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With Russia holding the upper hand in Ukraine and its people likely to support a favorable peace, why is the Kremlin unwilling to negotiate?
COMMENTARY / Japan
May 22, 2025

Russia’s two minds on Ukraine

Russian people used to have savings; today, they spend whatever they can get their hands on and even take out loans.
Migrants wait to disembark from the port of Arguineguin, on the island of Gran Canaria, Spain, in July 2024.
WORLD / Crime & Legal
May 24, 2025

Boat driver arrests up as EU eyes tighter smuggling laws

NGO's argue that the focus should shift from pursuing boat drivers to prosecuting criminal organizations.
"Dandelion's Odyssey" an animated film by Japanese director Momoko Seto, won the International Federation of Film Critics' award on Saturday at the 78th Cannes Film Festival.
CULTURE / Entertainment news
May 25, 2025

Japan's Seto wins International Critics Award at Cannes

The French-Belgian production tells the story of dandelion seeds that travel the universe after surviving a nuclear explosion.
The U.S. military’s longstanding dominance is eroding as China exploits its vulnerabilities with cheaper, faster and smarter warfare, demanding urgent American reinvention in energy, logistics and artificial intelligence.
COMMENTARY / World
May 21, 2025

America’s hard power must get harder — quickly

Aircraft carriers and fighter jets look a lot less stealthy in a world of limitless drones and autonomous submarines.
The ground-breaking ceremony for full-scale construction to enhance Narita Airport’s capacity is held Sunday at the facility in Chiba Prefecture, with Narita International Airport President Akihiko Tamura (far left) and others in attendance.
JAPAN
May 25, 2025

Narita Airport eyes completion of third runway by early 2029

The airport in Chiba Prefecture, which services Tokyo, will see the number of its annual landing and takeoff slots jump to 500,000 from the current 300,000.
Construction equipment sits idle in a park near Shiba Toshogu shrine in Tokyo's Minato Ward. While Japan has a history of treating its trees with reverence, green coverage is said to be lacking in most of the major cities.
ENVIRONMENT / Earth science / Longform
May 26, 2025

Do Japan's trees no longer occupy the sacred space they used to?

Trees have long occupied a sacred place in Japanese culture. In the fast pace of the 21st century, however, they're increasingly losing out to progress.
A person is taken away on a stretcher after multiple people were hit by a car during a parade marking Liverpool's Premier League title win, in Liverpool, England, on Monday.
WORLD
May 27, 2025

Car plows into fans at Liverpool title parade

Videos on social media showed people thrown into the air as the car rammed into spectators.
A Liverpool football club scarf lies on the ground at the scene of an incident where a car plowed into a crowd of Liverpool fans during a parade celebrating their side's Premier League soccer title, in central Liverpool, Britain, on Tuesday.
WORLD / Crime & Legal
May 28, 2025

Man arrested on suspicion of attempted murder after Liverpool parade crash

British police believe the incident, in a packed Liverpool city center on Monday, was isolated and not an act of terrorism.
Mateusz Urbanowicz’s recent book “Imaginary Storefronts” collects his illustrations of the mundane Japanese street scenes that have given him immense inspiration.
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / 20 QUESTIONS
May 31, 2025

Mateusz Urbanowicz: ‘Miyazaki inspired me to put the audience first’

The Polish artist and animator talks about how he came to Japan and the inspiration he draws from ordinary streets and storefronts.
The head office of Chugoku Bank in Okayama
BUSINESS
May 28, 2025

Japan’s ‘Middle Country’ bank is puzzling Chinese tourists

When written in Japanese, Chugoku Bank's name is identical to that of Bank of China.
American Robert Jefferson runs a YouTube channel called The Kamakura Gardener that invites viewers to enjoy the pleasures of gardening, cooking and slow living.
COMMUNITY / Our Lives
Jun 2, 2025

‘A garden is a grand teacher’: The Kamakura Gardener nurtures via YouTube

Veteran broadcaster Robert Jefferson has built up a following through his comforting video content about gardening, cooking and living in Kamakura.
A seafood market in Beijing. China has agreed to lift a ban on Japanese seafood imports that has lasted for 21 months.
BUSINESS / Economy
May 30, 2025

China agrees to lift ban on Japanese seafood imports

The prohibition was imposed in response to the release of treated wastewater from the crippled Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant into the ocean.
Pipelines at Jera's thermal power station in Futtsu, Chiba Prefecture
BUSINESS / Companies
May 30, 2025

Japan’s top LNG importer will explore buying from Alaska

Jera, which is also the nation’s largest power producer, inked the nonbinding pact ahead of a summit in the U.S. state next week.
Elon Musk boards Air Force One at Joint Base Andrews in Maryland in March. As Musk became one of Donald Trump's closest allies last year, he was also using drugs far more intensely than previously known, according to people familiar with his activities.
WORLD / Politics
May 31, 2025

On the Trump campaign trail, Elon Musk juggled drugs and family drama

Musk’s drug consumption went well beyond occasional use and also came as he dealt with personal drama related to his growing number of children.
Jared Isaacman, U.S. President Donald Trump's then-nominee to be NASA administrator, testifies during a Senate panel confirmation hearing on Capitol Hill in Washington on April 9.
WORLD / Politics
Jun 1, 2025

Trump pulls Musk ally's NASA nomination and will announce replacement

Isaacman's removal comes just days after Musk's official departure from the White House.
World Health Organization Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus delivers his report to delegates at the World Health Assembly in Geneva on May 19.
COMMENTARY / World
Jun 2, 2025

