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The number of consultations from foreign visitors to Japan about problems related to accommodations and shopping is increasing.
JAPAN / Society
Oct 3, 2024

Consumer consultations by foreign visitors to Japan on the rise

The number of consultations from foreign visitors in fiscal 2023, which ended in March this year, stood at 227, up for the second straight year.
Without Japanese outdoorsman George Masa, America might not have the Great Smoky Mountains National Park — so why do so many people in Japan not know he existed?
COMMUNITY / Issues
Oct 7, 2024

The forgotten Japanese naturalist who created a U.S. national park

George Masa was an enigmatic figure, but his contributions to preserving America's natural beauty are unassailable.
Dul Saroth (left) and Soeum Samrach, deminers with the Cambodian Mine Action and Victim Assistance Authority, practice using the Advanced Landmine Imaging System in Cambodia’s Siem Reap province in August.
JAPAN / Longform
Oct 7, 2024

The Japanese tech that could one day make Southeast Asia landmine-free

The Advanced Landmine Imaging System being tested in Cambodia promises to speed up landmine clearance work and save lives.
Ayami Sato is one of the best female players in baseball history.
BASEBALL
Oct 3, 2024

Japan great Ayami Sato helps shine light on women's baseball in new documentary

Ayami Sato has helped Japan win six straight Women's Baseball World Cup titles.
To preserve the integrity of the game in the legalized gambling era, Major League Baseball must double down and maintain its now posthumous ban on Pete Rose.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Oct 4, 2024

Pete Rose fans are wrong: He's not worthy of the Hall of Fame

Backing down would undermine the league’s zero-tolerance stance and signal that "permanently ineligible" isn't always permanent.
Three-month basis swaps for dollar-yen dropped to negative 53.5 basis points on Thursday, a level not seen since November 2023.
BUSINESS
Oct 5, 2024

Boom in samurai bond issuance drives up yen swap costs

Three-month basis swaps for dollar-yen dropped to negative 53.5 basis points on Thursday, a level not seen since November 2023.
Alex Lucitante, of the indigenous Cofan ethnic group, in Lago Agrio, Sucumbos Province, Amazon region, Ecuador, on Jan. 15, 2023. This small community is famous for having driven mining companies out of their Amazonian territory in northern Ecuador.
ENVIRONMENT / Climate change
Oct 7, 2024

Amazon activist warns of 'critical situation' ahead of U.N. forum

COP16 organizers have said Indigenous representatives will have input in national action plans
Pope Francis addresses the crowd from the window of the Apostolic Palace overlooking St. Peter's Square during the Angelus prayer in the Vatican on Sunday. The pontiff announced the appointment of 21 new cardinals on Sunday.
JAPAN / Society
Oct 7, 2024

Japanese archbishop named cardinal

Tarcisio Isao Kikuchi, the archbishop of the Catholic Archdiocese of Tokyo, will also be eligible to vote in a papal conclave.
Naomi Osaka in action during her last-16 match against Coco Gauff at the China Open in Beijing on Oct. 1
TENNIS
Oct 8, 2024

Naomi Osaka pulls out of Japan Open with back injury

Osaka's last WTA tournament appearance in Japan was a fleeting one, two years ago at the Pan Pacific Open in Tokyo.
A bill to grant compensation to victims of forced sterilization clears the Lower House on Monday.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Oct 8, 2024

Parliament clears bill to compensate all victims of forced sterilization

With the latest legislation, all victims — whether or not they are plaintiffs in related lawsuits — will be compensated, paving the way for resolution.
Spainish midfielder Andres Iniesta celebrates after scoring the winning goal of the 2010 World Cup final against the Netherlands while revealing a shirt with a tribute to the late Espanyol captain Daniel Jarque, on July 11, 2010.
SOCCER
Oct 9, 2024

Spanish great Iniesta leaves indelible legacy after retirement

Admired and adored in Spain, even by fans of Barca's fiercest rivals, for many Iniesta will go down as the country's finest player.
Russia's gas pipeline export monopoly Gazprom plunged to a net loss of $7 billion in 2023, its first annual loss since 1999, because of the loss of the EU's gas markets.
BUSINESS
Oct 9, 2024

What happens when Russian gas to Europe via Ukraine stops?

Ukraine will not extend its gas transit agreement with Russia after it expires at the end of December, said Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal.
Even with the success of "Crazy Rich Asians" and improvements in on-screen representation, Asian actors still comprise just 18.4% of film roles, which is an improvement compared to 3.4% in 2007.
COMMENTARY / World
Oct 9, 2024

To win back audiences, put more Asians behind the camera

The movie industry is losing out at a time when it can ill-afford to do so. Betting on Asian talent would help.
Just 1 in 10 researchers and 1 in 5 students at the prestigious University of Tokyo are women.
JAPAN / Society / FOCUS
Oct 10, 2024

Women at Japan's top university call out gender imbalance with posters

Gender bias begins early in Japanese education.
The Taro Nasu gallery in Tokyo, with work by the French artist Benoit Pieron on view.
CULTURE / Art
Oct 10, 2024

In Tokyo, the Taro Nasu gallery focuses on conceptual art

Striving to be unique, the small gallery is bringing attention to artists from around the world whose works have rarely been seen in Japan.
Cider in Japan doesn't have as long a history as other alcoholic beverages, but with consumer preferences shifting, it might be just the easy sip for drinkers sick of stiff tipples.
LIFE / Food & Drink
Oct 13, 2024

