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The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency's new flagship H3 rocket is launched from Tanegashima Space Center in Kagoshima Prefecture on Monday.
JAPAN / Science & Health
Jul 1, 2024

Japan successfully puts advanced satellite into orbit using H3 rocket

The agency’s third H3 rocket launch was carrying the high-resolution Daichi-4 Earth observation satellite, which cost around ¥32 billion to develop.
A Chinese worker organizes plastic doll heads after painting them at a toy factory in Xietang, Zhejiang Province, China, in 2015.
BUSINESS / Markets
Jul 2, 2024

China’s plastics boom is set to create another trade headache

Parts of the country’s sprawling petrochemicals sector are running at as little as half capacity as producers cut back.
Renesas Electronics CEO Hidetoshi Shibata
BUSINESS / Companies
Jul 3, 2024

Ex-banker behind chipmaker Renesas targets $100 billion value

Renesas’ push coincides with an aggressive campaign by Japan to turn the world’s fourth-largest economy into a chip powerhouse.
Onosato (left) participates in a training session last month in Ami, Ibaraki Prefecture.
SUMO / INSIDE SUMO
Jul 3, 2024

Nagoya ranking list marks the end of one sumo era and the start of another

This month marks the final sumo tournament for Nagoya's Dolphins Arena, and the rankings list could look very different when the new venue opens next year.
R-Shitei (left) and DJ Matsunaga have scored the biggest hit of the year so far in Japan with “Bling-Bang-Bang-Born.” The track is inspired by the Jersey club style of music, right down to the squeaky chair sample.
CULTURE / Music
Jul 3, 2024

Is Creepy Nuts' catchy, rapid-fire 'Bling-Bang-Bang-Born' the song of the year?

The fast-paced ode to a style called Jersey club is everywhere in Tokyo, and it may just be the rap duo's key to international success.
On Monday, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that former President Donald Trump has some immunity from election interference charges, though most of the charges are likely to stand.
COMMENTARY / World
Jul 4, 2024

Hold up, Trump is still in serious legal trouble

Most of the election interference case against Trump stems from 'unofficial' acts not shielded from prosecution by the U.S. Supreme Court ruling on presidential immunity.
BYD electric vehicles before being loaded onto the "BYD Explorer No.1" roll-on, roll-off vehicle carrier in Jiangsu province, China, on April 25.
BUSINESS / Markets
Jul 5, 2024

China-built EVs hit with duties in biggest EU trade case yet

The tariffs remain provisional while intensive talks continue between Chinese and EU officials as Beijing threatens wide-ranging retaliation on European products.
Power lines in the Yanqing district of Beijing in 2021
BUSINESS / Tech
Jul 5, 2024

China, struggling to exploit an energy storage boom, calls for more

The drive boosts home-grown battery giants but some experts say more must be done to address low utilization and losses for operators.
Baseballs fans wear jerseys of the South Korean-born San Diego Padres player Kim Ha-Seong and the Los Angeles Dodgers player Shohei Ohtani in Seoul. Many South Koreans have embraced Ohtani, who is Japanese, despite the countries' historic rivalry.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Jul 5, 2024

How long do the memories of a generation last?

The dominant culture of an era can be passed on to the next generation, but struggles to reach the one after that. This has implications for Japan-South Korea relations.
U.S. President Donald Trump stands among other leaders as he attends a North Atlantic Treaty Organization Plenary Session at the NATO summit in Watford, near London on Dec. 4, 2019.
WORLD / Politics
Jul 8, 2024

Elephant in room at NATO: Would Trump blow it up?

This week's Washington summit aims to "Trump-proof" NATO by expanding its role, especially in supporting Ukraine.
President Emmanuel Macron’s centrist alliance won 163 seats in Sunday’s parliamentary runoff vote, though none of the political parties managed to secure an outright majority.
WORLD / Politics / ANALYSIS
Jul 8, 2024

France’s left wins big, but paralysis in parliament looms

Sunday's election results — the country's first-ever hung parliament — could put Paris on a path for months of political gridlock.
Members of the Ground Self-Defense Force conduct drills in Shizuoka Prefecture in May.
JAPAN
Jul 8, 2024

Japan SDF hiring falls far short of target in fiscal 2023

The number of Self-Defense Forces personnel hired in fiscal 2023 totaled 9,959, only 51% of the Defense Ministry's target.
Renho, who had been considered incumbent Tokyo Gov. Yuriko Koike’s main rival in Sunday's gubernatorial election in the capital, finished third behind Shinji Ishimaru, the former mayor of Akitakata in Hiroshima Prefecture.
JAPAN / Politics
Jul 8, 2024

Is cooperation with the JCP an asset or liability for the CDP?

