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Tottori Gov. Shinji Hirai (right) with Executive Chef Shinsuke Nakajima and Executive Chef Sommelier Nobuhide Tani
ESG CONSORTIUM
Jun 23, 2025

Tottori Wagyu and other delights offered at Hotel New Otani Tokyo

A special event featuring the rich sweetness and umami of juicy Tottori Wagyu-brand beef in a variety of dishes has kicked off once again at the Hotel New Otani Tokyo. Held annually since 2018, this promotion consistently highlights the charm of Tottori’s viands through innovative ideas and cooking...
Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshimasa Hayashi
JAPAN / Politics
Jun 23, 2025

Japan denies U.S. directly asked it to hike defense spending to 5% of GDP

Tokyo’s top government spokesman also said it was untrue that Japan had postponed a key bilateral security meeting over the issue.
A checkout system equipped with a display showing a 3D avatar enables a Lawson employee to remotely help customers at an experimental Lawson store that opened Monday in Tokyo.
BUSINESS / Companies
Jun 23, 2025

Lawson beta tests futuristic convenience store with KDDI

Real x Tech Lawson utilizes a range of technologies, including robotics, digital signage and artificial intelligence.
The Liberal Democratic Party's Tokyo chapter head, Shinji Inoue (right), at the party's headquarters on Sunday night
JAPAN / Politics / ANALYSIS
Jun 23, 2025

Tokyo election results signal uncertainty for LDP ahead of Upper House race

“It was a very tough election,” said Shinji Inoue, head of the LDP’s Tokyo chapter, early on Monday morning after the results came in.
Arisa Trew understands both sides of the debate around the introduction of a minimum age limit for World Skateboarding Tour events.
MORE SPORTS
Jun 23, 2025

World Skate puts brakes on skateboarding's preteen movement with new age limits

The minimum age of 11 this year will be raised one year each in 2026, 2027 and 2028 so that when the LA Olympics roll around in 2028, the minimum age will be 14.
The Strait of Hormuz separating Iran (top) from the United Arab Emirates and Oman (bottom) as seen from the International Space Station in 2021. More than half of the oil imported by East Asia passes through the Strait, experts estimate.
BUSINESS / Economy
Jun 24, 2025

Asian countries most vulnerable to Strait of Hormuz blockade

Japanese customs data showed 95% of crude oil imports last year came from the Middle East.
Chinese tech startup DeepSeek is helping Beijing with military and intelligence operations, according to U.S. officials.
BUSINESS / Tech
Jun 24, 2025

DeepSeek aids China's military and evaded export controls, U.S. official says

The U.S. conclusions reflect a growing conviction in Washington that the capabilities behind the rapid rise of one of China's flagship AI enterprises may have been exaggerated.
In this frame-grab taken from video, missiles and air-defense interceptors are visible over Doha after Iran launched an attack on U.S. forces at Al Udeid Air Base on Monday.
WORLD
Jun 24, 2025

Trump thanks Iran after attack choreographed to de-escalate

The Qataris knew the missile barrage was coming. So did the Americans. The Iranians had told them.
Born in April 2023, Grape and Acai are an inseparable duo that prefer a gentle lifestyle.
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / ADOPT ME!
Jun 24, 2025

Fine feline twosome on the hunt for a forever home

Acai and Grape are an inseparable pair that are sure to bring a touch of sweetness to a peaceful household.
Lakers forward LeBron James controls the ball against the Timberwolves in Los Angeles on April 30.
BASKETBALL / NBA
Jun 24, 2025

NBA's James feels great after first workout since knee injury

The player has a Sunday deadline to opt into a $52.2 million player contract option for next season with the Lakers.
A Japanese AI researcher says that instead of fearing superintelligent machines, the world should focus on building a symbiotic relationship with them — a shift in perspective that could reshape the global AI safety debate.
COMMENTARY / World
Jun 19, 2025

Make the robot your colleague, not overlord

An argument is emerging for an AI future less like "The Terminator" and more like "Astro Boy."
Models of the lunar lander Resilience (left) and the lunar rover Tenacious (right) operated by Japanese private company Ispace are displayed at the moon landing event venue in Tokyo on June 6. Japan's hopes of achieving its first soft touchdown on the moon by a private company were dashed on June 6, when the mission was aborted after an assumed crash-landing, the startup said.
JAPAN / Science & Health
Jun 24, 2025

Ispace reveals cause of second lunar lander crash

Ispace concluded that the laser range finder failed to provide accurate data in the final phase of landing, leaving the lander unable to slow down in time.
Ryosei Akazawa, Japan’s chief tariff negotiator (left), meets with Nippon Steel Chairman and CEO Eiji Hashimoto.
BUSINESS
Jun 24, 2025

Japan needs a big, beautiful trade deal with the United States

A creative solution along the lines of the U.S. Steel "golden share" has been suggested.
Migrants are rescued from a wooden boat by Doctors Without Borders in international waters off the coast of Tunisia in the central Mediterranean Sea in July 2024.
WORLD / Politics
Jun 24, 2025

Hard EU line on migration rose from the ashes of compassion

A decade ago, the image of a 3-year-old Syrian boy washed up dead on a beach prompted an outpouring of emotion and renewed commitments to take in refugees.
U.S. President Donald Trump sits in his car, "The Beast," as he arrives for a dinner at the Huis ten Bosch Royal Palace during a NATO leaders summit in The Hague on Tuesday.
WORLD
Jun 25, 2025

