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The Bank of Japan's headquarters in Tokyo. In 2023, the dollar surged from around ¥130 at the start of the year to above ¥151.90 in mid-November as the gap between U.S. and Japanese interest rates widened on the back of the U.S. Federal Reserve's rapid rate hikes to curb inflation.
BUSINESS / Markets
Dec 30, 2023

Dollar could fall to around ¥130 in 2024, analysts say

Six of eight analysts predict that the lower end of the greenback's range against the yen next year will be between ¥130 and ¥135.
A wafer is pictured at Semicon Taiwan in Taipei
BUSINESS / Companies
Dec 30, 2023

This startup shows it won't be easy to contain China's chip industry

The story of Seida illustrates the challenges the West faces in thwarting Chinese development of advanced microchip technology.
The Alumy website, which offers a service for companies that want to connect with individuals who have quit their jobs
BUSINESS / Companies
Dec 31, 2023

More Japanese companies move to rehire former employees

Previously, it had been widely believed that quitting a job means completely severing the relationship with the employer.
A colorful coral reef made out of wool to raise awareness about climate change, at a museum in Baden-Baden, Germany, in January 2022
ENVIRONMENT / Sustainability / OUR PLANET
Dec 31, 2023

The art world's big planetary problem

Over the last five years, it’s become increasingly clear to major art institutions in Japan and around the world that the sector has a sustainability issue.
COMMENTARY / World
Dec 31, 2023

The outlook for 2024 appears grim — but nothing is preordained

Given the complex landscape of 2024, we can expect to navigate uncertainty, geopolitical shifts and a myriad of pivotal elections.
Ukraine's president, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen hold discussions in Kyiv in September 2022.
COMMENTARY / World
Dec 22, 2023

Europe needs a new Ukraine strategy

The European Union’s decision to start accession talks with Ukraine represents a symbolic victory rather than a practical one.
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un looks on as a rocket carrying a spy satellite is launched in November.
ASIA PACIFIC
Dec 31, 2023

North Korea plans new spy satellites in 2024 after earlier success

South Korea’s spy agency said it sees North Korea launching military and cyber provocations next year as Kim’s regime seeks to raise its profile.
A person looks at the first sunrise of the year on the beach in Miura, Kanagawa Prefecture, on Monday.
WORLD
Jan 1, 2024

World rings in 2024 after war, bots and 'Barbie'

Jubilant crowds bid farewell on Sunday to the hottest year on record, closing a turbulent 12 months marked by clever chatbots, climate crises and devastating wars.
People have their dinner at a restaurant as a screen broadcasts Chinese leader Xi Jinping's New Year's speech in Beijing on Sunday.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Jan 1, 2024

China's Xi says 'reunification' with Taiwan is inevitable

Chinese leader Xi Jinping's comments come less than two weeks to go before Taiwan elects a new president.
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un meets with commanders of the Korean People's Army in Pyongyang in this undated picture released Monday.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Jan 1, 2024

Kim tells army to 'annihilate' South Korea and U.S. if they initiate conflict

The North Korean leader told his top military officers to use maximum force against South Korea and the United States in event of war.
2024 marks the Year of the Dragon in the Chinese zodiac, with the year predicted to be a good time for fresh starts.
LIFE / Lifestyle / Longform
Jan 2, 2024

Opportunities await the bold in the Year of the Wood Dragon

From February, you can expect a rush of creativity, passion, courage and confidence with the arrival of the Wood Dragon, say astrologers.
People gather at the site of an explosion in what security sources say is an Israeli drone strike in the Beirut suburb of Dahiyeh, Lebanon, on Tuesday.
WORLD / Politics
Jan 3, 2024

Gaza war spreads to Beirut with killing of Hamas deputy leader

Lebanese and Palestinian security sources said Israel was behind the drone strike that killed Saleh al-Arouri.
Spain's Rafael Nadal hits a return against Austria's Dominic Thiem during his match in Brisbane on Jan. 2.
TENNIS
Jan 3, 2024

Nadal happy to win in return but says confidence still recovering

Nadal marked his singles comeback after hip surgery with a 7-5, 6-1 victory over Austrian former world No. 3 Dominic Thiem.
U.S. President Joe Biden departs a campaign fundraising event in Washington on Oct. 27, 2023.
WORLD / Politics
Jan 3, 2024

Biden unplugged: President goes off-script in election fundraisers

Biden's open-mic disclosures are clashing with the White House system built to keep him on script.
The Maersk Sentosa container ship sails southbound to exit the Suez Canal on Dec. 21.
BUSINESS / Companies
Jan 3, 2024

Maersk decides Red Sea too unsafe for its ships for now

The decision to reroute vessels from the vital trade corridor was made after another of its container ships came under attack from Houthi militants.
A U.S. Air Force U-2 pilot looks down at a suspected Chinese surveillance balloon on Feb. 3, 2023. Authorities in Taiwan reported that three suspected Chinese balloons flew over the island on Tuesday.
ASIA PACIFIC
Jan 3, 2024

Taiwan says three Chinese balloons flew across the island

The Taiwanese defense ministry said the balloons flew southwest of Ching Chuan Kang, the location of an important air force base.
A Japan Airlines (JAL) passenger plane burns on the tarmac at Tokyo's Haneda Airport on Tuesday.
JAPAN
Jan 3, 2024

