Search - 2023

 
 
Elon Musk said that the first human patient has received a brain implant from his startup Neuralink, but experts says his statements raised more questions than they answered about the trial.
BUSINESS / Companies
Feb 5, 2024

Want details on Musk's brain implant trial? You'll have to ask him

Neuralink does not have to divulge even basic details about its trial, including the facility where patients are being implanted.
Eisai's Alzheimer's drug Leqembi
BUSINESS / Companies
Feb 5, 2024

Eisai sees 'huge' growth potential for Alzheimer's drug in China

The Japanese pharmaceutical firm aims to roll out its groundbreaking Alzheimer’s drug Leqembi to 1,500 people in China later this year.
Britain's King Charles leaves the London Clinic with Britain's Queen Camilla after receiving treatment for an enlarged prostate, in London on Jan. 29.
WORLD
Feb 6, 2024

King Charles diagnosed with cancer just 18 months into his reign

Buckingham Palace said that the king would postpone public-facing duties while he undergoes treatment.
Wall Street giants are endorsing India as the prime investment destination for the coming decade.
BUSINESS / Markets
Feb 6, 2024

Wall Street snubs China for India in a historic markets shift

India has vastly expanded infrastructure under Prime Minister Narendra Modi in his bid to lure global capital and supply lines away from Beijing.
Pills move through a sorting machine at a pharmaceutical plant in Visakhapatnam, India. A recent report shows one Indian firm using suppliers with ties to China’s military industry, questionable track records on safety and bases in Xinjiang.
BUSINESS / Companies
Feb 6, 2024

U.S. taps Indian pharma, but supply chains still lead back to China

A recent report shows one Indian firm using suppliers with ties to China’s military industry, questionable track records on safety and bases in Xinjiang.
Foreign investors are seeking more English-language disclosure from companies listed on the Tokyo Stock Exchange.
BUSINESS / Markets
Feb 6, 2024

Foreign investors want more English info from TSE firms

The TSE plans to make Prime firms release key information in Japanese and English simultaneously.
Taylor Swift (right) cheers on her boyfriend Travis Kelce's team, the Kansas City Chiefs, in the AFC divisional round playoff game against the Buffalo Bills in Orchard Park, New York, on Jan. 21. The Chiefs will play the San Francisco 49ers in the Super Bowl.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Feb 6, 2024

Taylor Swift rocks the world and drives the far right crazy

The “Swift effect” has become a force in both U.S. domestic politics and international relations.
Nintendo has raised its forecast for Switch console sales and its overall operating profit for the year ending in March.
BUSINESS / Companies
Feb 6, 2024

Nintendo raises sales and profit forecasts after strong holiday earnings

The Kyoto-based firm's shares are at an all-time high this year, with expectations for a next-generation Switch also playing into the lofty valuation.
Flags fly at Union Station in Washington on June 27. With the U.S. presidential election approaching, caution is being urged over the widespread proliferation of propaganda.
COMMENTARY / World / Geoeconomic Briefing
Feb 13, 2024

The battle to tackle U.S. election propaganda heats up

The race is set to become more and more intense amid increased political polarization and pluralistic values.
South Korea coach Jurgen Klinsmann speaks to star midfielder Son Heung-min after their loss to Jordan in the semifinals of the Asian Cup on Tuesday.
SOCCER
Feb 7, 2024

Asian Cup final a step too far for South Korea's 'zombie football'

In Tuesday's semifinal, Juergen Klinsmann's side was beaten by a hard-working Jordan team that claimed a famous 2-0 win.
Seven & I Holdings CEO Ryuichi Isaka
BUSINESS / Companies
Feb 7, 2024

Japan’s convenience stores can span the globe, 7-Eleven CEO says

Ryuichi Isaka believes Seven-Eleven Japan’s know-how in making cheap, high-quality food will drive growth overseas.
Opening up to foreign workers may ultimately be Japan’s best hope for stemming a rapid population decline.
JAPAN / Society
Feb 7, 2024

Record 2 million foreign workers are changing the face of Japan

Opening up to job seekers from abroad may ultimately be the country's best hope of stemming a rapid population decline.
Today’s Russia is nothing like the citadel of stability and satisfaction nor the bastion of prosperity that the Kremlin tries to claim it is.
COMMENTARY / World
Feb 7, 2024

Preparing Russia for permanent war

Today’s Russia is nothing like the citadel of stability and satisfaction nor the bastion of prosperity that the Kremlin claims it to be.
Inter Miami's Lionel Messi in action during a friendly against Vissel Kobe on Wednesday in Tokyo
SOCCER
Feb 7, 2024

