Search - 2023

 
 
Tokyo's Chiyoda Ward is testing a project to fight rats using garbage bags imbued with the smell of herbs they hate.
JAPAN / Society
Feb 11, 2024

Tokyo ward using garbage bags with herbs to combat rats

Chiyoda Ward received around 200 complaints annually in fiscal 2019 to 2022, a surge from around 50 until fiscal 2018.
Sikhs in Peshawar, Pakistan, hold a protest on Sept. 20 against the killing of Hardeep Singh Nijjar, a Sikh leader who was murdered months earlier in Surrey, British Columbia, Canada.
COMMENTARY / World
Jan 4, 2024

Does India have a secret hit list?

The pressure is on for India to salvage its global reputation and preserve its relationship with the United States amid assassination plots against Sikhs.
India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi waves to his supporters as he arrives at a rally in Guwahati, India, on Feb. 4.
WORLD / Politics
Feb 12, 2024

Modi flexes global muscle with Abu Dhabi visit and temple opening

While Islam is the UAE’s state religion, Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party has long had a strained relationship with India’s Muslim population.
The first unit of H3 rocket carrying the Earth observation satellite Daichi-3 is launched from the Tanegashima Space Center in Kagoshima Prefecture in March last year.
JAPAN / Science & Health
Feb 12, 2024

JAXA to give second shot at H3 rocket launch Thursday

During last year's launch, the second-stage engine of the first unit failed to ignite due to an electrical problem.
Japan’s latest growth figures are set to confirm it slipped to become the world's fourth-largest economy last year.
BUSINESS / Economy
Feb 13, 2024

Japan GDP set to confirm slip to world’s fourth-largest economy

Figures for the calendar year are almost certain to show the value of output falling behind Germany’s in dollar terms.
Hisashi Oka, president and CEO
ESG CONSORTIUM
Feb 14, 2024

OAT Agrio grows better farms with green tech, agrochemicals

OAT Agrio Co. Ltd. produces environmentally friendly fertilizers and other agricultural chemicals for the sake of both better food security and nature. In a recent interview with The Japan Times, the company’s president, Hisashi Oka, talked about its hands-on efforts to learn more and continue improving...
Keith Kellogg, a national security adviser to Donald Trump, speaks to reporters during a daily press briefing at the White House in 2020.
WORLD / Politics
Feb 14, 2024

Trump adviser poses 'tiered' system for NATO states who don't pay up

NATO could become an alliance in which some members enjoy greater protections based on their compliance with defense spending agreements.
Nvidia's shares slipped 0.17% on Tuesday, leaving its stock market value at $1.78 trillion, eclipsing Amazon's $1.75 trillion value after the online shopping and cloud-computing heavyweight's stock declined 2.15%.
BUSINESS / Companies
Feb 14, 2024

Nvidia market cap threatens Alphabet after overtaking Amazon

The chipmaker's stock market value at the end of Tuesday's trading session was $1.78 trillion, while that of Google's owner was $1.81 trillion.
Masayoshi Son, chairman and chief executive officer of SoftBank Group. One of SoftBank's primary objectives will be to harvest returns from its huge portfolio rather than priming unprofitable startups for growth.
BUSINESS / Companies
Feb 14, 2024

SoftBank’s Vision Fund swaps splashy bets for ‘timid’ investing

As other tech investors have heaped money into new artificial intelligence firms, Vision Fund has stayed out of the fray.
Elementary, junior high and high school girls represented 76 different sumo clubs from across the nation on Sunday at the Dream Girls Cup, with the tournament also given a slight international flavor by the inclusion of one athlete from the United States and one from Brazil.
SUMO / INSIDE SUMO
Feb 15, 2024

All-time great Hakuho hopes to help girls realize their sumo dreams

The inaugural Dream Girls Cup saw 76 sumo clubs from across the nation gather in Tokyo for an event that Hakuho hopes will spur big dreams.
Gross domestic product contracted 0.4% on an annualized basis in the October-December 2023 quarter, following a 3.3% contraction in the previous quarter.
BUSINESS / Economy
Feb 15, 2024

Japan loses spot as No. 3 economy after surprise GDP contraction

Analysts caution that the data is perhaps not as bad as it seems, given solid readings from other economic indicators.
Buddhist devotees worship in heavy rain in Colombo, Sri Lanka, on May 5, 2023.
WORLD / Society
Feb 15, 2024

Domestic violence is cost of climate change for Sri Lanka women

Sri Lanka is among the countries most affected by extreme weather events as it grapples with the aftermath of a huge financial collapse in 2022.
Rakuten Group has incurred a net loss for the fifth straight year.
BUSINESS / Companies
Feb 15, 2024

Rakuten logs second-largest annual net loss

The firm will skip a dividend payment for the first time in 23 years to prioritize its financial stability.
Naoko Motooka began hunting 10 years ago. Her hobby is one way Hokkaido hopes to curb a current boom in the deer population.
PODCAST / deep dive
Feb 15, 2024

Hunting in Hokkaido; Taylor Swift comes to Tokyo

You probably don’t think of guns when you think of Japan, but Hokkaido’s hunters do.
A soldier participates in a multinational training exercise in the municipality of Hohenfels in Germany.
WORLD / Politics
Feb 15, 2024

