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Japan goalkeeper Ayaka Yamashita (front left) and defender Saki Kumagai (center) in action against the United States during the Paris 2024 Olympics on Aug. 3
SOCCER
Feb 18, 2025

Nielsen eyes mentality shift in first outing as Nadeshiko boss

Japan will make its fifth appearance in the SheBelieves Cup, and is pitted against Australia, Colombia and the host, the United States.
A Tokaido Shinkansen bullet train featuring the Tokyo DisneySea amusement park Fantasy Springs theme is unveiled in Hamamatsu, Shizuoka Prefecture, on Monday.
BUSINESS / Companies
Feb 18, 2025

JR Central unveils Disney-themed shinkansen train in Tokaido line first

The train's livery in inspired by the theme of Fantasy Springs, a new area of the Tokyo DisneySea amusement park
Rear Adm. Jacques Mallard (right), commander of the Charles De Gaulle aircraft carrier strike group, speaks during a ceremony aboard the carrier at a naval base in Toulon, France, last September.
ASIA PACIFIC
Feb 18, 2025

French carrier group chief draws lessons from first Pacific deployment in 60 years

The deployment helped deepen the French Navy's operational understanding of the region, and learn from and boost interoperability with partner nations, a top commander says.
The government has made a shift toward nuclear amid predictions of higher electricity demand stemming from semiconductor production and data centers for AI in the decades to come.
JAPAN / Politics
Feb 18, 2025

Japan backs nuclear power in climate plan criticized as insufficient

The government is targeting emissions cuts of 60% by fiscal 2035, but environmental groups and businesses have called for more ambition.
The eastern Myanmar state of Kayin seen from Mae Sot in northwestern Thailand in May
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Feb 19, 2025

Japanese boy says he was forced to work at scam center in Myanmar

The boy said that he was given electric shocks when he refused to take part in the fraud.
DPP tax chair Motohisa Furukawa speaks during a meeting of the party's tax committee in Tokyo on Wednesday.
JAPAN / Politics
Feb 19, 2025

Debate over income tax threshold reform hits roadblock with new LDP proposal

Neither Komeito, the ruling coalition's junior partner, nor the opposition Democratic Party for the People supported the LDP's new income tax plan.
“Hypnosismic — Division Rap Battle — Movie” centers on groups of male rappers from neighborhoods around Tokyo and Japan at large.
CULTURE / Film
Feb 20, 2025

‘Hypnosismic — Division Rap Battle — Movie' lets viewers remix the narrative

Armed with LED-lined gloves and their smartphones, audiences take control of the action for Japan’s first interactive movie.
Prime Minister Shiger Ishiba waits for the Lower House Budget Committee session to begin in Tokyo on Wednesday.
JAPAN / Politics
Feb 20, 2025

Dispute over funds scandal questioning delays budget talks as CDP seeks leverage

Veering off schedule, even for a day, is detrimental to securing passage of the fiscal 2025 budget in the Lower House by March 2 — a priority for the government.
Once a boon to tea farmers' bottom lines, the global matcha craze is now pushing producers and distributors to their limits with few options to adequately meet demand.
LIFE / Food & Drink
Feb 23, 2025

Japan struggles to fend off a world without enough matcha

Production methods and economic risks keep the domestic tea industry from ramping up supply.
Foreign Minister Takeshi Iwaya attends the Group of 20 foreign ministers' meeting at the Nasrec Expo Center in Johannesburg on Thursday.
JAPAN / Politics
Feb 21, 2025

At G20, Japan FM vows to continue support for Ukraine amid Trump tensions

The top diplomat reiterated the importance of standing up to Moscow, calling the war in Ukraine a “major challenge to the rule of law."
Hyogo Gov. Motohiko Saito (foreground) attends a meeting with the Hyogo Prefectural Assembly's special investigative committee in the city of Kobe, Hyogo Prefecture, on Dec. 25.
JAPAN / Politics
Feb 21, 2025

Two Ishin lawmakers quit special panel probing Hyogo governor

Minoru Kishiguchi and Makoto Masuyama had leaked information from the panel to the leader of the NHK party.
A glimpse at the entrance of Golden Gai, where the vibrant streets invite you to explore its lively nightlife and rich culture.
LIFE / Travel
Mar 3, 2025

Stories from behind the bar at Shinjuku's Golden Gai

Once the home of Tokyo's black market, this 6,600 sq. meter district has nearly 300 tiny bars packed into it.
Entomal Biotech Sdn Bhd CCO Yanni Ching with samples of BSF dried larvae and frass.
ENVIRONMENT / Sustainability
Feb 28, 2025

Turning waste into wealth with insect-based biotech

Entomal has treated over 22.5 tons of food waste to date, preventing roughly 55 tons of carbon emissions.
Cat-related sweets sold by 7-Eleven in Tokyo. Employees of 7-Eleven have helped develop 23 types of cat-related products this year, compared with just five last year.
BUSINESS / Economy
Feb 21, 2025

Japan's Cat Day sees companies capitalize on 'a-meow-zing' economic boon

This year, products and services related to cats are estimated to generate ¥414.50 billion more than last year.
These public ashtrays ask either-or questions, which people vote on with their cigarette butts.
JAPAN / Society
Feb 28, 2025

How Shibuya reduced cigarette litter by 90%

A project to reduce litter by making "ballot" smoking areas called Ask the Tobacco is under way.
Multinational victims of scam centers, who were allegedly trafficked into working in Myanmar and were sent to Thailand on Feb. 12 amid a mounting crackdown on scam centers operating along a porous border, queue to get food at a shelter in Tak province, Thailand, on Wednesday.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Feb 21, 2025