Messi wows Tokyo fans days after Hong Kong no-show

Messi's appearance came days after his absence on the pitch in a recent Hong Kong friendly had angered fans there.
A Bengal Tiger pauses in a jungle clearing a Kaziranga National Park, some 280 kilometers east of Guwahati in 2014. Tigers in India have been photographed in high-altitude mountains rarely seen before, with experts suggesting relentless human pressure and a heating climate are driving them from traditional hunting grounds.
ENVIRONMENT / Wildlife
Feb 8, 2024

India's tigers adapt to higher ground as temperatures soar and human pressure builds

The animals are venturing into higher mountainous terrain, signifying increased pressure on their habitats.
A traveler walks past a flight information display at the Beijing Capital International Airport on Feb. 2 ahead of the Lunar New Year holiday that begins on Saturday in China.
JAPAN
Feb 8, 2024

Chinese visitors to Japan over Lunar New Year to fall short of 2019 level

Visa-free travel offered by some countries and last year's release of treated wastewater from Fukushima may be swaying Chinese travelers' decisions.
Qatar forward Almoez Ali scores his team's third goal during against Iran in the semifinals of the Asian Cup on Wednesday.
SOCCER
Feb 8, 2024

'Best yet to come' after Qatar set up Asian Cup final with Jordan

Almoez Ali struck in the 82nd minute in Doha to send Qatar into their second consecutive final.
Singer Taylor Swift performs at her concert in Tokyo on Wednesday. With her winning her fourth Album of the Year at the Grammy Awards on Monday, sales of her merchandise will likely increase even as fans feel more compelled to purchase them for their premium value.
BUSINESS / Economy
Feb 8, 2024

'Swiftonomics' to yield ¥34.1 billion economic boost for Japan

The economic ripple effect of an average attendee of Taylor Swift's concerts in Tokyo is estimated at ¥155,090.
The hippocampus is a part of the brain that controls memory, learning and emotions. Stressful life events such as disasters and terrorist attacks are known to lead to post-traumatic stress disorder and result in its shrinkage.
JAPAN / Science & Health
Feb 9, 2024

Tokyo teens were less stressed during first COVID emergency: study

Increases in the volume of the hippocampus in their brains suggest reduced stress, according to research conducted by the University of Tokyo.
An image from the Justice Department that was included in a report by Special Counsel Robert Hur shows a damaged box where classified documents were found in U.S. President Joe Biden's garage in Wilmington, Delaware, during a search by the FBI in December 2022.
WORLD / Politics
Feb 9, 2024

Biden will not face criminal charges over classified papers

Special Counsel Robert Hur described the president as a "well-meaning, elderly man with a poor memory."
BUSINESS / Economy
Feb 9, 2024

Japanese firms boosting pay for young workers is good news for Bank of Japan

If wage gain momentum carries over into this year, the BOJ is expected to end the world’s last negative interest rate regime by April.
Foreign Minister Yoko Kamikawa (left), South Korea's then-Foreign Minister Park Jin (center) and Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi arrive for a trilateral foreign ministers' meeting in Busan, South Korea, in November.
JAPAN / Politics
Feb 9, 2024

Japan, China and South Korea still out of step over summit

Despite their foreign ministers agreeing to convene a meeting of top leaders promptly, no concrete scheduling has emerged.
BASEBALL / Japanese Baseball / NPB NOTEBOOK
Feb 9, 2024

Roki Sasaki gets back to business after weeks of speculation about future

After weeks of rampant rumors, the "Monster of the Reiwa Era" is back to the business of baseball, and the MLB questions are back on the shelf for now.
The Japanese government forecast that number of digital workers in 2026 will fall short of projected needs by 2.3 million.
EDITORIALS
Feb 9, 2024

Japan struggles with digital transformation

Japan's general tendency toward risk aversion reduces the readiness to adopt new policies, procedures and technologies.
Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes will be vying for his third Super Bowl title when Kansas City faces San Francisco in Las Vegas on Sunday.
MORE SPORTS
Feb 9, 2024

Chiefs and 49ers ready for another Super Bowl showdown

The same two teams met in the Super Bowl four years ago.
Taylor Swift kicked off her four-night stint at Tokyo Dome on Wednesday while Lionel Messi played at the Japan National Stadium, just a few kilometers away.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Feb 9, 2024

The Taylor Swift and Messi moment shows Tokyo is back

On Wednesday, Swift and Messi wowed their respective fans, just 5 km away from each other. Their overlap in Tokyo is proof of the city's great resurgence.
Boeing 737 Max airplanes on the tarmac at the Boeing factory in Renton, Washington, in 2019
BUSINESS / Companies
Feb 10, 2024

How production pressures plunged Boeing into yet another crisis

Soul-searching about quality controls and plunged Boeing into its second safety crisis in five years.
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.

Longform

After pandemic-era border regulations eased, Indian migrants began returning to Japan. Their population now stands at more than 50,000 across the country.
How remote work is rewriting the migrant experience in Japan