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GU's first overseas flagship store opens in SoHo, New York.
LIFE / Style & Design
Sep 30, 2024

How to own something by the punk poet designer Jun Takahashi

GU, Uniqlo’s trendier sibling, is opening its first store outside Asia in SoHo, collaborating with the subversively witty Jun Takahashi of Undercover.
Community leaders discuss the role of pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) in ending the HIV/AIDS threat to public health by 2030 at a seminar hosted by Gilead Sciences in Tokyo on Sept. 25.
JAPAN / Science & Health
Oct 1, 2024

HIV prevention drug remains out of reach for many in Japan despite approval

The drug's high cost together with insufficient knowledge and awareness are hindering efforts to broaden access to it, experts and community leaders say.
A drone view shows a damaged area following the passing of Hurricane Helene, in Lake Lure, North Carolina, on Tuesday.
WORLD
Oct 2, 2024

Flooded farms, fouled rivers, dozens dead: Helene’s rising toll

The sweep of Helene’s damage — much of it occurring far from shore, in mountain towns and inland fields — took many by surprise.
Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba speaks during a news conference at the Prime Minister's Office in Tokyo on Tuesday.
JAPAN / Politics
Oct 2, 2024

Ishiba holds first phone call with Biden as prime minister

In their talks, Ishiba noted that the U.S.-Japan alliance “has been strengthened considerably” under his predecessor, and pledged “to continue along that path.”
Democratic vice presidential nominee Tim Walz speaks during a debate with Republican vice presidential nominee J.D. Vance in New York on Tuesday.
WORLD / Politics
Oct 2, 2024

Walz and Vance clash at policy-heavy vice presidential debate

The two rivals, who have savaged each other on the campaign trail, struck a cordial tone, instead saving their fire for the candidates at the top of their tickets.
A woman is silhouetted at The Pink Floyd Exhibition: Their Mortal Remains at the V&A Museum in London in 2017.
BUSINESS / Companies
Oct 2, 2024

Sony buys Pink Floyd music rights for $400 million, FT reports

The deal includes the band's name and portrait rights of its members.
A Russian submarine arrives at the port of Dagang, in Qingdao, Shandong province, China, in April 2019 for a joint Chinese-Russian naval exercise.
COMMENTARY / World
Oct 2, 2024

The China-Russia relationship once derided, now looks to endure

Both China and Russia are concerned about U.S. alliances in the Indo-Pacific and are acting to counterbalance them.
Shoppers on Nanjing East Road in Shanghai on Wednesday
WORLD / Politics
Oct 3, 2024

CIA boosts its China recruiting efforts to exploit discontent with Xi

The CIA's online push comes as Chinese President Xi Jinping has consolidated power over a fifth of humanity to a degree unseen in decades.
People walk with water collected from a truck following the passing of Hurricane Helene, in Asheville, North Carolina, on Wednesday.
WORLD
Oct 3, 2024

Many in North Carolina still without water after Helene's destruction

The powerful storm inundated the western part of Georgia in the U.S. with catastrophic flooding, destroying pipes, damaging water plants and cutting off power.
A gas station damaged by Hurricane Helene in Perry, Florida, on Sept. 27. Extreme weather and climate change are exposing the flaws in how we handle hazardous waste.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Oct 3, 2024

Toxic waste is at the mercy of climate change

Among Hurricane Helene’s roster of disasters is a storm surge that deluged a retired nuclear power plant in Florida. While radioactive material there remains secure, according to operator Duke Energy, one of the plant’s industrial wastewater ponds overflowed amid the flood. With luck, any resulting...
While China's recent initiatives signal a willingness to address economic challenges, the road ahead remains difficult as the country's policymakers have yet to offer a clear road to success.
COMMENTARY / World
Oct 3, 2024

A stimulus is good, but China still faces a hard slog

Beijing is back in investors' good books. To justify the euphoria, it needs some meaty goals.
Palestinians inspect the site of Israeli strikes on houses in Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip on Wednesday.
WORLD / Politics
Oct 4, 2024

Gaza and a cease-fire slip out of focus as Lebanon conflict rages

With attention swinging to Lebanon, the war in Gaza risks being prolonged.
Israeli Defense Minister Yoav has repeatedly stressed that Israel must take the fight to Lebanon.
WORLD
Oct 4, 2024

Israel's hawkish Yoav Gallant is driving the war in Lebanon

Officials in Israel like Yoav Gallant have called to push the Lebanese militant group away from their shared border to allow displaced people to return.
Ayami Sato is one of the best female players in baseball history.
BASEBALL
Oct 3, 2024

Japan great Ayami Sato helps shine light on women's baseball in new documentary

Ayami Sato has helped Japan win six straight Women's Baseball World Cup titles.
Tomoyuki Sugano (left) with his Giants teammates during a game last month in Hiroshima.
BASEBALL / Japanese Baseball
Oct 5, 2024

Giants ace Tomoyuki Sugano announces plans to join MLB

The long-time Giants starter has won the Sawamura Award as NPB's best pitcher twice, in 2017 and 2018.
Cameron Lew, who makes music under the name Ginger Root, recently released “Shinbangumi,” an album that was influenced by the glimmering pop echoes of Japan in the 1980s as well as the nerviness of Devo, the loose rock-pop of Hall & Oates and even Haruomi Hosono’s ’70s explorations of exotica.
CULTURE / Music
Oct 5, 2024

