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RB's Yuki Tsunoda drives during a practice session for the Qatar Grand Prix on Friday in Lusail.
MORE SPORTS / Auto Racing
Nov 30, 2024

Tsunoda ready for a bigger and faster team, says RB boss

Tsunoda has scored 30 of RB's 46 points this season, providing the backbone of the team.
The Nikkei stock average outside a brokerage in Tokyo in late October.
BUSINESS / Markets
Nov 30, 2024

Japan companies boosting benefits for long-term shareholders

Behind the move are growing calls for listed companies to reward shareholders more through measures including dividend hikes.
Bears head coach Matt Eberflus during a game on Nov. 10. Eberflus was fired on Friday, a day after Chicago lost its sixth straight game.
MORE SPORTS / Football
Nov 30, 2024

Bears fire head coach Matt Eberflus

The news came less than 24 hours after Eberflus experienced a sixth straight defeat and third consecutive loss decided on the final play.
Sauber's Valtteri Bottas during a practice session for the Qatar Grand Prix. Audi will take over the Sauber team when it enters Formula One in 2026.
MORE SPORTS / Auto Racing
Nov 30, 2024

Audi's deal with Qatar deepens Formula One's Gulf ties

Four of the current 24 races are in the Middle East — more than the number held in the United States.
Ottawa's Zoe Boyd battles Boston's Loren Gabel during a Professional Women's Hockey League game in Ottawa in January.
MORE SPORTS / Ice Hockey
Nov 30, 2024

Fans flocking to PWHL as women's league returns for second season

Buzz is growing around the top-flight North American league as it enters its second season.
An outdated lineup, elevated spending on sales incentives and a lack of hybrids in North America has led Nissan to slash jobs and production.
BUSINESS / Companies
Nov 30, 2024

Nissan CFO set to step down as carmaker faces raft of challenges

The change follows an announcement last month that the company will eliminate 9,000 jobs and cut a fifth of its manufacturing capacity.
The 225-issue Nikkei stock average jumped on Nov. 6 after it appeared as though Donald Trump had won the U.S. presidential election.
BUSINESS / Markets
Nov 30, 2024

Rush to ‘value up’ may be Asia stocks best defense against Trump

Governments are rushing to implement their own versions of Japan’s structural reforms that helped drive its benchmark index to a record high this year.
Rachel Accurso, in character as the internet personality Ms. Rachel, in New York on Nov. 4.
LIFE / Lifestyle
Nov 30, 2024

Ms. Rachel’s improbable journey from toddler whisperer to holiday toy sensation

A series of toys depicting children’s YouTube sensation Ms. Rachel is quickly becoming one of the hottest holiday gifts.
Shanghai Pudong International Airport during the Lunar New Year travel rush in February 2024
JAPAN
Nov 30, 2024

China resumes short-term visa waiver for Japanese visitors

The maximum period of visa-free stays was also extended to 30 days from the previous 15 days.
Taiwanese President Lai Ching-te is welcomed aboard his aircraft by Ingrid Larson, managing director of the American Institute in Taiwan, upon arrival at Daniel K. Inouye International Airport in Honolulu on Saturday.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Dec 1, 2024

China vows ‘resolute and forceful’ response as Taiwan leader visits Hawaii

The leader's “transit” comes ahead of visits to the Marshall Islands, Tuvalu and Palau, three of the countries that still have formal diplomatic ties with Taiwan.
U.S. President-elect Donald Trump on the campaign trail pledged that he would make it costly for countries to move away from the U.S. dollar. And he’s threatened to use tariffs to ensure they complied.
BUSINESS
Dec 1, 2024

Trump demands ‘commitment’ from BRICS nations on using dollar

Backlash against the dollar’s dominance gained traction in 2022 when the U.S. led efforts to impose economic sanctions on Russia.
Philippine Vice President Sara Duterte holds a news conference in Quezon City, in Metro Manila, on Tuesday. She denied she was plotting to kill President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., saying recent comments that sparked a government probe only reflected "consternation" with her one-time ally.
COMMENTARY / World
Dec 1, 2024

Philippines politics is often mad. It just got crazier.

Manila cannot afford to be distracted by the latest round of clan rivalry and violent threats.
In the absence of a long-term revitalization strategy, the historic city of Venice will remain on the path to becoming a cultural mausoleum.
COMMENTARY / World
Dec 1, 2024

Venice’s beauty curse

UNESCO’s World Heritage designation for Venice comprises the city in its entirety, rather than select buildings or neighborhoods.
Member of French far-right party Rassemblement National (RN) Marine Le Pen (center) talks to the media next to party member Louis Aliot after a hearing in her trial on suspicion of embezzlement of European public funds, in Paris on Wednesday.
WORLD / Politics
Dec 2, 2024

Far-right leader Marine Le Pen has never been so powerful in France

Marine Le Pen is now the ultimate power broker in Paris.
Carlos Tavares, Chief Executive Officer of Stellantis, speaks at the Paris Automotive Summit during the Paris Auto Show on Oct. 15.
BUSINESS / Companies
Dec 2, 2024

Stellantis CEO Tavares quits and hands over to interim committee

The company said in a statement that a new CEO will be named in the first half of 2025, with an interim committee headed by Chairman John Elkann taking the reins for now.
U.S. President Joe Biden, accompanied by Hunter Biden and Beau Jr., walks out of a bookstore in downtown Nantucket, Massachusetts, on Friday.
WORLD / Politics
Dec 2, 2024