Runway safety concerns in focus as Japan probes Tokyo crash

The collision of two airplanes at Haneda Airport comes just weeks after the global airline industry heard fresh warnings about runway safety.
A Tokyo toilet cleaner (Koji Yakusho, left) bonds with his teenage niece (Arisa Nakano) in “Perfect Days.”
CULTURE / Film
Jan 4, 2024

Wim Wenders’ ‘Perfect Days’ finds beauty in small pleasures

Koji Yakusho gives an evocative, multilayered performance as a Tokyo toilet cleaner with a passion for simple joys in this poetic drama.
Russian President Vladimir Putin and China's President Xi Jinping after a reception following their talks at the Kremlin in Moscow on March 21. China has refused to push back against the Kremlin's invasion of Ukraine, in the hopes that the war would weaken the United States and NATO.
COMMENTARY / The Year Ahead
Dec 11, 2023

Europe’s Chinese new year

The last year has solidified China’s status as one of the most salient foreign-policy challenges facing Europe. But it has been a long time coming.
Indian migrant women in Tokyo often face stifling social expectations. In contrast, they may feel empowered in more egalitarian societies like Berlin.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Jan 3, 2024

How patriarchy perpetuates among Tokyo’s Indian migrants

Indian migrant women in Tokyo struggle to break free from the patriarchal structures they experienced back home. But in Berlin, a different picture emerges.
Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich stands inside an enclosure for defendants during a court hearing on espionage charges in Moscow on Oct. 10.
COMMENTARY / World
Jan 3, 2024

Remember the world’s political prisoners. One could be you.

Hostage diplomacy and arbitrary arrests by autocratic governments are a growing threat.
U.S. President Joe Biden meets with Chinese President Xi Jinping in Woodside, California, in November. After another year marked by great-power rivalries and rising security risks, the role of hegemonic, middling and rising powers has become more fluid than at any time since the end of the Cold War.
COMMENTARY / World
Jan 4, 2024

The shape of power in 2024

Thinkers ponder whether the coming year will confirm that the world is quickly moving toward greater multipolarity or “nonalignment.”
Claudine Gay, former president of Harvard University
WORLD / Politics
Jan 4, 2024

Harvard chief’s abrupt exit exposes decade-spanning rifts

The school’s first Black leader resigned after just six months due to plagiarism allegations and anger over her handling of antisemitism on campus.
Japan midfielder Kaoru Mitoma controls the ball during extra time of the team's Round of 16 match against Croatia at the 2022 World Cup in Qatar. Mitoma was named to the Samurai Blue squad for the upcoming Asian Cup despite an ankle injury.
SOCCER
Jan 4, 2024

Samurai Blue call on Mitoma to help erase Asian Cup 'frustration'

Brighton coach Roberto De Zerbi said late last year that Mitoma would be out for up to six weeks after hurting his ankle in a 1-1 draw with Crystal Palace on Dec. 21.
Former U.S. President Donald Trump speaks at a campaign rally in Reno, Nevada, in December last year. Trump's potential return to the White House could have serious implications for the U.S, as well as Japan, as he appears set to be even less inhibited and open to reason than before.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics / FOCUS
Jan 5, 2024

Potential Trump redux: Unrestrained in Asia or bound by a changed region?

A win for the ex-president in November's election would potentially have big implications for Japan, given the death of Shinzo Abe, its most effective “Trump whisperer.”
A South Korean soldier stands guard at the Joint Security Area in the demilitarized zone (DMZ) separating the two Koreas on Feb. 7, 2023. Since the 1950-53 Korean War ended in a stalemate, both nations have had policies that treat each other differently than other countries.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Jan 4, 2024

In threatening shift, Pyongyang moves to redefine relations with Seoul

Changes to North Korean policy and government organizations effectively treat South Korea as a separate, enemy state.
Police vehicles are parked outside the Perry Middle School and High School complex following a school shooting, in Perry, Iowa, on Thursday.
WORLD / Crime & Legal
Jan 5, 2024

Sixth-grade student killed in Iowa school shooting, suspect dead

Police also discovered an improvised explosive device when searching the high school.
Huawei caused a stir in the U.S. and China last August when it released a smartphone with a 7nm processor made by Shanghai-based SMIC.
BUSINESS / Tech
Jan 5, 2024

Huawei teardown shows 5nm laptop chip made in Taiwan, not China

The firm caused a stir last August when it released a smartphone with a processor that was only a few years behind the cutting edge.
A screen next to a police station in the city of Okayama featuring a road safety campaign video in November.
JAPAN
Jan 5, 2024

Japan sees rise in traffic deaths for first time in eight years

Japan still saw the third-lowest death toll on record, with data dating back to 1948.
Former U.S. President Donald Trump appears during a campaign event in Durham, New Hampshire on Dec. 16.
WORLD / Politics
Jan 7, 2024

How Trump has used fear and favor to win Republican endorsements

The former president keeps careful watch over his endorsements from elected Republicans, aided by a disciplined and methodical behind-the-scenes operation.

Longform

A small shrine perched atop rocks braves the waves hitting the shoreline during a storm in Shimoda, Shizuoka Prefecture. The area is under threat of a possible 31-meter-high tsunami if an earthquake strikes the nearby Nankai Trough.
If the 'Big One' hits, this city could face a 31-meter-high tsunami