Strike set back Iran’s nuclear program by only a few months, U.S. report says

The findings suggest that President Donald Trump’s statement that Iran’s nuclear facilities were obliterated was overstated.
Foreign minister David Lammy told Parliament the Labour administration would invest £600 million in its intelligence services.
WORLD / Politics
Jun 25, 2025

'Audit' of U.K. and China relations finds Beijing's spying is on the rise

British foreign minister David Lammy said the Labour administration would invest £600 million in its intelligence services as a result of the findings.
U.S. President Donald Trump speaks to the press before boarding Marine One from the South Lawn of the White House in Washington on Tuesday.
WORLD / Politics
Jun 25, 2025

Trump baffles with sudden U-turn on China buying Iranian oil

U.S. Treasury and State department officials handling Iranian oil sanctions were surprised by Trump’s statement and uncertain how to immediately interpret it.
Miho Koshiba started her career in finance before she founded the Mirai Institute, a think tank that operates the Midori.so coworking space with an ever-growing cosmopolitan community across seven locations in Tokyo.
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / 20 QUESTIONS
Jun 28, 2025

Miho Koshiba: ‘Wouldn’t it be nice if people looked forward to Mondays?’

The cofounder of the Midori.so coworking space shares her inspirations and aspirations for career and community.
A worker moves a shipping container at Felixstowe port in Felixstowe, U.K.
BUSINESS / Markets
Jun 25, 2025

Pressure for Trump trade deals ramps up with two weeks to go

As of July 9, exporting nations without a bilateral accord in place will face Trump’s so-called "Liberation Day” tariffs that are much higher than the current baseline 10% level.
A single Type-88 missile is tested off the coast at the Ground Self-Defense Force's Shizunai anti-aircraft firing range in Shinhidaka, Hokkaido, on Tuesday.
JAPAN
Jun 25, 2025

Japan conducts first domestic surface-to-ship missile test

Japan called its first surface-to-ship missile test within its territory necessary training given the current "severe security environment."
Naoya Kusano in action during the Summer Basho in Tokyo in May.
SUMO / INSIDE SUMO
Jun 25, 2025

Former college star Kusano looks ready for challenge of sumo's top tier

While Onosato was claiming Emperor’s Cups in Osaka and Tokyo in recent months, Kusano was doing something similar, albeit one level down.
Renho speaks in Tokyo during a news conference for candidates for the Tokyo gubernatorial election, in June last year.
JAPAN / Politics
Jun 25, 2025

Opposition CDP to field Renho in Upper House poll

During her fourth term, Renho left the CDP and ran as an independent in last year's Tokyo gubernatorial election.
Brad Pitt, Lewis Hamilton and Damson Idris attend the premiere for the film "F1" in New York on June 16.
MORE SPORTS / Auto Racing
Jun 25, 2025

True to life or not, Brad Pitt's 'F1' movie draws on decades of racing drama

Seven-time world champion Hamilton provided advice and is credited as a co-producer on a movie scripted for audiences unfamiliar with the sport.
In a statement on their official website, Tokio said it had decided to disband following a compliance violation by Taichi Kokubun, without providing details as to what the violation entailed.
CULTURE / Entertainment news
Jun 26, 2025

Japanese pop-rock band Tokio announces disbandment after 31 years

The group said it will bring an end to its activities as Tokio following a compliance violation by member Taichi Kokubun but did not disclose details.
An 11-year-old girl (Yui Suzuki) finds glimpses of hope while coping with her father’s terminal illness in “Renoir.”
CULTURE / Film
Jun 26, 2025

‘Renoir’: An impressionistic portrait of grief and girlhood

Chie Hayakawa’s latest feature about a young girl facing losing a parent to cancer is a shining, soulful study of quiet mourning.
Elementary school teacher Seiichi Yabushita (Go Ayano) is taken to court for allegedly driving one of his students to attempt suicide in Takashi Miike’s “Sham.”
CULTURE / Film
Jun 25, 2025

‘Sham’ flirts with ambiguity, then picks a side

Takashi Miike’s legal drama draws from a real-life incident and makes a clear but frustratingly simplified case.
Rie Usui has been working to help people with disabilities get jobs, and now runs a talent agency for disabled people.
JAPAN / Society
Jun 29, 2025

Tokyo woman working to help people with disabilities secure jobs

Rie Usui's talent agency represents about 40 models and television personalities who feature in advertisements and TV drama series.
In addition to prepaid transportation integrated circuit (IC) cards, such as Suica and Pasmo, a growing number of railway operators are introducing contactless credit card payments.
BUSINESS
Jun 29, 2025

Railway firms diversify ticket gate access methods

A growing number of railway operators are introducing contactless credit card payments.
U.S. President Donald Trump attends a news conference during the NATO summit in The Hague on Wednesday.
WORLD / Politics
Jun 26, 2025

NATO's Trump flattery buys time but dodges tough questions

Sooner or later, NATO will have to deal with tough topics of vital importance to it, such as the war in Ukraine, Russia strategy and a likely drawdown of U.S. troops in Europe.
A mural depicts Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei in Tehran on Monday. Within days of Israel's airstrikes beginning on June 13, Iranian security forces started a campaign of widespread arrests and an intensified street presence based around checkpoints.
WORLD / Politics
Jun 26, 2025

Iran turns to internal crackdown in wake of 12-day war with Israel

Iranian rights group HRNA said it had recorded the arrests of 705 people on political or security charges since the start of the war, many of them accused of spying for Israel.

Longform

Mount Fuji is considered one of Japan's most iconic symbols and is a major draw for tourists. It's still a mountain, though, and potential hikers need to properly prepare for any climb.
What it takes to save lives on Mount Fuji