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Japan Times
WORLD
Jan 15, 2023

Iran executes British Iranian dual national accused of spying

British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said he was 'appalled' by the execution of the British Iranian citizen.
Japan Times
WORLD
Jan 14, 2023

Russia claims capture of Ukraine's Soledar, but Kyiv says still fighting

The capture of the town has taken on an outsized importance as it would, if confirmed, give Moscow a trophy for one of the bloodiest campaigns of the war following major setbacks.
Japan Times
EDITORIALS
Jan 13, 2023

Health concerns, not pride, should guide COVID-19 travel policy

Apparently China can shut its borders to reduce the risk of COVID-19 infections, but Beijing doesn't think other countries should do the same.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / FOCUS
Jan 12, 2023

Biden's climate agenda has a problem: Not enough workers

With the U.S. unemployment rate at a historic low of 3.5%, companies fear that plans to transition away from fossil fuels could stall out as they struggle to fill job vacancies.
Japan Times
WORLD
Jan 12, 2023

Fate of Ukraine's Soledar uncertain as Wagner claims control

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said fighting was still raging in the key eastern city.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Economy
Dec 26, 2022

China’s economy shows increasing strain from COVID surge after lifting curbs

Retail sales in Beijing fell almost 18% in November as both cases and restrictions in the capital increased.
Japan Times
CULTURE / TV & Streaming / 2022 in Review
Dec 24, 2022

Everything old became new again on streaming platforms in 2022

This year, programming typically associated with traditional broadcasting — variety shows, dramas and anime — flourished on streaming platforms.
A logistics center near Tianjin Port, in northern China. The country's economy is expected to grow 4.9% this year before slowing to 4.4% in 2026.
BUSINESS / Economy
Sep 23, 2025

Full impact of U.S. tariff shock yet to come as growth holds up, OECD says

In its latest Economic Outlook Interim Report, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development said the full impact of U.S. tariff hikes was still unfolding.
French President Emmanuel Macron addresses the 80th United Nations General Assembly at U.N. headquarters in New York on Tuesday.
WORLD / Politics
Sep 24, 2025

U.S. allies embracing Palestinian statehood tests Trump's Israel policy

Some analysts see Trump's unwillingness to apply Washington's leverage with Israel as a realization that the conflict is much more complex and intractable than he has acknowledged.
United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres addresses members of the U.N. Security Council on Tuesday. At a climate summit hosted by Guterres on Wednesday, Chinese President Xi Jinping said his country would cut its greenhouse gas emissions by 7%-10% from its peak by 2035.
ENVIRONMENT / Climate change
Sep 25, 2025

Beijing takes the lead with new climate plans amid Washington’s denial

China's reduction target marked the first time the world's biggest emitter pledged a cut in emissions, rather than just limiting their growth.
Pro-Palestinian demonstrators take part in a march near the U.N. headquarters in New York on Tuesday, during the 80th session of the United Nations General Assembly.
COMMENTARY / World
Sep 25, 2025

Turning the tide back toward peace in the Middle East

The 2025 United Nations General Assembly opened with a major step toward implementing a two-state solution.
Construction is underway on a Project Stargate AI infrastructure site, a collaboration between three large tech companies — OpenAI, SoftBank, and Oracle — in Abilene, Texas, in April.
BUSINESS
Oct 5, 2025

Trump targets deals in pharma, AI, energy and mining before midterm elections

Washington is pursuing deals across up to 30 industries, involving dozens of companies deemed critical to national or economic security.
Shimon Sakaguchi, an immunologist and distinguished professor at Osaka University, attends a news conference after winning the 2025 Nobel Prize in medicine, in Osaka Prefecture on Monday.
JAPAN / Science & Health
Oct 7, 2025

Japanese immunologist among three Nobel medicine prize winners

Japanese immunologist Shimon Sakaguchi was awarded the prize along with two other scientists for their discovery concerning peripheral immune tolerance.
Shimon Sakaguchi, an immunologist and a distinguished professor of Osaka University, attends a news conference after winning the 2025 Nobel Prize in medicine, in Suita, Osaka prefecture, on Monday.
JAPAN / Science & Health
Oct 7, 2025

With medical breakthrough, Japan’s latest Nobel winner bucked convention

Shimon Sakaguchi’s unwavering conviction in the validity of his research paid off with the discovery of immune-regulating cells — and a Nobel Prize in medicine.
A mine for heavy rare earth metals outside of Longnan in south-central China's Jiangxi province
BUSINESS
Oct 10, 2025

China expands rare earths restrictions, targeting defense and chips users

The new curbs come ahead of a scheduled face-to-face meeting between U.S. President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping in South Korea at the end of October.
U.S. President Donald Trump gestures as he walks to Marine One on the South Lawn of the White House in Washington on Friday.
BUSINESS / Economy
Oct 11, 2025

