Search - 2023

 
 
Japanese project Serani Poji, founded and operated by musician Tomoko Sasaki, was a relatively under-the-radar group during the early 2000s. Thanks to short-form video platforms such as TikTok and YouTube Shorts, however, it has suddenly become one of the most successful Shibuya-kei groups in terms of streaming numbers.
CULTURE / Music
Apr 25, 2024

Serani Poji’s retro Shibuya-kei sounds find viral fame

The video game-related pop project gets a second life after online listeners rediscover chipper cuts from a 2002 album.
A ship, identified by the Royal United Services Institute as the North Korean registered cargo ship Angara, is seen docked alongside a larger vessel at the Zhoushan Xinya Shipbuilding Co. wharf in Zhoushan, China, in February.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Apr 25, 2024

Images show China harboring ship tied to Russian arms transfers

Satellite images show China is docking a ship that has moved containers believed to be full of North Korean munitions around Russia.
Members of a group of former second-generation Jenovah's Witnesses speak during a news conference in Tokyo in November.
JAPAN / Society
Apr 26, 2024

Japan finds 47 cases of abuse of 'second-generation followers'

Victims were temporarily taken into protective custody in 19 of the total cases.
A key aspect of AI technology that is often forgotten is that it requires an enormous amount of energy to develop and run. And that’s where utilities come in.
BUSINESS / Tech / FOCUS
Apr 28, 2024

AI boom’s secret winners? The companies expected to power it

Across the U.S., utilities are preparing for historic increases in electricity demand led by data centers and AI.
Chika Kon asks a question at a mock assembly session organized by the town assembly of Zao, Miyagi Prefecture, in July. Kon is now a member of the assembly.
JAPAN / Politics
Apr 29, 2024

Local councils in Japan take measures to counter candidate shortfall

Efforts are being made to encourage participation to avoid undermining essential functions such as administrative oversight.
Manahel al-Otaibi wears western clothes in the Saudi capital Riyadh in September 2019. Human rights groups have denounced an 11-year prison term recently handed down by a counterterrorism court to the Saudi fitness instructor and women's rights activist.
WORLD / Politics
May 2, 2024

Saudi Arabia cracks down on online speech, jailing critics for decades

Fitness influencer Manahel al-Otaibi was recently sentenced to 11 years in prison after criticizing male guardianship laws and women's dress requirements.
A guide stands next to a CV9040 infantry fighting vehicle and other military hardware at an exhibition displaying equipment captured by the Russian army from Ukrainian forces in the course of the Russia-Ukraine conflict, at the Victory Park open-air museum on Poklonnaya Gora in Moscow on Wednesday
WORLD / Politics
May 2, 2024

Russians who fled war return, in boost for Putin’s war economy

Many Russians are returning to their homeland after finding countries abroad have become less accommodating for them — a gain for the domestic economy.
An <i>awamori</i> distillery in Okinawa Prefecture. Shipments of the rice spirit in 2023 dropped more than 50% from their peak in 2004.
JAPAN
May 3, 2024

Okinawa's rice spirit industry seeks rebrand amid falling shipments

Producers are seeking to devise new marketing strategies to make awamori appealing to both young consumers and international markets.
Members of the Polish military train with the Patriot air defense system at an airport in Warsaw in February 2023.
WORLD / Politics / ANALYSIS
May 4, 2024

Missile defense successes fuel global urgency to acquire systems

Experts say the practical and political incentives of investing in the systems will be too hard to ignore — and intensify arms races.
With Apple’s business making up more than half of the company's revenue, investors are watching Hon Hai for clues on iPhone sales.
BUSINESS / Tech
May 6, 2024

iPhone maker Hon Hai hits a record high buoyed by AI and Apple

Hon Hai makes most of the world’s iPhones, but is now diversifying to focus on building datacenter server racks and other equipment for AI clusters.
Law enforcement officers walk along the Kremlin wall near Red Square in Moscow on Dec. 31.
WORLD / Politics
May 7, 2024

U.S. says soldier who went to Russia detained for ‘misconduct’

A U.S. soldier was detained in eastern Russia on "charges of criminal misconduct,” the U.S. Army said Monday, a potential new flashpoint in relations between the nations already at a low since Russia’s February invasion of Ukraine began in 2022.
Despite logging a record net profit in the year to March, helped by the weak yen, Nintendo expects net profit to drop nearly 40% in the current financial year.
BUSINESS / Companies
May 7, 2024

Nintendo says announcement on Switch successor 'this fiscal year'

Players and investors have been hungry for news about a successor to the Switch, and the company said a statement was finally forthcoming.
Urawa Reds Ladies celebrate with their fans after winning the league championship at Urawa Komaba Stadium on June 3, 2023.
SOCCER
May 9, 2024

Urawa Reds Ladies to vie for Asian supremacy amid controversy over AFC's actions

Final to go ahead after backlash forced AFC to reverse earlier decision to cancel match.
Nissan's net profit nearly doubled in the business year that ended in March, as demand rose at home as well as in North America, Europe and China.
BUSINESS / Companies
May 9, 2024

Nissan's annual net profit nearly doubles on-year

Net profit totaled ¥426.6 billion ($2.7 billion), up 92.3% on-year.
Having succeeded her father, Akira Mori, Miwako Date has been CEO of real estate development firm Mori Trust since 2016.
BUSINESS / WOMEN AT WORK
May 19, 2024