Europe's race against time to rebuild militaries in uncertain world

The continent is a decade away from being able to defend itself unaided, officials say, while Russia could target a NATO member in three to five years.
Chu Yi, 23, who is doing a six-month apprenticeship to be a tattoo artist, uses her laptop during an interview at her home on the outskirts of Shanghai on Feb. 5.
BUSINESS / Economy
Feb 15, 2024

Some Chinese youth spurn corporate jobs for 'me time'

Surveys show that Generation Z is the most pessimistic of all age groups in China.
Singer Crystal Kay reunites with producer Taku Takahashi for her single “That Girl,” which dips into the sounds of the 2000s as well as the modern thump of Jersey Club, a high-energy American style of dance music.
CULTURE / Music
Feb 16, 2024

Crystal Kay's star sparkles anew with Gen Z fans

The singer marks the 25th anniversary of her debut in J-pop with new single, "That Girl."
Virgilio Martinez (left) and Santiago Fernandez, head chef at Tokyo's Maz, are finding massive success bringing elevated Latin American cuisine to Japanese diners.
LIFE / Food & Drink
Feb 18, 2024

At two-starred Maz, ‘the experience extends beyond the meal’

“We see Maz as a kind of ‘culture house’ for Latin America in Japan,” says head chef Santiago Fernandez.
Pedestrians in Piazza Cordusio in Milan. Europe's fertility rate has been stuck around 1.5 births per woman for the past decade.
WORLD / Society / ANALYSIS
Feb 16, 2024

How Europe can dodge a birth rate hard landing

Europe's fertility rate has been stuck around 1.5 births per woman for the past decade, far short of the 2.1 needed to maintain population levels.
At the Akan International Crane Center, just north of the city of Kushiro proper, visitors can see the majestic red-crowned crane — a symbol of Hokkaido.
JAPAN / Society / Longform
Feb 17, 2024

Faces of the north: A Hokkaido town grapples with depopulation

Residents of Kushiro face an issue that more and more communities in Japan are having to deal with. The city may be young, but it's rich with tradition.
Former U.S. President Donald Trump holds a campaign rally ahead of the Republican caucus in Las Vegas on Jan. 27.
COMMENTARY / World / Geoeconomic Briefing
Feb 22, 2024

How East Asia should prepare for a possible Trump comeback

Questions over defense funding and military support could potentially return to the fore for U.S. allies.
The exact timing of the roll out of Rakuten Mobile's commercial satellite-to-mobile service is uncertain, but the plans for coverage encompass mountainous and remote areas across Japan.
BUSINESS / Tech
Feb 16, 2024

Rakuten plans satellite mobile service across Japan in 2026

The service, to be rolled out in partnership with AST SpaceMobile, will be directly accessible by regular smartphones and won’t require a terminal.
Bank of Japan Gov. Kazuo Ueda said Friday that the BOJ will examine the possibility of easing measures when price targets are met.
BUSINESS / Economy
Feb 16, 2024

BOJ's Ueda maintains pledge to review stimulus when inflation goal met

Data released on Thursday showed Japan's economy unexpectedly slipped into a recession in the final quarter of last year.
A new report by the McKinsey Institute for Black Economic Mobility estimates that it could take up to 320 years for Black Americans to catch up to their white counterparts in quality of life.
COMMENTARY / World
Feb 8, 2024

Black Americans gain no ground on income and wealth

One study estimates that it could take up to 320 years for Black Americans to catch up to their white counterparts' in quality of life.
Residential buildings heavily damaged by  Russian military strikes in the front-line town of Avdiivka, Ukraine, last November.
WORLD / Politics
Feb 17, 2024

Ukraine troops withdraw from front-line city of Avdiivka

Capturing Avdiivka is the most significant territorial gain for Russian forces since they seized the eastern city of Bakhmut last May.
Lakers forward LeBron James celebrates after a dunk against the Pistons on Tuesday.
BASKETBALL / NBA
Feb 18, 2024

All-Stars say NBA future in good hands once LeBron is gone

James has been the top star in an older generation of talent that also includes Golden State's Stephen Curry and Phoenix's Kevin Durant.
The Japan Tourism Agency plans to offer subsidies to develop travel products combining culinary and traditional cultural experiences in rural areas.
JAPAN
Feb 18, 2024

Japan tourism agency to promote gastronomy tourism

As foreign tourists numbers spike post-pandemic, culinary travel has grown increasingly popular, especially among wealthy travelers.
In Hokkaido’s Niseko ski resort area, a bowl of ramen or soba from a food truck easily goes for more than three times what it costs at a sit-down joint in Tokyo.
COMMENTARY
Feb 18, 2024

¥3,800 ski-slope ramen is a glimpse of Japan’s future

Foreign tourist spending has potential to stimulate growth but needs careful management to ensure equitable distribution of benefits for locals.
Travelers at Shanghai Hongqiao railway station on Feb. 6. For the Feb. 10-17 period, there were 99.5 million rail trips made in China, a figure 36% higher than the comparable period in 2019.
BUSINESS / Economy
Feb 19, 2024

China’s new year travel and spending top pre-COVID levels

Some 474 million tourist trips were made around the country during the festival, which began Feb. 10 and concluded Saturday.
Foreign Minister Yoko Kamikawa (right) presents a gift to a Ukrainian refugee an event at the Keidanren Kaikan in Tokyo on Monday.
JAPAN / Politics
Feb 19, 2024

As war fatigue grows, Japan pledges long-term support to Ukraine

Describing the aid as an investment in the future, Tokyo emphasized how Japan’s technology and expertise in reconstruction could serve Ukraine’s needs.

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