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Shigeru Ishiba, the new head of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party, speaks during a news conference at the party's headquarters in Tokyo on Monday.
JAPAN / Politics
Sep 30, 2024

Incoming PM Ishiba sets Oct. 27 as date for snap election

The newly elected Liberal Democratic Party president's announcement is highly unusual and not without controversy.
A U.S. Marine participates in counterdrone training in June 2021.
WORLD
Oct 1, 2024

Pentagon’s Replicator 2 to focus on countering threat from small drones

U.S. military facilities around the globe, including those in Japan and South Korea, are expected to benefit from the initiative.
A sunset in the Arctic Ocean observed from the Japanese oceanographic research ship Mirai on Sept. 24
JAPAN
Oct 1, 2024

Japanese ship Mirai ends this year's Arctic mission

The vessel left the city of Mutsu, Aomori Prefecture, in late August for the mission.
Urawa's Yu Endo (right) competes for the ball with Kobe's Yui Narumiya during a match in Osaka in January.
SOCCER
Oct 2, 2024

Champions League can put Asian women's soccer on map, players say

Women's soccer in Europe and North America is in rude health, but Asia has fallen behind.
While financial misfortunes during the COVID-19 pandemic may have driven some women to work the streets, others simply want more money to spend — or want to pay off their debts — at host clubs.
JAPAN / Society
Oct 6, 2024

Rising sex tourism exposes loopholes in Japan's anti-prostitution law

A weak yen, robust inbound tourism and social media have shone a spotlight on a park in Tokyo where men gather in search of sex.
Defense Minister Gen Nakatani, 66, has experience as the onetime head of Japan’s former Defense Agency before it became a full-fledged ministry and is seen as a pair of steady hands.
JAPAN / Politics / FOCUS
Oct 2, 2024

Ishiba looks to 'defense tribe' to fill key Cabinet positions

The new prime minister has named four former defense ministers to key posts — most notably, the defense and foreign affairs portfolios.
Kim Sang-man’s “Uprising” has attracted significant attention ahead of its world premiere thanks largely to the involvement of  its producer Park Chan-wook, best-known for directing ultra-violent thrillers like 2003’s “Old Boy,” which played a key role in bringing South Korean cinema to the global forefront.
CULTURE / Film
Oct 3, 2024

Netflix war epic to open Asia's largest film festival

Streaming-only content has contributed to a significant surge in the global visibility of Korean and Korean diaspora stories.
Aston Villa's Jhon Duran celebrates after scoring against Bayern Munich during their Champions League match in Birmingham, England, on Wednesday.
SOCCER
Oct 3, 2024

Aston Villa stuns Bayern in repeat of 1982 European Cup final

Prince William was among the over 40,000 Villa fans who inspired Unai Emery's men to shrug off the vast gulf in Champions League pedigree between the sides.
Bourgeois is perhaps best known among the general public for her giant steel spider sculptures, particularly in Tokyo, where a nearly 10-meter tall bronze cast of the original spider has loomed over the walkway in Roppongi Hills since 2003.
CULTURE / Art
Oct 4, 2024

Japan’s biggest Louise Bourgeois exhibit yet leans into ambivalence

At Tokyo’s Mori Art Museum, a large-scale retrospective of the visionary artist emphasizes her complex feelings toward femininity, memory, parenthood and the human body.
Falcons quarterback Kirk Cousins passes against the Buccaneers in Atlanta on Thursday. The Falcons won 36-30 in overtime.
MORE SPORTS
Oct 4, 2024

Kirk Cousins goes over 500 yards to lift Falcons to win over Buccaneers in overtime

Cousins completed 42 of 58 passes for 509 yards and four touchdowns.
Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar looks on during an anti-Israel rally in Gaza City on Oct. 1, 2022.
WORLD
Oct 5, 2024

Hunted yet unrepentant: Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar remains committed to Israel's destruction

For Sinwar, architect of the cross-border raids a year ago, armed struggle with Israel remains the only way to force the creation of a Palestinian nation.
Canadian Ambassador to Japan Ian McKay, who is also his country's special envoy for the Indo-Pacific, takes part in an interview with The Japan Times last week.
JAPAN / Politics
Oct 6, 2024

Canada eyes joint coast guard patrols with more Asian partners, envoy says

Canada is recognized as a leader in terms of its "Dark Vessel Detection" technology designed to identify vessels fishing illegally in protected maritime areas.
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.
SV League players and Chairman Masaaki Okawa (front, holding a volleyball) during a news conference in Tokyo last month.
MORE SPORTS / Volleyball
Oct 9, 2024

Japan's new volleyball league has big dreams as it gets set to launch

The SV. League replaces the V. League as Japan's top volleyball league and aims to eventually become the best volleyball league in the world.
Chinese residents living in Japan take part in a “white paper” protest in solidarity against China's COVID-19 lockdowns, in Tokyo in November 2022.
JAPAN
Oct 10, 2024

Chinese nationals in Japan testify to harassment by Beijing, report says

One man said Chinese police had used his relatives to try and lure him back to the country.
As streaming services like Netflix invest in Japanese content, the hope is to revitalize the nation’s cultural exports and elevate its television landscape.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Oct 9, 2024

Netflix’s ‘Tokyo Swindlers’ reveals some surprising truths

"Tokyo Swindlers" can reveal some home truths — even when they’re presented by a group of fraudsters.
Two of Google's researchers shared the Nobel Prize in Chemistry for work revealing the secrets of proteins through AI.
WORLD / Science & Health
Oct 10, 2024

AI steps into science limelight with Nobel wins

The science now bundled together as artificial intelligence has a long history, emerging in the 1950s and 60s with simple algorithms.
Squats are a good way to exercise your legs and glutes, just don't neglect exercising your mind when it comes to new vocabulary.
LIFE / Language / BILINGUAL
Oct 10, 2024

Studying Japanese is like exercise: The more you do it, the better you'll feel.