Trump’s WHO withdrawal could cost the U.S. dearly

Despite progress since COVID-19, the U.S. remains vulnerable to pandemics like H5N1, and withdrawing from the WHO would weaken its ability to respond to global health threats.
The planned wheelchair basketball venue for the Los Angeles 2028 Paralympic Games is seen in a digital artist's rendering released on Tuesday.
PARALYMPICS
Jun 4, 2025

LA28 unveils venue plan for largest ever Paralympics

The Paralympics will seek to take advantage of the city's vast network of existing sports venues when it hosts the event for the first time.
Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba  addresses a meeting held at the Prime Minister's Office on Tuesday to discuss enhancing Japan's international competitiveness in the field of intellectual property.
JAPAN
Jun 4, 2025

Government adopts new intellectual property program to enhance competitiveness

The government aims to raise the country's ranking in the World Intellectual Property Organization's annual Global Innovation Index to fourth or higher by 2035.
The year so far is only proving that Mrs. Green Apple is the biggest band in Japan. Their success also seems to be hinting at a change in the musical landscape more broadly.
CULTURE / Music
Jun 5, 2025

Six months into 2025, J-pop is having a full-on identity crisis (and a great time)

Halfway through 2025, J-pop is in flux — swinging between AI absurdity, idol nostalgia and viral sugar highs.
Emperor Naruhito, Empress Masako and their daughter, Princess Aiko, depart from Tokyo's Haneda Airport on Wednesday for Okinawa to mourn those killed in the Battle of Okinawa during World War II 80 years ago.
JAPAN
Jun 4, 2025

Emperor's family arrives in Okinawa

On Thursday, the family will offer flowers at a monument in Naha for the victims of the Tsushima Maru evacuation ship.
Malware used by Chinese state-backed hacking groups was on the systems of a U.S. telecommunications firm for seven months starting in the summer of 2023, investigators claim.
WORLD
Jun 5, 2025

Chinese hacked U.S. telecom a year before known wireless breaches

The hack raises questions about when Chinese intruders established a foothold in the American communications industry.
German Chancellor Friedrich Merz delivers a speech in Berlin on Tuesday.
WORLD / Politics
Jun 5, 2025

After courting and criticizing Trump from afar, Merz now set to meet U.S. leader

Past meetings between the two countries’ leaders have often been formalities to reinforce their unshakable postwar partnership. This time is different.
Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg delivers a speech during the Meta Connect event at in Menlo Park, California, in September 2023. The partnership between Zuckerberg's Meta and defense firm Anduril to build battlefield XR gear underscores how working with the military, once taboo in Silicon Valley, is now actively embraced.
COMMENTARY / World
Jun 5, 2025

Mark Zuckerberg finally found a use for his Metaverse — war

Anduril and Meta are partnering to design, build and field a range of integrated XR products that provide warfighters with enhanced perception on the battlefield.
The Eggplant, Trang Pepper and Mole dish encapsulates Igniv Bangkok's philosophy of weaving Thai ingredients into its creative Swiss food.
LIFE / Food & Drink
Jun 8, 2025

With Igniv Bangkok, the Thai capital’s fine dining scene gets a boost

The progressive Swiss restaurant is emblematic of the city’s evolution toward a diverse gourmet destination that includes choices from modern German to creative Japanese.
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi visiting Anji Khad bridge, India's first cable-stayed railway bridge, during its inauguration as part of a new Kashmir rail link.
ASIA PACIFIC
Jun 6, 2025

India's Modi opens strategic railway in contested 'crown jewel' Kashmir

With 36 tunnels and 943 bridges, the new railway runs for 272 kilometers and connects Udhampur, Srinagar and Baramulla in the disputed region.
A Chinese Coast Guard vessel on screen in Beijing. The coast guard demonstrated the capabilities of one of its largest ships to Pacific Island ministers last week.
ASIA PACIFIC
Jun 7, 2025

China demonstrates coast guard capability with move toward high seas patrols

The Chinese Coast Guard demonstrated the capabilities of one of its largest ships to Pacific Island ministers last week.
The launch of Vayve Mobility Eva, India's first solar electric vehicle, at the New Delhi auto show in January. An uptick in SEV development and adoption could help least developed and small island states leapfrog to a cleaner transport sector.
COMMENTARY / World
Jun 9, 2025

Solar EVs are a ray of hope for cutting emissions

Decarbonizing transport is key to cutting emissions in least developed and small island developing states, where travel demand is growing. Solar EVs offer a bright way forward.
Ryosei Akazawa, Japan’s chief tariff negotiator, is expected to head to Washington soon for a sixth round of high-level trade talks with the United States.
BUSINESS / Economy
Jun 10, 2025

Akazawa talks of 'dense fog' in U.S. trade talks ahead of G7 summit

Japan is sticking to its demand that all new tariffs be removed, the country's tariff czar insists.
Emergency specialists working at the crash site of an Azerbaijan Airlines passenger plane near the city of Aktau, Kazakhstan, in December last year.
BUSINESS / Companies
Jun 10, 2025

Expanding missile threats and airspace closures are straining airlines

The aviation industry, which prides itself on its safety performance, is investing more in data and security planning.
U.S. Marines who were placed in an alert status over the weekend rehearse nonlethal tactics in the greater Los Angeles area.
WORLD
Jun 11, 2025

Downtown Los Angeles under curfew as Newsom warns of Trump overreach

"California may be first — but it clearly won’t end here. Other states are next,” Newsom said. "Democracy is under assault right before our eyes."

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