Trump ratchets up U.S.-China trade war with new levies and export controls

The actions signaled the biggest rupture in relations in four months between Beijing and Washington — the world's biggest factory and its biggest consumer.
The U.S. Capitol in Washington on Friday. The current government shutdown is the most acute symptom of a general lack of goodwill in Washington, where bipartisan deal-making has increasingly gone out of vogue.
WORLD / Politics / FOCUS
Oct 12, 2025

Trump layoffs and broken trust harden Democrats’ shutdown stand

Democrats have expressed doubts that the administration of U.S. President Donald Trump will deliver a health care fix unless forced to do so.
Released Israeli hostages, twins Gali and Ziv Berman, held in Gaza since the deadly Oct. 7, 2023, attack by Hamas, speak to each other after being released, as part of a prisoner-hostage swap and a ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas, in Reim, Israel, on Monday.
WORLD / Politics
Oct 13, 2025

Hamas hands over surviving Israeli hostages as Trump visits region

A hostage swap between the two sides is a key step in ending two years of ruinous war in Gaza under a ceasefire deal engineered by U.S. President Donald Trump.
AstraZeneca CEO Pascal Soriot with U.S. President Donald Trump during an announcement about lowering U.S. drug prices, at the White House in Washington on Friday.
BUSINESS / Companies
Oct 14, 2025

U.S. investments, and rhetoric, help AstraZeneca seal drug deal with Trump

Deal to lower drug costs for Americans and shield the drugmaker from import tariffs was the culmination of efforts stretching back to November last year, sources say.
U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent speaks during a press conference in Washington on Wednesday.
BUSINESS
Oct 16, 2025

Trump declares U.S.-China trade war as Bessent floats long truce

The dueling remarks underscored the whiplash investors have felt as tensions have flared in the relationship between Washington and Beijing.
Russian President Vladimir Putin and U.S. President Donald Trump arrive at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson in Anchorage, Alaska, on Aug. 15.
WORLD / Politics
Oct 17, 2025

Trump to meet Putin in Budapest to discuss war in Ukraine

Trump expressed optimism that the meeting, set to be in Budapest, could result in a ceasefire breakthrough even though an August meeting in Alaska failed to yield one.
Suntory will gradually suspend the sale of 13 beer sets for winter gifts, including a set of Chinese zodiac-themed cans of The Premium Malt's.
BUSINESS
Oct 18, 2025

Suntory and Sapporo to halt gift beer sales after cyberattack against Asahi

Suntory and Sapporo will prioritize the supply of regular products over seasonal items, according to their announcements on Friday.
People ride their motorbikes during rush hour in Hanoi in August.
BUSINESS / Companies
Oct 21, 2025

Japan warns Vietnam of job losses as Hanoi motorbike ban hits Honda

In July, Vietnamese Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh issued a directive prohibiting gas-powered motorbikes from entering the center of the capital from the middle of 2026.
The byzantine process for converting a foreign driver’s license into a Japanese one entails mountains of paperwork and significant stamina — unless you're a lucky license holder from a country or region where these requirements are waived.
COMMUNITY / Issues / Longform
Oct 22, 2025

Driving in Japan isn’t hard. Getting the license is.

From the desperate and defeated to the blissful and breezy, readers share their experiences of getting a driver’s license in Japan.
Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang in Washington on Tuesday
BUSINESS / Tech
Oct 29, 2025

Nvidia will build AI supercomputers for U.S. Energy Department

In Washington, Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang walked a fine line between praising U.S. President Donald Trump and risking further antagonism of China.
A print by Utagawa Kuniyasu (1794-1832) depicts a bustling scene at a fish market in Nihonbashi.
JAPAN / History / The Living Past
Oct 18, 2025

Of sound and silence in old Japan

While haiku poets like Basho extolled the virtues of tranquility, premodern Japan was likely a noisier affair than most people imagine.
The commercial hub of Lagos Island, in Lagos on Monday. Nigeria has faded from U.S. focus in recent years, and it was unclear what prompted U.S. President Donald Trump's Saturday announcement.
WORLD / Politics
Nov 4, 2025

Whiplash: How Trump's threat to strike Nigeria further reshuffles Pentagon priorities

Trump's announcements in the past week on everything from nuclear testing to Nigeria have caught many off guard.
UA Zensen, a major labor union covering service sectors, plans to push for a 6% bump in overall wages for regular employees in negotiations set to conclude in March.
BUSINESS / Economy
Nov 6, 2025

Major Japan union group seeks 6% wage hike as BOJ watches

UA Zensen said it plans to target the same level of wage gains for regular workers in next year’s pay negotiations as it did for this year.

Longform

Once smoky, male-dominated spaces, today's net cafes, like Kaikatsu Club, are working to make their operations more attractive to women customers.
The second life of Japan's net cafes