apr 17, 2025

Two members of K-pop group Blackpink go solo at Coachella festival

Lisa and Jennie showcased their unique hip-hop styles at the outdoor music concert on its first weekend.
U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio speaks as Vice President JD Vance looks on during a meeting with President Donald Trump and President Nayib Bukele of El Salvador in the White House in Washington on April 14. Rubio and his aides shut down a State Department office on Wednesday that tracks and counters global disinformation from foreign actors, including the governments of China, Russia and Iran, U.S. officials said.
WORLD / Politics
Apr 17, 2025

U.S. State Department closing office targeting foreign disinformation

The GEC had come under intense criticism from some Republicans who said it was straying from its mission, accusing it of disfavoring opinions by conservative media in particular.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu enters the White House in Washington on April 7.
WORLD
Apr 20, 2025

Israel's Netanyahu says military to increase pressure on Hamas

Hamas, whose militants carried out the Oct. 7, 2023, attack on Israel that triggered the war, has said it would only free the remaining hostages under a deal that ends the war.
Pope Francis blesses the faithful during the weekly general audience at the Vatican in August 2023.
WORLD
Apr 21, 2025

Pope Francis, radical leader who broke the papal mold, dies at 88

Francis' often turbulent reign was marked by division and tension as he sought to overhaul the hidebound institution.
Amid U.S.-China trade tensions, the U.S. may be looking at Japan as a potential country to make up for a drop in corn exports to China.
BUSINESS / Economy
Apr 25, 2025

Japan looks to increase U.S. corn imports ahead of more tariff talks

The idea appears to be aimed at appeasing U.S. President Donald Trump's criticisms about Japan's tariffs and could be used as leverage in next week's bilateral negotiations.
John Phelan at a Senate confirmation hearing for U.S. secretary of the navy in Washington in February
JAPAN / Politics
Apr 28, 2025

U.S. secretary of the navy weighs ‘dual-use’ shipbuilding with Japan

Washington’s idea appears to be aimed at attracting investment from allies to strengthen the U.S. shipbuilding industry and start closing the gap with Beijing.
Sunset at Dudley Page Reserve, in Dover Heights, Sydney, on April 21
BUSINESS / Economy
Apr 29, 2025

Australia’s economic ‘miracle’ is ending no matter who wins vote

Polls suggest the May 3 election will be tight, with many pundits predicting the winner will lead a minority government.
China's Bayan Obo rare earth mine in Inner Mongolia. As U.S.-China tensions strain critical mineral supply chains, Tokyo’s multipronged approach based on sovereignty, resilience and sustainability is gaining quiet relevance.
COMMENTARY / Japan
May 5, 2025

Japan's resource security path may hold answers to trade turmoil

Critical mineral supply chains are made vulnerable by China's dominance and U.S. protectionism. Japan's strategy may provide clues as to how to secure these vital resources.
Sapporo’s Susukino district. Hiroko Tamura, the mother of a 31-year-old woman suspected of killing and beheading a man in the district in 2023, was sentenced on Wednesday to one year and two months in prison, suspended for three years, for aiding in the mutilation and concealment of a corpse.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
May 7, 2025

Mother of suspect in Sapporo beheading case sentenced for role in cover-up

Hiroko Tamura was sentenced to one year and two months in prison, suspended for three years, for aiding in the mutilation and concealment of a corpse.
Former sekiwake Toyonoshima and Airi Hisano train at Tachihi Sumo Club on May 1.
SUMO / INSIDE SUMO
May 7, 2025

Former sekiwake Toyonoshima is new head coach at innovative women’s club

Detailing how she struggled with injury over the past few years, Airi Hisano said she had considered retirement before being approached to join the club.
Joseph S. Nye (center), an advocate of stronger U.S.-Japan relations and father of "soft power," died Tuesday at the age of 88.
JAPAN / Politics
May 8, 2025

Joseph Nye, advocate of stronger U.S.-Japan relations, dies at 88

The former U.S. assistant secretary of defense, known for coining the term "soft power," coauthored reports that influenced the direction of U.S.-Japan ties.
Newly elected Pope Leo XIV, Robert Prevost waves from the main central loggia balcony of the St Peter's Basilica, after the cardinals ended the conclave, in The Vatican, on Thursday.
WORLD
May 9, 2025

Robert Prevost surprises as first U.S. pope, taking name Leo XIV

Cardinal Robert Prevost was elected as the surprise choice to be the new leader of the Catholic Church on Thursday.
Keegan Bradley chips onto the 18th green during the second round of the Truist Championship in Philadelphia on Friday.
MORE SPORTS
May 12, 2025