Japanese nationals returned from Myanmar as scam probe continues

The Japanese nationals are among hundreds of thousands of people who police say have been coerced into engaging in online scams.
Former death row inmate Iwao Hakamata (left) and his sister, Hideko, attend a gathering of his supporters after his acquittal in a retrial over a 1966 murder case was finalized in October last year.
JAPAN / Society
Feb 22, 2025

Over 80% of Japanese say death penalty system is 'unavoidable'

The Cabinet Office survey, which is conducted every five years, found that 16.5% of respondents believe the death penalty should be abolished.
Ahead of the 30th anniversary of the 1995 sarin nerve gas attack on the Tokyo subway system by Aum Shinrikyo, the Public Security Intelligence Agency launched a special website Friday.
JAPAN
Feb 21, 2025

Special website created 30 years after Tokyo subway sarin attack

The Aum Shinrikyo digital archive covers not only the Tokyo subway system attack, but also other crimes by the cult, including a 1994 sarin gas attack in Matsumoto.
In Tomoka Shibasaki's short story collection "A Hundred Years and a Day," time flows architecturally, through the life of structures such as a ramen shop or a cinema.
CULTURE / Books
Feb 22, 2025

'A Hundred Years and a Day': Short stories unfold through the lives of structures and spaces

In Tomoka Shibasaki’s curious collection, time flows architecturally, plots meander by design and humans are unnamed, ephemeral and often disappear.
Philippine Defense Secretary Gilberto Teodoro assists Defense Minister Gen Nakatani as he signs a guest book prior to their bilateral meeting at a hotel in Manila on Monday.
JAPAN / Politics
Feb 24, 2025

Japan and Philippines to establish high-level defense gear framework

The two sides also agreed to establish a “strategic dialogue” between the Self-Defense Forces and the Philippine Armed Forces to deepen operational collaboration.
Lt. Gen. Dan Caine (right) with an Iraqi general in Mosul, Iraq, in 2018
WORLD / Politics
Feb 24, 2025

Trump’s frustration with generals resulted in an unconventional pick

Lt. Gen. Dan Caine, a retired three-star Air Force officer, quickly moved up the list of candidates to be the next chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.
Kusatsu Onsen resort, a popular tourist destination in Gunma Prefecture, on Dec. 26, 2022
JAPAN / Society
Feb 25, 2025

Gunma ranks top among city dwellers eyeing countryside, survey shows

Respondents picked the prefecture for its child-friendly environment, rich natural surroundings and proximity to the Tokyo metropolitan area.
A section of an exterior wall at the Okawa Elementary School Ruins in the city of Ishinomaki, Miyagi Prefecture, fell off last December.
JAPAN / Society
Feb 25, 2025

14 years later, fight to preserve ruins of 3/11 continues

Local governments hope to teach future generations about the destructive nature of the tsunami that followed the March 2011 quake, but the ruins are continuing to erode.
The weak yen is often cited as one reason why many Japanese don't go abroad.
JAPAN / Society
Feb 25, 2025

Only 17% of Japanese people own passports, Foreign Ministry says

Around 3.7 million passports were issued domestically in 2024, a 8.8% increase from the year before but down 15.2% from prepandemic numbers in 2019.
Los Angeles Dodgers star Shohei Ohtani ranked second in the list of ideal male bosses for the second straight year, according to a survey of people who are starting their careers this spring.
JAPAN
Feb 26, 2025

Comedian Uchimura and announcer Miura remain ideal bosses, survey finds

Los Angeles Dodgers star Shohei Ohtani, who achieved over 50 home runs and 50 stolen bases last season, ranked second in the male boss category.
Passengers at a train station in Tokyo. Railway operators plan to expand the scope of chemicals and materials passengers will be banned from bringing onto trains starting in April.
JAPAN
Feb 26, 2025

Railway companies to tighten restrictions on hazardous materials

The move comes as part of a push to bolster security ahead of the 2025 Osaka Expo.
Lawyers advising in a racial profiling case speak during a news conference on Wednesday in Tokyo.
JAPAN / Society
Feb 26, 2025

About 70% of foreign nationals questioned by police on the streets: survey

The survey was believed to be the first conducted comparing police questioning between foreign nationals and Japanese on the issue.
Jose Ando purposefully wrote his Akutagawa Prize-winning novel “Dtopia” to be accessible to an audience beyond Japan and to spark conversations about race, gender and the effects of modern entertainment.
CULTURE / Books
Feb 27, 2025

Jose Ando's rapid rise from first pages to the Akutagawa Prize

Just three years after dedicating himself to writing, the author won Japan's top literary award for his novel "Dtopia," which offers a fresh perspective on identity and diversity.
Komeito head Tetsuo Saito speaks at a party meeting in Tokyo on Jan. 28.
JAPAN / Politics
Feb 27, 2025

Policy differences push Komeito to tread carefully in LDP coalition

Komeito is likely to emphasize where it stands apart, but it isn't preparing for a breakup with the ruling party.
Jins' new device, called the "Jins Assist," allows users to click and move the cursor of a computer via head movements.
BUSINESS / Companies
Feb 27, 2025

Eyeglass company Jins' new device lets people use a PC via head movements

Weighing only 4 grams, Jins' device can help people with hand or arm disabilities navigate a computer through small head movements.

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