Leading a major property developer with an eye on art and culture

Third-generation CEO Miwako Date is making her mark with Mori Trust's regional luxury hotels.
A host promotes lipstick on TikTok Shop
BUSINESS / Tech / FOCUS
May 10, 2024

Livestream shopping foils high-tech tools from stopping counterfeits

The sheer volume of violations means e-commerce infringement enforcement can feel like a game of "whack-a-mole" for those who monitor the internet.
Philippine and U.S. Marines watch as a projectile hits a target at sea during a live-fire exercise against an imaginary "invasion" force as part of the annual joint military drills, on a strip of sand dunes in Laoag on Luzon island's northwest coast, on May 6.
ASIA PACIFIC
May 11, 2024

U.S. builds web of arms, ships and bases in the Pacific to deter China

With missiles, submarines and alliances, the Biden administration has built a presence in the region to rein in Beijing’s expansionist goals.
Special fraud cases in Tokyo in which stolen money was sent via online banking services grew some fivefold from the previous year in 2023.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
May 12, 2024

Money stolen via online transfers up fivefold in Tokyo

Since many people use online banking services on a daily basis, the number of fraud cases involving such services is expected to grow.
Ground Self-Defense Force soldiers participate in a seminar to prevent harassment at the GSDF's Camp Asaka in Tokyo on April 16.
JAPAN / FOCUS
May 13, 2024

Japan's military needs more women. But it's still failing on harassment.

Nine months after the Defense Ministry pledged to take drastic measures, it has no plans to implement a national system for reviewing training standards.
Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu salutes to soldiers as he is driven along Red Square during the Victory Day military parade in central Moscow on Friday.
WORLD / Politics
May 13, 2024

Russia's Shoigu: Political survivor blamed for Ukraine setbacks

He had a decadeslong political career of unmatched longevity in post-Soviet Russia, his presence in the center of Moscow predating that of Putin himself.
Spectators gather on South Padre Island to watch the planned launch of SpaceX's next-generation Starship spacecraft from the company's Boca Chica launchpad, near Brownsville, Texas, on March 14.
BUSINESS / Companies
May 14, 2024

Musk's SpaceX is quick to build in Texas, slow to pay its bills

Unpaid bills and finger-pointing among contractors have led many construction-industry businesses to file liens against SpaceX properties.
Hong Kong Chief Executive John Lee speaks during a press conference, in Hong Kong on Tuesday.
WORLD / Politics
May 15, 2024

Hong Kong seeks details on overseas trade office official detained in U.K.

Hong Kong leader John Lee confirmed one of the men was a university classmate who was photographed with him in a group graduation photograph in 2002.
A man uses a sheet of cardboard to shade from the sun during high temperatures in Bangkok on April 28. Thailand has been bracing for hotter-than-normal days due to the El Nino weather pattern that’s forecast to last until June.
ENVIRONMENT / Climate change
May 15, 2024

Asia’s killer April heat wave was made much worse by climate change

In countries such as Palestine and Israel, climate change made the heat wave five times more likely than it would have been in pre-industrial times.
Tourists and locals stroll along Tokyo's Ginza shopping district where some roads are closed off for pedestrians due to the national holiday on April 29.
BUSINESS / Companies
May 15, 2024

Fortress’s Japan hotel unit doubles pay to fight labor shortage

MyStays Hotel Management is offering monthly salaries of ¥500,000 ($3,210) for new hires into its fast-track program.
Sharp's plant in Sakai, Osaka Prefecture, is the only remaining production site for LCD TV panels in Japan.
BUSINESS / Companies
May 15, 2024

Sharp to halt LCD plant in Osaka Prefecture by September

The major electronics maker, which continues to bleed red ink, is hoping to prevent a further deterioration of its earnings.
Employees place items into boxes and envelopes at an Amazon fulfillment center.
BUSINESS / Companies
May 16, 2024

Amazon workers say they struggle to afford food and rent

Amazon has long been criticized for its treatment of employees
The Bank of Japan headquarters in Tokyo
BUSINESS / Economy
May 17, 2024

BOJ could raise rates as soon as June, ex-chief economist says

An increasing number of analysts have flagged the risk of a summer hike as the sinking yen raises the risks of the price trend moving higher.
Japan's digital trade deficit in 2023 was up about 2.6 times over nine years since 2014, as smartphones have become ubiquitous tools and the digital services sector is dominated by U.S. information technology giants.
BUSINESS / Economy
May 20, 2024

Japan's digital trade deficit continues to expand

The deficit in Japan's balance of payments in digital services continues to expand steadily.
A drone view of fire and smoke from burning vegetation rising in a rainforest in Canta, state of Roraima, Brazil, on Feb. 29.
ENVIRONMENT
May 21, 2024

Brazil's Amazon fires off to record 2024 start as green union blames firefighting budget cut

A record drought, brought on by the El Nino climate phenomenon and global warming, is thought to be behind the fires.
Toyota Land Cruisers bound for shipment at Yokohama port
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
May 21, 2024

Surge in luxury car thefts in Japan spurs call for preventative measures

Stolen vehicles are often illegally exported, leading authorities to call for increased vigilance.

Longform

A small shrine perched atop rocks braves the waves hitting the shoreline during a storm in Shimoda, Shizuoka Prefecture. The area is under threat of a possible 31-meter-high tsunami if an earthquake strikes the nearby Nankai Trough.
If the 'Big One' hits, this city could face a 31-meter-high tsunami