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Excerpts from Natsume Soseki’s “Ten Nights of Dreams” and footage of dancer Min Tanaka and "shō" player Mayumi Miyata play across three large screens that are reflected in a mirror-like pool of water in the installation “Time Time.”
CULTURE / Art
Mar 4, 2025

Crowds shouldn’t stop you from seeing the hit Ryuichi Sakamoto exhibit

Museum of Contemporary Art Tokyo’s “Seeing Sound, Hearing Time” has far exceeded expected visitor numbers, but there could be an upside to the crowds.
Ayako Sono
JAPAN
Mar 4, 2025

Japanese writer Ayako Sono dies at 93

Renowned Japanese writer Ayako Sono, known for many best-selling novels and essays, died of natural causes at a Tokyo hospital. She was 93.
According to the Cultural Affairs Agency, shodō is defined as the act of writing kanji and kana characters using traditional brushstrokes and techniques.
JAPAN
Mar 4, 2025

Japan to again propose calligraphy for UNESCO heritage list

The government is expected to submit the fresh proposal to UNESCO by the end of the month.
U.S. military aid to Ukraine halted at 3:30 a.m., a source with knowledge of the matter said, after U.S. President Donald Trump paused assistance late on Monday following a clash with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy last week.
WORLD / Politics / ANALYSIS
Mar 4, 2025

U.S. military aid pause is a blow to Ukraine, but not fatal for now

The U.S. pause could have a real impact on the war within months, undermining Ukraine's air defenses and precision strike capabilities in particular.
The administration of U.S. President Donald Trump and Ukraine plan to sign a minerals deal that fell through on Friday, sources said.
WORLD / Politics
Mar 5, 2025

U.S. and Ukraine now plan to sign minerals deal, sources say

The deal from last week offered Kyiv no explicit security guarantees but gave the U.S. access to Ukraine's natural resources.
MAGA hats adorn a row of monitors on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange.
BUSINESS / Markets
Mar 5, 2025

Day one of Trump’s trade war delivers wild ride for Wall Street

The S&P 500 index tumbled 2% shortly after the open Tuesday, wiping out its $3.4 trillion advance since Election Day on Nov. 5.
Billboard advertisements for host clubs in the Kabukicho area of Tokyo.
JAPAN
Mar 5, 2025

Tokyo police step up crackdown on sex worker scout group

The group is believed to have earned about ¥7 billion over five years by dispatching women to the sexual service businesses that offered the best pay.
A person takes a photo of the Google Cloud logo during the 2025 Mobile World Congress (MWC) in Barcelona on Tuesday. The administration of former U.S. President Joe Biden in November had called for Google to sell its Chrome web browser and make other changes to its business.
BUSINESS / Tech
Mar 5, 2025

Google urges DOJ to reverse course on breaking up company

Representatives argue that the Alphabet unit’s critical importance to the U.S. economy and national security requires a softer touch.
A ship sails through the Panama Canal after Hong Kong's CK Hutchison agreed to sell its interests in a key Panama Canal port operator to a BlackRock-backed consortium on Tuesday.
BUSINESS / Companies
Mar 5, 2025

BlackRock to buy Hong Kong firm's Panama Canal port stake amid pressure

The $22.8 billion deal, coming amid pressure from the White House, will give the BlackRock-backed group control of ports along the strategic waterway and dozens of others.
Trash cans have been installed at Nara Park for the first time in about 40 years following a rise in littering alongside an increasing number of foreign tourists in recent years.
JAPAN / Society
Mar 5, 2025

Rise in tourists prompts Nara Park to install trash cans to protect deer

Increased littering in the park has created a health hazard for the protected animal.
A stick-sized container containing an egg and a tank used to freeze eggs
JAPAN / Society / FOCUS
Mar 5, 2025

More women in Japan turn to egg freezing amid increase in financial support

Although the practice is emerging as a new option for women, experts are urging individuals to carefully weigh its benefits and drawbacks.
Items from Shohei Ohtani's 50-50 season are seen in an exhibition at Tokyo Node on Wednesday.
BASEBALL / MLB
Mar 5, 2025

Tokyo fans get the Dodgers on their doorstep

In a big play to grow the team's fanbase, an exhibition connected with the MLB Tokyo Series is offering a taste of the LA experience.
A group of talentless noiseniks are sent away on a year-long retreat to the countryside to write a hit song in “The Gesuidouz.”
CULTURE / Film
Mar 6, 2025

‘The Gesuidouz’ flips the bird at viewers

Kenichi Ugana’s horror-fixated punk-rock slacker comedy is one of the director’s laziest films to date.
While you need to pass over cash for taxes, don't fall for scams that trick you into paying what you don't owe.
LIFE / Language / BILINGUAL
Mar 6, 2025

Scams, taxes and tariffs: It's that time of year.