Renho finishing third in the Tokyo gubernatorial race despite the backing of both parties raises questions for Japan's largest opposition group.
Tokyo Gov. Yuriko Koike speaks to reporters in Tokyo on Monday.
JAPAN / Politics / FOCUS
Jul 8, 2024

Koike eases to victory but Ishimaru's performance signals shift in Tokyo

Koike saw off a tougher challenge than in previous votes, with Ishimaru pointing to a path forward for lesser-known candidates.
Elementary school students take a nationwide achievement test in April. The education ministry has said such tests will go fully online in fiscal 2027.
JAPAN
Jul 9, 2024

Japan's nationwide school achievement tests to go fully online from fiscal '27

The education ministry will make an official decision as early as autumn after hearing opinions from schools and boards of education.
Yumiko Takano, chief executive officer of Oriental Land, speaks during a news conference in Urayasu, Chiba Prefecture, on Tuesday. Oriental Land has secured a deal with Disney Enterprises to launch Disney Cruises in Japan.
BUSINESS / Companies
Jul 10, 2024

Disney to add new ship in Tokyo to expanding cruise business

The new ship will be modeled after the Wish, the largest vessel in Disney's fleet.
U.S. President Joe Biden awards the Presidential Medal of Freedom to NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg at a 75th anniversary celebratory event for the alliance on Tuesday, the opening day of its summit in Washington.
WORLD / Politics
Jul 10, 2024

NATO offers Ukraine more air defense systems as summit kicks off

The move came as fresh assessments indicate the conflict with Russia is headed toward an indefinite stalemate.
Europe's Ariane 6 rocket takes off in Kourou, French Guiana, on Tuesday.
BUSINESS / Tech
Jul 10, 2024

Europe’s Ariane 6 rocket goes retro in challenge to SpaceX

Reusable rockets and frequent launches "were once aspirational but are now minimal requirements" to compete commercially, said the Rocket Lab CEO and founder.
Dolphins Arena in Nagoya. While the new IG Arena will almost certainly provide a more enjoyable experience for fans, the hope is that action on the raised ring will retain the heat that Dolphins Arena has long been famous for.
SUMO / INSIDE SUMO
Jul 10, 2024

A farewell to a Nagoya sumo arena known for heat — inside and outside the ring

The upcoming Nagoya Grand Sumo Tournament will be the last to be held at Dolphins Arena, which has been the scene of numerous memorable moments over the years.
A conceptual design of a potential Hokkaido Spaceport (HOSPO). HOSPO is aiming to become one of Japan’s major domestic spaceports for launching satellite-equipped rockets and spacecraft as well as for the aerospace industry to conduct research and development.
JAPAN / Science & Health / Regional Voices: Hokkaido
Jul 22, 2024

Small Hokkaido town looks to the stars for future growth

Taiki, population 5,300, is home to what is billed as Asia’s first privately operated spaceport — Hokkaido Spaceport.
A general view of the Belmarsh prison in London on May 20
WORLD / Politics
Jul 10, 2024

U.K.'s overflowing prisons present PM Starmer with early crisis

The U.K. prison population has doubled over 30 years despite falling crime rates, and is projected to exceed 100,000 by 2026.
Ground Self-Defense Force troops conduct a military drill on the uninhabited island of Irisuna in Okinawa Prefecture in November.
JAPAN / Politics
Jul 12, 2024

Japan’s new defense white paper delivers strongest words yet on Taiwan

Tokyo pins the blame squarely on China's large-scale military exercises around the democratically ruled island for continued tensions in the region.
Renderings of Saudi Arabia's Neom project in the window of a pop-up store
WORLD / Politics
Jul 12, 2024

Saudi prince’s trillion-dollar makeover faces funding cutbacks

Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman, is close to completing a sweeping review of megaprojects.
Junior high school students taking entrance exams for public high schools enter a venue in Kanazawa, Ishikawa Prefecture, in March.
JAPAN / Society
Jul 12, 2024

Japan to test digital high school admissions

The Digital Agency estimates digital procedures will cut administrative work by 30-90 hours in junior high schools and 20-80 hours in high schools.
Beds that once were used by children to take naps at a kindergarten-turned-elderly center in Taiyuan, in China's northern Shanxi province, on July 2
ASIA PACIFIC / Society / FOCUS
Jul 13, 2024

Chinese kindergartens pivot to senior care as population ages

Some educational facilities are remaking themselves as a recreational center for people of retirement age and above.
A worker passes a sign for the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee on Friday.
WORLD / Politics / FOCUS
Jul 13, 2024

Republicans to anoint Trump at party convention

The 78-year-old billionaire will be the star of the show as Milwaukee rolls out the red carpet for the Republican National Convention.
Kenta Izumi, leader of the Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan, holds a news conference Friday.
JAPAN / Politics / FOCUS
Jul 14, 2024

Japan's CDP in dilemma over election cooperation with JCP

Both the DPP and the Japanese Trade Union Confederation have repeatedly called for the CDP-JCP cooperation to end.
Shuji Ogawa of PD Aerospace (left) shows the PDAS-X06 unmanned aircraft at Shimojishima Airport in Okinawa Prefecture in March 2023, before it crashed into the sea during a test flight later that year.
JAPAN / Science & Health / Regional Voices: Okinawa
Jul 22, 2024

Okinawa space ambitions still strong a year after test-flight crash

The aircraft's developer aims to realize space travel by manned spacecraft from an airport in the prefecture.
A truck driven by a drunk man collided with a group of schoolchildren and killed two pupils in Yachimata, Chiba Prefecture, in June 2021.
JAPAN / Society
Jul 15, 2024

Japan to toughen penalties over drunken truck drivers

The annual number of traffic accidents caused by drunken truck drivers has remained between 30 and 50 a year since 2012.
Ohio Senator JD Vance at Republican National Convention (RNC) in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, on Monday
WORLD / Politics
Jul 16, 2024

Trump taps Vance as running mate, picking populist protege

Sen. J.D. Vance’s selection saw Donald Trump bypass many of the senator’s own colleagues, including Tim Scott of South Carolina and Marco Rubio of Florida.

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