Search - 2023

 
 
Beyond factors such as the "motherhood penalty," Japanese women struggle to advance in their careers due to the structure of the workforce, including the two-tiered clerical versus managerial track.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Mar 6, 2024

Why is it taking so long to break the glass ceiling?

Japan isn't unique in having a thick glass ceiling, but some factors don't apply to other countries, like the U.S., where many more managers are women.
American rapper and noted anime fan Megan Thee Stallion presented the award for anime of the year to director Shota Goshozono for “Jujutsu Kaisen: Hidden Inventory/Premature Death” at the Anime Awards on March 2
CULTURE / Film
Mar 8, 2024

Crunchyroll's Anime Awards build on star power

The streamer's event upped the glamor with celebrity attendees such as Megan Thee Stallion and Rashmika Mandanna, and "Jujutsu Kaisen" won 11 prizes.
Chef Harutomo Hagi's self-named restaurant in Iwaki was selected as the 2023 Japan Times Destination Restaurant of the Year.
LIFE / Food & Drink / Destination Restaurants
Mar 10, 2024

Hagi: French restaurant leads Fukushima revival

The Japan Times’ 2023 Restaurant of the Year is a sterling example of Fukushima’s slow and steady post-disaster revival.
Kathy Matsui in 2019
BUSINESS
Mar 8, 2024

Ex-Goldman executive Kathy Matsui says womenomics needs work

Matsui said the effort to increase women in leadership positions is "a matter of trial and error to find the best fit” for companies.
Trevor Bauer has not pitched in MLB since the 2021 season.
BASEBALL / MLB
Mar 8, 2024

Trevor Bauer to return to Dodgers' facilities on quest for MLB comeback

Bauer's quest to return to the major leagues will take him through the Los Angeles Dodgers' facility in Glendale, Arizona.
SUMO
Mar 8, 2024

Terunofuji remains in driver's seat as new title hopefuls gather strength

The ascension of three new ozeki since July appears to have brought a measure of stability to sumo.
Both China and Russia may believe there will never be a more opportune moment to overthrow American dominance than now. And should the two combine their forces, they could represent the most serious challenge to the global economic and strategic order since 1945.
COMMENTARY / World
Mar 8, 2024

The threat to American hegemony is real

Russia and China might be tempted to threaten America's hegemony with a simultaneous and coordinated challenge.
A man looks at electronic boards displaying stock prices of companies listed on the Tokyo Stock Exchange in Tokyo on Monday. The benchmark 225-issue Nikkei average has surged at an unexpected pace of about 20% this year
BUSINESS / Economy / FOCUS
Mar 8, 2024

A stock rally but sluggish growth: What’s the deal with Japan’s economy?

The Nikkei is benefiting from companies' strong earnings, but wider economic indicators are much less positive.
Sony's move to cut costs and Microsoft's decision to release titles on rival platforms reflect uncertainty in the gaming industry.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Mar 8, 2024

Looks like we're nearing peak PlayStation

The gaming industry as a whole is struggling with ballooning development costs and longer production cycles, leading to fewer and risk-averse titles.
A worker at Nakamatsu Meat speaks to an Alexa-powered device at its factory in Uruma, Okinawa Prefecture, in November. At the factory, workers give production updates to Alexa, which then converts this into data that is compiled in the company's computer.
BUSINESS / Companies / Regional Voices: Okinawa
Mar 11, 2024

Okinawa meat shop uses tech to improve efficiency and raise wages

Nakamatsu Meat's digitalization enabled it to cut its factory operating time and optimize raw material purchases.
Goldman Sachs is exiting transaction banking in Japan, less than a year after announcing plans to enter the business
BUSINESS / Companies
Mar 8, 2024

Goldman Sachs exits Japan transaction banking in sudden reversal

The bank will remain focused on growing its transaction banking operations in the U.S., U.K. and European Union, according to a spokesperson for the firm.
Nissan expects kei EV sales to expand, as kei cars are relatively inexpensive compared to regular cars and their size makes them suitable for short-distance trips.
BUSINESS / Companies
Mar 8, 2024

Nissan may bring ultra-compact EV production in-house from 2028, sources say

The automaker is considering moving production to its factory in Kyushu in the business year starting April 2028.
Displaced Palestinians wait to receive United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) aid, amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and the Palestinian Islamist group Hamas, in Rafah, in the southern Gaza Strip, on Thursday.
WORLD / Politics
Mar 9, 2024

UNRWA report says Israel coerced some agency employees to falsely admit Hamas links

The assertions are contained in a report by the U.N. Relief and Works Agency dated February 2024.
Fukushima Gov. Masao Uchibori speaks during an interview on Tuesday.
JAPAN / Science & Health
Mar 9, 2024

Fukushima governor urges state to clarify soil policy

Fukushima will host interim storage facilities for the soil on the premise that the soil is stored at final disposal sites outside the prefecture.
Lauded in China as a major leap in indigenous semiconductor fabrication, last year’s SMIC-made processor powered Huawei’s Mate 60 Pro and a wave of patriotic smartphone-buying in the Asian country.
BUSINESS / Tech
Mar 9, 2024

