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JAPAN
Dec 22, 2022

A controversy forces Tokyo to define 'public park'

A plan to redevelop the capital's Meiji Jingu Gaien park and its sporting venues has drawn ire from people who want the area's trees to be spared.
BUSINESS / Economy
Dec 21, 2022

Why the BOJ chose the final weeks of the year to shift policy

The BOJ has apparently been keen to shore up its easing policy's side effects, but such a shift needed to catch market participants off guard to prevent speculative moves.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC
Dec 20, 2022

From 'zero-COVID' to no plan: Behind China’s pandemic U-turn

Xi's own formula for beating back COVID may have inadvertently set China up for this jolting and potentially devastating turn.
ASIA PACIFIC
Dec 19, 2022

North Korea to finish preparations for spy satellite by April

Pyongyang claimed to have conducted “an important final-stage test” for the development of the satellite, one of leader Kim Jong Un's key goals for bolstering his arsenal.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC
Dec 18, 2022

North Korea fires two medium-range missiles into Sea of Japan

The launches came just days after Japan committed to acquiring a 'counterstrike capability' that would allow it to strike enemy bases and command sites — including inside North Korea.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC
Dec 16, 2022

COVID outbreak in Beijing shows rest of China what comes next

Bucking expectations for a managed and gradual transition, Chinese President Xi Jinping's government is now allowing the virus to run rampant.
BASEBALL / MLB
Dec 16, 2022

Red Sox introduce Masataka Yoshida

Masataka Yoshida helped lead the Orix Buffaloes to the franchise's first Japan Series title since 1996 this season. The Boston Red Sox haven't waited nearly as long for an MLB crown, but Yoshida wants to help add another to the trophy case at Fenway Park all the same.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Economy / ANALYSIS
Dec 16, 2022

No turning back: Global central banks vow to stay the course on inflation

It's a set of decisions that will shape the global economy in 2023, influencing exchange rates and terms of trade, and, risking a deeper-than-needed correction if they get it wrong.
Japan Times
LIFE / Language / Vocabulary Boost
Dec 16, 2022

Merriam-Webster’s word of the year is ‘gaslighting,’ and don't try to tell us there isn't a Japanese equivalent

Merriam-Webster saw a huge spike in people looking up the word “gaslighting” in 2022, and Japan is also no stranger to the concept.
JAPAN / Science & Health
Dec 15, 2022

Despite unclear effectiveness, kanpō in short supply amid COVID wave

The widespread use and availability of kanpu014d in Japan has given some people hope that it may work as a viable treatment for the viral disease.
Japan Times
PODCAST / deep dive
Dec 14, 2022

25 years on from the protocol’s signing, did we ever 'Kyoto'?

Dec. 11 marked the 25th anniversary of the Kyoto Protocol, a landmark treaty that put the idea of global effort to save the planet on many national radars. To mark the event, The Japan Times has launched a new section, Our Planet, that will look at the climate crisis, earth science and disaster management...
JAPAN / Politics
Dec 14, 2022

Defense spending debate threatens to divide ruling Liberal Democratic Party

Rather than raising taxes, some LDP lawmakers want the prime minister to issue government bonds.
JAPAN
Dec 13, 2022

Controversy grows over proposed use of Tohoku funds to cover defense spending

The government is eyeing using a special tax designed to finance reconstruction costs for areas affected by the March 2011 Great East Japan Earthquake.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Economy
Dec 13, 2022

Japan to join U.S. efforts to tighten chip exports to China

Japan will likely announce soon that it will adopt at least some of the measures the U.S. rolled out in October to restrict the sale of advanced semiconductor manufacturing equipment.
Japan Times
WORLD
Dec 13, 2022

Fighting rages in east Ukraine as G7 considers more air defense for Kyiv

The G7 promised to 'meet Ukraine's urgent requirements' after President Volodymyr Zelenskyy appealed to the group's virtual meeting.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Politics
Dec 10, 2022

