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A man watches a news broadcast about a North Korean missile test, at the main rail station in Seoul on Thursday.
JAPAN
Nov 5, 2024

North Korea fires off missiles hours before U.S. voters head to polls

Pyongyang launched at least seven short-range missiles that flew about 400 kilometers each before splashing down in waters outside Japan's exclusive economic zone.
Staff work at a sake brewery in Fukushima Prefecture in October. Sake, a traditional Japanese alcoholic beverage made from grains and water, holds deep cultural significance in Japan.
JAPAN / Society
Nov 5, 2024

UNESCO panel recommends sake brewing for intangible cultural heritage list

A UNESCO intergovernmental committee meeting in December is expected to make a final decision on its inclusion in the Representative List.
The Tokyo District Public Prosecutor's Office will reinvestigate the case against the former secretary of lawmaker Koichi Hagiuda and consider again whether to seek criminal punishment.
JAPAN / Politics
Nov 6, 2024

Citizen panel nixes decision not to indict Hagiuda's secretary

The panel said it is unreasonable not to prosecute the secretary in view of the maliciousness of the acts relating to the Liberal Democratic Party's slush funds scandal.
The Kyoto Prefectural Police headquarters in the city of Kyoto. A 23-year-old university student from Kyoto sought help from police days before his alleged involvement in an attempted burglary in western Tokyo last month.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Nov 6, 2024

Tokyo burglary suspect sought police help days before attempted heist

University student Masaki Saen told police that he had received threats after applying for a “dark” part-time job, or “yami baito.”
The body of Claudio Worm, a German university student who went missing in Wakayama Prefecture, has been found.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Nov 6, 2024

Body of missing German tourist found off Wakayama coast

The 21-year-old's body was discovered off the Takurazaki coast after an individual alerted the Wakayama Coast Guard at around 2.50 p.m. on Nov 1.
A picture of the writer with his sibling and grandparents sits alongside double “Best of” CDs by British rock group the Beatles. Music by the band continues to conjure memories for the writer of staying at his grandparents’ home.
LIFE / Language / BILINGUAL
Nov 7, 2024

Hearing a song from the past and expressing nostalgia in Japanese

You're in a cafe and suddenly a song from the past starts to play. How do you tell your Japanese friends that you're in the "time slip"?
Nippon Ishin no Kai leader Nobuyuki Baba (right) and Secretary-General Fumitake Fujita speak to reporters in the city of Osaka on Oct. 31.
JAPAN / Politics
Nov 7, 2024

Nippon Ishin's Nobuyuki Baba to resign as party chief over election shortcomings

The party had failed to make gains beyond its regional base of Kansai and ended the election with fewer Lower House seats than before.
Toshiyuki Nishida performs at a rock concert held in Koriyama, Fukushima Prefecture, in September 2011. Nishida appeared in many events and dramas filmed in Fukushima to help the prefecture recover in the aftermath of the 2011 Great East Japan Earthquake.
JAPAN / Society / Regional Voices: Fukushima
Nov 18, 2024

In his home prefecture of Fukushima, actor Toshiyuki Nishida lives on

Friends and others who knew him paid tribute to the late actor, who was well known for his folksy charm.
An AI robot is cast into a wild environment and forced to adapt to her surroundings in “The Wild Robot.”
CULTURE / Film
Nov 8, 2024

TIFF’s animation entries rediscovered the art of the fable at this year's festival

This year’s animated lineup championed nature, connection and simplicity through stories that revel in the beauty of coexistence.
A Mogami frigate at the Maritime Self-Defense Force's Yokosuka Naval Base in Yokosuka, Kanagawa Prefecture
JAPAN
Nov 8, 2024

Australia’s next frigates to come from Japan or Germany

Should Japan win the contract to replace aging Anzac-class warships, it would mark a major breakthrough for the country’s defense industry.
Liberal Democratic Party policy chief Itsunori Onodera (right) and his Democratic Party for the People counterpart, Makoto Hamaguchi, meet in Tokyo on Friday to discuss policies their parties could potentially agree on.
JAPAN / Politics
Nov 8, 2024

LDP between a rock and a hard place in struggle to get DPP support

The opposition party wants to raise the threshold for tax exemptions from the current ¥1.03 million ($6,740), a move that would cost the government tax revenues.
The China-funded Sinamale bridge being built in Male, Maldives, in 2018. China's Belt and Road initiative has been critical in drawing small Indo-Pacific island states closer to Beijing.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Nov 8, 2024

Small island states are turning to China — and then back again

To stop small island states in the Indo-Pacific from being wooed by Chinese promises of economic largesse, Japan, Australia and India must harmonize their policies.
Former U.S. President Donald Trump speaks during an election night event in West Palm Beach, Florida, on Wednesday. Federal prosecutors in Manhattan said Friday that Iranian plotters had discussed a plan to assassinate Trump before the 2024 election.
WORLD / Politics
Nov 9, 2024

U.S. announces charges in alleged Iranian plot to assassinate Trump

The foiled assassination plot on Trump was allegedly directed by Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps to avenge the death of Iranian Gen. Qassem Soleimani.
An automated truck is seen at Anglo American's Quellaveco copper mine in Peru in April.
JAPAN
Nov 9, 2024

Japan and Peru to agree on mineral mining technology tie-up, report says

Resource-poor Japan has been actively reinforcing global supply chains for critical minerals — essential components for decarbonization technology.
Ryuichi Sakamoto
CULTURE / Entertainment news
Nov 9, 2024

Late Ryuichi Sakamoto's final solo piano work nominated for Grammy

"Opus" has been nominated for the award in the Best New Age, Ambient, or Chant Album category.
Republican presidential nominee and former U.S. President Donald Trump shakes hands with senior adviser Susie Wiles as he speaks, following early results from the 2024 U.S. presidential election in Palm Beach County Convention Center, in West Palm Beach, Florida, on Nov. 6.
WORLD / Politics / FOCUS
Nov 12, 2024

As Donald Trump staffs up for second term, only MAGA loyalists need apply

As advisers and allies of Republican President-elect Donald Trump search for personnel to staff his coming administration, one quality is absolutely paramount: unquestioning loyalty.
Donald Trump believes the U.S. should prioritize its own national interests like other countries rather than maintaining its traditional role as a global leader, signaling a dramatic shift in how the United States may engage with the world.
COMMENTARY / World
Nov 12, 2024

Who will step up if Trump steps back?

