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U.S. President Donald Trump (right) and Russian President Vladimir Putin talk during a bilateral meeting at the G20 summit in Osaka in 2019.
WORLD / Politics
Feb 11, 2025

Russia seen playing hardball with Trump on Ukraine peace discussions

Donald Trump, who has repeatedly stated he wants to end the war in Ukraine, said he thought he was making progress, though he has not shared how he hopes to end the conflict.
In digital trade, Japan's imports have been rising faster than its exports, amid the dominance of global information technology giants such as Microsoft and Google.
BUSINESS / Economy
Feb 11, 2025

Japan's trade deficit for digital services rose to record ¥6.6 trillion in 2024

Japan's digital trade deficit is expected to reach ¥10 trillion in 2030, roughly equivalent to its crude oil imports in 2024.
"I hope skaters who train here will go on to shine on the world stage," Olympic silver medalist Mao Asada told the Japan Times at Mao Rink Tachikawa Tachihi, a skating rink in Tachikawa, Tokyo, whose establishment she was involved in, on Jan. 28.
MORE SPORTS / Figure skating
Feb 11, 2025

Mao Asada sets out to safeguard the future of Japanese skating

Mao Rink Tachikawa Tachihi, a project that involved the three-time world champion, has become a dream destination for skaters.
U.S. Vice President JD Vance attends a bilateral meeting with European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Kaja Kallas at the residence of the U.S. Ambassador in Paris on Tuesday.
WORLD / Politics
Feb 14, 2025

Vance warns Russia of possible sanctions if it refuses good peace deal with Ukraine

The U.S. vice president also urged Europe to spend more on defense.
With the ruling coalition parties holding a majority in the upper house — where a vote will be held on Monday — Friday’s approval makes it all but certain Junko Koeda will join the nine-member board, becoming the second female in the group.
BUSINESS
Feb 14, 2025

Female BOJ board member’s nomination approved by Lower House

Friday’s approval makes it all but certain Junko Koeda will join the nine-member board, becoming the second female in the group.
“Mornings Without Mii,” Mayumi Inaba’s 1999 memoir, charts the course of the author’s 20-year relationship with her calico cat, Mii.
CULTURE / Books
Feb 16, 2025

'Mornings Without Mii': A cozy cat memoir that gets down in the muck

Mayumi Inaba’s 1999 memoir charts the course of the author’s 20-year relationship with her calico cat, Mii.
Data show that the policies of Japan’s last decade or so have served the rich better than the vast majority of the country’s households.
BUSINESS
Feb 14, 2025

Assets of Japan’s wealthiest jump to a record $3 trillion

Between 2011 and 2023, the wealth of Japan’s rich more than doubled and super rich tripled.
U.S. President Donald Trump in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington on Thursday
WORLD / Politics
Feb 14, 2025

Trump floats idea of U.S., Russia and China halving defense spending

Trump’s proposal highlights how willing he is to upend standard foreign-policy craft and foster closer ties with two U.S. adversaries.
Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi speaks during the Munich Security Conference in the German city on Friday.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Feb 15, 2025

China will have to hit back at U.S. ‘bullying,’ Beijing's top diplomat says

Still, Foreign Minister Wang Yi sought to take a broader view of relations, expressing confidence that the two countries will remain engaged long into the future.
Ukrainian soldiers from the Shkval Special Forces Assault Battalion during training exercises in the Donbas region of eastern Ukraine on Thursday
WORLD / Politics / FOCUS
Feb 15, 2025

Trump team makes confused start to Ukraine diplomacy

This was a disorienting week for those anxious over how the new Trump administration will fulfill Donald Trump's vow to end the Ukraine war.
Cat-related sweets sold by 7-Eleven in Tokyo. Employees of 7-Eleven have helped develop 23 types of cat-related products this year, compared with just five last year.
BUSINESS / Economy
Feb 21, 2025

Japan's Cat Day sees companies capitalize on 'a-meow-zing' economic boon

This year, products and services related to cats are estimated to generate ¥414.50 billion more than last year.
Ukrainian Ambassador to Japan Sergiy Korsunsky speaks during an interview at the Ukrainian Embassy in Tokyo on Monday.
JAPAN / Politics
Feb 21, 2025

As Ukraine rift emerges, Kyiv's envoy says Japan must take on bigger global role

The remarks by Ukrainian Ambassador to Japan Sergiy Korsunsky came amid what appears to be a dramatic reversal in years of U.S. support for Ukraine since Russia's invasion.
People visit the graves of relatives who were killed during Russia's attack on Ukraine, during a large-scale light installation Lights of Memory, as they mark the third anniversary of the full-scale Russian invasion, at the Lychakiv cemetery in Lviv, Ukraine, on Sunday.
WORLD / Politics / FOCUS
Feb 24, 2025

Ukraine hemmed in as U.S. backing frays three years after Russian invasion

Thousands of Ukrainian citizens have died and over 6 million live as refugees abroad since Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered the invasion by land, sea and air.
Goods are transported through a business district in Dongguan, in China’s southern Guangdong province.
BUSINESS / Economy / FOCUS
Feb 24, 2025

Trump tariffs shake up China's factory heartland

The U.S. president has targeted friend and foe alike since taking office a month ago, notably slapping additional 10% duties on products imported from China.
Phoenix Mercury guard Diana Taurasi in action against the Indiana Fever at Footprint Center on June 30, 2024
BASKETBALL
Feb 26, 2025

Mercury and Team USA icon Diana Taurasi retires after 20 seasons

Taurasi is a three-time WNBA champion, two-time Finals MVP and the league's all-time leading scorer.
Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce (center) looks on before the 2025 Super Bowl against the Eagles at Caesars Superdome on Feb. 9.
MORE SPORTS / Football
Feb 26, 2025