Kishida's tax hike plan to cover defense shortfall draws backlash inside LDP

The blowback to Kishida's plan came to a head at an LDP Policy Research Council meeting, where about 40 of over 50 participants who spoke opposed the plan.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / Japan
Dec 8, 2022

These are not the most expensive cities — unless you are an expat

Lists of the world's priciest urban centers assume you're a tennis-playing, vermouth-drinking expat paid in dollars with a maid and a car.
A man walks past a TV broadcasting a report about North Korea's failed rocket launch, at the main railway station in Seoul on Thursday.
JAPAN / Politics
Aug 24, 2023

North Korea fails in latest attempt to put spy satellite into orbit

Pyongyang said it would try again in October, after the failed launch prompted Japan to issue an emergency warning for Okinawan residents to take shelter.
A customer shops at a sushi counter at the Food Le Parc supermarket in Hong Kong.
BUSINESS / Economy
Aug 24, 2023

Hong Kong restaurants brace for cost jump after Japan seafood ban

The saga is yet another headache for the city’s restaurant industry, which is still suffering from the effects from pandemic curbs and a worker shortage.
JAPAN / Society
Aug 29, 2023

Expert team reports on decades of sexual abuse by Johnny Kitagawa

The team urged Johnny & Associates President Julie Keiko Fujishima to step down after the family-run business left the issue unaddressed for decades.
A child stands in front of the Hibiya Music Hall, which collapsed during the 1923 Great Kanto Earthquake.
PODCAST / deep dive
Aug 31, 2023

The earthquake that turned Tokyo to ash

This week we commemorate the 100-year anniversary of the Great Kanto Earthquake.
A view of the moon as viewed by the Chandrayaan-3 lander during Lunar Orbit Insertion on Aug. 5
ASIA PACIFIC / Science & Health
Sep 1, 2023

India seeks to top its moon landing with spacecraft to study sun

India aims higher with its first solar observation mission, which will journey 1.5 million km to study the sun from a unique "parking spot" in space.
JAPAN / Politics
Sep 1, 2023

Fisheries minister under fire for ‘contaminated water’ gaffe

“Contaminated water” is the expression used by China, and Japan has been extremely critical of Beijing's labeling.
JAPAN / Society
Sep 1, 2023

China banned seafood from Japan. Some tourists are eating it in Tokyo.

Travelers from China seem largely unfazed despite the ban, with many local seafood restaurants seeing little impact so far.
Aziz Umerov looks at a portrait of his sister Leniye Umerova, a Ukrainian from Russian-annexed Crimea arrested in Russia, on August 11.
WORLD / Crime & Legal
Sep 7, 2023

Arrest, detain, repeat: Russian war critics in jail 'carousel'

Consecutive jailings aren't illegal, as Russian law allows judges to order "administrative" detentions of up to 30 days for minor infractions.
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un attends what state media report was a launching ceremony for a new tactical nuclear attack submarine in North Korea, in this picture released by North Korea's Korean Central News Agency on Friday.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Sep 8, 2023

North Korea holds ceremony for new ‘tactical nuclear’ submarine

The country’s state media released photos Friday of a ceremony for the vessel, which appeared to have 10 missile tubes, attended by leader Kim Jong Un.
JAPAN / Politics
Sep 8, 2023

Next LDP leadership race looms over Kishida's reshuffle plans

The prime minister looks set to retain two veteran Liberal Democratic Party leaders in their posts in a Cabinet and LDP leadership reshuffle.
Destroyed vehicles and damaged buildings in the eastern city of Benghazi, Libya, on Monday
WORLD
Sep 12, 2023

Libya flood leaves 2,000 dead and thousands missing

Videos of Derna showed a wide torrent running through the city center where a far narrower waterway had previously flowed.

Longform

After pandemic-era border regulations eased, Indian migrants began returning to Japan. Their population now stands at more than 50,000 across the country.
How remote work is rewriting the migrant experience in Japan