U.S. players thinking about Ryder Cup as major season heats up

U.S. captain Keegan Bradley has become a fan favorite, especially after the Netflix series "Full Swing" documented how he was left off the 2023 Ryder Cup team.
A humanoid robot walks as an employee conducts tests, on the production line at the AgiBot factory in Shanghai on March 20.
BUSINESS / Tech
May 13, 2025

China's AI-powered humanoid robots aim to transform manufacturing

Beijing is aiming for a new industrial revolution where many factory tasks would be performed by humanoid robots.
A Palestinian man carries the body of a child killed in Israeli strikes,‏ in Jabalia, in the northern Gaza Strip, on Friday.
WORLD
May 17, 2025

Rescuers say 100 dead as Israel launches fresh Gaza offensive

The army said on Telegram it had begun the "initial stages" of the offensive, known as Operation Gideon's Chariots.
Police officers stand guard on May 7 outside Todaimae Station in Tokyo's Bunkyo Ward after a random stabbing that injured a University of Tokyo student.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal / FOCUS
May 19, 2025

Random stabbing cases in Japan raise fears: Could the next victim be me?

Experts say these incidents often reflect a deeper issue at the societal level.
“Marion” provides a glimpse into the lives of bull dodgers, who perform a nonlethal version of bullfighting.
CULTURE / Film
May 23, 2025

Six short films that capture our world in mere minutes

The Short Shorts Film Festival & Asia proves that less time doesn't have to mean a lack of substance.
A worker sorts plastic waste for recycling at Minato Resource Recycle Center in Tokyo in 2019. Japan has been criticized by environmental groups for its strategy on plastics, which is heavily reliant on recycling instead of reduction.
ENVIRONMENT / Sustainability / OUR PLANET
May 25, 2025

Are microplastics hurting our fertility?

While a lot remains unknown about how microplastics affect our health, scientists in Japan and around the world broadly agree there's an urgent need to reduce plastic production.
The Dodgers' Shohei Ohtani pitches during a live bullpen session at Citi Field in New York on Sunday.
BASEBALL / MLB
May 26, 2025

Shohei Ohtani faces live hitters for first time since elbow surgery

According to reports out of New York, Ohtani had a pair of strikeouts and a walk. Kim doubled and grounded back to the mound.
Reindeer herder Ari Maununiemi feeds lichen to his reindeer at his home and farm outside Rovaniemi, Finland, on Feb. 26.
WORLD
May 26, 2025

Growing Arctic military presence worries Finland's reindeer herders

"Military activity has increased massively here since Finland joined NATO," one herder said.
Barcelona's Lamine Yamal celebrates scoring the first goal against Villarreal at the Estadi Olimpic Lluis Companys in Barcelona, Spain on May 18.
SOCCER
May 28, 2025

Teenage Barca star Lamine Yamal signs new contract to 2031

The 17-year-old winger is already one of the club's key players and helped it land a domestic treble of La Liga, the Copa del Rey and the Spanish Super Cup.
A notice sent from the Sendai Municipal Government to those denied entry to an after-school care facility
JAPAN / Regional Voices: Tohoku
Jun 16, 2025

Sendai faces growing waitlist at after-school care facilities

The Sendai government has been working to expand the capacity of such programs, but many of them are still full.
After the asset-price bubble crash of the early 1990s, employment at a Japanese company was no longer necessarily for life. As a result, a new generation is less willing to endure a toxic work culture —life’s too short, after all.
JAPAN / Society / Longform
Jun 2, 2025

How Japan's youth are slowly changing the country's work ethic

Labor shortages and shifting mindsets are driving younger Japanese workers to challenge the country’s traditional office culture.
By spurring the ASEAN countries to deepen cooperation, with one another and with others, U.S. tariffs could bring about an even more prosperous — and, crucially, resilient — grouping.
COMMENTARY / World
Jun 9, 2025

Trump vs. a united ASEAN

By spurring the ASEAN countries to deepen cooperation, U.S. tariffs could bring about an even more prosperous — and, crucially, resilient — grouping.
Palestinian Ambassador to the United Nations Riyad Mansour (at podium) speaks during a meeting of the U.N. General Assembly at U.N. Headquarters in New York City on Thursday.
WORLD
Jun 13, 2025

United Nations votes overwhelmingly for immediate Gaza ceasefire

Israel's U.N. Ambassador accused the General Assembly of "blood libel" and a "farce."
Japan’s deepening corporate governance reforms and exit from more than a decade of deflation have rekindled global investor interest in the world’s fourth-largest economy.
BUSINESS / Economy
Jun 16, 2025

Hedge funds reap cash from investors ‘starved’ of Japan exposure

Japan’s deepening corporate governance reforms and exit from more than a decade of deflation have rekindled global investor interest.

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