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NHK’s latest taiga period drama, “Unbound,” centers on Tsutaya Juzaburo (Ryusei Yokohama), a commoner who becomes a successful bookseller and publisher.
CULTURE / TV & Streaming
Jan 10, 2025

‘Unbound’ breaks NHK period drama tradition with a hero of the common folk

Public broadcaster NHK marks its 100th anniversary by flipping the script on its long-running period drama series.
Palestinians at the site of an Israeli strike on a house in Nuseirat, in the central Gaza Strip, on Thursday.
WORLD
Jan 10, 2025

Gaza death toll 40% higher than recorded, peer-reviewed study estimates

New study used data from Gaza's health ministry, an online survey and social media obituaries to reach a best estimate of 64,260 deaths by June 30 last year.
The additional sanctions against Russia "are to contribute to international efforts for peace," Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshimasa Hayashi said on Friday at the Prime Minister's Office.
JAPAN / Politics
Jan 10, 2025

Japan expands its sanctions against Russia

Japan will also ban the export of 335 more goods, including small motorcycles, to Russia starting on Jan. 23.
Kotozakura is in position to fight his way to a promotion to yokozuna going into the New Year Basho.
SUMO
Jan 10, 2025

Stage set for action-packed New Year Basho with yokozuna promotion battle

Few years in recent sumo history have begun with a landscape of possibilities as wide as 2025.
Rescue workers search a flooded area during the aftermath of Typhoon Hagibis, which caused severe floods at the Chikuma River, in the city of Nagano in October 2019.
ENVIRONMENT / Climate change / OUR PLANET
Jan 12, 2025

Disaster-hardened Japan faces enormous costs from climate change

The total cost in climate damages for the country through 2050 could amount to ¥952 trillion if more ambitious action isn't taken.
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau delivers a statement after meeting with the National Association of Manufacturers President and CEO Jay Timmons in Washington on Thursday.
WORLD / Politics
Jan 13, 2025

Canada has counter-tariffs ready if Trump launches trade war, Trudeau says

Canada buys more U.S.-made goods than any other country, according to U.S. Commerce Department export data — about $320 billion in the first 11 months of last year.
A former cattle ranch is being reforested in Brazil's Amazon region on Dec. 11. Mombak, a young carbon credit company — with valuable contracts with the giants Google and Microsoft, and supported by the U.S. government — aims to repeat this move millions of times over.
ENVIRONMENT / Climate change
Jan 13, 2025

In Brazil, an Amazon reforestation project seeks to redeem carbon markets

By planting native species, Brazilian company Mombak hopes to restore credibility to a scandal-ridden carbon market at a crucial time for the warming planet.
The Tokyo Stock Exchange will soon require some companies to publish their financials in English in addition to Japanese.
BUSINESS / Markets
Jan 13, 2025

Japanese companies rush to up English-language disclosures in 2025

The Tokyo Stock Exchange requires Prime market companies to release financial statements and other key information simultaneously in English and Japanese from April.
Multiple fires cover the skyline with smoke in Los Angeles on Wednesday.
OLYMPICS
Jan 14, 2025

Devastating LA fires prompt 2028 Olympics debate

California Gov. Gavin Newsom has said that planning for the 2028 Olympics and the FIFA World Cup in 2026 is on track.
Cook Islands-registered oil tanker Eagle S is seen anchored near the Port of Kilpilahti in Porvoo, on the Gulf of Finland, on Monday.
WORLD / Crime & Legal
Jan 14, 2025

Oil tanker crew were poised to cut more cables when caught, Finland says

The Eagle S vessel carrying Russian oil is suspected of damaging the Finnish-Estonian Estlink 2 power line and four telecoms cables by dragging its anchor across the seabed.
The number of corporate bankruptcies with liabilities of ¥10 million or more in Japan last year marked the third consecutive year of increases as rising prices due to the yen's weakening and labor shortages caused business failures in a wide range of industries.
BUSINESS / Economy
Jan 14, 2025

Japan business failures top 10,000 in 2024, worst in 11 years

The annual figure marked the third consecutive year of increases as rising prices due to the yen's weakening and labor shortages caused business failures.
Tourists take photos at Sensoji temple in Tokyo's Asakusa district on Tuesday.
JAPAN
Jan 15, 2025

Japan saw a record 37 million visitors from abroad in 2024

The full-year number in 2024 represents a 47.1% year-to-year increase and was up 15.6% compared with 2019.
In only two days, more than 700,000 new users joined Xiaohongshu, also known as RedNote, a person close to the company said.
BUSINESS / Tech
Jan 15, 2025

Over half a million ‘TikTok refugees’ flock to China's RedNote app

In only two days, more than 700,000 new users have reportedly joined Xiaohongshu, a popular networking app known for lifestyle content and product recommendations.
Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes is hoping to lead his team to an unprecedented third straight Super Bowl title.
MORE SPORTS / Football
Jan 16, 2025

Chiefs set to begin quest for three-peat with matchup against Texans

Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes is 6-0 during the divisional round in his career.
It's taken Takuma Watanabe little time to establish himself as one of New York's hottest bartenders.
LIFE / Food & Drink
Jan 16, 2025

From Tokyo to Manhattan, Takuma Watanabe stirs up a stiff drink

Tokyo native Takuma Watanabe offers a formidable addition to New York’s pantheon of cocktail bars.
Ichiro Suzuki had 1,278 hits and a .353 batting average in nine seasons with the BlueWave in NPB.
BASEBALL / MLB
Jan 16, 2025