Chiefs GM expects Travis Kelce to play in 2025: 'He was fired up'

Kelce, 35, said earlier this month he was weighing his future in the wake of the Chiefs' 40-22 loss to the Philadelphia Eagles in the Super Bowl.
Girls take care of their baby brother before leaving for school in Seoul. South Korea just recorded its first rise in fertility rates in nearly a decade.
ASIA PACIFIC / Society
Feb 26, 2025

South Korea's policy push springs to life as world's lowest birth rate rises

That shift in societal norms could prove pivotal in a country that has seen its birth rate plummet to the lowest in the world.
U.S. President Donald Trump, flanked by Secretary of State Marco Rubio (left) and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, attends a Cabinet meeting at the White House in Washington on Wednesday.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Feb 27, 2025

Trump declines to say if U.S. would protect Taiwan from Chinese invasion

Trump's refusal to comment stood in stark contrast to his predecessor, Joe Biden, who repeatedly hinted that Washington would come to Taipei’s aid.
A woman who works at a private university in Fukuoka Prefecture as a part-time lecturer is still negotiating with the university over a cut in the number of classes she teaches.
JAPAN / Regional Voices: Kyushu
Mar 10, 2025

'Highly educated working poor': Part-time lecturers lament stagnant wages

Many worry that raising their voices could lead to a reduction in classes, which impacts pay, or even dismissal.
According to a tally released on Thursday, some 1,416 labor unions under the umbrella of the Japan Council of Metalworkers’ Union requested a monthly base salary gain of ¥14,149 ($94.84) on average in talks expected to culminate with a deal next month.
BUSINESS / Companies
Feb 27, 2025

Japan's metalworker unions demand record pay hike

The demand by Japan Council of Metalworkers’ Union is an early sign of continued momentum for pay growth in the country.
An immigration detention center in Bangkok. A group of Uyghurs were sent to China in accordance with international standards, Thailand's defense minister said, in Thailand's first confirmation of the deportation.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Feb 28, 2025

Thailand sends 40 Uyghurs back to China after decade in detention

Rights experts warned that the Uyghurs were at risk of torture, ill-treatment and "irreparable harm" if returned.
Keio University in Tokyo's Minato Ward. The university's ethics committee has approved clinical research that would lead to the first uterine transplant procedure in Japan.
JAPAN / Science & Health
Feb 28, 2025

Keio University ethics panel OKs uterus transplant clinical trial

The university will consider whether to carry out the research, which would be the first uterine transplant procedure in Japan.
People take photos of the Shinjuku Alta building on Friday evening.
JAPAN / Society
Feb 28, 2025

Shinjuku Alta closes its doors after 45 years

The shopping complex near the JR Shinjuku Station served as a de facto meeting point for many in one of Tokyo’s busiest entertainment districts.
The latest "Captain America" movie depicts a conflict between the U.S. and Japan over a newly discovered element, but the premise seems implausible and likely reflects a late-stage decision to replace China with Japan to avoid alienating Chinese audiences.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Feb 28, 2025

A U.S. war with Japan? Only in ‘Captain America.’

It’s clear that Japan must be a stand-in for China — possibly a late-stage replacement in a movie that became notorious for its multiple rewrites and reshoots.
U.S. President Donald Trump meets with Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelenskyy as Vice President JD Vance looks on in the Oval Office of the White House on Friday in Washington.
WORLD / Politics / FOCUS
Mar 1, 2025

How Trump and Zelenskyy’s Oval Office skirmish broke a deal

An account of a remarkable and heated Oval Office exchange that seems certain to color the course of world history for decades to come.
The Spasskaya tower of the Kremlin, center, and Saint Basil's Cathedral, right, in Moscow in 2022
WORLD / Politics
Mar 2, 2025

Trump’s clash with Zelenskyy leaves Moscow both thrilled and wary

Moscow is celebrating Trump’s shift away from unwavering U.S. support for Ukraine, but some in the Kremlin fear his unpredictability could create new risks.
Pedestrians commute through Shibuya Station in central Tokyo, an area that is almost never devoid of people.
JAPAN / Society / Longform
Mar 3, 2025

As the rest of Japan shrinks, Tokyo grows

Women and young people are leading a migratory wave that the government is struggling to halt.
Ukrainian servicewomen Natalia (right), 53, and her daughter Veronika, 26, from the 100th mechanized brigade, pose for a photo at an undisclosed location in the Donetsk region in Ukraine on Feb. 15.
WORLD / Society
Mar 3, 2025

'Under my wing': Mothers and daughters serving together in Ukraine

Ukrainian servicewomen Natalia, 53, and her daughter Veronika, 26, serve in the 100th mechanized brigade.
The "Ishinomaki Kokeshi" created by craftsman Takatoshi Hayashi to promote his hometown are not confined to the traditional designs of the simple Japanese wooden dolls.
JAPAN / Society
Mar 3, 2025

Ishinomaki craftsman promotes hometown with unique wooden dolls after 3/11

Starting out as a complete amateur, Takatoshi Hayashi now receives orders from abroad for his “Ishinomaki Kokeshi” as his renown spreads online.
U.S. President Donald Trump and Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelenskyy meet in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington on Friday.
WORLD / Politics
Mar 4, 2025

Trump says Ukraine deal still possible despite Zelenskyy feud

Trump’s relatively optimistic assessment could revive prospects for a deal that appeared to be scrapped last week to give the U.S. revenue from Ukraine’s minerals.

Longform

A mushroom cloud from the atomic bombing on Hiroshima taken from a U.S. military aircraft on Aug. 6, 1945. Copying the photo without permission is prohibited.
80 years on, a Japanese American hibakusha recalls the day the bomb dropped