Financial scams abound in Japan and a new one uses tax-related terminology.
Campaign supporters light a total of 1,638 candles, representing the number of dead victims claimed by HIV/AIDS in the Philippines since 1984, as part of their commemoration of International AIDS Candlelight Memorial Day in metro Manila in 2016.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Mar 6, 2025

Philippines' LGBTQ+ groups seek options to replace U.S. aid

Advocacy groups are looking at new financing strategies and calling for greater involvement by local health institutions to protect against foreign aid withdrawals.
Tariffs and trade uncertainty are causing the U.S. economy to lose steam, and companies more vulnerable to slower growth are starting to show the cracks.
BUSINESS / Markets
Mar 6, 2025

Investors spy the dawn of a tectonic shift away from U.S. markets

For most of the last three years, investors had bet on "U.S. exceptionalism," with the country ahead of others in economic growth, stock prices and AI.
Clinic director Oleksandr Feskov poses for a photo in one of the operating rooms at the Feskov clinic in Kharkiv on Feb. 17. Many more Ukrainian civilians are freezing their sperm and eggs — procedures that were rare before the war — with demand rising every time the war takes a turn for the worse.
WORLD / Society
Mar 6, 2025

Ukrainians waiting for peace before having children

New legislation means that Ukrainian soldiers can freeze their sperm for free, and many clinics are already offering the service.
French President Emmanuel Macron addresses the nation in Paris on Wednesday, in this screen grab taken from a video.
WORLD / Politics
Mar 6, 2025

France to open talks to extend nuclear shield for Europe, Macron says

The French president’s remarks come as the EU rushes to counter the threat of Russian aggression after the withdrawal of the U.S.’ commitment to European security.
The yield on Japan’s 10-year note climbed 7 basis points to 1.5%, the highest since 2009.
BUSINESS / Economy
Mar 6, 2025

German bond rout goes global as yields surge in Japan

The yield on Japan’s 10-year note climbed 7 basis points to 1.5%, the highest since 2009.
Minister for Reconstruction Tadahiko Ito responding to a question at a group interview on Monday at the Reconstruction Agency
JAPAN
Mar 6, 2025

Reconstruction minister vows to address Fukushima soil reuse

"It's natural that Futaba residents are concerned," Tadahiko Ito said of the envisaged plan to first consider reusing the decontaminated soil in the town.
Foster City, California’s Gilead is laser-focused on HIV and is seeking an actual cure.
BUSINESS / Companies
Mar 6, 2025

Gilead's Japan head says nation can be among first to end HIV epidemic

The pharmaceutical powerhouse has drugs that disrupt the transmission of the virus, one of which has been approved for prevention in Japan.
Toru Akama cares for dogs and cats left behind in the March 2011 Fukushima meltdown disaster, at his home in Namie, Fukushima Prefecture.
JAPAN
Mar 6, 2025

Former Fukushima plant worker continues caring for pets left behind

The 62-year-old was driven by a sense of responsibility for the pets being abandoned as “it came about because of the meltdown at our plant.”
Former Australian player Fred Stolle (right) receives an award from French Tennis Federation President Jean Gachassin during the French Open in Paris in 2015.
TENNIS
Mar 6, 2025

Australian great 'Fiery' Fred Stolle dies at 86

Stolle was part of a golden generation of Australian players who dominated the men's game at the start of the professional era.
President Donald Trump delivers an address to a joint session of Congress in Washington on Tuesday. Some critics are questioning if the U.S. is shifting away from global leadership under his stewardship.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Mar 6, 2025

Trump's speech was more campaign rhetoric than leadership

Trump's speech to Congress, like the one eight years ago, was little more than domestic political propaganda.
A Weathernews forecast shows the cherry blossom season will begin on March 21 in Tokyo.
JAPAN
Mar 6, 2025

Cherry blossom season set to kick off on March 21 in Tokyo

Blossoms are expected to reach full bloom at a pace similar to or slightly faster than average years in western and eastern Japan.
Firefighters battle a wildfire in Ofunato, Iwate Prefecture, on Thursday.
JAPAN
Mar 6, 2025

Wildfire slows in Iwate as government announces relief support

The city saw 26.5 millimeters of rain on Wednesday, far exceeding the 2.5mm total for the entire month of February.
Former Executive Vice President Ichiro Takekuro enters the Tokyo High Court for the appellate court ruling in January 2023 in Tokyo's Chiyoda Ward.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Mar 6, 2025

Acquittal of two former Tepco executives to be finalized

The Supreme Court supported the lower courts' decisions that the accident was unpredictable and decided to dismiss an appeal by lawyers acting as prosecutors.
Elementary and junior high school students study online at Free School Mirai in the city of Nagano.
JAPAN / Regional voices: Chubu
Mar 17, 2025

Schools face challenges in evaluating students not attending classes

There is concern that assessing students through grades may run counter to supporting those who cannot attend school.
Antonio Costa, president of the European Council (left), Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Ursula von der Leyen, president of the European Commission, arrive for a special European Council meeting in Brussels on Thursday.
WORLD / Politics
Mar 7, 2025

EU leaders agree on defense surge and support Zelenskyy after U.S. aid freeze

The European Union's defense summit in Brussels took place amid fears that Russia, emboldened by its war in Ukraine, may attack an EU country next.
U.S. President Donald Trump and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau in December 2019
BUSINESS / Economy
Mar 7, 2025

'Psychodrama' tariff negotiations frustrate Mexico and Canada

The on-again, off-again tariffs and the high-level discussions surrounding them have exasperated negotiating teams, sources say.

Longform

A sinkhole in Yashio, which emerged in January, was triggered by a ruptured, aging sewer pipe. Authorities worry that similar sections of infrastructure across the country are also at risk of corrosion.
That sinking feeling: Japan’s aging sewers are an infrastructure time bomb