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Takuya Haraguchi, head of ReFruits, speaks while looking at the kiwifruit vine at his farm in Okuma, Fukushima Prefecture, on April 24. A newcomer to farming, he hopes to revive the area by growing kiwifruits in this former no-go zone.
JAPAN
Jun 6, 2025

'Moving forward': the Gen Z farmer growing Fukushima kiwifruits

Fukushima is renowned for its delicious fruit, from pears to peaches, but the nuclear disaster led many people in Japan to shun produce grown there.
A Tokyo bride (Mai Fukagawa, centers) finds that marrying the heir to a traditional folding-fan shop and navigating the subtleties of Kyoto’s social etiquette isn’t as easy as she expected.
CULTURE / Film
Jun 6, 2025

‘Strangers in Kyoto’: Tea, tradition and passive-aggressive politeness

Masanori Tominaga’s comedy of manners — and missteps — centers on a newcomer from Tokyo who tests the limits of the city's social etiquette.
U.S. Ambassador to Japan George Glass visits the Northrop Grumman booth during the Defence and Security Equipment International Japan trade show at Makuhari Messe in the city of Chiba last month.
JAPAN / Politics
Jun 6, 2025

U.S. envoy plays down Washington-Tokyo trade row

George Glass dismissed concerns that tensions over unilateral U.S. tariffs could lead to a repeat of the trade war between the two countries in the 1980s.
Chinese tour groups visit a waterfront promenade in Hong Kong on May 5.
ASIA PACIFIC
Jun 9, 2025

Can big stars bring higher-spending tourists back to Hong Kong?

Hong Kong, which once billed itself as Asia’s World City, is now seeking to brand itself as the region’s events capital.
A man ride his bike with an umbrella in downtown Los Angeles on Wednesday.
WORLD / Politics
Jun 12, 2025

Los Angeles residents reject Trump's claims of protest destruction

The U.S. president has insisted that without the extraordinary step of sending troops into the city over the weekend, "it would be burning to the ground right now."
U.S. President Donald Trump makes an announcement regarding the Golden Dome missile defense shield next to U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington on May 20.
WORLD
Jun 13, 2025

After Trump feud, role of Musk's SpaceX in Golden Dome missile shield in question

A new framework for the U.S. missile defense system is now being considered that could reduce the role of Elon Musk's SpaceX.
With people growing increasingly wary of unknown callers and not answering their doors, more and more agencies and pollsters tasked with collecting data are using online surveys, though that comes with its own set of challenges.
WORLD / ANALYSIS
Jun 17, 2025

Faced with dwindling response rates, pollsters turn to online surveys for data

Problems with the new wave of online surveys include fresh biases in the data, confusion over questions that a computer cannot address and gaining trust.
U.S. President Donald Trump’s reversal on the Nippon Steel deal creates a "win-win-win-win" situation benefiting both companies, the U.S. economy, and the Japan-U.S. alliance, but the golden share raises concerns about increased government control.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Jun 17, 2025

Nippon Steel deal signals a win for the U.S. economy and Japan alliance

Last week, Trump lifted the Biden block, saying that the acquisition could go forward if the two companies signed a national security agreement with the U.S. government.
Workers pack bathroom fittings in a factory of the Taiwanese-owned LCM Group in Kunshan, China, on June 10.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Jun 18, 2025

Taiwan's entrepreneurs in China feel heat from cross-strait tensions

Safety fears have led many Taiwanese manufacturers to turn to less politically sensitive locales such as Vietnam and Thailand.
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.
Chairs made using the Nishijin-ori textile are displayed in the city of Kyoto.
JAPAN
Jun 27, 2025

Trading firm works to help preserve Kyoto's traditional crafts

Although Kyoto's traditional crafts are popular among foreign tourists, overall demand for such items for daily use is falling due to lifestyle changes.
U.S. President Donald Trump meets with Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa in Riyadh on May 14.
WORLD / Politics
Jul 1, 2025

Trump lifts U.S. sanctions on Syria in bid to boost new government

The order removes various sanctions on Syria, effective July 1, while keeping those on former President Bashar Assad.
The government is considering a program that would allow local governments to lease food trucks used following disasters to business operators during normal times and receive maintenance fees in return.
JAPAN
Jul 1, 2025

Cabinet Office may lease government-owned disaster food trucks to businesses

The plan aims to offer local governments assistance from the private sector in preparing for natural disasters as the authorities confront severe financial conditions.
U.S. House of Representatives Speaker Mike Johnson (fourth from right, front row) gestures after signing U.S. President Donald Trump's sweeping spending and tax bill, on Capitol Hill in Washington, on Thursday.
WORLD / Politics
Jul 4, 2025

U.S. Republicans muscle Trump's tax-cut and spending bill through Congress

The 218-214 vote is a significant victory for U.S. President Donald Trump that will fund his immigration crackdown, make his 2017 tax cuts permanent and deliver new tax breaks.
U.S. House of Representatives Speaker Mike Johnson (right) poses with U.S. Rep. John Rutherford on the day of a vote on final passage of U.S. President Donald Trump's sweeping spending and tax bill, on Capitol Hill in Washington on Thursday.
WORLD / Politics
Jul 4, 2025

Republicans and Democrats look at how to use Trump's tax-cut bill in 2026 elections