Huawei chip breakthrough used tech from two U.S. gear suppliers

The report suggests that China still cannot entirely replace certain foreign components and equipment required for cutting-edge products.
A hiker walks toward Asahidake in Hokkaido. The health and environmental issues around PFAS could be a particular problem for Japan, which boasts a number of globally renowned outdoor brands and related suppliers.
ENVIRONMENT / Sustainability / OUR PLANET
Mar 10, 2024

Japan’s revered outdoor brands face down PFAS challenge

Outdoor apparel consumers are generally more environmentally conscious, but are likely to be using products that have a big environmental footprint.
An armed soldier stands guard next to a sign prohibiting the use of weapons outside the military headquarters as Haiti continues in a state of emergency, in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, on March 6.
WORLD / Society
Mar 11, 2024

Violence in Haiti puts focus on how to unravel gangs' grip on power

Armed gangs have profited from collusion, negligence and chaos since the 2021 assassination of former Haitian President Jovenel Moise.
Yusuke Ishikawa, a 49-year-old coroner with  the Miyagi Prefectural Police, is working to identify six remains of victims of the March 11, 2011, earthquake and tsunami.
JAPAN
Mar 11, 2024

Police continue work to identify 3/11 disaster victims

Officials are alarmed by a decrease in opportunities for the police to obtain information that could lead to victims being identified.
A sign warns of underground natural gas pipelines outside Rifle, Colorado, in June 2012.
ENVIRONMENT / Energy
Mar 11, 2024

U.S. gas pipeline accidents pose big, unreported climate threat

Accidental pipeline leaks — caused by incidents like punctures, corrosion, severe weather and faulty equipment — happen routinely.
Athletes from Brazil, Ecuador, Peru and Portugal will face more stringent out-of-competition testing to be eligible for the Paris Olympics, the Athletics Integrity Unit has said.
OLYMPICS
Mar 12, 2024

Four nations to face more stringent testing ahead of Games, says AIU

The stringent conditions include athletes having undergone at least three no notice out-of-competition tests before July 4.
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz and Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim hold a joint press conference at the Chancellery in Berlin on Monday.
WORLD / Politics
Mar 12, 2024

Scholz meets with ASEAN leaders, looking to reduce China dependency

China still dominates the supply of raw materials needed to make electric-vehicle batteries, solar panels and other high-tech products.
A Zara clothing store in Brussels on November 2022. Inditex is an outlier among big clothing retailers in not publishing details of the factories from which it sources.
BUSINESS / Companies
Mar 12, 2024

Zara owner Inditex faces pressure from investors on supply chain disclosure

Regulators and investors want transparency from clothing retailers, to prove supply chains are free of forced labor and workers are paid decent wages.
The defense request is largely seen as a symbolic opening shot in what is expected to be a protracted spending battle in Congress ahead of a November presidential election that will almost certainly pit President Joe Biden against his Republican predecessor, Donald Trump.
WORLD / Politics
Mar 12, 2024

With eye on Indo-Pacific, Biden seeks record U.S. defense budget

But the $895.2 billion figure for fiscal 2025 is only about a 1% increase from the $886.3 billion proposal made last year — far below inflation levels.
Shi Pong Hsu, 75, makes coffee in a Singapore coffee shop. The city-state's government projects that almost a quarter of its population will be 65 or over by 2030.
COMMENTARY / World
Mar 10, 2024

Singapore is bracing for a super-aging society

Japan and South Korea may be the poster children for low birthrates, but Singapore is confronting its own decline. Its solution? Bonuses for nurses.
Business sentiment among major Japanese companies in the January to March period deteriorated to record its first negative reading in four quarters.
BUSINESS / Economy
Mar 12, 2024

Big Japanese firms' sentiment shows first negative reading in four quarters

The business sentiment index for large companies stood at minus 0.018, according to the joint Finance Ministry-Cabinet Office survey.
JAPAN / Science & Health
Mar 12, 2024

Health ministry urges caution after measles outbreak

Eight cases have been confirmed among passengers of a flight from the United Arab Emirates that landed at Kansai International Airport in late February.
Connor O'Leary competes during an event in Huntington Beach, California, in 2019.
OLYMPICS / Surfing
Mar 13, 2024

Japan picks Aussie-born O'Leary for bonus Olympic surfing spot

O'Leary, who was raised in the south Sydney suburb of Cronulla, was granted a third men's spot by the Nippon Surfing Association.
A Costco store in Illinois
BUSINESS / Companies
Mar 13, 2024

Costco’s Japan unit warned by FTC after cutting subcontractor payments

Bakery and food suppliers saw their compensation reduced by ¥33.5 million from 2021 to 2023, the agency has said.
Aichi police assert that the duo also received approximately ¥5.9 million in kickbacks for the fraudulent practice from the company that it placed orders with.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Mar 13, 2024

Two former Toyota employees arrested on fraud charges

The employees allegedly defrauded the company out of ¥11.5 million ($78,000) by inflating expenses and placing questionable orders.
Japan rugby head coach Eddie Jones attends a news conference at the Foreign Correspondents' Club of Japan in Tokyo on Wednesday.
MORE SPORTS / Rugby
Mar 13, 2024

Eddie Jones aims to make Japan a top four side and find rugby's Ohtani

Jones takes over Japan for a second spell after a calamitous, short-lived stint with Australia.

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