Ichiro voted into Japanese Baseball Hall of Fame

Former players Hitoki Iwase and Masayuki Kakefu and former Central League umpire Hiroya Tomizawa were also voted into the Hall.
Then-U.S. President Donald Trump and other Asian leaders pose for a family photo during a the ASEAN-U.S. 40th Anniversary Summit in Manila in November 2017. The U.S. president-elect’s Cabinet secretary level and other picks for his second term point to a tougher China policy.
COMMENTARY / World
Jan 17, 2025

What Trump’s appointments tell us about his Asia policy

Donald Trump’s second term as president appears set to intensify efforts to curb China’s influence while maintaining crucial alliances in Asia.
Komeito Secretary-General Makoto Nishida (left) and Liberal Democratic Party Secretary-General Hiroshi Moriyama (center) hold talks with Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi in Beijing on Tuesday.
EDITORIALS
Jan 17, 2025

A moment of opportunity for Japan-China relations

While the outcome of the Japan-China meeting is important, it must not compromise Japan's national interests.
Roki Sasaki pitches for Japan during the World Baseball Classic at Tokyo Dome on March 11, 2023.
BASEBALL / MLB
Jan 18, 2025

Japanese phenom Roki Sasaki signs with Dodgers

Sasaki is considered one of the most talented young pitchers on the planet. 
Hyogo Gov. Motohiko Saito in November in Kobe. Hideaki Takeuchi, a former Hyogo assemblyman who had taken part in investigations over workplace bullying allegations against Saito last year, died Saturday in an apparent suicide.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Jan 20, 2025

Former Hyogo assemblyman found dead in apparent suicide

Hideaki Takeuchi, 50, had taken part in investigations over workplace bullying allegations made against Gov. Motohiko Saito last year.
Former U.S. President Joe Biden and former first lady Jill Biden wave as they board Air Force One at Joint Base Andrews in Maryland, during a farewell ceremony on Monday following Donald Trump's inauguration.
WORLD / Politics
Jan 21, 2025

Biden issues preemptive pardons for family and targets of Trump ire

Trump has repeatedly called for the prosecution of his perceived enemies since winning the White House in November.
U.S. President Donald Trump signs executive orders in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington on Monday.
ENVIRONMENT / Climate change
Jan 21, 2025

Trump withdraws from Paris climate agreement — again

The newly minted president removed the world's biggest historic emitter from global efforts to fight climate change for the second time in a decade.
Qatar's Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesperson, Majed Al-Ansari, looks at a paper as he speaks after Qatar helped mediate a ceasefire agreement in Gaza, in Doha on Monday.
WORLD / Politics
Jan 21, 2025

Mediators on standby for obstacles as Gaza ceasefire starts

"These kinds of deals are never easy to maintain," said a spokesperson for Qatar's foreign ministry, which helped broker the ceasefire.
Impeached South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol attends a hearing at the Constitutional Court of Korea in Seoul on Tuesday.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Jan 21, 2025

South Korea's Yoon attends impeachment trial over martial law bid

His decision to attend the impeachment hearing contrasts with his resistance to criminal proceedings against him.
A trailer transports Nissan’s NV200 Venette minivans in Yokosuka, Kanagawa Prefecture.
BUSINESS / Companies
Jan 21, 2025

Nissan to end production of compact van as Honda rescue looms

Manufacturing unit Nissan Shatai hasn’t made any decisions on job cuts, a Nissan spokesperson said.
Yokozuna Terunofuji enters the ring at Ryogoku Kokugikan in Tokyo earlier this month during what would be his final tournament.
SUMO / INSIDE SUMO
Jan 22, 2025

Terunofuji’s career was unique — and great

Most yokozuna are evaluated based on wins and Emperor's Cup titles. But Terunofuji's great career wasn't quantifiable by numbers alone.
Dodgers pitcher Roki Sasaki speaks during his introductory news conference with the team in Los Angeles on Wednesday.
BASEBALL / MLB
Jan 23, 2025

Dodgers introduce Japanese pitching phenom Roki Sasaki

A frenzied sweepstakes among MLB clubs officially came to an end with Sasaki's decision to join Shohei Ohtani and Yoshinobu Yamamoto in LA.
Takuya Mori, a curator of Yokkaichi Municipal Museum in Yokkaichi, Mie Prefecture, works on converting magnetic recordings kept at the museum into digital files.
JAPAN / Society / Regional voices: Chubu
Mar 3, 2025

Magnetic tapes at risk without digitization, archive groups warn

UNESCO has called for the digitization of audio and video recordings kept in academic and cultural institutions.
South Korea's impeached President Yoon Suk Yeol arrives to attend the fourth hearing of his impeachment trial over his short-lived imposition of martial law, at the Constitutional Court in Seoul on Thursday.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Jan 23, 2025

South Korea investigators seek Yoon indictment for insurrection and abuse of power

Yoon Suk Yeol, impeached and suspended from power on Dec. 14, has been incarcerated since last week.
Afghan citizens, who are in the process for resettlement in the U.S., attend an English class on the outskirts of Islamabad, Pakistan, on Wednesday.
WORLD / Society
Jan 24, 2025

Afghans awaiting U.S. resettlement feel betrayal after Trump order

Some feel betrayed, with many — including those who fled Taliban rule in Afghanistan — having already spent years in limbo.

Longform

Dangami House is a 180-year-old former samurai residence of the Kato clan, who ruled over Ozu, Ehime Prefecture, until the Meiji Restoration.
A house, a legacy and the quiet work of restoration in rural Japan