Ginger Root expands on effervescent retro sound

New release "Shinbangumi" comes after a whirlwind year for the American artist who blends glittering pop echoes of 1980s Japan with a mish-mash of Western influences.
Canadian Ambassador to Japan Ian McKay, who is also his country's special envoy for the Indo-Pacific, takes part in an interview with The Japan Times last week.
JAPAN / Politics
Oct 6, 2024

Canada eyes joint coast guard patrols with more Asian partners, envoy says

Canada is recognized as a leader in terms of its "Dark Vessel Detection" technology designed to identify vessels fishing illegally in protected maritime areas.
An Israeli aerial assault on Iran’s nuclear sites and other targets would be a very complex operation, involving dozens of F-15s, in-flight refueling and the targeting of numerous known and undisclosed facilities.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Oct 6, 2024

An Israel-Iran war could turn into a deadly nightmare

Israel is fully justified in wanting to hit back at Iran. Yet hating your enemies too much can cloud your judgment.
Then-U.S. President Donald Trump welcomes his visiting French counterpart,  Emmanuel Macron, in Washington in April 2018. European leaders, such as Macron, recognize the need to adapt to a new reality where globalization may no longer drive growth, especially if Trump wins the U.S. election.
COMMENTARY / World
Oct 7, 2024

Trump-proofing Europe looks impossible

Global supply chain strengths turn into weaknesses in a fragmented world, with unreliable access to cheap energy, Chinese consumers and U.S. security.
Finance Minister Katsunobu Kato attends an interview with media outlets at the Finance Ministry on Monday.
BUSINESS / Economy
Oct 7, 2024

Japan's new finance minister vows to finish the job as deflation czar

Katsunobu Kato's message indicates that financial conditions might remain accommodative for some time.
Employees make pastries in the Princi bakery inside the Starbucks Reserve Roastery store in Shanghai in 2018.
LIFE / Food & Drink
Oct 8, 2024

Starbucks cafes in Tokyo almost alone in keeping Princi baked goods

Starbucks is removing Howard Schultz's brand of Italian baked goods from many of its higher-end cafes, stepping back from an initiative championed by longtime leader.
A dolphin approaches a swimmer in the sea off the coast of the city of Fukui in 2022.
JAPAN / Society
Oct 8, 2024

Cases of dolphin attacks spike in Fukui Prefecture this summer

A total of 15 cases have been reported, compared with five last year, with victims sustaining injuries that require multiple stitches.
Chinese residents living in Japan take part in a “white paper” protest in solidarity against China's COVID-19 lockdowns, in Tokyo in November 2022.
JAPAN
Oct 10, 2024

Chinese nationals in Japan testify to harassment by Beijing, report says

One man said Chinese police had used his relatives to try and lure him back to the country.
Mindbody ClassPass CFO Tom Aveston speaks during a news conference in Tokyo in September.
BUSINESS / Companies
Oct 9, 2024

ClassPass lands in Japan with eye on domestic fitness market and visitors

The company, which provides access to gyms on a membership basis, started operating on Sept. 19 with 200 partner gyms and fitness studios, mainly in Tokyo.
Former Prime Minister Taro Aso speaks during the Ketagalan Forum in Taipei in August 2023.
JAPAN / Politics
Oct 9, 2024

Former PM Taro Aso calls Taiwan a ‘country' — much to China's chagrin

Tuesday’s remarks were not the first time Aso has sounded off about Taiwan and how a conflict over the island would represent an emergency for Japan.
Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, awards Brig. Gen. Amir Ali Hajizadeh (left), the commander of the Aerospace Force, with the Fath badge in Tehran on Sunday for the missile attack on Israel. 
COMMENTARY / Japan
Oct 10, 2024

Today's Tehran looks a lot like the Tokyo of the 1930s

Current tensions between Iran and Israel have parallels to historical events in 1930s Japan.
People gather at the site of the Nova music festival in southern Israel on Monday to commemorate the anniversary of the Hamas terrorist attack in which some 1,200 people were killed and 250 others abducted.
EDITORIALS
Oct 11, 2024

The never-ending tragedy in the Middle East grinds on

The red lines — both real and imagined — that once separated foes have been erased as the combatants inflict new and increasingly painful wounds upon each other.
Toshiko Hamanaka (left), the assistant secretary-general of Nihon Hidankyo, and the organization's co-chair, Terumi Tanaka, during a news conference in Tokyo on Saturday, the day after the group was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize.
JAPAN
Oct 12, 2024

Nihon Hidankyo members hope surprise Nobel win cements nuclear taboo

Senior members of the group noted that the Nobel committee chose Nihon Hidankyo at a time when the threat of nuclear war is becoming more intense.
Israeli Army soldiers ride in a humvee convoy in the Upper Galilee region of northern Israel near the border with Lebanon on Thursday.
WORLD / FOCUS
Oct 13, 2024

'Very challenging': Israel faces Hezbollah in tricky terrain

After pounding Gaza for nearly a year, Israeli forces began "targeted" ground raids on September 30 intended to push back Hezbollah fighters in Lebanon.
Constitutional Democratic Party (CDP) leader Yoshihiko Noda speaks to reporters in Tokyo on Thursday.
JAPAN / Politics / FOCUS
Oct 13, 2024

Amid skepticism, CDP faces once-in-a-lifetime opportunity in Oct. 27 polls

The party can capitalize on dissatisfaction against the ruling Liberal Democratic Party over a recent scandal, but it must battle voters' deep-seated doubts against it.

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