As Japan shuns stiff drinks, cider aims for a bigger share of the market

Sake brewer Isamu Yoshii was the first person in Japan to produce cider as an alcoholic drink in 1954, paving the way for a possible cider boom in the future.
Capsule hotels were created as a way to deal with the amount of overwork employees tend to do in Japan. Can't commute home? Then spend the night in an tiny, affordable sleeping space.
BUSINESS / Tech / Longform
Oct 12, 2024

Japan wakes up to the market for a proper sleep

After years of sleep deficits and drowsy mornings, a growing number of products and services are being developed to help us rest easier.
U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris speaks to reporters before boarding Air Force Two in Las Vegas, on Thursday. Harris released a letter from her doctor saying that she is in "excellent health,” as her campaign tries to capitalize on the lack of health information shared by her rival.
WORLD / Politics
Oct 13, 2024

Harris releases ‘excellent’ bill of health and challenges Trump

While Trump, 78, told CBS News in August he would "very gladly” release his medical records, he has declined media requests to do so.
An aerial view shows people paddling through a flooded street in South Daytona, Florida, following the passage of Hurricane Milton on Friday.
WORLD
Oct 13, 2024

Hurricane Milton’s floodwaters are hiding a dirty secret

Even though the risks from rising, fast-moving water is past, standing water remains treacherous to navigate and likely harbors dangerous diseases.
A building that houses a museum of penises and an H&M in Reykjavik, Iceland, has become the virtual home to some of the world’s worst perpetrators of identity theft, ransomware, disinformation, and other wrongdoing.
BUSINESS / Tech
Oct 14, 2024

Some of the web’s sketchiest sites share an address in Iceland

The street address of the Icelandic Phallological Museum is also the registered address for a company that allows people to shield their identities online.
Kioxia has undergone years of upheaval and the attempt to list the company is closely watched as a test case for buyout firms in Japan where more companies are selling non-core assets or going private.
BUSINESS / Companies
Oct 14, 2024

Bain sought $10 billion valuation for Japan's Kioxia, but investors only wanted to pay half

The valuation gap complicates the buyout firm's effort to exit its six-year-old investment in Kioxia.
A cyclist stops to look at an electronic share price board in Tokyo on Sept. 30. From Nov. 1, cyclists who use their cellphones while cycling or ride under the influence of alcohol may be fined or jailed.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Oct 20, 2024

Road traffic law revisions for cycling offenses to kick in next month

Cyclists who use their cellphones while cycling or ride under the influence of alcohol will be liable to fines and imprisonment from Nov. 1.
Fighters manager Tsuyoshi Shinjo celebrates his team's defeat of the Marines in the first stage of the Pacific League Climax Series on Monday.
BASEBALL / Japanese Baseball / Sac Bunts
Oct 15, 2024

Tsuyoshi Shinjo’s high-stakes gamble pays off in the Climax Series

Not every manager would willingly go into a three-game playoff series without planning for his best pitcher to throw.
The Iron Dames car shared by Rahel Frey, Sarah Bovy and Michelle Gatting is pushed into the garage during the World Endurance Championship race in Austin, Texas, earlier this year.
MORE SPORTS / Auto Racing
Oct 15, 2024

While motorsports' inclusivity has improved, there's still work to be done

The Iron Dames team is among those battling for a more welcoming motorsports environment for women.
A newly constructed guard post and fences in North Korea are seen in this picture taken from an observatory in Incheon, South Korea, on Monday.
ASIA PACIFIC
Oct 15, 2024

North Korea blows up parts of inter-Korean roads, Seoul says

In response, South Korea's military fired warning shots south of the military demarcation line dividing the neighbors.
Tokyo Metro priced its shares at ¥1,200 apiece. It is expected to list on the Tokyo Stock Exchange on Oct. 23.
BUSINESS / Companies
Oct 15, 2024

Tokyo Metro raises $2.3 bln in Japan's biggest IPO in 6 years

The subway operator priced its shares at the top of its provisional range of ¥1,100 to ¥1,200, a regulatory filing from the company showed on Tuesday.
With projections indicating a population drop in Japan from around 125 million to 63 million by 2100, traditional solutions like immigration and labor reforms are unlikely to be effective in time.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Oct 15, 2024

Japan should master, not resist, its demographic destiny

Japan needs a strategic reorientation toward accepting and mastering its demographic changes rather than resisting them.
A view of the soon-to-be-completed and sealed central detector at the Jiangmen Underground Neutrino Observatory (JUNO), during a media tour organized by the Chinese foreign ministry and the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), in Kaiping, Guangdong province, China, on Oct. 11.
ASIA PACIFIC / Science & Health
Oct 16, 2024

Inside the underground lab in China tasked with solving a physics mystery

Learning more about neutrinos would offer clues to subatomic processes during the early days of the universe.
The Japan International Cooperation Agency is responsible for most of Japan's overseas aid known as official development assistance.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Oct 16, 2024

JICA staffer suspected of leaking info on Philippines railway project

The employee is thought to have intended to secure a contractor in advance to prevent delays to the ¥38.1 billion project.
New and strengthened rules aim to make street drinking a thing of the past in Shibuya's nightlife center — but the reality may not be that simple.
COMMUNITY / Issues / The Foreign Element
Oct 21, 2024

Can you drink in Shibuya and Shinjuku this Halloween? It depends.

Shibuya and Shinjuku are both planning on cracking down on street drinking this Halloween and beyond. But the problem might be bigger than a night of drunken revelry.

Longform

Juzo Itami’s “Tampopo” was released Nov. 23, 1985, and though it wasn’t a hit at the time, it has gained a cult following in the years since.
Eat, slurp, love: 'Tampopo' turns 40