Biden backtracks, pardoning son Hunter in final weeks of presidency

The White House had said repeatedly that Biden would not pardon or commute the sentences of his son, a recovering drug addict who became a target of Republicans.
Makoto Nakae, a researcher of swallowtail butterflies
JAPAN / Regional Voices: Fukushima
Dec 9, 2024

New museum set to bring butterflies of the world to Fukushima

The collection includes Japan’s only display of an extinct butterfly species native to South America.
Although years have passed since the dramatic arrest and ouster of former Chairman Carlos Ghosn, Nissan remains mired in management upheaval.
BUSINESS / Companies
Dec 2, 2024

Nissan shares up after news that chief financial officer will step down

The stock gained as much as 1% in early morning trading, though the shares are still down almost 35% this year.
The logo of the Adani Group on the outskirts of Ahmedabad, India, on Nov. 21
BUSINESS / Companies
Dec 2, 2024

Bangladesh wants to renegotiate Adani power deal unless court cancels

Adani Group founder Gautam Adani is already facing allegations by U.S. authorities that he was part of a $265 million bribery scheme in India.
Ken Kutaragi, the creator of Sony's PlayStation, speaks at the annual Tokyo Game Show in the city of Chiba in September.
BUSINESS / Tech
Dec 2, 2024

Father of PlayStation says 'everyone told us we would fail'

With revolutionary 3D graphics and titles like "Tomb Raider" and "Metal Gear Solid," the device first hit shelves on Dec. 3, 1994.
The PlayStation 5 on display during the annual Tokyo Game Show in September. PlayStation was Sony's first foray into the world of video games when it hit the shelves in Japan on Dec. 3, 1994.
BUSINESS / Tech
Dec 2, 2024

PlayStation at 30: How Sony's gray box conquered gaming

The PlayStation became a legend, selling more than 102 million units and positioning Sony as a heavyweight in a hugely lucrative sector.
Under new U.S. rules, chipmaking equipment made in Malaysia, Singapore, Israel, Taiwan and South Korea will be subject to curbs on exports to China, while the Netherlands and Japan will be exempt.
BUSINESS / Tech
Dec 2, 2024

Latest U.S. strike on China's chips hits semiconductor toolmakers

Equipment made in Malaysia, Singapore, Israel, Taiwan and South Korea will be subject to curbs on exports to China, while the Netherlands and Japan will be exempt.
Rakuten Group is considering the sale of hybrid perpetual notes that can be called after five years.
BUSINESS / Companies
Dec 2, 2024

Rakuten plans return to dollar bond market with hybrid notes

Rakuten’s liquidity has improved but an increased reliance on the dollar bond market may indicate weakened domestic funding access.
The average price of osechi traditional food for the 2025 New Year stood at ¥27,826 ($185), a 1.3% increase — or ¥360 — compared with that for the 2024 New Year.
JAPAN / Society
Dec 2, 2024

Osechi ryōri prices climb for a third consecutive year

The latest increase, at ¥360 ($2.40), is the smallest in three years, at less than half the increase for the 2024 New Year.
Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba speaks in the Lower House in Tokyo on Monday.
JAPAN / Politics
Dec 2, 2024

Ishiba questioned on political reform, social issues and the economy

The prime minister reiterated his skepticism about abolishing corporate donations to political parties.
Resona's loan balance for SMEs was up 4.9% by the end of September from a year earlier, compared with just 1.1% growth in the 12 months through September 2023.
BUSINESS / Companies
Dec 2, 2024

Resona says inflation is boosting SME loan demand and pay hikes

SMEs make up the bulk of Resona's client base, giving the bank insight into the state of firms that account for most of the employment in Japan.
Chinese people's sentiment toward Japan is believed to be impacted by their use of social media platforms such as Weibo and Douyin, as well as whether they have visited Japan.
JAPAN / Society
Dec 3, 2024

Nearly 90% in Japan and China have negative views of other

The proportion of Japanese respondents who said they had a negative view of China stood at 89.0%, down 3.2 percentage points from a year before.
Hunter Biden and his wife, Melissa Cohen Biden, depart the First Street U.S. Courthouse in Los Angeles on Sept. 5.
WORLD / Politics
Dec 3, 2024

Biden's surprise pardon of son sparked by fears of new persecution

The president's move was panned by his Republican political opposition, but also by Democrats who say it threatens to undermine public trust in the rule of law.
The front page of the final Japan Times of the 1900s carried news on the crown princess as well as the Y2K computer glitch panic.
JAPAN / History / Japan Times Gone By
Dec 3, 2024

Japan Times 1999: Stores hit by Y2K stockpile feeding frenzy

From year-end predictions by mystics to panic from technologists, Decembers past have brought more than just year-end tidings to those reading the news.
Nissan Motor vehicles bound for shipment at the Nissan Oppama wharf in Yokosuka, Kanagawa Prefecture.
BUSINESS / Companies
Dec 3, 2024

Nissan is awash in outdated models as car buyers look elsewhere

While Japan’s other major carmakers take six months or more to ship a new vehicle, many of Nissan’s most popular models can be delivered within a month or two.

Longform

Tetsuzo Shiraishi, speaking at The Center of the Tokyo Raids and War Damage, uses a thermos to explain how he experienced the U.S. firebombing of March 1945, when he was just 7 years old.
From ashes to high-rises: A survivor’s account of Tokyo’s postwar past