U.S. President-elect Donald Trump is indifferent to the global order and may adopt a foreign policy approach that reshapes the global balance of power.
Daisuke Tanaka's profile photo on his Instagram account
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Nov 13, 2024

Host arrested on suspicion of coercing client into prostitution

A host club employee in Tokyo’s Kabukicho entertainment district was arrested for allegedly attempting to force a female client into prostitution.
Democratic Party for the People chief Yuichiro Tamaki wants to the tax-free annual income ceiling raised to ¥1.78 million ($11,410).
BUSINESS / Economy
Nov 14, 2024

Japan’s key political issue rests on an enduring economic myth

Economists cast doubts on the Democratic Party for the People's push for raising the tax-free income threshold — its key demand to the ruling coalition for its support.
Administrative Reform Minister Masaaki Taira at an autumn review session for national programs on Thursday in Tokyo.
JAPAN / Politics
Nov 14, 2024

Reform minister says Japan will monitor Musk's approach to government efficiency

"We will closely follow the approach and incorporate it into our administrative reform efforts," Administrative Reform Minister Masaaki Taira noted.
Seiji Osaka, the leader of the Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan's Hokkaido chapter, has expressed concern over the finances of Rapidus, which is supposed to be in full production of cutting-edge 2-nanometer chips by 2027.
JAPAN / Politics / Regional Voices: Hokkaido
Nov 25, 2024

CDP’s gains in Hokkaido raise political questions about Rapidus

The head of the party's Hokkaido chapter has expressed concern over the finances for the project, which aims to produce 2-nanometer chips by 2027.
Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba attends a meeting with U.S. President Joe Biden and South Korean leader Yoon Suk Yeol on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum in Lima on Friday.
JAPAN
Nov 16, 2024

Ishiba meets Biden and Yoon, as Trump's White House return looms

The three sought to further cement ties by announcing the creation of a “trilateral secretariat” to better coordinate and implement their goals.
Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy welcomes Foreign Minister Takeshi Iwaya before their meeting in Kyiv on Saturday.
JAPAN / Politics
Nov 17, 2024

Top Japan diplomat makes surprise visit to Ukraine

The trip comes amid growing fears about the conflict’s expansion following North Korea’s dispatch of troops to Russia for combat operations.
Jiro Hamazumi (right), deputy secretary general of the Japan Confederation of A- and H-Bomb Sufferers Organizations, holds a news conference on Thursday.
JAPAN
Nov 16, 2024

Nihon Hidankyo's crowdfunding campaign achieves initial goal on first day

The amount of donations collected under the campaign surpassed ¥10 million shortly past 11 p.m. Friday Japan time. Donors reached about 1,400 people.
People visit the Akasaka Estate in Tokyo on Saturday to sign the book of condolences for the late Princess Yuriko.
JAPAN
Nov 17, 2024

People sign condolence book for Princess Yuriko

Many people visited the residence of the late Princess Yuriko at the Akasaka Estate in Tokyo to sign the book of condolences.
Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba with South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol on Saturday during their meeting on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in Lima
JAPAN / Politics
Nov 17, 2024

Ishiba and Yoon unite on 'strong concerns' over North Korean troops in Russia

Tokyo and Seoul have stressed that, with the involvement of North Korea in the Ukraine war, the conflict has expanded to include Asia.
Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba waves upon arrival for the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum, in Callao, Peru, on Friday.
JAPAN / Politics
Nov 17, 2024

Ishiba delays meeting with Trump, citing legal restrictions

According to Ishiba, Trump’s team explained that no meetings with foreign leaders will take place before the inauguration due to legal constraints
Troops from the Ground Self-Defense Force's Amphibious Rapid Deployment Brigade take part in a marine landing drill as a part of the country's nationwide 05JX military exercises in Kagoshima Prefecture in November of last year.
JAPAN / Politics
Nov 17, 2024

Elite GSDF troops to regularly deploy for drills in Australia

Tokyo will begin the deployments of the GSDF’s elite Amphibious Rapid Deployment Brigade to the city of Darwin starting next year.
A screenshot of a health ministry website that allows people to easily calculate the amount of time it takes for their body to break down the alcohol they have consumed
JAPAN / Science & Health
Nov 18, 2024

Japan ministry launches website to estimate alcohol breakdown time

The “Alcohol Watch” website allows people to enter the type and amount of drinks they consumed to calculate how long it will take for the alcohol to break down.
The Bluesky social network has soared to one of the top positions in social network downloads in app stores in the past week since the U.S. election. The company reported a recent gain of 700,000 new users joining the social media platform, an alternative to X.
BUSINESS / Tech
Nov 18, 2024

How Bluesky, alternative to X and Facebook, is handling explosive growth

Bluesky’s meteoric growth underscores its role as a decentralized alternative to traditional social networks, prioritizing user control and developer creativity.

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