Get to know the language of weight training as experts say strengthening muscles is key to remaining comfortable and injury-free in your old age.
Japan Sword Co. is a regular exhibitor at the Antique Dealers’ Fair & Exhibition in Tokyo. Its booth at a previous event in 2021 featured more than a few treasures.
CULTURE / Art
Oct 10, 2024

Hold history in your hands at this triennial antiques fair in Tokyo

Open to the public, the Antique Dealers’ Fair & Exhibition will allow visitors to see pieces up close, which might just spur a purchase.
Francisco Lindor (center) celebrates with his teammates in the dugout after hitting a grand slam against the Phillies during Game 4 of the NLDS on Wednesday in New York.
BASEBALL / MLB
Oct 10, 2024

Francisco Lindor hits grand slam to propel Mets past Phillies and into NLCS

He joined Edgardo Alfonzo as the only Mets players to hit a postseason grand slam, and the Mets booked their first NLCS appearance since 2015.
Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, awards Brig. Gen. Amir Ali Hajizadeh (left), the commander of the Aerospace Force, with the Fath badge in Tehran on Sunday for the missile attack on Israel. 
COMMENTARY / Japan
Oct 10, 2024

Today's Tehran looks a lot like the Tokyo of the 1930s

Current tensions between Iran and Israel have parallels to historical events in 1930s Japan.
People engage in discussions during a program of School for Life Compath in Biei, Hokkaido, in August 2021.
JAPAN / Society
Oct 11, 2024

Danish-style 'schools for life' gaining popularity in Japan

The schools promote personal growth and lifelong learning, covering topics such as self-discovery, societal exploration, modern art and forest adventures.
The Aichi Prefectural Police headquarters in Nagoya. Aichi police have arrested a 36-year-old unemployed man on suspicion of murder following the death of a couple, believed to be his parents, in their apartment in Nagoya's Midori Ward.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Oct 11, 2024

Nagoya man arrested after death of couple believed to be his parents

Police are working to confirm the victims' identities and are investigating suspect Keisuke Kita’s possible involvement in both deaths.
Serhiy Tsapok (left) and a firefighter extinguish the remains of a fire in a forest near Yarova, Sviati Hory National Park, Donetsk region, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, July 29.
ENVIRONMENT / Wildlife
Oct 11, 2024

Ukraine's vast forests devastated in hellscape of war

Both Russian and Ukrainian armies blast thousands of shells at each other every day, shredding the earth in grinding combat that echoes World War I.
The Yankees' Gerrit Cole pitches against the Royals in Game 4 of their playoff series in Kansas City, Missouri, on Thursday.
BASEBALL
Oct 11, 2024

Yankees advance in MLB playoffs as Guardians stay alive

The Yankees will face either the Tigers or the Guardians in the ALCS.
Attendees observe a moment of silence at a memorial service to mark the five-year anniversary of the torrential rain disaster caused by Typhoon Hagibis in Marumori, Miyagi Prefecture, on Saturday.
JAPAN
Oct 12, 2024

Victims of Typhoon Hagibis remembered five years after disaster

At least 90 people were killed in heavy rain across the country after Typhoon Hagibis made landfall in the Izu Peninsula on the night of Oct. 12, 2019.
Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba speaks during a debate with other political party leaders at the Japan National Press Club in Tokyo on Saturday.
JAPAN / Politics
Oct 13, 2024

Japan to ‘seriously consider’ U.N. nuke ban treaty observer status, Ishiba says

Japan, the sole country to be attacked with nuclear weapons, has faced criticism for not participating in some form in the treaty.
Constitutional Democratic Party (CDP) leader Yoshihiko Noda speaks to reporters in Tokyo on Thursday.
JAPAN / Politics / FOCUS
Oct 13, 2024

Amid skepticism, CDP faces once-in-a-lifetime opportunity in Oct. 27 polls

The party can capitalize on dissatisfaction against the ruling Liberal Democratic Party over a recent scandal, but it must battle voters' deep-seated doubts against it.
Dodgers starting pitcher Yoshinobu Yamamoto threw five scoreless frames against the Padres in Game 5 of their division series.
BASEBALL / MLB
Oct 13, 2024

Dodgers' Yoshinobu Yamamoto finds redemption with series-clinching performance

Yamamoto permitted only two hits across five innings while pacifying the relentless Padres lineup in a 2-0 Game 5 victory.
Liberty forward Breanna Stewart drives against the Lynx's Napheesa Collier in the third quarter of Game 2 in the WNBA Finals in New York on Sunday.
BASKETBALL
Oct 14, 2024

Breanna Stewart leads strong defensive effort as Liberty top Lynx in Game 2

The Liberty combined for 13 steals and harried the Lynx into 20 turnovers that resulted in 26 New York points.

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