Democrats view the cuts to Medicaid and food assistance in U.S. President Donald Trump's bill as ready ammunition for their future campaign.
Children play video games on their mobile phones at an internet cafe in Demoso township in Myanmar's eastern Karenni state.
ASIA PACIFIC / Society
Jul 5, 2025

Making connections in Myanmar's fractured state

Four years of civil war between Myanmar's military and its myriad opponents have shattered communications networks.
U.S. President Donald Trump’s unilateral tariffs mark a shift toward centralized control, eroding checks and balances and raising risks of corruption and unpredictability.
COMMENTARY / World / Geoeconomic Briefing
Jul 7, 2025

Unchecked and unbalanced: The future of U.S. economic policymaking

The U.S. government is defined by its separation of powers, where authority is not concentrated in a single actor but divided between the different branches.
An English conversation test paper and bubble answer sheet. A Chinese graduate student from Kyoto University is suspected of having attempted to use a small microphone under a mask to tell other takers of a popular English-language proficiency test the correct answers.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Jul 8, 2025

Over 800 people found to be involved in TOEIC cheating scheme

For those identified as having cheated, their scores have been nullified and their accounts for the exam have been suspended.
Japan's consumer prices rose 3.3% year-on-year in June, with the pace of inflation accelerating from the 3.2% recorded in May.
BUSINESS
Jul 21, 2023

Japan's price growth accelerates ahead of BOJ inflation update

Prices excluding those for fresh food gained 3.3% from a year ago, accelerating a little from the rise in May as energy prices were less of a drag on inflation.
Clothes displayed at Shein’s headquarters in Singapore
BUSINESS
Jul 21, 2023

Fast fashion report cards show what’s really in your clothes

Consumers’ drive for quantity over quality is transforming the world’s textile industry, sparking an almost doubling in global fiber production over the past two decades.
Members of the Writers Guild of America and the Screen Actors Guild take part in a picket line outside Paramount Studios in Hollywood, California, on Thursday.
COMMENTARY / World
Jul 21, 2023

AI shines a spotlight on Hollywood hypocrisy

Studios haven’t informed or paid background actors properly for being digitally scanned, yet they want the same courtesy from AI companies.
Fast fashion concept. Woman chooses jeans in a store. Lots of clothes in the store. Fast Fashion Destroying Planet
LIFE / Language / BILINGUAL
Jul 21, 2023

Fashion, fast and slow: Discussing shopping ethics in Japanese

Whether it’s a trendy top from a chain store in Shibuya or a vintage piece from the backstreets of Kichijoji, know how to shop with a mind to sustainability in Japanese.
The community pool is a great place for exercise and meeting your neighbors.
COMMUNITY / Voices / FOREIGN AGENDA
Jul 31, 2023

Figuring out the rules at a Japanese community pool can be an ongoing education

If you’re headed for the community pool, be prepared: Japanese pool rules are an ongoing education.
Nissan will adopt Tesla's electric-vehicle charging technology in the U.S. and Canada, becoming the first Japanese carmaker to take up the technology.
BUSINESS / Companies
Jul 20, 2023

Nissan to adopt Tesla EV-charging design from 2025 in U.S. and Canada

Starting in 2025, the firm will equip its electric vehicles with the Tesla-developed North American Charging Standard (NACS) port.
Rengo members cheer during their annual May Day rally to demand higher pay and better working conditions, in Tokyo on April 29.
BUSINESS
Jul 21, 2023

Japanese unions urge employers to continue wage hikes next year and beyond

Rengo made the demand as it reviewed the results of its annual spring wage talks that concluded earlier this month, which saw major companies agree to the largest raises in 30 years.
Residential buildings in the Kachidoki area of Tokyo. The average unit price of newly supplied condominiums in the greater Tokyo area in the first six months of this year reached the highest level for the six-month period due to rising material and labor costs and higher land prices.
BUSINESS
Jul 21, 2023

Tokyo's new condo prices surge 60% to a record in first half of year

The average price of a new apartment in central Tokyo jumped 60% to ¥129.6 million ($930,000) in the January to June period.
The No. 1 Poultry building, left, in the City of London
BUSINESS
Jul 20, 2023

South Korean investors stung as bet on offices in financial centers turns sour

With a growing need for environmental credentials for corporate renters and downsizing due to the pandemic, office real-estate markets are seeing a "flight to quality" — leaving some exposed
The financial district of San Francisco in May 2022
BUSINESS
Jul 20, 2023

Not all firms are ready for a four-day week — yet, says expert

The largest-ever trial of the four-day work week found that most U.K. businesses participating don’t want to return to the five-day standard.
Tony Bennett at the Apollo Theater in the Harlem neighborhood of New York in 1997
CULTURE / Music
Jul 21, 2023

Tony Bennett, masterful stylist of American musical standards, dies at 96

Bennett vaulted to fame in the early 1950s with a string of emotional hits, including "The Boulevard of Broken Dreams," "Because of You" and "Blue Velvet."
Director Hirobumi Watanabe (second from left) stars alongside his brother Yuji (far right), who has served as composer on all of his films, in his new feature “Techno Brothers,” which follows a sibling trio on the road to Tokyo to find success in the music business.
CULTURE / Film
Jul 21, 2023

Foolish Piggies Films keeps humor at its heart

Indie director Hirobumi Watanabe looks back on 10 years of making distinctive, micro-budget films with his brother and seeking out new challenges on and off screen.

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